A Reconfigurable Digital Beamformer Implemented on a Field-Programmable Gate Array for Real-Time and...

Area of Science:

• Electrical Engineering
• Signal Processing
• Antenna Systems

Background:

• High-resolution direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation typically requires complex and costly digital beamforming antenna arrays.
• Existing methods often face limitations in hardware resource utilization and real-time processing capabilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose an efficient, reconfigurable digital beamformer for high-accuracy, real-time DOA estimation.
• To enhance hardware resource efficiency in antenna array systems.
• To reduce the cost and complexity associated with high-resolution DOA estimation.

Main Methods:

• Development of a digital beamformer with two distinct operational modes: beamforming and angle estimation.
• Implementation of flexible phase shift step adjustment in the angle estimation mode for variable angular resolution.
• Dynamic switching between modes and adaptive task granularity for optimized Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) resource utilization.

Main Results:

• The proposed beamformer achieves DOA estimation with an error of less than 1 degree.
• Real-time angle estimation is accomplished within microsecond-level delays.
• Effective utilization of FPGA resources is demonstrated, balancing performance and flexibility.

Conclusions:

• The reconfigurable digital beamformer offers a cost-effective and efficient solution for high-resolution DOA estimation.
• The dual-mode architecture and adaptive resource management enable superior performance in real-time signal processing.
• This approach significantly improves upon the limitations of traditional digital beamforming systems.