# 21.4. Compressive Sampling Matching Pursuit#

In this section, we look at an algorithm named CoSaMP (Compressive Sampling Matching Pursuit) developed in [61]. This algorithm follows in the tradition of orthogonal matching pursuit while bringing in other ideas from many recent developments in the field leading to an algorithm which is much more robust, fast and provides much stronger guarantees.

This algorithm has many impressive features:

• It can work with a variety of sensing matrices.

• It works with minimal number of measurements (c.f. basis pursuit).

• It is robust against presence of measurement noise (OMP does not have such a claim).

• It provides optimal error guarantees for every signal (sparse signals, compressible signals, completely arbitrary signals).

• The algorithm is quite efficient in terms of resource (memory, CPU) requirements.

As we move along in this section, we will understand the algorithm and validate all of these claims. Hopefully through this process we will have a very good understanding of how to evaluate the quality of signal recovery algorithm.

## 21.4.1. Algorithm#

The algorithm itself is presented in Algorithm 21.4.

Algorithm 21.4 (CoSaMP for iterative sparse signal recovery)

Inputs:

• Sensing matrix $$\Phi \in \CC^{M \times N}$$

• Measurement vector: $$\by \in \CC^M$$ where $$\by = \Phi \bx + \be$$

• Sparsity level: $$K$$

Outputs:

• $$\bz$$: a $$K$$-sparse approximation of the signal:$$\bx \in \CC^N$$

Initialization:

1. $$\bz^0 \leftarrow \bzero$$ # Initial approximation

2. $$\br^0 \leftarrow \by$$ # Residual $$\by - \Phi \bz$$

3. $$k \leftarrow 0$$ # Iteration counter

Algorithm:

1. If halting criteria is satisfied: break.

2. $$k \leftarrow k + 1$$.

3. $$\bp \leftarrow \Phi^H \br^{k-1}$$ # Form signal proxy

4. $$\Omega = \supp(\bp|_{2K})$$ # Identify $$2K$$ large components

5. $$T \leftarrow \Omega \cup \supp(\bz^{k-1})$$ # Merge supports

6. $$\bb_T \leftarrow \Phi_T^{\dag} \by$$ # Estimation by least-squares

7. $$\bb_{T^c} \leftarrow \bzero$$

8. $$\bz^k \leftarrow \bb|_K$$ # Prune to obtain next approximation

9. $$\br^k \leftarrow \by - \Phi \bz^k$$ # Update residual

10. Go to step 1.

Let us set out the notation before proceeding further. Most of the things are as usual, with few minor updates.

• $$\bx \in \CC^N$$ represents the signal which is to be estimated through the algorithm. $$\bx$$ is unknown to us within the algorithm.

• $$N$$ is the dimension of ambient signal space, $$K \ll N$$ is the sparsity level of of the approximation of $$\bx$$ that we are estimating and $$M$$ is the dimension of measurement space (number of measurements $$K < M \ll N$$).

• We note that $$\bx$$ itself may not be $$K$$-sparse.

• Our algorithm is designed to estimate a $$K$$-sparse approximation of $$\bx$$.

• $$\Phi \in \CC^{M \times N}$$ represents the sensing matrix. It is known to the algorithm.

• $$\by = \Phi \bx + \be$$ represents the measurement vector belonging to $$\CC^M$$. This is known to the algorithm.

• $$\be \in \CC^M$$ represents the measurement noise which is unknown to us within the algorithm.

• $$k$$ represents the iteration (or step) counter within the algorithm.

• $$\bz \in \CC^N$$ represents our estimate of $$\bx$$. $$\bz$$ is updated iteratively.

• $$\bz^k$$ represents the estimate of $$\bx$$ at the end of $$k$$-th iteration.

• We start with $$\bz^0=\bzero$$ and update it in each iteration.

• $$\bp \in \CC^N$$ represents a proxy for $$\bx- \bz^{k-1}$$. We will explain it shortly.

• $$T$$, $$\Omega$$ etc. represent index sets (subsets of $$\{1,2,\dots, N\}$$).

• For any $$\bv \in \CC^N$$ and any index set $$T \subseteq \{1,2,\dots, N\}$$, $$\bv_T$$ can mean either of the two things:

• A vector in $$\CC^{|T|}$$ consisting of only those entries in $$\bv$$ which are indexed by $$T$$.

• A vector in $$\CC^N$$ whose entries indexed by $$T$$ are same as that of $$\bv$$ while entries indexed by $$\{1,2,\dots, N\} \setminus T$$ are set all to zero.

(21.19)#$\begin{split}v_{T}(i) = \left\{ \begin{array}{ll} v(i) & \mbox{if i \in T};\\ 0 & \mbox{otherwise}. \end{array} \right.\end{split}$
• For any $$\bv \in \CC^N$$ and any integer $$1 \leq n \leq N$$, $$\bv|_n$$ means a vector in $$\CC^N$$ which consists of the $$n$$ largest (in magnitude) entries of $$\bv$$ (at the corresponding indices) while rest of the entries in $$\bv|_n$$ are 0.

• With an index set $$T$$, $$\Phi_T$$ means an $$M \times |T|$$ matrix consisting of selected columns of $$\Phi$$ indexed by $$T$$.

• $$\br \in \CC^M$$ represents the difference between the actual measurement vector $$\by$$ and estimated measurement vector $$\Phi \bz$$.

• Ideal estimate of $$\br$$ would be $$\be$$ itself. But that won’t be possible to achieve in general.

• $$\bx|_K$$ is the best $$K$$-sparse approximation of $$\bx$$ which can be estimated by our algorithm (Definition 18.13).

Example 21.1 (Clarifying the notation in CoSaMP)

1. Let us consider

$\bx = (-1, 5, 8, 0, 0, -3, 0, 0, 0, 0)$
2. Then

$\bx|_2 = (0, 5, 8, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0)$
3. Also

$\bx|_4 = \bx$

since $$\bx$$ happens to be $$4$$-sparse.

