How to Select TDOA-Based Bearing Measurements for Improved Passive Triangulation Localization

Kyu-Ha SONG  San-Hae KIM  Woo-Jin SONG  

Publication
IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Fundamentals of Electronics, Communications and Computer Sciences   Vol.E102-A   No.2   pp.490-496
Publication Date: 2019/02/01
Online ISSN: 1745-1337
DOI: 10.1587/transfun.E102.A.490
Type of Manuscript: LETTER
Category: Measurement Technology
Keyword: 
passive emitter localization,  triangulation,  time difference of arrival,  bearing,  geometric dilution of precision,  

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Summary: 
When time difference of arrival (TDOA)-based bearing measurements are used in passive triangulation, the accuracy of localization depends on the geometric relationship between the emitter and the sensors. In particular, the localization accuracy varies with the geometric conditions in TDOA-based direction finding (DF) for bearing measurement and lines of bearing (LOBs) crossing for triangulation. To obtain an accurate estimate in passive triangulation using TDOA-based bearing measurements, we shall use these bearings selectively by considering geometric dilution of precision (GDOP) between the emitter and the sensors. To achieve this goal, we first define two GDOPs related to TDOA-based DF and LOBs crossing geometries, and then propose a new hybrid GDOP by combining these GDOPs for a better selection of bearings. Subsequently, two bearings with the lowest hybrid GDOP condition are chosen as the inputs to a triangulation localization algorithm. In simulations, the proposed method shows its enhancement to the localization accuracy.