Capon's Beamformer and Minimum Mean Square Error Beamforming Techniques in Direction of Arrival Estimation

Abstract

Direction of arrival (DoA) estimation is among the most common applications of array signal processing. Capon's beamformer is a commonly used technique that enables high DoA estimation accuracy under certain conditions. Minimum mean square error (MMSE) beamforming has not been studied as commonly as Capon's beamformer since it requires the signal characteristics of the targets, which are typically unknown. In this work, an MMSE beamforming based DoA estimation technique is presented and Capon's beamformer is derived by using the presented technique. Hence, a new perspective on Capon's beamformer is provided.