Target detection in single frequency multi-static passive radar systems

We investigate the target detection problem in multi-static passive radar systems (MS-PRS), where multiple transmitters operate at a single frequency and a single multi-antenna radar receiver processes the received signals. In contrast to multi-frequency MS-PRS, the receiver design is difficult due to the fact that the receiver sees a mixture of transmitted signals which may not be separately treated. We propose the design of generalized likelihood ratio test (GLRT) receivers to optimize the detection performance. The beamformer at the radar receiver is optimized so that the received signal can be seen as signals from multiple reference channels and a surveillance channel. A convex optimization algorithm is proposed for solving the detector optimization problem. It is analytically shown that the performance of the proposed GLRT receiver approaches that of the active radar. Computer simulations verify the analytical results.