Maximum likelihood localization of multiple sources by alternating projection

Abstract

An algorithm, referred to as APM, for computing the maximum-likelihood estimator of the locations of simple sources in passive sensor arrays is presented. The algorithm is equally applicable to the case of coherent signals and to the case of a single snapshot. The algorithm is iterative; the maximum of the likelihood function is computed by successive approximations. The convergence of the algorithm to the global maximum is demonstrated for a variety of scenarios. The key to this global convergence is the initialization scheme.