IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,474,463
Granted Patent B2
US 12,474,463 · App. 18/212,344 · Granted Nov 18, 2025

Tracking a target using doppler shift

Inventors: Todd Moon (Providence, UT); Thomas Bradshaw (Albuquerque, NM)
Assignee: Utah State University
G01S13/723G01S13/878
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,474,463
App. No.
18/212,344
Granted
Nov 18, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

For tracking a target, a method receives a combined signal comprising a target signal reflected by a target and a transmitter signal not reflected by the target, wherein the transmitter signal is comprised of a plurality of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier signals. The method calculates a signal Fourier transform for the combined signal to obtain the complex symbols. The method estimates a sequence of channel state information. The method estimates CSI over for non-pilot OFDM subcarriers of the combined signal to obtain CSI for a sequence of M OFDM symbols. The method computes a CSI Fourier transform for the sequence of CSI for a plurality of OFDM subcarriers. The method estimates a CSI Doppler frequency by matching a Fourier transform template to the CSI Fourier transform. The method computes each of a target position and a target velocity vector for the target.

Claims (1316)

1 . A method comprising:

receiving a combined signal comprising a target signal reflected by a target and a transmitter signal not reflected by the target, wherein the transmitter signal is comprised of a plurality of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier signals;

calculating a signal Fourier transform for the combined signal to obtain the complex symbols z m [n], where where n is the pilot subcarrier index, m is an OFDM symbol index;

estimating a sequence of channel state information (CSI) c m,n for pilot indices of the pilot subcarrier index for the OFDM subcarrier signals of the combined signal as ĉ m,n =(z m [n]/pilot m (n)) estimating CSI over for non-pilot OFDM subcarriers of the combined signal to obtain CSI for a sequence of M OFDM symbols;

computing a CSI Fourier transform for the sequence of CSI for a plurality of OFDM subcarriers;

estimating a mean Fourier transform by averaging the CSI Fourier transform of the CSI over at least one OFDM subcarriers;

estimating a CSI Doppler frequency by matching a central lobe template of a Fourier transform to the CSI Fourier transform indicating stationary components, and wherein a side lobe template is matched to side lobes of the Fourier transform indicative of Doppler frequency components; and

computing each of a target position and a target velocity vector for the target within a field of interest from the CSI Doppler frequency.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the target position and/or the target velocity vector are determined based on the equation:

f

d

,

i

,

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(

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=

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)

-

(

x

R

,

j

(

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)

,

y

R

,

j

(

t

)

)

]

i

=

1

,

2

,

…

,

I

,

j

=

1

,

2

,

…

,

J

.

wherein f d,i,j denotes Doppler frequency determined at receiver j from a signal transmitted at transmitter i, and wherein x (t) and y (t) are a position of the target at time t, x Rj (t) and y Rj (t) are a position of a receiver j at time t, x T,i (t) and y T,i (t) are a position of a transmitter i at time t, v x (t) and v y (t) are a velocity of the target ( 105 ) at the time t, fc is a carrier frequency of the combined signal ( 106 ).

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the central lobe is offset by a carrier offset frequency.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the match between the frequency interval and the estimated frequency interval is identifyied using an extended Kalman filter.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the CSI Doppler frequency is refined using a Viterbi algorithm.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the CSI Doppler frequency is calculated using a complex ambiguity function.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the OFDM symbols transmitted on OFDM subcarrier signals are estimated as

a

^

m

,

n

=

Q

⁡

(

z

m

[

n

]

c

^

m

,

n

)

,

wherein

Q

⁡

(

z

m

[

n

]

c

^

m

,

n

)

represents quantizing

(

z

m

[

n

]

c

^

m

,

n

)

to a nearest point in the signal space and where ĉ m,n is the estimated CSI.

