Wideband DOA Estimation via Sparse Bayesian Learning over a Khatri-Rao Dictionary

This paper deals with the wideband direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation by exploiting the multiple measurement vectors (MMV) based sparse Bayesian learning (SBL) framework. First, the array covariance matrices at different frequency bins are focused to the reference frequency by the conventional focusing technique and then transformed into the vector form. Then a matrix called the Khatri-Rao dictionary is constructed by using the Khatri-Rao product and the multiple focused array covariance vectors are set as the new observations. DOA estimation is to find the sparsest representations of the new observations over the Khatri-Rao dictionary via SBL. The performance of the proposed method is compared with other well-known focusing based wideband algorithms and the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB). The results show that it achieves higher resolution and accuracy and can reach the CRLB under relative demanding conditions. Moreover, the method imposes no restriction on the pattern of signal power spectral density and due to the increased number of rows of the dictionary, it can resolve more sources than sensors.