Posterior Cramér–Rao lower bounds for passive bistatic radar tracking with uncertain target measurements

•The PCRLB assesses the optimal achievable accuracy of target state estimation.•We calculate the PCRLB for uncertain target measurements in a bistatic radar.•We propose a PCRLB-based algorithm for channel selection in a multistatic radar.•We test the algorithm on a PCL system composed of a UMTS station and an FM station.

In the context of target tracking, the Posterior Cramér–Rao Lower Bound (PCRLB) provides a powerful tool to assess the optimal achievable accuracy of target state estimation. In the bistatic configuration both geometry factors and transmitted waveform play an important role in the estimation accuracy. In this paper, we derive the PCRLB on sequential target state estimation accuracy in a bistatic radar tracking scenario, in the most general case of uncertain target measurements, i.e. when the probability of detection is less than one and the probability of false alarm is greater than zero. Then, we propose a PCRLB-based algorithm for selecting the best transmitter of opportunity for the tracking of a radar target in a multisensor Passive Coherent Location (PCL) system.