A Single-Observer Passive Location Algorithm Base on Weighted Least Squares Criterion

Passive location system that locates “silent” targets using an non-cooperative opportunistic source (also called external illuminator) is great importance in a variety of applications. To solve the problem of using a single observation station to receive a single external radiation source signal to realize the target location, the paper proposes a weighted least squares location algorithm combining direction finding and time difference information. In this algorithm, the location problem is constructed as a weighted least squares model considering the error of each measurement information, and then the grid search strategy is used to solve the model to obtain the target location. After that, the positioning error of the algorithm is theoretically analyzed, and the influence of direction finding error, measurement time difference error, observation station position error and external radiation source position error on the target positioning error is studied. Finally, the performance of the algorithm is verified by several simulation tests.