4. For $$\Lambda = \{1,2,3,4\}$$, we have

$x_{\{1,2,3,4\}} = (-1, 5, 8, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0)$

or

$x_{\{1,2,3,4\}} = (-1, 5, 8, 0)$

in different contexts.

### 21.4.1.1. The Signal Proxy#

As we have learnt by now that the most challenging part in a signal recovery algorithm is to identify the support of the $$K$$-sparse approximation. OMP identifies one index in the support at each iteration and hopes that it never makes any mistakes. It ends up taking $$K$$ iterations and solving $$K$$ least squares problems. If there could be a simple way which could identify the support quickly (even if roughly), that can help in tremendously accelerating the algorithm. The fundamental innovation in CoSaMP is to identify the support through the signal proxy.

1. If $$\bx$$ is $$K$$-sparse and $$\Phi$$ satisfies RIP (see Restricted Isometry Property) of order $$K$$ with the restricted isometry constant $$\delta_K \ll 1$$ then it can be argued that $$\bp = \Phi^H \Phi \bx$$ can serve as a proxy for the signal $$\bx$$.

2. In particular the largest $$K$$ entries of $$\bp$$ point towards the largest $$K$$ entries of $$\bx$$.

3. Although we don’t know $$\bx$$ inside the algorithm, yet we have access to $$\by = \Phi \bx$$ (assuming error to be $$\bzero$$), the proxy can be easily estimated by computing $$\bp = \Phi^H \by$$.

This is the key idea in CoSaMP.

1. Rather than identifying just one new index in support of $$\bx$$, it tries to identify whole of support by picking up the largest $$2K$$ entries of $$\bp$$.

2. It then solves a least squares problem around the columns of $$\Phi$$ indexed by this support set.

3. It keeps only the $$K$$ largest entries from the least squares solution as an estimate of $$\bx$$.

4. Of course there is no guarantee that in a single attempt the support of $$\bx$$ will be recovered completely.

5. Hence the residual between actual measurement vector $$\by$$ and estimated measurement vector $$\Phi \bz$$ is computed and it is used to identify other indices of $$\supp(\bx)$$ iteratively.

### 21.4.1.2. Core of Algorithm#

There are two things which are estimated in each iteration of algorithm

1. $$K$$-sparse estimate of $$\bx$$ at $$k$$-th step: $$\bz^k$$.

2. Residual at $$k$$-th step: $$\br^k$$.

Residual and proxy:

1. We start with a trivial estimate $$\bz^0 = \bzero$$ and improve it in each iteration.

2. $$\br^0$$ is nothing but the measurement vector $$\by$$.

3. As explained before $$\br^k$$ is the difference between actual measurement vector $$\by$$ and the estimated measurement vector $$\Phi \bz^k$$.

4. This $$\br^k$$ is used for computing the signal proxy at $$k$$-th step.

5. Concretely assuming $$\be=\bzero$$

$\bp = \Phi^H \br^k = \Phi^H (\by - \Phi \bz^k) = \Phi^H \Phi (\bx - \bz^k).$
6. Thus $$\bp$$ is the proxy of the difference between the original signal and the estimated signal.

During each iteration, the algorithm performs following tasks

1. [Identification] The algorithm forms a proxy of the residual $$\br^{k-1}$$ and locates the $$2K$$ largest entries of the proxy.

2. [Support merger] The set of newly identified indices is merged with the set of indices that appear in the current approximation $$\bz^{k-1}$$ (i.e. $$\supp(\bz^{k-1})$$).

3. [Estimation] The algorithm solves a least squares problem to approximate the signal $$\bx$$ on the merged set of indices.

4. [Pruning] The algorithm produces a new approximation $$\bz^k$$ by retaining only the largest $$K$$ entries in the least squares solution.

5. [Residual update] Finally the new residual $$\br^k$$ between original measurement vector $$\by$$ and estimated measurement vector $$\Phi \bz^k$$ is computed.

The steps are repeated until the halting criteria is reached. We will discuss the halting criteria in detail later. A possible halting criteria is when the norm of residual $$\br^k$$ reaches a very small value.

## 21.4.2. CoSaMP Analysis Sparse Case#

In this subsection, we will carry out a detailed theoretical analysis of CoSaMP algorithm for sparse signal recovery.

We will make following assumptions in the analysis:

• The sparsity level $$K$$ is fixed and known in advance.

• The signal $$\bx$$ is $$K$$-sparse (i.e. $$\bx \in \Sigma_K \subseteq \CC^N$$).

• The sensing matrix $$\Phi$$ satisfies RIP of order $$4K$$ with $$\delta_{4K} \leq 0.1$$.

• Measurement error $$\be \in \CC^M$$ is arbitrary.

For each iteration, we need to define one more quantity: recovery error

$\bd^k = \bx - \bz^k.$

The quantity $$\bd^k$$ captures the difference between actual signal $$\bx$$ and estimated signal $$\bz^k$$ at the end of $$k$$-th iteration.

1. Under ideal recovery, $$\bd^k$$ should become $$\bzero$$ as $$k$$ increases.

2. Since we don’t know $$\bx$$ within the algorithm, we cannot see $$\bd^k$$ directly.

3. We do have following equation

$\begin{split} \br^k &= \by - \Phi \bz^k\\ &= \Phi \bx + \be - \Phi \bz^k \\ &= \Phi (\bx - \bz^k) + \be \\ &= \Phi \bd^k + \be. \end{split}$
4. We will show that in each iteration, CoSaMP reduces the recovery error by a constant factor while adding a small multiple of the measurement noise $$\|\be\|_2$$.

5. As a result, when recovery error is large compared to measurement noise, the algorithm makes substantial progress in each step.

6. The algorithm stops making progress when recovery error is of the order of measurement noise.

We will consider some iteration $$k \geq 1$$ and analyze the behavior of each of the steps: identification, support merger, estimation, pruning and residual update one by one.

1. At the beginning of the iteration we have

$\br^{k-1} = \Phi (\bx - \bz^{k - 1}) + \be = \Phi \bd^{k - 1} + \be.$
2. The quantities of interest are $$\bz^{k-1}$$, $$\br^{k-1}$$ and $$\bd^{k-1}$$ out of which $$\bd^{k-1}$$ is unknowable.

