A sparse receiver array system based on a hybrid approach combining a two-stage-correlator with difference-pattern processing (DPP) is presented. With one sparse array and three dense arrays a thinning rate of more than 80% is demonstrated. The high resolution and low spurious signal generation of the two-stage-correlator are further improved by applying DPP with a suitable weighting factor. The performance of this approach is demonstrated by both simulation and measurements.