8 . An apparatus comprising:

a processor executing code stored on a memory to perform:

receiving a combined signal comprising a target signal reflected by a target and a transmitter signal not reflected by the target, wherein the transmitter signal is comprised of a plurality of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier signals;

calculating a signal Fourier transform for the combined signal to obtain the complex symbols Z m [n], where where n is the pilot subcarrier index, m is an OFDM symbol index;

estimating a sequence of channel state information (CSI) c m,n for pilot indices of the pilot subcarrier index for the OFDM subcarrier signals of the combined signal as

c

^

m

,

n

=

(

z

m

[

n

]

pilot

m

(

n

)

)

;

estimating CSI over for non-pilot OFDM subcarriers of the combined signal to obtain CSI for a sequence of M OFDM symbols;

computing a CSI Fourier transform for the sequence of CSI for a plurality of OFDM subcarriers;

estimating a mean Fourier transform by averaging the CSI Fourier transform of the CSI over at least one OFDM subcarriers;

estimating a CSI Doppler frequency by matching a central lobe template of a Fourier transform to the CSI Fourier transform indicating stationary components, and wherein a side lobe template is matched to side lobes of the Fourier transform indicative of Doppler frequency components; and

computing each of a target position and a target velocity vector for the target within a field of interest from the CSI Doppler frequency.

9 . The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the target position and/or the target velocity vector are determined based on the equation:

f

d

,

i

,

j

(

x

⁡

(

t

)

,

y

⁡

(

t

)

,

v

x

(

t

)

,

v

y

(

t

)

)

=

-

f

c

c

[

(

v

x

(

t

)

,

v

y

(

t

)

)

·

(

(

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⁡

(

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)

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)

-

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(

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)

+

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)

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i

(

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y

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,

i

(

t

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)

-

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R

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j

,

x

(

t

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R

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j

,

y

(

t

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)

·

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x

⁡

(

t

)

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y

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t

)

)

-

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x

R

,

j

(

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)

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y

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,

j

(

t

)

)

(

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⁡

(

t

)

,

y

⁡

(

t

)

)

-

(

x

R

,

j

(

t

)

,

y

R

,

j

(

t

)

)

]

i

=

1

,

2

,

…

,

I

,

j

=

1

,

2

,

…

,

J

.

wherein f d,i,j denotes Doppler frequency determined at receiver j from a signal transmitted at transmitter i, and wherein x (t) and y (t) are a position of the target at time t, x Rj (t) and y Rj (t) are a position of a receiver j at time t, x T,i (t) and y T,i (t) are a position of a transmitter i at time t, v x (t) and v y (t) are a velocity of the target ( 105 ) at the time t, fc is a carrier frequency of the combined signal.

10 . The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the central lobe is offset by a carrier offset frequency.

11 . The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the match between the frequency interval and the estimated frequency interval is identifyied using an extended Kalman filter.

12 . The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the CSI Doppler frequency is refined using a Viterbi algorithm.

13 . The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the CSI Doppler frequency is calculated using a complex ambiguity function.

14 . The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the OFDM symbols transmitted on OFDM subcarrier signals are estimated as

a

^

m

,

n

=

Q

⁡

(

z

m

[

n

]

c

^

m

,

n

)

,

wherein

Q

⁡

(

z

m

[

n

]

c

^

m

,

n

)

represents quantizing

(

z

m

[

n

]

c

^

m

,

n

)

to a nearest point in the signal space and where ĉ m,n is the estimated CSI.

