  In this paper, we introduce a new framework for robust multiple signal
classification (MUSIC). The proposed framework, called robust
measure-transformed (MT) MUSIC, is based on applying a transform to the
probability distribution of the received signals, i.e., transformation of the
probability measure defined on the observation space. In robust MT-MUSIC, the
sample covariance is replaced by the empirical MT-covariance. By judicious
choice of the transform we show that: 1) the resulting empirical MT-covariance
is B-robust, with bounded influence function that takes negligible values for
large norm outliers, and 2) under the assumption of spherically contoured noise
distribution, the noise subspace can be determined from the eigendecomposition
of the MT-covariance. Furthermore, we derive a new robust measure-transformed
minimum description length (MDL) criterion for estimating the number of
signals, and extend the MT-MUSIC framework to the case of coherent signals. The
proposed approach is illustrated in simulation examples that show its
advantages as compared to other robust MUSIC and MDL generalizations.
