Robust Localization for Near- and Far-Field Signals with an Unknown Number of Sources

Source location is a constant issue of importance of both theoretical study and practical engineering. Many pioneers have put out the corresponding solutions for near- or far-field signals, and preferred contributions are suggested. To our best knowledge, there are currently few focused approaches to the complicated situation where both near- and far-field signals exist with an unknown number of sources. Additionally, the robustness of the method must be taken into account when the additive background noise does not follow Gaussian or super-Gaussian distribution. To solve these problems, a novel method based on phased fractional lower-order moment (PFLOM) is proposed to simultaneously better preserve the signal and suppress the noise. Secondly, the whole procedure of the method containing direction of arrival (DOA) estimation, range estimation, separation of near-and far-field sources, and crucial parameter settings are studied in detail. Finally, comprehensive Monte Carlo experiments are carried out in the simulation to demonstrate the superiority of the proposed method compared to the existing competitive methods. Due to the novel method's effectiveness with an unknown number of sources and robustness against various noises, it is believed that it could be fully utilized in more fields.