2-D PBR Localization Complying With Constraints Forced by Active Radar Measurements

Abstract

A new algorithm for passive bistatic radar (PBR) localization is proposed via joint exploitation of multiple illuminators of opportunity and measurements gathered by a colocated active radar. Ad-hoc constraints within the localization process are bestowed accounting for both a priori information on the PBR receive antenna main-beam size and the uncertainty characterizing active radar data, i.e., the root mean square error (RMSE) of range/bearing measurements. Hence, the estimation task is cast as an elliptic positioning problem, according to the constrained least squares framework. The resulting non-convex optimization problem is globally solved providing a closed-form estimate in Cartesian coordinates. The performance of the proposed estimator, in terms of RMSE, exhibits sensible improvement with respect to counterparts. The proposed technique is also applied to the case of a dynamic scenario for a bi-sensor surveillance system, where the active rotating platform acquires measurements at each scanning period. The results show the localization performance improvement achieved when the system is complemented with a PBR staring in a specific search sector of interest.