In order to improve the performance of antenna array beamforming, a semi-virtual antenna array beamforming method is proposed based on covariance matrix expansion. The sample covariance matrix is expanded, and virtual array elements are formed. The performance of the semi-virtual antenna array beamforming method is as good as the virtual antenna array beamforming methods, which are better than the conventional adaptive beamforming methods. In addition, the computational complexity of the semi-virtual antenna array beamforming method, which is greatly reduced compared with the virtual antenna array beamforming methods, is equal to that of the conventional adaptive beamforming methods. The fast calculation method of the optimal weight vector of the semi-virtual antenna array beamforming method is given in this paper. The validity and applicability of the proposed method is verified by simulation results.
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