Loran-C Skywave Delay Estimation using Improved ESPRIT Techniques

A novel ESPRIT technique for estimating the delays of Loran-C skywave components is presented. This provides the basis for a new generation of receivers which may adjust its sampling points adoptively to the optimal values in a constantly-changing skywave environment. The signal model is setup using spectral-division technique for isolating groundwave and skywave components of Loran-C signal. The performance of this technique is evaluated and compared with FFT, Eigenvector algorithm. The simulation results show that the ESPRIT algorithm yields good estimation accuracy and that it can also operate successfully with noisy signals.