Direction-of-Arrival Estimation from Scattering Patterns in a Subwavelength Periodic Structure of a Conductive Scatterer

A novel direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation method that uses subwavelength periodic structures of conductive scatterers (SPCS) is proposed. There is a possibility that scattering patterns with frequency and angular responses can be generated by using subwavelength structures on the basis of metamaterials. Therefore, the frequency and angular dependencies of scattering patterns generated by SPCS are investigated analytically and experimentally. In the analytical studies, the 2D spatial distributions of electric field intensities in SPCS are analyzed. And it is confirmed that the patterns have frequency and angular dependencies. In the experimental studies, the 1D spatial distributions of the scattering patterns in SPCS were measured, confirming the frequency and angular dependence of their spatial distribution. Thus, the proposed method has the potential for application in an advanced DOA estimation device.