Signal processing in passive radar with multi-user MIMO-OFDM signal

In this paper, we propose a signal processing method in passive radar using the multi-user (MU) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signal as the illuminator of opportunity. The MU-MIMO-OFDM modulation is adopted in the fifth-generation (5G) communication. We consider the scenario where multiple mobile users share the same time-frequency resources but separate spatially in different beams formed a prior by the MU-MIMO transmitter antenna array, which is a quite general case in realistic 5G communication. A beam-by-beam matched filter is proposed for weak target sensing. Interference suppression is also discussed. The interference in this scenario is more complicated than that in the traditional passive radar. In the MU-MIMO communication system, the base station (BS) transmits multiple signals to different beam regions simultaneously for the communication between the BS and mobile users. For a specific beam region where the radar receiver is located, the interference consists of not only the direct and multipath interference (DMI) of the signal transmitted by the BS to this beam region, but also the inter-user interference (IUI) from the other beam regions. The DMI and IUI degrade the weak target detection capability significantly. In this paper, we propose a suppression method for jointly eliminating the DMI and IUI. Simulations verify the effectiveness of these methods.