Simultaneous Estimation of Azimuth and Elevation Angles Using a Decision Tree-Based Method

• Published in: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 23; no. 16; p. 7114
• Main Authors: Carballeira, Anabel Reyes, de Figueiredo, Felipe A. P., Brito, Jose Marcos C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01-08-2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Airports; Antennas; Antennas (Electronics); Comparative analysis; correlation matrix; decision tree; direction of arrival; Drones; Internet of Things; Localization; Machine learning; Methods; Military bases; Music; Neural networks; Parameter estimation; Sensors; Signal processing; Simulation; Surveillance; Unmanned aerial vehicles
• DOI: 10.3390/s23167114
• EISSN: 1424-8220

This study addresses the problem of accurately predicting azimuth and elevation angles of signals impinging on an antenna array employing Machine Learning (ML). Using the information obtained at a receiving system when a transmitter’s signal hits it, a Decision Tree (DT) model is trained to estimate azimuth and elevation angles simultaneously. Simulation results demonstrate the robustness of the proposed DT-based method, showcasing its ability to predict the Direction of Arrival (DOA) in diverse conditions beyond the ones present in the training dataset, i.e., the results display the model’s generalization capability. Additionally, the comparative analysis reveals that DT-based DOA estimation outperforms the state-of-the-art MUltiple SIgnal Classification (MUSIC) algorithm. Our results demonstrate an average reduction of over 90% in the prediction error and 50% in the prediction time achieved by our proposal when compared to the MUSIC algorithm. These results establish DTs as competitive alternatives for DOA estimation in signal reception systems.