Detection of the Number of Paths over Wireless Channels: A Maximum Likelihood Approach

In this paper, we tackle the problem of Multipath detection for joint angle and delay estimation (JADE) purposes. By exploiting the sparsity feature of a carefully designed pseudopdf, we propose a novel approach that enables the accurate estimation of the unknown number of paths over a wide range of practical signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs). Computer simu lations show the distinct advantage of the new solution over state-o fthe art techniques in terms of accuracy. Most remarkably, they suggest that the proposed technique provide accurate estim ates even when the number of paths exceeds the antenna size.