Simple and efficient nonparametric method for estimating the number of signals without eigendecomposition

A nonparametric method is proposed for estimating the number of signals without eigendecomposition (MENSE) for the coherent narrowband signals impinging on a uniform linear array (ULA). The results have shown that MENSE is superior in detecting closely spaced signals with a small number of snapshots and at relatively low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).