High-resolution direction finding using a switched parasitic antenna

Direction finding by exploiting the directional radiation patterns of a switched parasitic antenna (SPA) is considered. By employing passive elements (parasites), which can be shorted to ground using pin diodes, directional radiation patterns can be obtained. The direction finding performance of the SPA is examined by calculating a lower bound on the direction finding accuracy, the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRB). It is found that the SPA offers a compact implementation with high-resolution direction finding performance using only a single radio receiver. Thus, exploiting SPAs for direction finding is an interesting alternative to traditional antenna arrays offering compact and low-cost antenna implementations.