Comparative Analysis of Two Frequency-Domain Beamforming Algorithms for Passive Underwater Surveillance Systems

The paper provides a comparative analysis of two frequency-domain beamforming (FDBF) algorithms in terms of their detection capability along with their implementation aspects i.e. execution times on general purpose processors. The two algorithms namely 2D-FFT beamforming and FFT with array steering vector multiplication (FFT-ASVM) have been compared in the context of linear array processing. MATLAB simulations of these algorithms have been developed and applied on linear array data. Outcome of these simulations show that FFT-ASVM algorithm is better than the 2D-FFT algorithm for accurate detection of both strong and weak targets in the presence of noise. In addition, the paper shows that FDBF algorithms are easy to implement on general purpose processors as their execution times remain well within the real-time processing requirements.