An Underdetermined Source Number Estimation Method for Non-Circular Targets Based on Sparse Array

Source number estimation is one of the key technologies of wireless location, and it is also the basis of parameter estimation and location solution. In order to improve the accuracy of existing non-circular source number estimation and realize underdetermined source number estimation, this paper presents a non-circular source number estimation method based on sparse array. This method firstly uses the non-circular characteristics of received sources to expand the array aperture, then combines the structural characteristics of sparse array to construct a virtual array model, and extracts the response parts of continuous virtual array elements for spatial smoothing processing. Finally, the minimum description length (MDL) method is used to realize the effective estimation of non-circular source number. The complexity analysis and simulation experiments are given, and the results of Monte Carlo experiments show that compared with the traditional source number estimation method, this method can not only improve the accuracy of the source number estimation but also realize the effective estimation of the source number in undetermined conditions.