A Combined DoA-ToA Localization Technique Based on a Broadband Switched Beam Antenna

Abstract

This paper analyses the performances of a Direction of Arrival (DoA) localization algorithm based on the use of phaseless magnitude data coming from a Time of Arrival (ToA) estimation. The localization system architecture key component consists of a broadband switched beams antenna (SBA) connected to a corresponding broadband radio front-end. The receiver collects sample data being synchronized with the antenna beam, while both ToA and DoA estimations rely only on scalar data. Differently from the available literature, the proposed system doesn't locate the DoA by implementing the Time Difference of Arrival (TDoA) paradigm, but instead this is made possible by using the phaseless data of the impinging signal power, exploiting the signal magnitude gradient between SBA elements, a byproduct of the ToA estimation. Experimental results demonstrate how different algorithms lead to an angular precision with a mean error inferior to 3°.