SINR Modeling for Evaluating the CRLB for ATSC Signal Based Passive Radar Systems

Passive radar systems, which are inherently bistatic, can use multiple transmitters of opportunity that are spatially distributed to improve the detection and tracking performance. The Cramér-Rao lower bound (CRLB), which bounds the error variance of the radar range and velocity estimates, provides a quantitative way to evaluate the performance of a multistatic radar system by selecting the emitter that provides the best estimation accuracy for the radar parameters. The range and velocity modified Cramér-Rao lower bound (MCRLB) was derived for the advanced television system committee (ATSC) signal which is the digital television standards in North America. This work discusses the effect of varying the signal to interference noise ratio on the MCRLB as a result of using multiple transmitters with different geometries and a moving target, by accounting for the direct signal interference (DSI) component which results from the continuous nature of the passive radar signals. An example is provided for calculating the range and velocity MCRLB in Columbus, Ohio for one receiver site located in the Ohio State University ElectroScience (OSU-ESL) and multiple digital television (DTV) transmitters with different geometries. Optimal emitter maps are plotted showing the emitter that provides the best range and velocity measurement accuracy in the analyzed area.