High Accuracy DOA Estimation Based on Distributed 2D Nested Array

To improve the estimation accuracy of two-dimensional (2D) direction-of-arrival (DOA) of uniform rectangular array, and increase the degrees of freedom of the array, this paper proposes a novel array called distributed 2D nested array (DNRA). The DNRA consists of three 2D nested arrays, which greatly increase the degrees of freedom and the aperture of the array through sparse distribution of antenna elements and the distributed arrangement between subarrays. By using the proposed 2D Toeplitz matrix reconstruction algorithm, the estimation accuracy of the elevation angle and azimuth angle of the target is improved, and the computational cost of the algorithm is reduced. Numerical simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed array and algorithm.