Fm Radio Passive Multistatic Radar Using Data Fusion

Passive bistatic and multistatic radar rely on illuminators of opportunity to provide the transmitted signal. The illuminator of opportunity selected for our study is Frequency Modulation (FM) radio broadcasters. FM radio was chosen for its widespread availability and high power output which allows for long range measurements. The simulation performed includes three transmitters in order to allow effective triangulation and location of the targets. The receiver emulates an airborne receiver to simulate a surveillance aircraft. The signals from each transmitter is received and processed separately to obtain bistatic range information. Then, using data fusion techniques, these signals are combined in order to obtain a better spatial location of the targets relative to the receiver. The main limitations of this system can be traced back to using FM radio as the illuminator of opportunity, because the bandwidth limits the range resolution. Overall, the system can effectively detect and track airborne moving targets using three FM radio stations as transmitters.