The knowledge-aided generalized multipath adaptive detector

Abstract

In urban environments, the challenges brought about by multipath propagation are significant for traditional adaptive radar detection problems. To tackle this issue, a generalized multipath signal model combined with environmental geometric prior information (EGPI) is developed. This model can be utilized regardless of whether the multipath signals are fully, partially, or partially-resolvable in the range domain. During the process of designing a detector using the criteria of the one-step generalized likelihood ratio test (GLRT), an attempt to find a closed-form expression for the maximum likelihood estimator of the unknown parameters was unsuccessful. However, by utilizing an adaptive configuration for the initial value, a cyclic optimization algorithm was able to obtain the estimated value within just a few iterations, demonstrating a rapid convergence rate. Furthermore, a detector based on the two-step GLRT criteria is proposed. Compared to traditional detectors, the newly developed detectors make more efficient use of the energy in multipath signals, resulting in improved detection performance. It has been demonstrated that when the whitened angles between subspaces are set to two specific values, the GLRT detectors exhibit the Constant False Alarm Probability (CFAR) property. Simulation results show that the false alarm probability(Pfa) at these two specific angles provides upper and lower bounds of Pfa.