Fast DOA estimation of incoherently distributed sources by novel propagator

A low-complexity algorithm is presented for the estimation of the nominal direction-of-arrivals (DOAs) of incoherently distributed (ID) sources. The presented algorithm estimates the nominal DOAs of ID sources by a novel propagator method which makes use of the approximate rotational invariance relationship between two closely spaced identical uniform linear arrays. Without any search and the eigendecomposition of the sample covariance matrix, our algorithm can provide lower computational complexity than other known methods. In addition, it can be applied to the multisource scenario with different angular distribution shapes. Simulation results prove the effectiveness of the presented algorithm.