Low-Complexity Angle-of-Arrival Estimation using 1-Bit Conversion

Angle-of-Arrival (AoA) estimation is a well-known localization technique, which has been deeply investigated in the literature. The AoA estimation has several implications for deploying a lot of applications, especially in the field of telecommunications. Different kinds of electronic AoA estimation systems have been proposed by academia and industries, both analog and digital, and emerging systems based on microwave photonics. The aim of this paper is to introduce a real-time AoA measurement system that does not use a full Analog-to-Digital Conversion (ADC) stage. The prototype is composed of an analog section, which was deployed through a custom-designed PCB, and a digital section, which has been synthesized on an Intel Stratix V 5SGSMD5K2F40C2 FPGA for testing purposes. The system is capable of guaranteeing the same performance on a wide set of frequencies, covering the most used ISM and 5G NR bandwidths. The system’s functionalities are proved through an experimental characterization campaign, determining the factors that have the strongest impact on the system’s accuracy. According to the tested settings, the system can reach an accuracy of up to 2° in a real indoor environment.