System and method for sub-coherent integration for geo-location using weak or intermittent signals

摘要

A signal is received from a mobile device as multiple data samples. The received signal includes a first component corresponding to a known reference signal and a second component corresponding to an unknown channel impairment or an unknown noise. A sequence of blocks is formed based on the received samples. The first component of the received signal corresponding to the reference signal is known to within a constant phase shift over each block. A plurality of function values are generated as a function of time, frequency, and phase, based on the received signal, corresponding to a plurality of times, a plurality of frequencies, and a plurality of phase sequences. A time, a frequency, and a phase sequence corresponding to an optimal value the function values are determined. The determined time is outputted as a time of arrival of the received signal.