Theoretical investigation of a novel location sensor

We report a theoretical investigation of a novel location technique implemented using millimeter waves. The new technique is based on multiple correlated receivers, fast digital signal processing and electronically tuned transmitters (tags). The correlated receivers synthetically generate multi-beam with an aperture much larger than the actual aperture, resulting in beam-width much narrower than that produced by conventional arrays with the same number of elements, and hence very fine angle resolution. Altogether, these allow multiple tags to be simultaneously and accurately detected and located in real time. The entire area can be searched rapidly from a fixed position where the sensor is mounted without physically moving the antenna or using external beam control devices such as phase shifters as in conventional phased arrays, largely eliminating errors due to these components and ultimately help improving the system performance.