Experimental and theoretical comparison of some algorithms for beamforming in single receiver adaptive arrays

Adaptive null steering in single receiver adaptive arrays is discussed. The single receiver structure allows only output power for a given set of weights to be measured. The problem, then, is to adaptively adjust the weights of the antenna array based on output power measurements only so as to reject interference signals while maintaining a fixed response in a given look direction. The authors determine the optimal beamformer weights in a single step, by estimating the covariance matrix of the array sensor outputs using a weight perturbation technique. Based on this covariance matrix estimate, three different approaches for finding the beamformer weights are studied. The first corresponds to a sample matrix inversion scheme, with the sample covariance matrix replaced by the one obtained from the perturbation estimation method, while in the second approach the weights are determined using an eigenvalue decomposition of the covariance matrix estimate. In the third approach the directions-of-arrival (DOAs) of the incoming wavefronts are first estimated, and then, in a second step, the beamformer weights are calculated from the DOA estimates. The advantage of the third approach is that this method is not affected by correlation between the different sources