3. In order to simplify the equations below we will write

$\br = \br^{k-1}, \; \bz = \bz^{k-1} \; \text{ and } \bd = \bd^{k-1}.$
Table 21.1 Terms used in analysis#

Term

Description

Details

$$\bx$$

$$K$$ sparse signal

$$\Phi$$

Sensing matrix

$$\be$$

Measurement noise

$$\by$$

Measurement vector

$$\by = \Phi \bx + \be$$

$$\bz$$

A $$K$$ sparse estimate of $$\bx$$ at the beginning of the iteration

$$\bz = \bz^{k-1} = \bb|_K$$, $$\bb_T = \Phi_T^{\dag} \by$$

$$\br$$

Residual at the beginning of the iteration

$$\br = \br^{k -1} = \by - \Phi \bz^{k - 1}$$

$$\bd$$

Recovery error at the beginning of the iteration

$$\bd = \bd^{k-1} = \bx - \bz^{k-1}$$

$$\bp$$

The proxy for $$\bd$$

$$\bp - \Phi^H \br = \Phi^H (\Phi \bd^{k-1} + \be)$$

$$\Omega$$

The index set of largest $$2K$$ entries in $$\bp$$

### 21.4.2.1. Identification#

We start our analysis with the identification step in the main loop of CoSaMP (Algorithm 21.4).

1. We compute $$\bp = \Phi^H \br$$ and consider $$\Omega = \supp(\bp|_{2K})$$ as the index set of largest $$2K$$ indices in $$\bp$$.

2. We will show that most of the energy in $$\bd$$ (the recovery error) is concentrated in the entries indexed by $$\Omega$$.

3. In other words, we will be looking for a bound of the form

$\| \bd_{\Omega^c} \|_{2} \ll \| \bd \|_2.$
4. Since $$\bx$$ is $$K$$-sparse and $$\bz$$ is $$K$$-sparse hence $$\bd$$ is $$2K$$-sparse.

1. In first iteration where $$\bz^0 = \bzero$$, support of $$\bd^0$$ is same as support of $$\bx$$.

2. In later iterations it may include more indices.

5. Let

$\Gamma = \supp(\bd).$
6. We remind that $$\Omega$$ is known to us while $$\Gamma$$ is unknown to us.

7. Ideal case would be when $$\Gamma \subseteq \Omega$$.

8. Then we would have recovered whole of support of $$\bx$$; recovering $$\bx$$ would therefore be easier.

9. Let us examine what are the differences between the two sets.

10. We have $$|\Omega| \leq 2K$$ and $$|\Gamma| \leq 2K$$.

11. Moreover, $$\Omega$$ indexes $$2K$$ largest entries in $$\bp$$.

12. Thus we have (due to Theorem 18.18)

(21.20)#$\| \bp_{\Gamma} \|_2 \leq \| \bp_{\Omega} \|_2$

where $$\bp_{\Gamma}, \bp_{\Omega} \in \CC^N$$ are obtained from $$\bp$$ as per Definition 18.11.

13. Squaring (21.20) on both sides and expanding we get

$\sum_{\gamma \in \Gamma} |p_{\gamma}|^2 \leq \sum_{\omega \in \Omega} |p_{\omega}|^2.$
14. Now we do hope that some of the entries are common in both sides. Those entries are indexed by $$\Gamma \cap \Omega$$.

15. The remaining entries on L.H.S. are indexed by $$\Gamma \setminus \Omega$$ and on the R.H.S. are indexed by $$\Omega \setminus \Gamma$$.

16. Hence we have

(21.21)#$\| \bp_{\Gamma \setminus \Omega} \|_2^2 \leq \| \bp_{\Omega \setminus \Gamma} \|_2^2 \implies \| \bp_{\Gamma \setminus \Omega} \|_2 \leq \| \bp_{\Omega \setminus \Gamma} \|_2.$
17. For both $$\Gamma \setminus \Omega$$ and $$\Omega \setminus \Gamma$$ we have

$| \Gamma \setminus \Omega | \leq 2 K \; \text{ and } \; |\Omega \setminus \Gamma| \leq 2 K.$
18. The worst case happens when both sets are totally disjoint.

19. Let us first examine the R.H.S and find an upper bound for it.

$\begin{split} \| \bp_{\Omega \setminus \Gamma} \|_2 &= \| \Phi_{\Omega \setminus \Gamma}^H \br \|_2 \\ &= \| \Phi_{\Omega \setminus \Gamma}^H (\Phi \bd + \be) \|_2\\ & \leq \| \Phi_{\Omega \setminus \Gamma}^H \Phi \bd \|_2 + \| \Phi_{\Omega \setminus \Gamma}^H \be \|_2. \end{split}$

At this juncture, its worthwhile to scan various results in Restricted Isometry Property since we are going to need many of them in the following steps.

20. Let us look at the term $$\| \Phi_{\Omega \setminus \Gamma}^H \Phi \bd \|_2$$.

21. We have $$|\Omega \setminus \Gamma| \leq 2K$$.

22. Further $$\bd$$ is $$2K$$ sparse and sits over $$\Gamma$$ which is disjoint with $$\Omega \setminus \Gamma$$.

23. Together $$|\Gamma \cup \Omega| \leq 4K$$.

24. A straightforward application of Corollary 18.5 gives us

$\| \Phi_{\Omega \setminus \Gamma}^H \Phi \bd \|_2 \leq \delta_{4K} \| \bd \|_2.$
25. Similarly using Theorem 18.57 we get

$\| \Phi_{\Omega \setminus \Gamma}^H \be \|_2 \leq \sqrt{1 + \delta_{2K}} \| \be \|_2.$
26. Combining the two we get

(21.22)#$\| \bp_{\Omega \setminus \Gamma} \|_2 \leq \delta_{4K} \| \bd \|_2 + \sqrt{1 + \delta_{2K}} \| \be \|_2.$
27. We now look at L.H.S. and find a lower bound for it.

