• PCRLB
• Multistatic Systems
• CRLB
• Bistatic Systems

This work deals with the problem of calculating the Cramér-Rao lower bounds (CRLBs) for bistatic radar channels. To this purpose we exploited the relation between the Ambiguity Function (AF) and the CRLB. The bistatic CRLBs are analyzed and compared to the monostatic counterparts as a function of the bistatic geometric parameters. In the bistatic case both geometry factors and transmitted waveforms play an important role in the shape of the AF, and therefore in the estimation accuracy of the target range and velocity. In particular, the CRLBs depend on the target direction of arrival, the bistatic baseline length, and the distance between the target and the receiver. The CRLBs are then used to select the “optimum” bistatic channel (or set of channels) for the tracking of a radar target moving along a trajectory in a multistatic scenario and for design weighting coefficients for the multistatic detection process. This work also deals with the calculation of the Posterior Cramér-Rao Lower Bound (PCRLB) for sequential target state estimators for a bistatic tracking problem. In the context of tracking, the PCRLB provides a powerful tool, enabling one to determine a lower bound on the optimal achievable accuracy of target state estimation. The bistatic PCRLBs are analyzed and compared to the monostatic counterparts for a fixed target trajectory. Two different kinematic models are analyzed: constant velocity and constant acceleration. The derived bounds are also valid when the target trajectory is characterized by the combination of these two motions.