Statistical Resolution Limit for Source Localization With Clutter Interference in a MIMO Radar Context

During the last decade, multiple-input multiple-ouput (MIMO) radar has received an increasing interest. One can find several estimation schemes in the literature related to the direction of arrivals and/or direction of departures, but their ultimate performance in terms of the statistical resolution limit (SRL) have not been fully investigated. In this correspondence, we fill this lack. Particulary, we derive the SRL to resolve two closely spaced targets in clutter interference using a MIMO radar with widely separated antennas. Toward this end, we use a hypothesis test formulation based on the generalized likelihood ratio test (GLRT). Furthermore, we investigate the link between the SRL and the minimum signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) required to resolve two closely spaced targets for a given probability of false alarm and for a given probability of detection. Finally, theoretical and numerical analysis of the SRL are given for several scenarios (with/without clutter interference, known/unknown parameters of interest and known/unknown noise variance).