$\begin{split} \| \bp_{\Gamma \setminus \Omega} \|_2 &= \| \Phi_{\Gamma \setminus \Omega}^H \br \|_2 \\ &= \| \Phi_{\Gamma \setminus \Omega}^H (\Phi \bd + \be) \|_2. \end{split}$
28. We will split $$\bd$$ as

$\bd = \bd_{\Gamma \setminus \Omega} + \bd_{\Omega}.$
29. Further we will use a form of triangular inequality as

$\| \ba + \bb \| \geq \|\ba \| - \| \bb \|.$
30. We expand L.H.S.

$\begin{split} \| \Phi_{\Gamma \setminus \Omega}^H (\Phi \bd + \be) \|_2 &= \| \Phi_{\Gamma \setminus \Omega}^H \left (\Phi \left ( \bd_{\Gamma \setminus \Omega} + \bd_{\Omega} \right) + \be \right) \|_2\\ &\geq \| \Phi_{\Gamma \setminus \Omega}^H \Phi \bd_{\Gamma \setminus \Omega} \|_2 - \| \Phi_{\Gamma \setminus \Omega}^H \Phi \bd_{\Omega} \|_2 - \| \Phi_{\Gamma \setminus \Omega}^H \be \|_2. \end{split}$
31. As before

$\| \Phi_{\Gamma \setminus \Omega}^H \Phi \bd_{\Gamma \setminus \Omega} \|_2 = \| \Phi_{\Gamma \setminus \Omega}^H \Phi_{\Gamma \setminus \Omega} \bd_{\Gamma \setminus \Omega} \|_2.$
32. We can use the lower bound from Theorem 18.59 to give us

$\| \Phi_{\Gamma \setminus \Omega}^H \Phi_{\Gamma \setminus \Omega} \bd_{\Gamma \setminus \Omega} \|_2 \geq (1 - \delta_{2K}) \| \bd_{\Gamma \setminus \Omega} \|_2$

since $$|\Gamma \setminus \Omega| \leq 2K$$.

33. For the other two terms we need to find their upper bounds since they appear in negative sign.

34. Applying Corollary 18.5 we get

$\| \Phi_{\Gamma \setminus \Omega}^H \Phi \bd_{\Omega} \|_2 \leq \delta_{2K} \| \bd\|_2.$
35. Again using Theorem 18.57 we get

$\| \Phi_{\Gamma \setminus \Omega}^H \be \|_2 \leq \sqrt{1 + \delta_{2K}} \| \be \|_2.$
36. Putting the three bounds together, we get a lower bound for L.H.S.

(21.23)#$\| \bp_{\Gamma \setminus \Omega} \|_2 \geq (1 - \delta_{2K}) \| \bd_{\Gamma \setminus \Omega} \|_2 - \delta_{2K} \| \bd\|_2 - \sqrt{1 + \delta_{2K}} \| \be \|_2.$
37. Finally plugging the upper bound from (21.22) and lower bound from (21.23) into (21.21) we get

$\begin{split} & (1 - \delta_{2K}) \| \bd_{\Gamma \setminus \Omega} \|_2 - \delta_{2K} \| \bd\|_2 - \sqrt{1 + \delta_{2K}} \| \be \|_2 \; \leq \; \delta_{4K} \| \bd \|_2 + \sqrt{1 + \delta_{2K}} \| \be \|_2\\ \implies & (1 - \delta_{2K}) \| \bd_{\Gamma \setminus \Omega} \|_2 \leq \left ( \delta_{2K} + \delta_{4K} \right )\| \bd \|_2 + 2 \sqrt{1 + \delta_{2K}} \| \be \|_2\\ \implies & \| \bd_{\Gamma \setminus \Omega} \|_2 \leq \frac{\left ( \delta_{2K} + \delta_{4K} \right )\| \bd \|_2 + 2 \sqrt{1 + \delta_{2K}} \| \be \|_2} {1 - \delta_{2K}}. \end{split}$
38. This result is nice but there is a small problem. We would like to get rid of $$\Gamma$$ from L.H.S. and get $$\bd_{\Omega^c}$$ instead.

39. Recall that

$\Omega^c = (\Gamma \cap \Omega^c) \cup (\Gamma^c \cap \Omega^c)$

where $$\Gamma \cap \Omega^c$$ and $$\Gamma^c \cap \Omega^c$$ are disjoint.

40. Thus

$\bd_{\Omega^c} = \bd_{\Gamma \cap \Omega^c} + \bd_{\Gamma^c \cap \Omega^c}.$
41. Since $$\bd$$ is $$\bzero$$ on $$\Gamma^c$$ (recall that $$\Gamma = \supp(\bd)$$), hence

$\bd_{\Gamma^c \cap \Omega^c} = \bzero.$
42. As a result

$\bd_{\Omega^c} = \bd_{\Gamma \cap \Omega^c} = \bd_{\Gamma \setminus \Omega}.$
43. This gives us

(21.24)#$\| \bd_{\Omega^c} \|_2 \leq \frac{\left ( \delta_{2K} + \delta_{4K} \right )\| \bd \|_2 + 2 \sqrt{1 + \delta_{2K}} \| \be \|_2} {1 - \delta_{2K}}.$
44. Let us simplify this equation by using $$\delta_{2K} \leq \delta_{4K} \leq 0.1$$ assumed at the beginning of the analysis.

45. This gives us

$1 - \delta_{2K} \geq 0.9,\; \delta_{2K} + \delta_{4K} \leq 0.2, \; 2 \sqrt{1 + \delta_{2K}} \leq 2 \sqrt{1.1} = 2.098.$
46. Thus we get

$\| \bd_{\Omega^c} \|_2 \leq \frac{ 0.2\| \bd \|_2 + 2.098 \| \be \|_2}{.9}.$
47. Simplifying

(21.25)#$\| \bd_{\Omega^c} \|_2 \leq 0.223 \| \bd \|_2 + 2.331 \| \be \|_2.$
48. This result tells us that in the absence of measurement noise, at least 78% of energy in the recovery error is indeed concentrated in the entries indexed by $$\Omega$$.

