Method for the passive localization of radar transmitters

• US 9,846,221 B2
• Filed: 11/29/2013
• Issued: 12/19/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/07/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Thales SA
• Original Assignee: Thales SA
• Inventors: Grandin, Jean-Franois, Ratton, Laurent, Sperling, Raphal
• Primary Examiner(s): Gregory, Bernarr E
• Assistant Examiner(s): Pervin, Nuzhat
• Application Number:
  US14/650,014
• Publication Number:
  US 20160041254A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,481 Days
• Field of Search: 342465
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 3/043 Receivers
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 3/72 Diversity systems specially adapted for direction-finding
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/02216 Timing or synchronisation of the receivers
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0278 involving statistical or probabilistic considerations G01S5/0252, G01S5/0294 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/04 Position of source determined by a plurality of spaced direction-finders
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/12 by co-ordinating position lines of different shape, e.g. hyperbolic, circular, elliptical or radial
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/14 Determining absolute distances from a plurality of spaced points of known location

Abstract

A method of passive location of radar transmitters implemented by at least two ESM stations, the radars having a quasi-constant scanning speed in the course of the transit over the set comprising at least two ESM stations, each of the ESM stations being able to intercept the transmission lobes of radar transmitters and to estimate their lobe transit times (LTT) and at least one station being able to estimate the angle of arrival α of the transmission lobes, the location of the radar transmitters being performed by testing the intersection between an iso-LTTD curve passing through at least the two ESM stations and a sighting straight line passing through the ESM station having measured the angle of arrival and of azimuth equal to the measured angle of arrival α.

Claims

1. A method of passive location of radar transmitters implemented by at least two so-called ESM Electronic Support Measures stations, said radars having a quasi-constant scanning speed in the course of the transit over the set comprising at least two ESM stations, each of said ESM stations being able to intercept the transmission lobes of radar transmitters and to estimate their lobe transit times (LTT) and at least one station being able to estimate the angle of arrival of said transmission lobes, wherein the location of the radar transmitters is performed by testing the intersection between a Lobe Transit Time iso-Difference curve passing through at least the two ESM stations and a sighting straight line passing through the ESM station having measured the angle of arrival and of azimuth equal to said measured angle of arrival.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, comprising, for each ESM station:

a step Stp1 of detecting and tracking lobes of the radar transmitters present in the surveillance field of the ESM station considered,

a step Stp2 of estimating, for each intercepted lobe, its angle of arrival (AOA), its lobe transit time (LTT) as well as characteristics of its waveform,

a step Stp3 of local association of the transmission lobes originating from the transmission of the same radar transmitter,

a step Stp4 of integrating the angles of arrival and lobe transit time of each lobe originating from the transmission of the same radar transmitter and of forming a synopsis of measurements (Ri) of each radar transmitter,

a step Stp5 of sending the synopses of measurements (Ri) of each radar transmitter to a computation module;

and further comprising a global tracking step Stp6 implemented by the computation module, said global tracking consisting in associating the integrated doublets (AOAi, LTTi) originating from one and the same transmitter by using a multi-hypothesis tree, each hypothesis being tested by a likelihood computation, and in geographically locating said radar transmitter.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein step Stp6 further comprises a filtering of the hypotheses by constraints consisting in eliminating hypotheses of association of synopses that are incompatible.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, comprising, for each ESM station:

a step of receiving and separating the transmission lobes of the radars present in the surveillance field of the ESM station considered;

a step of sending the data to a computation module;

and further comprising a step of 2-Dimensional correlation of the data of all the ESM stations.

5. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein step Stp6 is not carried out with a multi-hypothesis tree but by implementing a global assignment scheme of SD type.

6. A detection and location system able to implement the method as claimed in claim 1, comprising at least two ESM stations and a computation module, each ESM station comprising a reception module able to estimate the lobe transit time of at least one transmitter, a local tracking module, a communication module able to communicate with at least the other ESM stations and a synchronization module able to coordinate the operations of the various ESM stations of the system, the reception module of at least one ESM station being able to estimate the angle of arrival of the transmission lobe of at least one transmitter.

7. The system as claimed in claim 6, further comprising a dedicated station comprising a communication module able to communicate with the communication modules of the ESM stations and wherein the computation module is situated in said dedicated station.

8. The system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the computation module is situated in one of the ESM stations of the system.

9. The system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the synchronization module comprises a satellite geolocation receiver.