Monopulse DOA estimation of two unresolved Rayleigh targets

This paper provides for new approaches to the processing of unresolved measurements as two direction-of-arrival (DOA) measurements for tracking closely spaced targets rather than the conventional single DOA measurement of the centroid. The measurements of the two-closely spaced targets are merged when the target echoes are not resolved in angle, range, or radial velocity (i.e., Doppler processing). The conditional Cramer Rao lower bound (CRLB) is developed for the DOA estimation of two unresolved Rayleigh targets using a standard monopulse radar. Then the modified CRLB is used to give insight into the boresight pointing for monopulse DOA estimation of two unresolved targets. Monopulse processing is considered for DOA estimation of two unresolved Rayleigh targets with known or estimated relative radar cross section (RCS). The performance of the DOA estimator is studied via Monte Carlo simulations and compared with the modified CRLB     

Multisensor multitarget bias estimation for general asynchronous sensors

A novel solution is provided for the bias estimation problem in multiple asynchronous sensors using common targets of opportunity. The decoupling between the target state estimation and the sensor bias estimation is achieved without ignoring or approximating the crosscovariance between the state estimate and the bias estimate. The target data reported by the sensors are usually not time-coincident or synchronous due to the different data rates. Since the bias estimation requires time-coincident target data from different sensors, a novel scheme is used to transform the measurements from the different times of the sensors into pseudomeasurements of the sensor biases with additive noises that are zero-mean, white, and with easily calculated covariances. These results allow bias estimation as well as the evaluation of the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) on the covariance of the bias estimate, i.e., the quantification of the available information about the biases in any scenario. Monte Carlo simulation results show that the new method is statistically efficient, i.e., it meets the CRLB. The use of this technique for scale and sensor location biases in addition to the usual additive biases is also presented.     

Exact multisensor dynamic bias estimation with local tracks

An exact solution is provided for the multiple sensor bias estimation problem based on local tracks. It is shown that the sensor bias estimates can be obtained dynamically using the outputs of the local (biased) state estimators. This is accomplished by manipulating the local state estimates such that they yield pseudomeasurements of the sensor biases with additive noises that are zero-mean, white, and with easily calculated covariances. These results allow evaluation of the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) on the covariance of the sensor bias estimates, i.e., a quantification of the available information about the sensor biases in any scenario. Monte Carlo simulations show that this method has significant improvement in performance with reduced rms errors of 70% compared with commonly used decoupled Kalman filter. Furthermore, the new method is shown to be statistically efficient, i.e., it meets the CRLB. The extension of the new technique for dynamically varying sensor biases is also presented.     

Pursuer identification and time-to-go estimation using passive measurements from an evader

We present an algorithm for identifying the parameters of a proportional navigation guidance missile (pursuer) pursuing an airborne target (evader) using angle-only measurements from the latter. This is done for the purpose of classifying the missile so that appropriate counter-measures can be taken. Mathematical models are constructed for a pursuer with a changing velocity, i.e., a direction change and a speed change. Assuming the pursuer is launched from the ground with fixed thrust, its motion can be described by a four-dimensional parameter vector consisting of its proportional navigation constant and three parameters related to thrusting. Consequently, the problem can be solved as a parameter estimation problem, rather than state estimation and we provide an estimator based on maximum likelihood (ML) to solve it. The parameter estimates obtained can be mapped into the time-to-go until intercept estimation results are presented for different scenarios together with the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB), which quantifies the best achievable estimation accuracy. The accuracy of the time-to-go estimate is also obtained. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed estimator is efficient by meeting the CRLB.     

Multisensor deployment using PCRLBS, incorporating sensor deployment and motion uncertainties

Recently, a general framework for sensor resource deployment (Hernandez, et. al. 2004) has been shown to allow efficient and effective utilization of a multisensor system. The basis of this technique is to use the posterior Cramer-Rao lower bound (PCRLB) to quantify and control the optimal achievable accuracy of target state estimation. In the original formulation (Hernandez, et. al. 2004) it was assumed that the sensor locations were known without error. In the current paper, the authors extend this framework by addressing the issues of imperfect sensor placement and uncertain sensor movement (e.g., sensor drift). The crucial consideration is then how these two forms of uncertainty are factored into the sensor management strategy. If unaccounted for, these uncertainties will render the output of the resource manager inaccurate and overoptimistic. The authors adjust the PCRLB to account for sensor location uncertainty, and we also allow for measurement origin uncertainty due to missed detections and false alarms. The work is motivated by the problem of tracking a submarine by adaptively deploying sonobuoys from a helicopter. Simulation results are presented to show the advantages of accounting for sensor location uncertainty within this focal domain of antisubmarine warfare. The authors note that the generic nature of the technique allows it to be utilized within other problem domains, including tracking ground-based targets using unattended ground sensors (UGSs) or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)     