49. Moreover, if the measurement noise is small compared to the size of recovery error, then this concentration continues to hold.

50. Thus even if we don’t know $$\Gamma$$ directly, $$\Omega$$ is a close approximation for $$\Gamma$$.

We summarize the analysis for the identification step in the following lemma.

Lemma 21.2

Let $$\Phi$$ satisfy RIP of order $$4K$$ with $$\delta_{4K} \leq 0.1$$. At every iteration $$k$$ in CoSaMP algorithm, let $$\bd^{k - 1} = (\bx - \bz^{k - 1})$$ be the recovery error and $$\bp = \Phi^H \br^{k - 1}$$ be the signal proxy. The set $$\Omega = \supp(\bp|_{2K})$$ contains at most $$2K$$ indices and

(21.26)#$\| \bd^{k - 1}_{\Omega^c} \|_2 \leq 0.223 \| \bd^{k - 1} \|_2 + 2.331 \| \be \|_2.$

In other words, most of the energy in $$\bd^{k - 1}$$ is concentrated in the entries indexed by $$\Omega$$ when measurement noise is small.

### 21.4.2.2. Support Merger#

The next step in a CoSaMP iteration is support merger. Recalling from Algorithm 21.4, the step involves computing

$T = \Omega \cup \supp(\bz)$

i.e. we merge the support of current signal estimate $$\bz$$ with the newly identified set of indices $$\Omega$$.

In previous lemma we were able to show how well the recovery error is concentrated over the index set $$\Omega$$. But we didn’t establish anything concrete about how $$\bx$$ is concentrated. In the support merger step, we will be able to show that $$\bx$$ is highly concentrated over the index set $$T$$. For this we will need to find an upper bound on $$\|\bx_{T^c}\|_2$$ i.e. the energy of entries in $$\bx$$ which are not covered by $$T$$.

1. We recall that $$|\Omega| \leq 2K$$ and since $$\bz$$ is a $$K$$-sparse estimate of $$\bx$$ hence $$|\supp(\bz)| \leq K$$.

2. Thus

$|T | \leq 3K.$
3. Clearly

$T^c = \Omega^c \cap \supp(\bz)^c \subseteq \Omega^c.$
4. Further since $$\supp(\bz) \subseteq T$$ hence $$\bz_{T^c} = \bzero$$.

5. Thus

$\bx_{T^c} = (\bx - \bz)_{T^c} = \bd_{T^c}.$
6. Since $$T^c \subseteq \Omega^c$$ hence

$\| \bd_{T^c} \|_2 \leq \| \bd_{\Omega^c} \|_2.$
7. Combining these facts we can write

$\| \bx_{T^c} \|_2 = \| \bd_{T^c} \|_2 \leq \| \bd_{\Omega^c} \|_2.$
8. We summarize this analysis in following lemma.

Lemma 21.3

Let $$\Omega$$ be a set of at most $$2K$$ entries. The set $$T = \Omega \cup \supp(\bz^{k-1})$$ contains at most $$3K$$ entries, and

(21.27)#$\| \bx_{T^c} \|_2 \leq \| \bd_{\Omega^c} \|_2.$

Note that this inequality says nothing about how $$\Omega$$ is chosen. But we can use an upper bound on $$\| \bd_{\Omega^c} \|_2$$ from Lemma 21.2 to get an upper bound on $$\| \bx_{T^c} \|_2$$.

### 21.4.2.3. Estimation#

The next step is a least square estimate of $$\bx$$ over the columns indexed by $$T$$. Recalling from Algorithm 21.4 we compute

$\bb_T = \Phi_T^{\dag} \by = \Phi_T^{\dag} (\Phi \bx + \be).$
1. We also set $$\bb_{T^c} = \bzero$$.

2. We have

$\bb = \bb_T + \bb_{T^c} = \bb_T.$
3. Since $$|T| \leq 3K$$, $$\bb$$ is a $$3K$$-sparse approximation of $$\bx$$.

4. What we need here is a bound over the approximation error $$\| \bx - \bb \|_2$$.

5. We have already obtained a bound on $$\| \bx_{T^c} \|_2$$.

6. If an upper bound on $$\| \bx - \bb \|_2$$ depends on $$\| \bx_{T^c} \|_2$$ and measurement noise $$\|\be \|_2$$ that would be quite reasonable.

7. We start with splitting $$\bx$$ over $$T$$ and $$T^c$$.

$\bx = \bx_T + \bx_{T^c}.$
8. Since $$\supp(\bb) \subseteq T$$ hence

$\bx - \bb = \bx_T + \bx_{T^c} - \bb_T = (\bx_T - \bb_T) + \bx_{T^c}.$
9. This gives us

$\| \bx - \bb \|_2 \leq \| \bx_T - \bb_T \|_2 + \| \bx_{T^c} \|_2.$
10. We will now expand the term $$\| \bx_T - \bb_T \|_2$$.

$\| \bx_T - \bb_T \|_2 = \| \bx_T - \Phi_T^{\dag} (\Phi \bx + \be) \|_2 = \| \bx_T - \Phi_T^{\dag} (\Phi \bx_T + \Phi \bx_{T^c} + \be) \|_2$
11. Now since $$\Phi_T$$ is full column rank (since $$\Phi$$ satisfies RIP of order $$3K$$) hence $$\Phi_T^{\dag} \Phi_T = \bI$$.

12. Also $$\Phi \bx_T = \Phi_T \bx_T$$ (since column columns indexed by $$T$$ are involved).

13. This helps us cancel $$\bx_T - \Phi_T^{\dag} \Phi \bx_T$$.

14. Thus

$\| \bx_T - \bb_T \|_2 = \| \Phi_T^{\dag} (\Phi \bx_{T^c} + \be) \|_2 \leq \| (\Phi_T^H \Phi_T)^{-1} \Phi_T^H \Phi \bx_{T^c} \|_2 + \| \Phi_T^{\dag} \be \|_2.$
15. Let us look at the terms on R.H.S. one by one.

