Smart antenna is one of the key technique in the third generation mobile telecommunication system. Main estimation methods for DOA(direction of arrival),i.e. ESPRIT, MUSIC, WSF, Mininorm,etc., are researched,the performances for DOA estimation based on smart antenna are analyzed by the research of theory, simulation experiment and the contrast algorithms between and Cramer Rao Bound.The research results aren't only propitious to research and develop for smart antenna,but also for the application of smart antenna in mobile telecommunication.