Detection-localization Algorithms in the Around-the-corner Radar Problem

Detection and localization in urban environments is a very recent radar problem. In this article, we investigate the possibility of detecting and locating targets in NLOS areas with a single portable radar by exploiting multipath returns. We propose two algorithms which handle the information provided by multipath returns in different ways to detect and estimate the NLOS target position. We also present an original method to select the number of paths to take into account in the algorithms in order to maximize detection probabilities. Numerical results show good efficiency of the proposed algorithms for problems of both detection and localization. We show that applying these algorithms improves detection performance compared to a classic matched filter in a typical urban scenario. Experimental results on a real data set allow us to validate our multipath model in urban environments, and in particular to show that it is possible to retrieve the target location even with rough knowledge of the scene geometry.