Adaptive Beamforming with Inadequate Snapshots

In array signal processing, the covariance matrix used to calculate the adaptive weights is often poor estimated when the snapshot number is inadequate. The prior environmental knowledge can be used to make the estimation more accuracy. In this paper, an alternative knowledge-aided adaptive beamforming approach that is robust to low sample support environment is proposed. In this algorithm the covariance matrix used to calculate the optimum weights is constructed by blending a sample covariance matrix and a priori structured covariance matrix. Numerical simulations demonstrate the proposed algorithm has the potential for substantial performance improvement.