A correlation-based signal detection algorithm in passive radar with DVB-T2 emitter

This paper considers target detection in passive radar that employs a digital video broadcasting-terrestrial version 2 (DVB-T2) emitter as an illuminator of opportunity. The target detection problem is equivalent to identifying the presence/absence of the DVB-T2 signal in the returns. A correlation-based detection strategy is proposed by exploiting a unique C-A-B structure of the P1 symbol that is ubiquitous in all DVB-T2 transmissions. The P1 symbol, originally introduced for a DVB-T2 receiver to obtain synchronization, is exploited for target detection. The performance of the proposed detector is evaluated by Monte Carlo simulations. Our results show that the proposed detector can reliably detect the target without full knowledge of the DVB-T2 signal waveform (except for the C-A-B structure).