Beampattern Synthesis With Blind Interference Suppression

We suggest an adaptive blind interference suppression (BIS) beamformer that synthesizes a desired beampattern. For a strong interference, the principal eigenvector of the data sample covariance matrix approaches the array response at the interference direction. The beamformer weight vector minimizes the distance from a desired beampattern subject to a zero response to this principal eigenvector. For a strong interference, uncorrelated with the desired signal, the asymptotic array gain (AG) of the BIS beamformer achieves the AG of the minimum power distortionless response (MPDR) beamformer. Simulations demonstrate that, for a finite number of samples, the AG of the BIS beamformer outperforms that of the MPDR beamformer and that it is not sensitive to sensor gain and phase errors.