In signal processing literature, direction of arrival denotes the direction from which usually a propagating wave arrives at a point, where usually a set of sensors are located. This set of sensors forms what is called a sensor array. Often there is the associated technique of beamforming which is estimating the signal from a given direction. Various engineering problems addressed in the associated literature are:
- Find the direction relative to the array where the underwater sound source is located.
- Direction of different sound sources around you are also located by you using a process similar to those used by the algorithms in the literature.
- Radio telescopes use these techniques to look at a certain location in the sky.
- Recently beamforming has also been used in RF applications such as wireless communication. Compared with the spatial diversity techniques, beamforming is preferred in terms of complexity. On the other hand beamforming in general has much lower data rates. In multiple access channels (CDMA, FDMA, TDMA), beamforming is necessary and sufficient.
- Various techniques for calculating the direction of arrival, such as Angle of Arrival (AoA), Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA), Frequency Difference of Arrival (FDOA), or other similar associated techniques.
Famous quotes containing the words direction of, direction and/or arrival:
“Our vices always lie in the direction of our virtues, and in their best estate are but plausible imitations of the latter.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The young ... look into visages dull-eyed, long-toothed, wattle-necked, and chop-fallen, something they have never been and which they cannot imagine ever being.... If it occurs to a young person, looking at us, that this is the direction in which he himself travels, how can he forgive, let alone bear the sight of, us, who constantly bring him the bad news of our own faces, bitter signposts pointing to his own destination?”
—Jessamyn West (1902–1984)
“National literature does not mean much these days; now is the age of world literature, and every one must contribute to hasten the arrival of that age.”
—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749–1832)