Target detection and positioning in correlated scattering using widely distributed MIMO radar

Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radars use different sources of diversity to improve the performance of the radar. A MIMO radar in which angular diversity is achieved by using widely distributed antennas has been proposed to reduce the impact of the fluctuations of the target radar cross-section. This type of system is also known as the statistical MIMO radar. Typically, it has been assumed that the scattering amplitudes of the signals received by different antennas are either fully correlated or independent depending on the configuration. However, the antennas may see similar aspects of the target in some situations leading to correlation in the scattering. In this paper, we show how the correlation of the scattering can be exploited to improve the probability of detection and positioning. This is achieved by using a parametric model for the correlation of the scattering. We also investigate how the correlation can be used for estimating the direction of arrival with an uncalibrated MIMO radar system.