Systems and methods for direction finding using augmented spatial sample covariance matrices

Abstract

A direction finding (DF) system and technique using a switched network architecture to couple a first plurality of antenna elements to a second, fewer, plurality of channels of an RF receiver. The RF receiver provides signals to a DF processor which combines data sampled at phase centers of the plurality of array elements. Such combined data samples may be used to estimate a direction of a received signal. The antenna elements may be configured into subarrays and a switch network couples different groups of subarrays to the RF receiver channels during different dwell times. Data collected during each dwell may be used to generate a spatial sample covariance matrix (SCM) and multiple spatial SCMs may be combined to provide aggregate covariance matrix values. A DF processor uses values from the aggregate covariance matrix to provide an output signal indicative of the direction of a received signal.