Improved algorithm for estimating pulse repetition intervals

This paper presents an improved algorithm for estimating pulse repetition intervals (PRIs) of an interleaved pulse train which consists of several independent radar signals with different PRIs. The original version of this algorithm is a complex-valued autocorrelation-like integral, which leads to a kind of PRI spectrum wherein the locations of the spectral peaks indicate the PRI values. The original algorithm, however, has a serious drawback in that it is vulnerable to timing jitter (PRI jitter). We analyze the cause of this vulnerability and propose an improved algorithm using overlapped PRI bins which have shifting time origins. The improved algorithm has proven to be quite effective in obtaining the PRI spectrum for jittered pulse trains, which enables detection of mean PRIs by thresholding.