Evaluating the effect of small number of snapshots and signal-to-noise-ratio on the efficiency of MUSIC estimations

Abstract: In this study, the authors aim to discover the relation between the resolution of a uniform linear array (ULA) and the parameters involved in MUltiple SIgnal Classification (MUSIC) calculations, such as the number of antenna elements, the number of snapshots and the signal-to-noise-ratio. In this study, the number of used snapshots is limited to very small values in order to reveal the behaviour of a fast system such as the case of high speed mobile targets. The study is made through numerous simulations of different scenarios that concern cases where a small number of snapshots are assumed, for a variety of noise environments. The results lead to equations that relate the broadside resolution of a ULA with these parameters.Verification of the resulting equations shows that the behaviour of the resolution can be prescribed with sufficient precision;therefore the proposed formulae can be a useful tool for array design.