Direct Cartesian detection, localization, and de-ghosting for passive multistatic radar

Conventional passive multistatic radar systems, which are comprised of multiple transmitters and receivers, detect and localize targets in a two-stage process. First, detections are performed independently for each bistatic transmit-receive pair. A multilateration process then uses the resulting bistatic range estimates to localize the targets in Cartesian space. Multilateration results in additional false “ghost” targets, which must be removed by a subsequent process. This paper presents a single-stage approach that performs detection, localization, and deghosting directly in Cartesian space. This approach is the generalized likelihood ratio test (GLRT) for scintillating targets, which provides improved probability of detection compared to the conventional approach by making use of available diversity gain. Furthermore, as target localization and deghosting are performed implicitly, separate localization and deghosting processes are not required. Detection performance equations are provided, as are numerical examples illustrating the inherent localization and deghosting nature of the proposed architecture.