Angle Estimation in the Presence of Mainbeam Interference

Abstract : Angle of arrival of a desired signal in a mainbeam interference environment can be estimated by incorporating adaptive array processing. Adapted sum and difference beams that suppress the undesired noise sources are used to determine the monopulse error curve. The resultant distorted error curve across the mainbeam tracking angle region is used directly for angle estimation. The Cramer-Rao bound on the angle estimation error is derived with generalized assumptions on the signal characteristics. A Monte Carlo simulation is performed for the estimation procedure described here, and the angle estimation error is then compared with the Cramer-Rao bound. It is shown that good performance in angle measurement can be achieved with sufficient signal-to-noise ratio and angular separation between the target and the interference sources.