Cramer-Rao Bounds and Selection of Bistatic Channels for Multistatic Radar Systems

Abstract

In this paper we deal with the problem of calculating the Cramer-Rao lower bounds (CRLBs) for bistatic radar channels. To this purpose we exploited the relation between the ambiguity function (AF) and the CRLB. The bistatic CRLBs are analyzed and compared with the monostatic counterparts as a function of the bistatic geometric parameters. In the bistatic case both geometry factors and transmitted waveforms play an important role in the shape of the AF, and therefore in the estimation accuracy of the target range and velocity. In particular, the CRLBs depend on the target direction of arrival (DOA), the bistatic baseline length (BBL), and the distance between the target and the receiver. The CRLBs are then used to select the "optimum" bistatic channel (or set of channels) for the tracking of a radar target moving along a trajectory in a multistatic scenario.