DTOA estimation of pulse trains by means of cross-correlation technique

Time delay estimation between replicas of the same signal arriving at two antennas in different epochs is an interesting topic in a variety of applications by Charles H. et al (1976). To estimate the difference of time of arrival (DTOA), which is usually called time delay, it is possible to use cross-correlation based techniques which become extremely useful when there is no knowledge of the reference signal as in the case of electronic support measure (ESM) receivers and passive radars. In such cases the auto-correlation of the useful signal is estimated by cross-correlating signals received by two homologous receivers (which must be kept closely synchronized): this procedure is actually a non-linear operation since the multiplication of signals is involved. Authors have already investigated the problem of DTOA estimation by R. Ardoino et al (2006)from a generic point of view, but with performances (theoretical, simulated and measured) derived in the case of a modulated continuous wave (CW) signal. The Present work focuses attention on DTOA estimation performances when the signal considered is a pulse train, for a practical implementation of this technique in the area of pulsed radars.