Complex-Valued Gaussian Processes for Regression

In this paper we propose a novel Bayesian kernel based solution for regression in complex fields. We develop the formulation of the Gaussian process for regression (GPR) to deal with complex-valued outputs. Previous solutions for kernels methods usually assume a complexification approach, where the real-valued kernel is replaced by a complexvalued one. However, based on the results in complex-valued linear theory, we prove that both a kernel and a pseudo-kernel are to be included in the solution. This is the starting point to develop the new formulation for the complex-valued GPR. The obtained formulation resembles the one of the widely linear minimum mean-squared (WLMMSE) approach. Just in the particular case where the outputs are proper, the pseudo-kernel cancels and the solution simplifies to a real-valued GPR structure, as the WLMMSE does into a strictly linear solution. We include some numerical experiments to show that the novel solution, denoted as widely non-linear complex GPR (WCGPR), outperforms a strictly complex GPR where a pseudo-kernel is not included.