Wideband DOA estimation by using off-grid technique for a cylindrical conformal array

DOA estimation algorithms based on sparse representations mainly work on uniform linear antenna array composed of ideal elements whose radiation patterns are omni-directional and identical, let alone the broadband signals. In this paper, a new wideband DOA estimation method for cylindrical conformal array is presented. By using the off-grid technique, the limitation that the unknown source directions should belong to a predefined discrete angular grid can still be overcome. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method has higher estimation accuracy performance than traditional sparsity-based DOA estimation approaches with both coarse and dense mesh density.