High-Precision Time Difference of Arrival Estimation Method Based on Phase Measurement

Jihao Xin; Xuyang Ge; Yuan Zhang; Xingdong Liang; Hang Li; Linghao Wu; Jiashuo Wei; Xiangxi Bu

doi:10.3390/rs16071197

Remote Sensing (Mar 2024)

High-Precision Time Difference of Arrival Estimation Method Based on Phase Measurement

Jihao Xin,
Xuyang Ge,
Yuan Zhang,
Xingdong Liang,
Hang Li,
Linghao Wu,
Jiashuo Wei,
Xiangxi Bu

Affiliations

Jihao Xin: National Key Laboratory of Microwave Imaging Technology, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
Xuyang Ge: National Key Laboratory of Microwave Imaging Technology, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
Yuan Zhang: National Key Laboratory of Microwave Imaging Technology, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
Xingdong Liang: National Key Laboratory of Microwave Imaging Technology, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
Hang Li: National Key Laboratory of Microwave Imaging Technology, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
Linghao Wu: School of Electronic and Information Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044, China
Jiashuo Wei: National Key Laboratory of Microwave Imaging Technology, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
Xiangxi Bu: National Key Laboratory of Microwave Imaging Technology, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/rs16071197
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 16, no. 7
p. 1197

Abstract

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In unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based time difference of arrival (TDOA) positioning technique, baselines are limited due to communication constraints. In this case, the accuracy is highly sensitive to the TDOA measurements’ error. This article primarily addresses the problem of short-baseline high-precision time synchronization and TDOA measurement. We conducted a detailed analysis of error models in TDOA systems, considering both the time and phase measurement. We utilize the frequency division wireless phase synchronization technique in TDOA systems. Building upon this synchronization scheme, we propose a novel time delay estimation method that relies on phase measurements based on the integer least squares method. The performance of this method is demonstrated through Monte Carlo simulations and outdoor experiments. The standard deviations of synchronization and TDOA measurements in experiments are 1.12 ps and 1.66 ps, respectively. Furthermore, the circular error probable (CEP) accuracy is improved from 0.33%R to 0.02%R, offering support for the practical application of distributed short-baseline high-precision passive location techniques.

Published in Remote Sensing

ISSN: 2072-4292 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Science
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/remotesensing/

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