3-D Target Localization Based on Bi-static Range Measurements in Widely Separated MIMO Radars

In this paper, a three-dimensional target localization problem in widely separated multiple-input multiple-output radars is solved using two specific techniques based on time difference of arrival measurements. These techniques are provided in terms of transmitter and receiver antennas, which are named as technique_t and technique_r, respectively. The localization problem is rewritten as a non-convex optimization problem which is based on a least-squares method without any initial estimation. Therefore, a convex semidefinite programming problem is obtained by utilizing the semidefinite relaxation method for the problem which can be performed via the CVX toolbox. Several simulations are provided to evaluate the positioning accuracy in terms of bi-static range error for 3 and 4 transmitter/receiver antennas, different antenna arrangements, and near/far target. In other simulations, the localization accuracy is evaluated in terms of the empirical cumulative density function of positioning error. The results show that the proposed techniques have better accuracy and performance in different scenarios in comparison with other compared methods. The last simulation also demonstrates that the computational time of the mentioned techniques is 0.69 s which is suitable for real-time processing.