Statistical Properties of Target Localization Using Passive Radar Systems

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Viberg, Mats, Gerosa, Daniele, McKelvey, Tomas, Eriksson, Thomas
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866908794379829248
author Viberg, Mats
Gerosa, Daniele
McKelvey, Tomas
Eriksson, Thomas
author_facet Viberg, Mats
Gerosa, Daniele
McKelvey, Tomas
Eriksson, Thomas
contents Passive Radar Systems have received tremendous attention during the past few decades, due to their low cost and ability to remain covert during operation. Such systems do not transmit any energy themselves, but rely on a so-called Illuminator-of-Opportunity (IO), for example a commercial TV station. A network of Receiving Nodes (RN) receive the direct signal as well as reflections from possible targets. The RNs transmit information to a Central Node (CN), that performs the final target detection, localization and tracking. A large number of methods and algorithms for target detection and localization have been proposed in the literature. In the present contribution, the focus is on the seminal Extended Cancelation Algorithm (ECA), in which each RN estimates target parameters after canceling interference from the direct-path as well as clutter from unwanted stationary objects. This is done by exploiting a separate Reference Channel (RC), which captures the IO signal without interference apart from receiver noise. We derive the statistical properties of the ECA parameter estimates under the assumption of a high Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), and we give a sufficient condition for the SNR in the RC to enable statistically efficient estimates. The theoretical results are corroborated through computer simulations, which show that the theory agrees well with empirical results above a certain SNR threshold. The results can be used to predict the performance of passive radar systems in given scenarios, which is useful for feasibility studies as well as system design.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_20817
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Statistical Properties of Target Localization Using Passive Radar Systems
Viberg, Mats
Gerosa, Daniele
McKelvey, Tomas
Eriksson, Thomas
Signal Processing
Passive Radar Systems have received tremendous attention during the past few decades, due to their low cost and ability to remain covert during operation. Such systems do not transmit any energy themselves, but rely on a so-called Illuminator-of-Opportunity (IO), for example a commercial TV station. A network of Receiving Nodes (RN) receive the direct signal as well as reflections from possible targets. The RNs transmit information to a Central Node (CN), that performs the final target detection, localization and tracking. A large number of methods and algorithms for target detection and localization have been proposed in the literature. In the present contribution, the focus is on the seminal Extended Cancelation Algorithm (ECA), in which each RN estimates target parameters after canceling interference from the direct-path as well as clutter from unwanted stationary objects. This is done by exploiting a separate Reference Channel (RC), which captures the IO signal without interference apart from receiver noise. We derive the statistical properties of the ECA parameter estimates under the assumption of a high Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), and we give a sufficient condition for the SNR in the RC to enable statistically efficient estimates. The theoretical results are corroborated through computer simulations, which show that the theory agrees well with empirical results above a certain SNR threshold. The results can be used to predict the performance of passive radar systems in given scenarios, which is useful for feasibility studies as well as system design.
title Statistical Properties of Target Localization Using Passive Radar Systems
topic Signal Processing
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.20817