Target Localization Accuracy Gain in MIMO Radar-Based Systems

This paper presents an analysis of target localization accuracy, attainable by the use of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar systems, configured with multiple transmit and receive sensors, widely distributed over an area. The Cramer–Rao lower bound (CRLB) for target localization accuracy is developed for both coherent and noncoherent processing. Coherent processing requires a common phase reference for all transmit and receive sensors. The CRLB is shown to be inversely proportional to the signal effective bandwidth in the noncoherent case, but is approximately inversely proportional to the carrier frequency in the coherent case. We further prove that optimization over the sensors' positions lowers…