In this paper, we propose an Estimation of Signal Parameter via Rotational Invariance Techniques (ESPRIT) based algorithm for estimating the two-dimensional-direction-of-arrivals (2D-DOA) of signals impinging on a uniform rectangular array (URA). The basic idea of the proposed algorithm is to successively apply two rounds of one-dimensional ESPRIT (1D-ESPRIT) algorithm for 2D-DOA estimation. The first round 1D-ESPRIT is applied on columns of the URA whereas the other round 1D-ESPRIT is on the rows of the URA. In between, a grouping technique is developed to produces signal groups each containing signals with distinguishable spatial signatures. The grouping technique is performed by using the subspace projection method where the needed spatial information is provided by the first round 1D-ESPRIT algorithm. Computer simulations show that, in addition to having significantly reduced computational complexity, the proposed algorithm possesses better estimation accuracy as compared to the conventional 2D-ESPRIT algorithm.

A one dimensional (1-D) based tree structure algorithm is proposed for estimating the 2D-DOAs of the signals impinging on a uniform rectangular array. The key idea of the proposed algorithm is to successively utilize the 1-D MUSIC algorithm several times, in tree structure, to estimate the azimuth and the elevation angles independently. Subspace projectors are exploited in conjunction with the 1-D MUSIC algorithms to decompose the received signal into several signals each coordinated by its own 2D-DOA. The pairing of the azimuth estimates and the associated elevation estimates is naturally determined due to the tree structure of the algorithm.