Measurement and analysis of ambiguity functions of off-air signals for passive coherent location

Abstract

Passive coherent location (PCL) radar systems make use of broadcast or communications ‘illuminators of opportunity’. To understand the performance limitations of this type of radar it is necessary to know the ambiguity properties of these waveforms, and how they vary with the form of modulation, and as a function of time. A set of off-air measurements of signals that might be used for PCL systems are presented and analysed.