Performance of blind beamforming algorithms

Many different methods for beamforming using partial or no a priori information about sensor locations and response patterns have been proposed in recent years. This paper investigates the performance of several of these methods for a variety of signal and interference types, sensor geometries, multipath, and sensor mismatches. The methods investigated include Cardoso and Souloumiac´s (1993) JADE algorithm, Laheld and Cardoso´s (1994) EASI method, van der Veen and Paulraj´s ( 1996) ACMA, and Gonen and Mendel´s (1997) fourth-order ESPRIT-like method. The signal types investigated include CW signals, QAM-4 signals, and wideband signals. These are simulated for situations with linear arrays and random arrays. The simulations indicate that the JADE algorithm works well in a wide variety of situations