Low observable target motion analysis using amplitude information

In conventional passive and active sonar system, target amplitude information (AI) at the output of the signal processor is used only to declare detections and provide measurements. We show that the AI can be used in passive sonar system, with or without frequency measurements, in the estimation process itself to enhance the performance in the presence of clutter where the target-originated measurements cannot be identified with certainty, i.e., for “low observable” or “dim” (low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)) targets. A probabilistic data association (PDA) based maximum likelihood (ML) estimator for target motion analysis (TMA) that uses amplitude information is derived. A track formation algorithm and the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) in the presence of false measurements, which is met by the estimator even under low SNR conditions, are also given. The CRLB is met by the proposed estimator even at 6 dB in a cell (which corresponds to 0 dB for 1 Hz bandwidth in the case of a 0.25 Hz frequency cell) whereas the estimator without AI works only down to 9 dB. Results demonstrate improved accuracy and superior global convergence when compared with the estimator without AI. The same methodology can be used for bistatic radar     

基于序列图像的航天器自主导航降维滤波方法

非合作目标的运动感知与状态估计,是太空领域技术发展的重要组成部分。非合作目标相对状态的精确估计是相对导航的难点问题。传统的非合作目标扩展卡尔曼滤波算法需要结合非合作目标的质心位置,增加了状态变量的维数,提高了系统不确定性,从而会影响状态扩展卡尔曼滤波的收敛速度。提出了一种基于序列图像的非合作目标相对导航方法,该方法在不对质心进行估计的情况下首先对非合作目标姿态进行估计,在完成非合作目标姿态估计后再对其质心进行估计。本文推导了光学相机测量值与目标真实姿态的关系,构建了基于序列图像的测量模型,分别建立了不含有非合作目标质心位置的状态方程和基于非合作目标位置、速度矢量的状态方程,设计了适用于非合作目标状态估计的扩展卡尔曼滤波算法。仿真实验表明该方法可在10 Hz采样频率下经过50次采样（即5 s）内快速收敛,从而有利于空间飞行器的在轨服务与维护。     

On joint track initiation and parameter estimation under measurement origin uncertainty

The problem of joint detection and estimation for track initiation under measurement origin uncertainty is studied. The two well-known approaches, namely the maximum likelihood estimator with probabilistic data association (ML-PDA) and the multiple hypotheses tracking (MHT) via multiframe assignment, are characterized as special cases of the generalized likelihood ratio test (GLRT) and their performance limits indicated. A new detection scheme based on the optimal gating is proposed and the associated parameter estimation scheme modified within the ML-PDA framework. A simplified example shows the effectiveness of the new algorithm in detection performance under heavy clutter. Extension of the results to state estimation with measurement origin uncertainty is also discussed with emphasis on joint detection and recursive state estimation.     

2D雷达组网中目标高度估计误差的Cramér-Rao限

 在由2坐标雷达组成的雷达网中,推导了目标高度估计误差的CRLB(Cram&;#225;r-Rao限),并通过不同条件下的数值计算得到了一些结论。结果表明,目标高度估计误差的CRLB既与雷达的测角误差有关,也与目标和2个雷达站形成的夹角有关系,雷达配置在不同的高度上有利于目标高度估计的收敛性。这些结论对于2坐标雷达组网以及雷达网中的传感器管理具有指导意义。     

非线性热传导逆问题的表面热流辨识方法

当材料的热物性参数随温度变化时,其内部的热传导方程是一非线性偏微分方程,对应的热传导逆问题称为非线性热传导逆问题。本文建立了非线性热传导逆问题的两种表面热流辨识方法:顺序函数法和共轭梯度法,介绍了这两种辨识方法的基本思想和具体算法推导,并针对典型算例进行了仿真辨识,结果表明:两种辨识方法虽然在算法构造、计算效率方面存在一定的差异,但都能给出较好的辨识结果,并且算法受测量噪声的影响较小,具有较好的鲁棒性。     

