Frequency invariant MVDR beamforming without filters and implementation using MIMO radar

Abstract

Frequency invariant beamforming with sensor arrays is generally achieved using filters in the form of tapped delay-lines following each sensor. However it has been recently shown that with the help of the rectangular smart antenna array, it is possible to generate frequency invariant beampattern without using filters. In this paper, this frequency invariant beamforming technique is utilized to perform MVDR beamforming in the beamspace by designing frequency invariant beams spanning the desired range of azimuthal angles and optimally combining them. However, the performance of the frequency invariant beamformer depends on the number of sensors which could be large for a rectangular array of size M × N. Making use of the virtual array concept used in MIMO radar, a novel method of producing the same frequency invariant beam, using only M transmitting and N receiving antennas, is proposed and a design example is provided to demonstrate the idea.