Rao Detector for Passive MIMO Radar With Direct-Path Interference

This article deals with the problem of target detection in a passive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar network involving noncooperative illuminators of opportunity (IOs) and geographically dispersed multichannel receivers. The signal model considers the direct-path interference (DPI). We employ the Rao test to solve the problem and derive a closed-form detector. Then, by considering the properties of the ambiguity functions of most IO waveforms, an approximated version of the detector with a simpler form is derived. Two detectors in the case of an active MIMO network are also provided as the upper bounds of the passive situations. Moreover, considering target echo signal fluctuation, we have analyzed the performance of the detectors in terms of probability of miss-detection when being used in a multistatic configuration and have specified the conditions under which the full diversity gain is achieved. Numerical results verify the effectiveness of the proposed detectors and demonstrate that the proposed detectors have performance very close to the active situation.