The MEMS vector hydrophone is a novel acoustic sensor with a "four-beam-cilia" structure. Based on the MEMS vector hydrophone with this structure, the paper studies the method of estimated direction of arrival (DOA). According to various research papers, many algorithms can be applied to vector hydrophones. The beam-forming approach and bar graph approach are described in detail. Laboratory tests by means of the a standing-wave tube are performed to validate the theoretical results. Both the theoretical analysis and the results of tests prove that the proposed MEMS vector hydrophone possesses the desired directional function.
Keywords: DOA estimation; MEMS; beam-forming; piezoresistive effect; vector hydrophone.