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. 2022 Jan 5;22(1):378.
doi: 10.3390/s22010378.

DAB Signal Preprocessing for Passive Coherent Location

Gustaw Mazurek  1
Affiliations

DAB Signal Preprocessing for Passive Coherent Location

Gustaw Mazurek. Sensors (Basel). .

Abstract

Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB) transmitters can be successfully used as illumination sources in Passive Coherent Location (PCL). However, extending the integration time in such a configuration leads to the occurrence of periodical artifacts in the bistatic range/Doppler plots, resulting from the time structure of the DAB signal. In this paper, we propose some methods of signal preprocessing (based on symbol removal, substitution by noise, and duplication) that operate on the DAB transmission frame level and improve the received signal's correlation properties. We also demonstrate that two of these methods allow us to avoid the mentioned artifacts and thus to improve the quality of the range/Doppler plots with detection results. We evaluate the performance of the proposed methods using real DAB signals acquired in an experimental PCL platform. We also provide the analysis of the Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) during the detection of a moving target which shows that the proposed solution, based on symbol duplication, can offer around 3 dB of gain in SNR. Finally, we carry out the computational complexity analysis showing that the proposed method can be implemented with a minimal cost after some optimizations.

Keywords: DAB illuminated PCL; digital audio broadcasting; passive bistatic radar; passive coherent location; signal preprocessing.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author declares no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Bistatic velocity/range plot with artifacts (a) and its cross-section for R = 450 m (b).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Frequency spectrum of the DAB signal.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Amplitude plot of the DAB signal (one complete frame).
Figure 4
Figure 4
DAB frame organization.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Autocorrelation of DAB signal.
Figure 6
Figure 6
DAB frame with cleared PR and FIC symbols.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Autocorrelation function of DAB signal after clearing of PR and FIC symbols (a) and its close-up (b).
Figure 8
Figure 8
DAB frame structure with Null, PR, and FIC symbols substituted by noise.
Figure 9
Figure 9
DAB frame structure with Null, PR, and FIC symbols replaced by MSC symbols.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Autocorrelation of DAB signal after copying of MSC symbols (a) and its close-up (b).
Figure 11
Figure 11
DAB frame structure with Null symbol replaced by MSC symbol.
Figure 12
Figure 12
Autocorrelation of DAB signal with one MSC symbol copied in place of Null symbol (a) and its close-up (b).
Figure 13
Figure 13
Signal processing pipeline used for performance evaluation.
Figure 14
Figure 14
PCL detection results after clearing of PR and FIC symbols in the DAB frame: (a) bistatic velocity/range plane; (b) its cross-section at selected range.
Figure 15
Figure 15
PCL detection results after the clearing of the PR and FIC symbols (bypassed clutter-removal filter).
Figure 16
Figure 16
PCL detection results after noise insertion in place of Null, PR, and FIC symbols in the DAB frame: (a) bistatic velocity/range plane; (b) its cross-section at R = 450 m.
Figure 17
Figure 17
PCL detection results after the insertion of noise with reduced power: (a) bistatic velocity/range plane; (b) its cross-section at R = 450 m.
Figure 18
Figure 18
PCL detection results after MSC symbols duplication to null, PR, and FIC symbols: (a) bistatic velocity/range plane; (b) its cross-section at R = 450 m.
Figure 19
Figure 19
PCL detection results after MSC symbols duplication, subsequent time stamps.
Figure 19
Figure 19
PCL detection results after MSC symbols duplication, subsequent time stamps.
Figure 20
Figure 20
PCL detection results after MSC symbol duplication in place of Null symbol: (a) bistatic velocity/range plane; (b) its cross-section at R = 450 m.
Figure 21
Figure 21
Bistatic velocity/range plot with artifacts and weak target (close-up).
Figure 22
Figure 22
Improvement of SNR achieved by MSC symbols duplication.
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