Sea and air moving target measurements using a GSM based passive radar

A passive radar is essentially a receiver-only radar that does not transmit signals; it only receives and thus operates independently without the direct synchronization from the non-cooperative illuminator. GSM base station transmitter as the illuminator of opportunity in a passive radar offers a covert means of uninterrupted surveillance where the major advantage is that the emitters of such transmissions are abundant. This paper presents an overview description of a low-cost experimental GSM based passive radar developed and implemented in Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. It describes the hardware architecture design and integration as well as the associated signal processing scheme of this experimental passive radar. Numerous field experiments were conducted with interesting results on sea and air moving target Doppler frequency detection and tracking presented to demonstrate and ascertain the performances and operating capabilities of the GSM based passive radar.