Signal processing system

Abstract

An adaptive array signal processing system employs a correlation discriminant operator or signal recognizer. The operation of the signal recognizer is dependent upon noise decorrelation rather than noise filtering, so that an unbiased, although sometimes noisy, measurement of desired signal power can be effected on an instantaneous basis. In the signal recognizer, an input signal, as derived from the summation of a plurality of weighted signal receiver outputs, e.g. antenna voltages, and containing both information and noise, is combined with an a priori reference signal through a time delay multiplication process. The combined or output signal of the signal recognizer contains an information component that is effectively correlated with the information component in the input and a noise component that is effectively uncorrelated with any other signal in the system. Within the adaptive system of the present invention, the signal recognizer is incorporated in a weight control circuit that employs a positive signal feedback network for obtaining an optimal signal-to-noise ratio. Within the weight control circuit, the correlation discriminant operator properties are advantageously employed to cause desired terms, namely, the signal components of interest, to largely retain their correlation properties, while causing the undesired terms, e.g. noise, jamming, etc., to become uncorrelated with other signals, so that a weight control signal that achieves a maximizing of the signal-to-noise ratio can be produced.