Prioritization of Receivers for Minimum Possible Error Boundary in Time Difference of Arrival Algorithm

Time difference of arrival (TDOA), a widely used passive target tracking technique, is used to derive the position of the target. By applying cross-correlation techniques on signals received by two different receivers one hyperbolic equation can be formed. With the help of a minimum four receiving stations, a unique intersecting point can be derived from hyperbolic equations which give the position of a target precisely. The accuracy of the target position depends upon the geometric location of the receivers with respect to the target location. A simulation study was carried out with seven numbers of a unique relation between target position measurement errors with the average range difference error is established. With the help of the above relation, receivers can be prioritized and four receivers could be placed in best geographical locations. By considering four high prioritized receivers minimum target position measurement error could be achieved. An attempt was focused to draw the error boundary, error factor of target position measurement with the range of the target. And it is clear that the error factor is varying linearly with the range of the target.