16. Let $$\bv = \Phi_T^H \Phi \bx_{T^c}$$.

17. Then

$\| (\Phi_T^H \Phi_T)^{-1} \Phi_T^H \Phi \bx_{T^c} \|_2 = \| (\Phi_T^H \Phi_T)^{-1} \bv \|_2.$
18. This perfectly fits Theorem 18.59 with $$|T| \leq 3K$$ giving us

$\| (\Phi_T^H \Phi_T)^{-1} \Phi_T \Phi \bx_{T^c} \|_2 \leq \frac{1}{1 - \delta_{3K}} \| \Phi_T^H \Phi \bx_{T^c}\|_2.$
19. Further, applying Corollary 18.5 we get

$\| \Phi_T^H \Phi \bx_{T^c}\|_2 \leq \delta_{4K} \| \bx_{T^c}\|_2$

since $$|T \cup \supp(\bx)| \leq 4K$$.

20. For the measurement noise term, applying Theorem 18.58 we get

$\| \Phi_T^{\dag} \be \|_2 \leq \frac{1}{\sqrt{1 - \delta_{3K}}} \|\be \|_2.$
21. Combining the above inequalities we get

$\| \bx - \bb \|_2 \leq \left [1 + \frac{\delta_{4K}}{1 - \delta_{3K}} \right ] \| \bx_{T^c}\|_2 + \frac{1}{\sqrt{1 - \delta_{3K}}} \|\be \|_2.$
22. Recalling our assumption that $$\delta_{3K} \leq \delta_{4K} \leq 0.1$$ we can simplify the constants to get

$\| \bx - \bb \|_2 \leq 1.112 \| \bx_{T^c}\|_2 + 1.0541 \| \be \|_2.$

We summarize the analysis in this step in the following lemma.

Lemma 21.4

Let $$T$$ be a set of at most $$3K$$ indices, and define the least squares signal estimate $$\bb$$ by the formula

$\bb_T = \Phi_T^{\dag} \by = \Phi_T^{\dag} (\Phi \bx + \be) \; \text{ and } \bb_{T^c} = \bzero.$

If $$\Phi$$ satisfies RIP of order $$4K$$ with $$\delta_{4K} \leq 0.1$$ then the following holds

$\| \bx - \bb \|_2 \leq 1.112 \| \bx_{T^c}\|_2 + 1.0541 \| \be \|_2.$

Note that the lemma doesn’t make any assumptions about how $$T$$ is arrived at except that $$|T| \leq 3K$$. Also, this analysis assumes that the least squares solution is of infinite precision given by $$\Phi_T^{\dag} \by$$. The approximation error in an iterative least squares solution needs to be separately analyzed to identify the number of required steps so that the least squares error is negligible.

### 21.4.2.4. Pruning#

The last step in the main loop of CoSaMP (Algorithm 21.4) is pruning.

We compute

$\bz^k = \bb|_K$

as the next estimate of $$\bx$$ by picking the $$K$$ largest entries in $$\bb$$.

1. We note that both $$\bx$$ and $$\bb|_K$$ can be regarded as $$K$$ term approximations of $$\bb$$.

2. As established in Theorem 18.18, $$\bb|_K$$ is the best $$K$$-term approximation of $$\bb$$.

3. Thus

$\| \bb - \bb|_K \|_2 \leq \|\bb - \bx \|_2.$
4. Now

$\| \bx - \bz^k \|_2 = \| \bx -\bb + \bb - \bb|_K \|_2 \leq \| \bx - \bb \|_2 + \| \bb - \bb|_K \|_2 \leq 2 \| \bx - \bb \|_2.$
5. This helps us establish that although the $$3K$$-sparse approximation $$\bb$$ is closer to $$\bx$$ compared to $$\bb|_K$$, but $$\bb|_K$$ is also not too bad approximation of $$\bx$$ while using only $$K$$ entries at most.

We summarize it in following lemma.

Lemma 21.5

The pruned estimate $$\bz^k = \bb|_K$$ satisfies

(21.28)#$\| \bx - \bz^k \|_2 = \| \bx - \bb|_K \|_2 \leq 2 \| \bx - \bb \|_2.$

### 21.4.2.5. The CoSaMP Iteration Invariant#

Having analyzed each of the steps in the main loop of CoSaMP algorithm, it is time for us to combine the analysis. Concretely, we wish to establish how much progress CoSaMP makes in each iteration. Following theorem provides an upper bound on how the recovery error changes from one iteration to next iteration. This theorem is known as the iteration invariant for the sparse case.

Theorem 21.4 (CoSaMP iteration invariant for exact sparse recovery)

Assume that $$\bx$$ is $$K$$-sparse. Assume that $$\Phi$$ satisfies RIP of order $$4K$$ with $$\delta_{4K} \leq 0.1$$. For each iteration number $$k \geq 1$$, the signal estimate $$\bz^k$$ is $$K$$-sparse and satisfies

$\| \bx - \bz^{k} \|_2 \leq \frac{1}{2} \| \bx - \bz^{k-1} \|_2 + 7.5 \|\be \|_2.$

In particular

$\| \bx - \bz^{k} \|_2 \leq 2^{-k} \| \bx \|_2 + 15 \| \be \|_2.$

This theorem helps us establish that if measurement noise is small, then the algorithm makes substantial progress in each iteration. The proof makes use of the lemmas developed above.

Proof. We run the proof in backtracking mode. We start from $$\bz^{k}$$ and go back step by step through pruning, estimation, support merger, and identification to connect it with $$\bz^{k-1}$$.

