English

Optimal Real-Weighted Beamforming With Application to Linear and Spherical Arrays

Audio and Speech Processing 2024-01-05 v1 Sound

Abstract

One of the uses of sensor arrays is for spatial filtering or beamforming. Current digital signal processing methods facilitate complex-weighted beamforming, providing flexibility in array design. Previous studies proposed the use of real-valued beamforming weights, which although reduce flexibility in design, may provide a range of benefits, e.g., simplified beamformer implementation or efficient beamforming algorithms. This paper presents a new method for the design of arrays with real-valued weights, that achieve maximum directivity, providing closed-form solution to array weights. The method is studied for linear and spherical arrays, where it is shown that rigid spherical arrays are particularly suitable for real-weight designs as they do not suffer from grating lobes, a dominant feature in linear arrays with real weights. A simulation study is presented for linear and spherical arrays, along with an experimental investigation, validating the theoretical developments.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2401.02285,
  title  = {Optimal Real-Weighted Beamforming With Application to Linear and Spherical Arrays},
  author = {V. Tourbabin and M. Agmon and B. Rafaely and J. Tabrikian},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2401.02285},
  year   = {2024}
}