Fundamental Limits for Joint Relative Position and Orientation Estimation with Generic Antennas

Abstract

Automated multi-agent robotic systems are a promising technology for extra-terrestrial exploration. Autonomous control of such systems requires position as well as orientation awareness. Having a multi-port antenna system like an antenna array or a multi-mode antenna (MMA) installed on each agent, position and orientation can be estimated when the agents cooperatively communicate via radio signals. The aim of this paper is to derive the fundamental limits for relative, i.e. anchor-free, joint position and orientation estimation. Using wavefield modeling and manifold separation, the inclusion of calibration data from real multi-port antenna systems is possible. The Cramer-Rae bound (CRB) is derived directly on the received signal, thus representing a fundamental limit. We then use the derived bound to analyze the position and orientation estimation capabilities of a multi-agent system employing MMAs.