Geolocation of multiple noncooperative transmitters using array processing

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In phase 1 of this research endeavor (original Engage grant) the research problem was reformulated as the**simultaneous geolocation of multiple noncooperative transmitters existing in the same frequency band. This**functionality is pursued both in terms of devising appropriate and robust algorithms, and developing associated**hardware implementations to be validated on a hardware testbed according to a software-defined radio (SDR)**methodology. The plurality of transmitters requires the acquisition stations (at least 2-3 of them being required**for triangulating positions) to be equipped with antenna arrays. In order to implement this functionality in a**manner that is practical and robust in a multipath-rich propagation environment with modest antenna array**sizes (4-8 elements), a two-step process was proposed in phase 1 and validated in simulation consisting of 1-**applying a blind source separation (BSS) algorithm to extract the spatial signature of every transmitter and 2-**estimating the main direction of arrival (DOA) - presumably corresponding to the line of sight - from each**spatial signature. Given a DOA estimate from each acquisition station, triangulating a position becomes trivial.**In this proposed second phase, development of the two-step approach and its variants will continue in**simulation, and an efficient hardware architecture will be derived for the BSS algorithm in the first step.**Furthermore, another novel and simpler approach will be explored which utilizes the same BSS algorithm as a**first step, but does away with DOA estimation altogether, thus not requiring array calibration or a specific array**topology. Within the scope of phase 2, this second approach will be entirely implemented in hardware and**validated on the test bed.