A High Degree of Freedom Radiation Near-Field Source Localization Algorithm with Gain–Phase Error

The limitation of the number of estimable sources in the localization of radiation near-field sources with gain–phase error is examined in this paper. When only the reference element has no gain–phase error, a new method based on an accurate model is proposed to enhance the maximum number of estimable sources. Based on the location parameter details of the auxiliary source, the method first derives the gain–phase error estimate matrix. Second, the source steering vector including errors is estimated using the total least square estimating signal parameter via rotational invariance techniques (TLS-ESPRIT), and the time-shifted data matrix is built utilizing the space–time combination idea, thus increasing the degree of freedom of the array. Then, the source steering vector containing the error is modified by the error compensation matrix constructed according to the moment of gain–phase error estimation. Finally, the estimated values of the source position parameters are obtained by using the closed formula of the gain phase of the modified source steering vector and the source position parameters. The experimental results show that the maximum estimable source number of the proposed algorithm is significantly improved compared with the previous results when only the reference array element has no gain–phase error. When the array number is 5 and 9, the maximum estimable source number of the algorithm is 9 and 17, respectively.