Statistical Analysis of Target Parameter Estimation Using Passive Radar

A passive radar system uses one or more so-called Illuminators of Opportunity (IO) to detect and localize targets. In such systems, a reference channel is often used at each receiving node to capture the transmitted IO signal, while targets are detected using the main surveillance channel. The purpose of the present contribution is to analyze a method for estimating the target parameters in such a system. Specifically, we quantify the additional error contribution due to not knowing the transmitted IO waveform perfectly. A sufficient condition for this error to be negligible as compared to errors due to clutter and noise in the surveillance channel is then given.