Two adaptive algorithms for multipath time delay estimation

The problem of time delay estimation (TDE) with multipath transmissions arises often in many sonar and radar systems. Two adaptive algorithms based on a parameter estimation approach are proposed to estimate the difference in arrival times of a signal at two separated sensors in the presence of multipath propagation. The first method uses an adaptive IIR filter to eliminate the multipath signal in each transmission channel prior to applying a constrained delay estimation algorithm to extract the time difference between the two received outputs. The second employs two constrained adaptive FIR filters to perform equalization of the multipath arrivals, and time delay is then derived using a constrained delay estimator similar to that in the first method. Computer simulations are presented to compare and contrast the tracing capability and convergence behavior of these multipath TDE methods