Implementation of a wideband beamformer based on a rectangular array with spatial-only information

The response of a wideband beamformer based on a rectangular array with spatial-only information is studied. In this beamformer, each of the received array signals is only processed by one single coefficient and its output is an instantaneous weighted combination of the received signals. One interesting property of it is that it has a totally different beam response depending on whether we are considering the negative frequency component or the positive frequency component of the impinging signals. As a result, the implementation of this beamformer is not as straightforward as the traditional ones and a special arrangement is required for its effective operation. Two implementation schemes are proposed for complex-valued impinging signals and real-valued impinging signals, respectively, supported by design and simulation results.