Inventors:
Kurt Gent - New Bedford MA, US
Kenneth J. McPhillips - Warren RI, US
Assignee:
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy - Washington DC
International Classification:
G01S 13/66
Abstract:
A multi-stage maximum likelihood target estimator for use with radar and sonar systems is provided. The estimator is a software implemented algorithm having four computational stages. The first stage provides angle smoothing for data endpoints thereby reducing angle errors associated with tie-down times. The second stage performs a coarse grid search to obtain the initial approximate target state to be used as a starting point for stages and. The third stage is an endpoint Gauss-Newton type maximum likelihood target estimate which determines target range along two time lines. The final refinement of the target state is obtained by the fourth stage which is a Cartesian coordinate maximum likelihood target estimate. The four-stage processing allows the use of target historic data while reducing processing time and computation power requirement.