Relationship Between the Weight Function and Number of Active Sensors in a Sensor Array

Abstract It is well-known that sensor arrays (antenna arrays) possess better directional properties than a single sensor. Unlike individual sensors, they provide higher gain, sensitivity, and a sense of direction. However, failure of sensors in a sensor array is a common problem that can disturb the array operation. Hence, quick identification of failed sensors is an important task to restore the array’s functionality. Even before knowing the exact positions of the failed sensors, it is important to know how many sensors have failed. Toward this end, we show how the array’s weight function can be used to determine the number of failed sensors. Numerical examples in MATLAB confirm the correctness of the proposed method. The suggested method works equally well for linear and planar arrays regardless of whether they are full or sparse.