Novel Sensing Methodology for Initial Alignment Using MmWave Phased Arrays

A novel sensing approach for the single radio frequency (RF) chain millimeter wave systems is proposed. The sensing strategy is inspired from synthetic aperture radar systems, and synthesizes a virtual array manifold vector using a single phased array over temporal measurements. The geometry of the virtual array can be controlled enabling synthesis of both a virtual uniform linear array (ULA) and a virtual sparse linear array starting from a large physical array. Moreover, the proposed sensing can be realized using conventional phased array/analog combiner. Several design parameters of the sensing scheme provide flexibility and are discussed including their impact on initial alignment. The proposed sensing approach allows for a rich set of options for inference. Candidate detection and estimation algorithms are presented and their performance is evaluated.