Evaluation of estimation algorithms part I: incomprehensive measures of performance

Practical metrics for performance evaluation of estimation algorithms are discussed. A variety of metrics useful for evaluating various aspects of the performance of an estimation algorithm is introduced and justified. They can be classified in two different ways: 1) absolute error measures (without a reference), relative error measures (with a reference), or frequency counts (of some events), and 2) optimistic (i.e., how good the performance is), pessimistic (i.e., how bad the performance is), or balanced (neither optimistic nor pessimistic). Pros and cons of these metrics and the widely-used RMS error are explained. The paper advocates replacing the RMS error in many cases by a measure called average Euclidean error     

Correlation between horizontal and vertical monopulse measurements

Many radar systems use the monopulse ratio to extract angle of arrival (AOA) measurements in both azimuth and elevation angles. The accuracies of each such measurement are reasonably well known: each measurement is, conditioned on the sum-signal return, Gaussian-distributed with calculable bias (relative to the true AOA), and variance. However, we note that the two monopulse ratios are functions of basic radar measurements that are not entirely independent, specifically in that the sum signal is common to both. The effect of this is that the monopulse ratios are dependent, and a simple explicit expression is given for their correlation; this is of considerable interest when the measurements are supplied to a tracking algorithm that requires a measurement covariance matrix. The system performance improvement when this is taken into account is quantified: while it makes little difference for a tracking radar with small pointing errors, there are more substantial gains when a target is allowed to stray within the beam, as with a rotating (track-while-scan) radar or when a single radar dwell interrogates two or more targets at different ranges. But in any case, the correct covariance expression is so simple that there is little reason not to use it. We additionally derive the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) on joint azimuth/elevation angle estimation and discover that it differs only slightly from the covariance matrix corresponding to the individual monopulse ratios. Hence, using the individual monopulse ratios and their simple joint accuracy expression is an adequate and quick approximation of the optimal maximum likelihood procedure for single resolved targets.     

Accuracy of angle estimation with monopulse processing using twobeams

Expressions are provided for the accuracy of monopulse angle estimation using two beams. It is shown that, if the signal angle is halfway between the angles of the beams, the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) for monopulse processing is almost as small as the CRLB obtained if the entire array of sensors is used. The monopulse CRLB is considerably poorer if the angle of the signal is equal to that of one of the two beams. The expressions in this correspondence are for a uniformly weighted linear array of M equally spaced sensors, for which N⩾M beams are formed     

Moving target localization in distributed MIMO radar with transmitter and receiver location uncertainties

In this paper, the problem of moving target localization from Bistatic Range(BR) and Bistatic Range Rate(BRR) measurements in a Multiple-Input Multiple-Output(MIMO) radar system having widely separated antennas is investigated. We consider a practically motivated scenario,where the accurate knowledge of transmitter and receiver locations is not known and only the nominal values are available for processing. With the transmitter and receiver location uncertainties,which are usually neglected in MIMO radar systems by prior studies, taken into account in the measurement model, we develop a novel algebraic solution to reduce the estimation error for moving target localization. The proposed algorithm is based on the pseudolinear set of equations and two-step weighted least squares estimation. The Cramer-Rao Lower Bound(CRLB) is derived in the presence of transmitter and receiver location uncertainties. Theoretical accuracy analysis demonstrates that the proposed solution attains the CRLB, and numerical examples show that the proposed solution achieves significant performance improvement over the existing algorithms.     

Bearings-only and Doppler-bearing tracking using instrumentalvariables

In bearings-only tracking (BOT) or Doppler and bearing tracking (DBT), both common passive sonar problems, the measurement equations are nonlinear. To apply the Kalman filter, it is necessary either to linearize the equations or to embed the nonlinearities into the noise terms. The former sometimes leads to filter divergence, while the latter produces biased estimates. A formulation of BOT and DBT which has a constant state vector and simplifies the tracking problem to one of constant parameter estimation is given. The solution is by the instrumental variable method. The instrumental variables are obtained from predictions based on past measurements and are therefore independent of the present noisy measurements. The result is a recursive unbiased estimator. The theoretical developments are verified by simulation, which also shows that the formulation leads to near optimal estimators whose errors are close to the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB)     

A Linear-correction Least-squares Approach for Geolocation Using FDOA Measurements Only

