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I noticed a mixed usage of AoA (Angle Of Arrival) and DoA (Direction Of Arrival) and was quite confused about the exact distinction between AoA and DoA with respect to wireless signals. Reference to any document for further understanding will be very helpful. I wish to clarify the below queries as part of this page and please assume 3D space while describing.

  1. Definition of AoA and DoA

  2. Quantities that define AoA and DoA (eg Azimuth angle, elevation angle, same or different parameter values for multiple antennas, etc)

  3. Which of AoA or DoA is more useful? Or can we get one from the other based on some assumptions?

I referred to the below paper to get some idea, and it appears AoA is useful when you have multiple antennas to detect a source that is located at a close distance to the receiver but if the distance is huge, can be approximated to have the same AoA and hence use DoA to define a single parameter for multiple sensors/antennas. I am certain this is not the right understanding of AoA and DoA and hence looking for guidance.

A Unified Estimator for Source Positioning and DOA Estimation Using AOA

lennon310
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niil87
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  • I am pretty sure they are synonymous in communications systems – BigBrownBear00 Aug 16 '22 at 14:28
  • In most cases they are the same thing expressed in different coordinate systems: AoA is in spherical coordinates, DoA is in Cartesian coordinates. The paper seems to look at the difference between a spherical wave and a plane wave (or a plane approximation for a spherical wave in the far field) but the naming doesn't make much sense to me. – Hilmar Aug 16 '22 at 15:27

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