Distributed Super Nested Arrays: Reduce the Mutual Coupling between Array Antennas

In array, mutual coupling between the antennas is inevitable, which has an adverse effect on the estimation of parameters. To reduce the mutual coupling between the antennas of distributed nested arrays, this paper proposes a new array called the distributed super nested arrays, which have the good characteristics of the distributed nested arrays and can reduce the mutual coupling between the antennas. Then, an improved multiscale estimating signal parameter via rotational invariance techniques (ESPRIT) algorithm is presented for the distributed super nested arrays to improve the accuracy of direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation. Next, we analyze the limitations of the spatial smoothing algorithm used by the distributed super nested arrays when there are multiple-source signals and the influence of the baseline length of distributed super nested arrays on the accuracy of DOA estimation. The simulation results show that the distributed super nested arrays can effectively reduce the mutual coupling between the array antennas, improve the DOA estimation performance, and significantly increase the number of detectable source signals.