This paper is focused on estimators, both batch and adaptive, of the eigenv
alue decomposition (EVD) of centrosymmetric (CS) covariance matrices. These
estimators make use of the property that eigenvectors and eigenvalues of s
uch structured matrices can be estimated via two decoupled eigensystems. As
a result, the number of operations is roughly halved, and moreover, the st
atistical properties of the estimators are improved. After deriving the asy
mptotic distribution of the EVD estimators, the closed-form expressions of
the asymptotic bias and covariance of the EVD estimators are compared to th
ose obtained when the CS structure is not taken into account. As a by-produ
ct, we show that the closed-form expressions of the asymptotic bias and cov
ariance of the batch and adaptive EVD estimators are very similar provided
that the number of samples is replaced by the inverse of the step size. Fin
ally, the accuracy of our asymptotic analysis is checked by numerical simul
ations, and it is found that the convergence speed is also improved thanks
to the use of the CS structure. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights r
eserved.