Implementation of collaborative RF localization using a software-defined Radio network

Current U.S. military pursuits, such as the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS), are based on a software-defined radio (SDR) system. These kinds of systems use the flexibility of software to make old and new radio technology interoperable. Co-existence of different radio technologies has the potential to be a force enabler, but it still falls short, particularly for military operations in which failure to co-exist can cause interference fratricide between allied radios. We designed a collaborative network of cognitive radios derived from flexible, commercially-available SDRs. Using a network of SDRs as an experimental test bed, we implemented a detection and RF characterization algorithm, gathering signal data from multiple spatially diverse points in the network. This provided three main contributions: determining the process for pre-characterizing the SDRs; developing the measurement procedure for effective transmitter detection and estimation; and identifying effective real-world network topologies.