Polarization quaternion DOA estimation based on vector MISC array

This paper examines the direction of arrival (DOA) es-timation for polarized signals impinging on a sparse vector sensor array which is based on the maximum interelement spa-cing constraint (MISC). The vector array effectively utilizes the polarization domain information of incident signals, and the qua-ternion model is adopted for signals polarization characteristic maintenance and computational burden reduction. The features of MISC arrays are crucial to the mutual coupling effects reduc-tion and higher degrees of freedom (DOFs). The quaternion data model based on vector MISC arrays is established, which ex-tends the scalar MISC array into the vector MISC array. Based on the model, a quaternion multiple signal classification (MUSIC) algorithm based on vector MISC arrays is proposed for DOA es-timation. The algorithm combines the advantages of the qua-ternion model and the vector MISC array to enhance the DOA estimation performance. Analytical simulations are performed to certify the capability of the algorithm.