Experimental Validation of Super-Resolution Beamforming Using Multiplicative Array Processing

Beamforming with conventional array processing utilizes linear, additive processing techniques to combine the signals from the different array elements. In previous work, a multiplicative processing technique was proposed for combining the signals from sensor arrays for super-resolution beamforming. The multiplicative processing technique is derived from standard linear array processing concepts and was shown to emulate the performance of larger array apertures. In this paper, experimental measurements from an acoustic sensor array are used to validate the proposed method for direction-of-arrival (DoA) estimation by comparing these results with those from linear processing of measurements from much larger aperture arrays. The processing results show that the multiplicative processing of experimental measurements from smaller apertures perform as well as linear processing of measurements from larger apertures.