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In this paper, the line spectral estimation (LSE) problem with multiple measurement vectors (MMVs) is studied utilizing the Bayesian methods. Motivated by the recently proposed variational line spectral estimation (VALSE) method, we develop the multisnapshot VALSE (MVALSE) for multi snapshot scenarios, which is especially important in array signal processing. The MVALSE shares the advantages of the VALSE method, such as automatically estimating the model order, noise variance, weight variance, and providing the uncertain degrees of the frequency estimates. It is shown that the MVALSE can be viewed as applying the VALSE with single measurement vector (SMV) to each snapshot, and combining the intermediate data appropriately. Furthermore, the Seq-MVALSE is developed to perform sequential estimation. Finally, numerical results are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the MVALSE method, compared to the state-of-the-art methods in the MMVs setting.

Sparse Bayesian learning (SBL) has emerged as a fast and competitive method to perform sparse processing. The SBL algorithm, which is developed using a Bayesian framework, approximately solves a non-convex optimization problem using fixed point updates. It provides comparable performance and is significantly faster than convex optimization techniques used in sparse processing. We propose a signal model which accounts for dictionary mismatch and the presence of errors in the weight vector at low signal-to-noise ratios. A fixed point update equation is derived which incorporates the statistics of mismatch and weight errors. We also process observations from multiple dictionaries. Noise variances are estimated using stochastic maximum likelihood. The derived update equations are studied quantitatively using beamforming simulations applied to direction-of-arrival (DoA). Performance of SBL using single- and multi-frequency observations, and in the presence of aliasing, is evaluated. SwellEx-96 experimental data demonstrates qualitatively the advantages of SBL., Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures

To provide constraints on their inversion, ocean sound speed profiles (SSPs) often are modeled using empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs). However, this regularization, which uses the leading order EOFs with a minimum-energy constraint on their coefficients, often yields low resolution SSP estimates. In this paper, it is shown that dictionary learning, a form of unsupervised machine learning, can improve SSP resolution by generating a dictionary of shape functions for sparse processing (e.g. compressive sensing) that optimally compress SSPs; both minimizing the reconstruction error and the number of coefficients. These learned dictionaries (LDs) are not constrained to be orthogonal and thus, fit the given signals such that each signal example is approximated using few LD entries. Here, LDs describing SSP observations from the HF-97 experiment and the South China Sea are generated using the K-SVD algorithm. These LDs better explain SSP variability and require fewer coefficients than EOFs, describing much of the variability with one coefficient. Thus, LDs improve the resolution of SSP estimates with negligible computational burden., Comment: Published in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

The directions of arrival (DOA) of plane waves are estimated from multi-snapshot sensor array data using Sparse Bayesian Learning (SBL). The prior source amplitudes is assumed independent zero-mean complex Gaussian distributed with hyperparameters the unknown variances (i.e. the source powers). For a complex Gaussian likelihood with hyperparameter the unknown noise variance, the corresponding Gaussian posterior distribution is derived. For a given number of DOAs, the hyperparameters are automatically selected by maximizing the evidence and promote sparse DOA estimates. The SBL scheme for DOA estimation is discussed and evaluated competitively against LASSO ($\ell_1$-regularization), conventional beamforming, and MUSIC, Comment: submitted to Signal Processing Letters

A non-parametric technique to identify weak sources within dense sensor arrays is developed using a network approach. No knowledge about the propagation medium is needed except that signal strengths decay to insignificant levels within a scale that is shorter than the aperture. We then reinterpret the spatial covariance matrix of a wave field as a matrix whose support is a connectivity matrix of a network of vertices (sensors) connected into communities. These communities correspond to sensor clusters associated with individual sources. We estimate the support of the covariance matrix from limited-time data using a robust hypothesis test combined with a physical distance criterion. The latter ensures sufficient network sparsity to prevent vertex communities from forming by chance. We verify the approach on simulated data and quantify its reliability. The method is then applied to data from a dense 5200 element geophone array that blanketed 7$\times$10 km of the city of Long Beach (CA). The analysis exposes a helicopter traversing the array, oil production facilities, and reveals that low-frequency events tend to occur near roads.

The direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation problem involves the localization of a few sources from a limited number of observations on an array of sensors, thus it can be formulated as a sparse signal reconstruction problem and solved efficiently with compressive sensing (CS) to achieve high-resolution imaging. On a discrete angular grid, the CS reconstruction degrades due to basis mismatch when the DOAs do not coincide with the angular directions on the grid. To overcome this limitation, a continuous formulation of the DOA problem is employed and an optimization procedure is introduced, which promotes sparsity on a continuous optimization variable. The DOA estimation problem with infinitely many unknowns, i.e., source locations and amplitudes, is solved over a few optimization variables with semidefinite programming. The grid-free CS reconstruction provides high-resolution imaging even with non-uniform arrays, single-snapshot data and under noisy conditions as demonstrated on experimental towed array data., Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, journal paper

For a sound field observed on a sensor array, compressive sensing (CS) reconstructs the direction-of-arrival (DOA) of multiple sources using a sparsity constraint. The DOA estimation is posed as an underdetermined problem by expressing the acoustic pressure at each sensor as a phase-lagged superposition of source amplitudes at all hypothetical DOAs. Regularizing with an $\ell_1$-norm constraint renders the problem solvable with convex optimization, and promoting sparsity gives high-resolution DOA maps. Here, the sparse source distribution is derived using maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimates for both single and multiple snapshots. CS does not require inversion of the data covariance matrix and thus works well even for a single snapshot where it gives higher resolution than conventional beamforming. For multiple snapshots, CS outperforms conventional high-resolution methods, even with coherent arrivals and at low signal-to-noise ratio. The superior resolution of CS is demonstrated with vertical array data from the SWellEx96 experiment for coherent multi-paths., Comment: In press Journal of Acoustical Society of America

Waves from a sparse set of source hidden in additive noise are observed by a sensor array. We treat the estimation of the sparse set of sources as a generalized complex-valued LASSO problem. The corresponding dual problem is formulated and it is shown that the dual solution is useful for selecting the regularization parameter of the LASSO when the number of sources is given. The solution path of the complex-valued LASSO is analyzed. For a given number of sources, the corresponding regularization parameter is determined by an order-recursive algorithm and two iterative algorithms that are based on a further approximation. Using this regularization parameter, the DOAs of all sources are estimated., Comment: submitted to IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, 09-Aug-2015