3D Cramér-Rao Lower Bound Evaluation for ATSC Signal Based Passive Radar Systems

The measurements accuracy of passive radar systems plays an important role in their detection and tracking performance. Since passive radar systems do not transmit their own waveforms, the passive radar designer can improve the system performance by selecting the emitter that provides the best estimation accuracy for radar parameters. In this paper, the modified Cramér-Rao lower bound (MCRLB) of the advanced television system committee (ATSC) signal, which is the pervasive digital television (DTV) signal of North America, is calculated taking into account the heights of the transmitter, receiver and target. The 3D range MCRLB is analyzed in this paper for different bistatic geometries. Finally, an example of the Columbus, Ohio area with a single receiver located at The Ohio State University and multiple DTV illuminators is provided to select the optimal illuminator that exhibits the lowest range MCRLB, taking into account target altitudes.