Joint TOA-based range estimation in target motion analysis

When the time of arrival (TOA) of the periodic signal is used, the range and velocity of the target are observable in target motion analysis. The each range on any one of a set of positions can be estimated for the constant-speed target through using more than three measurements of the TOA. This paper presents a joint range estimation algorithm to realize all range estimations of a set of target positions. For a set of target positions along trajectory, the paper firstly analyses the closed-form range-velocity least-square solution for the single position (SPLS), then proposes the all position joint range-velocity least-square solution (APLS), and finally validates the following conclusions with simulation results: the estimation precision of range and velocity on each position in SPLS algorithm is different from each other; the estimation precision of APLS algorithm is better than that of the SPLS algorithm on the most positions, and all the estimation precisions on a set of target positions are roughly equal.