М.Е. Zamarin1, V.V. Kornev2, G.L. Akopyan3, A.P. Kovalev4

1-3 JSC “Central Radio-Research Institute named after academician A.I. Berg” (Moscow, Russia)

4 JSC “Arsenal Design Bureau” named after M.V. Frunze” (St. Petersburg, Russia)

In this article described a phase direction finder which the antenna system is a linear array of weakly directional elements, the bearing estimate in which is formed on the basis of the phase differences measured between the elements of the antenna system.

Goal of the work is to synthesize algorithm for resolving phase ambiguity of the bearing estimate and evaluate the variance of the bearing estimate and the probability of correctly resolving the phase ambiguity.

Results. A theorem is proved that in a three-antenna linear direction finder with an irrational value of the ratio of bases, there are no directions of arrival of an electromagnetic wave for which the condition of equality of the measured phase differences is satisfied. An algorithm for resolving phase ambiguity by integer minimization of the ambiguity functional is proposed based on the proof of the theorem.  A quorum procedure (majority decision procedure) is proposed for detecting the signal of the radiation source and refining the bearing obtained by integer minimization of the ambiguity functional. The Monte Carlo method was used to calculate the probability of detecting a signal based on the phase differences measured between the elements of the antenna system, to estimate the bearing dispersion and the probability of correct resolution of phase ambiguity for various signal-to-noise ratios and lengths of the direction finder bases. Here and below, the “correct” solution is understood as the error-free resolution of ambiguity.

Application. The results can be used in the development of broadband multichannel phase direction finders for radio monitoring systems.

Zamarin М.Е., Kornev V.V., Akopyan G.L., Kovalev A.P. Measurement of the direction to the target by a multichannel phase direction finder by the method of integer minimization of the ambiguity functional. Radiotekhnika. 2023. V. 87. № 5. P. 24−39. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18127/j00338486-202305-03 (In Russian)

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