Comparison of different approaches for a Multi-Frequency FM Based Passive Bistatic Radar

In this paper we introduce different multi-frequency approaches for improving target detection performance in FM radio based Passive Bistatic Radar (PBR). Specifically, we consider the high diversity of the FM radio signals received over different carrier frequencies spanning the 88÷108MHz band since it represents the basis for the request of a multi-frequency operation. The joint exploitation of the waveforms of opportunity received on multiple FM radio channels is shown to yield better performance in terms of detection capability, since it is robust with respect to both the broadcasted radio program content and to the propagation channel conditions. Different multi-frequency integration strategies are proposed and compared to the single-channel operation against the real data collected by a PBR prototype developed and fielded at the Infocom Dept. of the Univ. of Rome “La Sapienza”. The availability of live air traffic control registrations allows an overall assessment of the obtained detection results thus showing the performance improvement given by the different multi-frequency approaches.