1. From Lemma 21.5 we have

$\| \bx - \bz^k \|_2 = \| \bx - \bb|_K \|_2 \leq 2 \| \bx - \bb \|_2.$
2. Applying Lemma 21.4 for the least squares estimation step gives us

$2 \| \bx - \bb \|_2 \leq 2 \cdot (1.112 \| \bx_{T^c}\|_2 + 1.0541 \| \be \|_2) = 2.224 \| \bx_{T^c}\|_2 + 2.1082 \| \be \|_2.$
3. Lemma 21.3 (Support merger) tells us that

$\| \bx_{T^c} \|_2 \leq \| \bd^{k - 1}_{\Omega^c} \|_2.$
4. This gives us

$\| \bx - \bz^k \|_2 \leq 2.224 \| \bd^{k - 1}_{\Omega^c} \|_2 + 2.1082 \| \be \|_2.$
5. From identification step we have Lemma 21.2

$\| \bd^{k - 1}_{\Omega^c} \|_2 \leq 0.223 \| \bd^{k - 1} \|_2 + 2.331 \| \be \|_2.$
6. This gives us

$\begin{split} \| \bx - \bz^k \|_2 &\leq 2.224 \left ( 0.223 \| \bd^{k - 1} \|_2 + 2.331 \| \be \|_2 \right ) + 2.1082 \| \be \|_2\\ &\leq 0.5 \| \bd^{k - 1} \|_2 + 7.5 \| \be \|_2\\ &= \frac{1}{2} \| \bx - \bz^{k - 1} \|_2 + 7.5 \| \be \|_2. \end{split}$

The constants have been simplified to make them look better.

7. For the 2nd result in this theorem, we add up the error at each stage as

$(1 + 2^{-1} + 2^{-2} + \dots + 2^{-(k-1)}) 7.5 \| \be \|_2 \leq 2 \cdot 7.5 \| \be\|_2 = 15 \| \be \|_2.$
8. At $$k=1$$ we have $$\bz^0 = \bzero$$.

9. This gives us the result

$\| \bx - \bz^{k} \|_2 \leq 2^{-k} \| \bx \|_2 + 15 \| \be \|_2.$

## 21.4.3. CoSaMP Analysis General Case#

Having completed the analysis for the sparse case (where the signal $$\bx$$ is $$K$$-sparse) it is time for us to generalize the analysis for the case where $$\bx$$ is assumed to be an arbitrary signal in $$\CC^N$$. Although it may look hard at first sight but there is a simple way to transform the problem into the problem of CoSaMP for the sparse case.

1. We decompose $$\bx$$ into its $$K$$-sparse approximation and the approximation error.

2. Further, we absorb the approximation error term into the measurement error term.

3. Since sparse case analysis is applicable for an arbitrary measurement error, this approach gives us an upper bound on the performance of CoSaMP over arbitrary signals.

$\bx = \bx - \bx|_K + \bx|_K$

where $$\bx|_K$$ is the best $$K$$-term approximation of $$\bx$$ (Theorem 18.18).

2. Thus we have

$\by = \Phi \bx + \be = \Phi (\bx - \bx|_K + \bx|_K) + \be = \Phi \bx|_K + \Phi (\bx - \bx|_K) + \be.$
3. We define

$\widehat{\be} = \Phi (\bx - \bx|_K) + \be.$
4. This lets us write

$\by = \Phi \bx|_K + \widehat{\be}.$
5. In this formulation, the problem is equivalent to recovering the $$K$$-sparse signal $$\bx|_K$$ from the measurement vector $$\by$$.

6. The results of CoSaMP Analysis Sparse Case and in particular the iteration invariant Theorem 21.4 apply directly.

7. The remaining problem is to estimate the norm of modified error $$\widehat{\be}$$.

8. We have

$\| \widehat{\be} \|_2 = \| \Phi (\bx - \bx|_K) + \be \|_2 \leq \| \Phi (\bx - \bx|_K) \|_2 + \|\be \|_2.$
9. Another result for RIP on the energy bound of embedding of arbitrary signals from Theorem 18.68 gives us

$\| \Phi (\bx - \bx|_K)\|_2 \leq \sqrt{ 1 + \delta_K} \left [ \| \bx - \bx|_K \|_2 + \frac{1}{\sqrt{K}} \| \bx - \bx|_K \|_1 \right ].$
10. Thus we have an upper bound on $$\|\widehat{\be} \|_2$$ given by

$\| \widehat{\be} \|_2 \leq \sqrt{ 1 + \delta_K} \left [ \| \bx - \bx|_K \|_2 + \frac{1}{\sqrt{K}} \| \bx - \bx|_K \|_1 \right ] + \|\be \|_2.$
11. Since we have assumed throughout that $$\delta_{4K} \leq 0.1$$, it gives us

$\| \widehat{\be} \|_2 \leq 1.05 \left [ \| \bx - \bx|_K \|_2 + \frac{1}{\sqrt{K}} \| \bx - \bx|_K \|_1 \right ] + \|\be \|_2.$
12. This inequality is able to combine measurement error and approximation error into a single expression.

13. To fix ideas further, we define the notion of unrecoverable energy in CoSaMP.

Definition 21.2 (Unrecoverable energy)

The unrecoverable energy in CoSaMP algorithm is defined as

$\nu = \left [ \| \bx - \bx|_K \|_2 + \frac{1}{\sqrt{K}} \| \bx - \bx|_K \|_1 \right ] + \|\be \|_2.$

This quantity measures the baseline error in the CoSaMP recovery consisting of measurement error and approximation error.

It is obvious that

$\| \widehat{\be} \|_2 \leq 1.05 \nu.$

We summarize this analysis in following lemma.

Lemma 21.6

Let $$\bx \in \CC^N$$ be an arbitrary signal. Let $$\bx|_K$$ be its best $$K$$-term approximation. The measurement vector $$\by = \Phi \bx + \be$$ can be expressed as $$\by = \Phi \bx|_K + \widehat{\be}$$ where

$\| \widehat{\be} \|_2 \leq 1.05 \left [ \| \bx - \bx|_K \|_2 + \frac{1}{\sqrt{K}} \| \bx - \bx|_K \|_1 \right ] + \|\be \|_2 \leq 1.05 \nu.$

We now move ahead with the development of the iteration invariant for the general case.

1. Invoking Theorem 21.4 for the iteration invariant for recovery of a sparse signal gives us

$\| \bx|_K - \bz^{k} \|_2 \leq \frac{1}{2} \| \bx|_K - \bz^{k-1} \|_2 + 7.5 \|\widehat{\be} \|_2.$
2. What remains is to generalize this inequality for the arbitrary signal $$\bx$$ itself.

