Source Location with an Adaptive Antenna Array

摘要

An adaptive antenna array processing technique that allows a spatial signal field to be characterized in terms of multiple wavefronts in a background of spatially uncorrelated noise is presented. In particular, the array processor would provide simultaneous, real time, multisource positional location. The technique is interpreted in terms of an eigenvector decomposition of the single-frequency, spatial-correlation matrix of the data received at the spatial array of sensors. A relationship is established between a multiple wavefront signal field and the eigenvectors of the corresponding single-frequency, sensor-to-sensor, correlation matrix. Because of the orthogonality of the correlation matrix eigenvectors, the processor gives an interference-rejection capability that is useful when locating weak signal sources in the presence of strong interfering sources. Finally, an iterative-adaptive algorithm for the real-time implementation of the array processor is specified. (Author)