Efficient wideband signal parameter estimation using a radon-ambiguity transform slice

A novel efficient technique based on a single slice Radon-ambiguity transform (RAT) for time-delay and time-scale estimation is proposed. The proposed approach combines the narrowband cross-ambiguity function (NBCAF), the wideband cross-ambiguity function (WBCAF), and a single slice RAT to estimate multiple target parameters in noisy environments. The square modulus of Gaussian-enveloped linear frequency modulated (GLFM) signals has high-energy centrality in the ambiguity plane. Its peaks in the NBCAF fall along nearly straight lines whose slopes depend on the Doppler rates of the moving targets. These lines could be effectively detected by computing the entire Radon transform of the NBCAF for all possible angles; however, it is a computationally intensive procedure. It is shown that without calculating the entire RAT, it is possible to estimate target parameters using only a single slice of the RAT, i.e., using an appropriate projection of the NBCAF. It is demonstrated that the proposed method can successfully separate overlapping targets efficiently. The efficiency is achieved due to fast Fourier transform (FFT)-bascd processing, use of a single slice of RAT, and the use of only one-dimensional (1-D) searches.