Array Signal Processing for Small Antenna Arrays

Electrically small antenna arrays have some special features which differentiate them from larger arrays. This has an impact on the processing of the signals captured by such arrays. Yet most works published in the array signal processing literature do not take this into account and apply the same algorithms to large and small arrays. In this paper we discuss the importance of using directivity rather than the standard beam pattern when using electrically small arrays. We demonstrate the tradeoff between directivity and noise sensitivity when using a superdirective beamformer.