A new high-resolution direction finding architecture using photonics and neural network signal processing for miniature air vehicle applications

Abstract

This paper investigates the design of an interferometric direction finding receiver using photonic components for signal mixing and a multi-layer perceptron for data analysis. The complete system was tested with a 2.4 GHz continuous signal in an anechoic chamber. Test results showed that the compact antenna and receiver design was capable of measuring direction of arrival with 1° resolution over a 180° field of view while keeping mean error below 0.5°. It was also demonstrated that the design is insensitive to phase alignment of receiver channels, thus simplifying future receiver design. Improvements were recommended for a design theoretically capable of providing 0.25° angle resolution.