Four-dimensional parameter estimation of plane waves using swarming intelligence

This paper proposes an efficient approach for four-dimensional (4D) parameter estimation of plane waves impinging on a 2-L shape array. The 4D parameters include amplitude, frequency and the two-dimensional (2D) direction of arrival, namely, azimuth and elevation angles. The proposed approach is based on memetic computation, in which the global optimizer, particle swarm optimization is hybridized with a rapid local search technique, pattern search. For this purpose, a new multi-objective fitness function is used. This fitness function is the combination of mean square error and the correlation between the normalized desired and estimated vectors. The proposed hybrid scheme is not only compared with individual performances of particle swarm optimization and pattern search, but also with the performance of the hybrid genetic algorithm and that of the traditional approach. A large number of Monte-Carlo simulations are carried out to validate the performance of the proposed scheme. It gives promising results in terms of estimation accuracy, convergence rate, proximity effect and robustness against noise.