15 . A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer storage medium storing code executable by a processor to perform:

receiving a combined signal comprising a target signal reflected by a target and a transmitter signal not reflected by the target, wherein the transmitter signal is comprised of a plurality of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier signals;

calculating a signal Fourier transform for the combined signal to obtain the complex symbols Z m [n], where where n is the pilot subcarrier index, m is an OFDM symbol index;

estimating a sequence of channel state information (CSI) c m,n for pilot indices of the pilot subcarrier index for the OFDM subcarrier signals of the combined signal as

c

^

m

,

n

=

(

z

m

[

n

]

pilot

m

(

n

)

)

;

estimating CSI over for non-pilot OFDM subcarriers of the combined signal to obtain CSI for a sequence of M OFDM symbols;

computing a CSI Fourier transform for the sequence of CSI for a plurality of OFDM subcarriers;

estimating a mean Fourier transform by averaging the CSI Fourier transform of the CSI over at least one OFDM subcarriers;

estimating a CSI Doppler frequency by matching a central lobe template of a Fourier transform to the CSI Fourier transform indicating stationary components, and wherein a side lobe template is matched to side lobes of the Fourier transform indicative of Doppler frequency components; and

computing each of a target position and a target velocity vector for the target within a field of interest from the CSI Doppler frequency.

16 . The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the target position and/or the target velocity vector are determined based on the equation:

f

d

,

i

,

j

(

x

⁡

(

t

)

,

y

⁡

(

t

)

,

v

x

(

t

)

,

v

y

(

t

)

)

=

-

f

c

c

[

(

v

x

(

t

)

,

v

y

(

t

)

)

·

(

(

x

⁡

(

t

)

,

y

⁡

(

t

)

)

-

(

x

T

,

i

(

t

)

,

y

T

,

i

(

t

)

)

(

x

⁡

(

t

)

,

y

⁡

(

t

)

)

-

(

x

T

,

i

(

t

)

,

y

T

,

i

(

t

)

)

+

(

x

⁡

(

t

)

,

y

⁡

(

t

)

)

-

(

x

R

,

j

(

t

)

,

y

R

,

j

(

t

)

)

(

x

⁡

(

t

)

,

y

⁡

(

t

)

)

-

(

x

R

,

j

(

t

)

,

y

R

,

j

(

t

)

)

)

-

(

v

T

,

i

,

x

(

t

)

,

v

T

,

i

,

y

(

t

)

)

·

(

x

⁡

(

t

)

,

y

⁡

(

t

)

)

-

(

x

T

,

i

(

t

)

,

y

T

,

i

(

t

)

)

(

x

⁡

(

t

)

,

y

⁡

(

t

)

)

-

(

x

T

,

i

(

t

)

,

y

T

,

i

(

t

)

)

-

(

v

R

,

j

,

x

(

t

)

,

v

R

,

j

,

y

(

t

)

)

·

(

x

⁡

(

t

)

,

y

⁡

(

t

)

)

-

(

x

R

,

j

(

t

)

,

y

R

,

j

(

t

)

)

(

x

⁡

(

t

)

,

y

⁡

(

t

)

)

-

(

x

R

,

j

(

t

)

,

y

R

,

j

(

t

)

)

]

i

=

1

,

2

,

…

,

I

,

j

=

1

,

2

,

…

,

J

.

wherein f d,i,j denotes Doppler frequency determined at receiver j from a signal transmitted at transmitter i, and wherein x (t) and y (t) are a position of the target at time t, x Rj (t) and y Rj (t) are a position of a receiver j at time t, x T,i (t) and y T,i (t) are a position of a transmitter i at time t, v x (t) and v y (t) are a velocity of the target ( 105 ) at the time t, fc is a carrier frequency of the combined signal ( 106 ).

17 . The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the central lobe is offset by a carrier offset frequency.

18 . The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the match between the frequency interval and the estimated frequency interval is identifyied using an extended Kalman filter.

19 . The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the CSI Doppler frequency is refined using a Viterbi algorithm.

20 . The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the CSI Doppler frequency is calculated using a complex ambiguity function.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jul 5, 2024
From: MOON, TODD; BRADSHAW, THOMAS
To: UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY
Reel/Frame 067919/0418 →
Continuity (3)
Continuation In Part 17332556 · May 27, 2021
Provisional Application 63030813 · May 27, 2020
Related Publication 20240183969A1 · Jun 6, 2024
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