3. We can write

$\| \bx|_K - \bx + \bx - \bz^{k} \|_2 \leq \frac{1}{2} \| \bx|_K - \bx + \bx - \bz^{k-1} \|_2 + 7.5 \|\widehat{\be} \|_2.$
4. We simplify L.H.S. as

$\| \bx|_K - \bx + \bx - \bz^{k} \|_2 = \|(\bx - \bz^{k}) - (\bx - \bx|_K)\|_2 \geq \| \bx - \bz^{k} \|_2 - \|\bx - \bx|_K \|_2.$
5. On the R.H.S. we expand as

$\| \bx|_K - \bx + \bx - \bz^{k-1} \|_2 \leq \| \bx - \bz^{k-1} \|_2 + \|\bx - \bx|_K \|_2.$
6. Combining the two we get

$\| \bx - \bz^{k} \|_2 \leq 0.5 \| \bx - \bz^{k-1} \|_2 + 1.5 \|\bx - \bx|_K \|_2 + 7.5 \|\widehat{\be} \|_2.$
7. Putting the estimate of $$\|\widehat{\be}\|_2$$ from Lemma 21.6 we get

$\| \bx - \bz^{k} \|_2 \leq 0.5 \| \bx - \bz^{k-1} \|_2 + 9.375 \|\bx - \bx|_K \|_2 + \frac{7.875}{\sqrt{K}}\| \bx - \bx|_K \|_1 + 7.5 \|\be \|_2.$
8. Now

$\begin{split} & 9.375 \|\bx - \bx|_K \|_2 + \frac{7.875}{\sqrt{K}}\| \bx - \bx|_K \|_1 + 7.5 \|\be \|_2 \\ & \leq 10 \left (\left [ \| \bx - \bx|_K \|_2 + \frac{1}{\sqrt{K}} \| \bx - \bx|_K \|_1 \right ] + \|\be \|_2 \right ). \end{split}$
9. Thus we write a simplified expression

$\| \bx - \bz^{k} \|_2 \leq 0.5 \| \bx - \bz^{k-1} \|_2 + 10 \nu$

where $$\nu$$ is the unrecoverable energy (Definition 21.2).

We can summarize the analysis for the general case in the following theorem.

Theorem 21.5 (CoSaMP iteration invariant for general signal recovery)

Assume that $$\Phi$$ satisfies RIP of order $$4K$$ with $$\delta_{4K} \leq 0.1$$. For each iteration number $$k \geq 1$$, the signal estimate $$\bz^k$$ is $$K$$-sparse and satisfies

$\| \bx - \bz^{k} \|_2 \leq \frac{1}{2} \| \bx - \bz^{k-1} \|_2 + 10 \nu.$

In particular

(21.29)#$\| \bx - \bz^{k} \|_2 \leq 2^{-k} \| \bx \|_2 + 20 \nu.$

Proof. 1st result was developed in the development before the theorem. For the 2nd result in this theorem, we add up the error at each stage as

$(1 + 2^{-1} + 2^{-2} + \dots + 2^{-(k-1)}) 10 \nu \leq 2 \cdot 10 \nu = 20 \nu.$

At $$k=1$$ we have $$\bz^0 = \bzero$$. This gives us the result.

### 21.4.3.1. SNR Analysis#

1. A sensible though unusual definition of signal-to-noise ratio (as proposed in [61]) is as follows

(21.30)#$\SNR = 10 \log \left ( \frac{\| \bx \|_2 }{ \nu}\right ).$
2. The whole of unrecoverable energy is treated as noise.

3. The signal $$\ell_2$$ norm rather than its square is being treated as the measure of its energy. This is the unusual part.

4. Yet the way $$\nu$$ has been developed, this definition is quite sensible.

5. Further we define the reconstruction SNR or recovery SNR as the ratio between signal energy and recovery error energy.

(21.31)#$\RSNR = 10 \log \left ( \frac{\| \bx \|_2 }{ \| \bx - \bz \|_2 }\right ).$
6. Both $$\SNR$$ and $$\RSNR$$ are expressed in dB.

7. Certainly we have

$\RSNR \leq \SNR.$
8. Let us look closely at the iteration invariant

$\| \bx - \bz^{k} \|_2 \leq 2^{-k} \| \bx \|_2 + 20 \nu.$
9. In the initial iterations, $$2^{-k} \| \bx \|_2$$ term dominates in the R.H.S.

10. Assuming

$2^{-k} \| \bx \|_2 \geq 20 \nu$

we can write

$\| \bx - \bz^{k} \|_2 \leq 2 \cdot 2^{-k} \| \bx \|_2.$
11. This gives us

$\begin{split}& \| \bx - \bz^{k} \|_2 \leq 2^{-k + 1} \| \bx \|_2 \\ \implies & \frac{\| \bx \|_2 }{ \| \bx - \bz \|_2 } \geq 2^{k-1}\\ \implies & \RSNR \geq 10 (k-1) \log 2 \geq 3 k - 3.\end{split}$
12. In the later iterations, the $$20\nu$$ term dominates in the R.H.S.

13. Assuming

$2^{-k} \| \bx \|_2 \leq 20 \nu$

we can write

$\| \bx - \bz^{k} \|_2 \leq 2 \cdot 20 \nu = 40 \nu.$
14. This gives us

$\begin{split}& \| \bx - \bz^{k} \|_2 \leq 40 \nu\\ \implies & \frac{\| \bx \|_2 }{ \| \bx - \bz \|_2 } \geq \frac{1}{40} \frac{\| \bx \|_2 }{ \nu }\\ \implies & \RSNR \geq \SNR - 10 \log 40 \geq \SNR - 16 = \SNR - 13 - 3.\end{split}$
15. We combine these two results into the following

(21.32)#$\RSNR \geq \min\{ 3 k, \SNR - 13 \} - 3.$
16. This result tells us that in the initial iterations the reconstruction SNR keeps improving by $$3$$dB per iteration till it hits the noise floor given by $$\SNR - 16$$ dB.

17. Thus roughly the number of iterations required for converging to the noise floor is given by

$k \approx \frac{\SNR - 13}{3}.$