  A linear-correction least-squares(LCLS) estimation procedure is proposed for geolocation using frequency difference of arrival (FDOA) measurements only. We first analyze the measurements of FDOA, and further derive the Cram閞-Rao lower bound (CRLB) of geolocation using FDOA measurements. For the localization model is a nonlinear least squares(LS) estimator with a nonlinear constrained, a linearizing method is used to convert the model to a linear least squares estimator with a nonlinear constrained. The Gauss-Newton iteration method is developed to conquer the source localization problem. From the analysis of solving Lagrange multiplier, the algorithm is a generalization of linear-correction least squares estimation procedure under the condition of geolocation using FDOA measurements only. The algorithm is compared with common least squares estimation. Comparisons of their estimation accuracy and the CRLB are made, and the proposed method attains the CRLB. Simulation results are included to corroborate the theoretical development.     

Comparison of various periodograms for sinusoid detection andfrequency estimation

With the advent of the fast Fourier transform (FFT) algorithm, the periodogram and its variants such as the Bartlett's procedure and Welch method, have become very popular for spectral analysis. However, there has not been a thorough comparison of the detection and estimation performances of these methods. Different forms of the periodogram are studied here for single real tone detection and frequency estimation in the presence of white Gaussian noise. The threshold effect in frequency estimation, that is, when the estimation errors become several orders of magnitude greater than the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB), is also investigated. It is shown that the standard periodogram gives the optimum detection performance for a pure tone while the Welch method is the best detector when there is phase instability in the sinusoid. As expected, since the conventional periodogram is a maximum likelihood estimator of frequency, it generally provides the minimum mean square frequency estimation errors     

Accurate single-observer passive coherent location estimation based on TDOA and DOA

This paper investigates the problem of target position estimation with a single-observer passive coherent location(PCL) system. An approach that combines angle with time difference of arrival(ATDOA) is used to estimate the location of a target. Compared with the TDOA-only method which needs two steps, the proposed method estimates the target position more directly. The constrained total least squares(CTLS) technique is applied in this approach. It achieves the Cramer–Rao lower bound(CRLB) when the parameter measurements are subject to small Gaussian-distributed errors. Performance analysis and the CRLB of this approach are also studied. Theory verifies that the ATDOA method gets a lower CRLB than the TDOA-only method with the same TDOA measuring error. It can also be seen that the position of the target affects estimating precision.At the same time, the locations of transmitters affect the precision and its gradient direction.Compared with the TDOA, the ATDOA method can obtain more precise target position estimation.Furthermore, the proposed method accomplishes target position estimation with a single transmitter,while the TDOA-only method needs at least four transmitters to get the target position. Furthermore,the transmitters' position errors also affect precision of estimation regularly.     

Passive localization by a single moving observer using TOA only with unknown SRI: Observability analysis and algorithm

Passive localization by a single moving observer using Time of Arrival (TOA) only with an unknown Signal Repetition Interval (SRI) is investigated in this paper. Observability analysis is performed first. The observability condition for uniquely determining the emitter position and SRI is derived. The conditional Cramer-Rao Lower Bound (CRLB) is also analyzed. It is found that the ambiguity of the SRI integer of the first TOA does not affect the theoretical estimation precision of the emitter position and SRI. A Reference-Fixed Differential TOA (RFDTOA)-based Iterative Maximum Likelihood Estimator (IMLE) is proposed, which only needs O(M) computational operations. Theoretical analysis and simulation results show that the Mean Square Error (MSE) of the proposed algorithm could attain the CRLB with moderate Gaussian measurement noise.     

Tracking considerations in selection of radar waveform for rangeand range-rate measurements

The conventional approach for tracking system design is to treat the detection and tracking subsystems as completely independent units. However, the two subsystems can be designed jointly to improve system (tracking) performance. It is known that different radar signal waveforms result in very different resolution cell shapes (for example, a rectangle versus an eccentric parallelogram) in the range/range-rate space, and that there are corresponding differences in overall tracking performance. We develop a framework for the analysis of this performance. An imperfect detection process, false alarms, target dynamics, and the matched filter sampling grid are all accounted for, using the Markov chain approach of Li and Bar-Shalom. The role of the grid is stressed, and it is seen that the measurement-extraction process from contiguous radar "hits" is very important. A number of conclusions are given, perhaps the most interesting of which is the corroboration in the new measurement space of Fitzgerald's result for delay-only (i.e., range) measurements, that a linear FM upsweep offers very good tracking performance