Circular array STAP

Traditionally, space-time adaptive processing (STAP) for airborne early warning (AEW) radar has been applied to uniform linear arrays (ULAs). However, when considering the overall radar system, electronically scanned circular arrays have advantages: a better combination of even and continual angular and temporal coverage, and mechanical simplicity because it does not need to rotate. This paper answers the question “How well does STAP perform when applied to a circular array?” This paper shows that for the AEW mission, circular arrays are indeed STAP compatible. However, when conventional STAP algorithms are used there may be a small loss in performance when compared with a ULA. With some care in the choice and implementation of the STAP algorithm, the majority of the degradation is at close ranges, where the target returns are relatively strong. At long ranges performance is barely affected. A STAP algorithm which compensates for the circular array environment and provides better performance than existing algorithms is presented     

Robust space-time adaptive processing for airborne radar in nonhomogeneous clutter environments

Space-time adaptive processing (STAP) holds tremendous potential for the new generation airborne surveillance radar, in which the phased array antennas and pulse Doppler processing mode are adopted. A new STAP approach using the multiple-beam and multiple Doppler channels is presented here for airborne phased array radar. The approach with space-time multiple-beam (STMB) architecture is robust to array errors and has very low system degrees of freedom (DOFs). Hence, it has low sample support requirement and it is very suitable for the practical planar phased array radar under nonhomogeneous clutter environments. Meanwhile, a new nonhomogeneous detector (NHD) based on the correlation dimension (CD) is also proposed here, which is used as an effective method to screen tracing data prior to detection processing. It can further improve the performance of the STAP approach in the severely nonhomogeneous clutter environments. Therefore, a scheme that incorporates the correlation dimension nonhomogeneity detector (CD-NHD) with the STMB is recommended, which we term CD-NHD-STMB. The experimental simulation results indicate that: 1) the STMB processor is robust to array element error and has high performance under nonhomogeneous clutter environments; 2) the CD-NHD is also effective on the nonhomogeneous clutter. As a result, the CD-NHD-STMB scheme is robust to array element error and nonhomogeneous clutter, and therefore available for airborne phased array radar applications.     

基于杂波子空间估计的MIMO雷达降维STAP研究

 多输入多输出(MIMO)雷达是近年来出现的一种新体制雷达,针对MIMO体制的机载雷达开展空时自适应处理（STAP）技术研究是值得进一步努力的方向。本文研究了机载MIMO雷达STAP技术的降维算法,通过对STAP技术杂波抑制原理进行分析,推导并得到一种基于杂波子空间的降维算法。结合扁长椭球波函数（PSWF）的特点,提出了一种基于杂波子空间估计的降维算法,并与若干降维算法的杂波抑制性能进行比较。结果表明,当存在阵元幅相误差时,该算法在保持杂波抑制性能的同时能够有效地降低STAP算法的运算量。     

Comparison between monostatic and bistatic antenna configurationsfor STAP

The unique characteristics of bistatic radar operation on the performance of airborne/spaceborne moving target indicator (MTI) radars that use space-time adaptive processing (STAP) are discussed. It has been shown that monostatic STAP radar has the following properties. 1) For a horizontal flight path and a planar Earth the curves of constant clutter Doppler (isodops) are hyperbolas. 2) For a sidelooking antenna geometry the clutter Doppler is range independent. 3) Clutter trajectories in the cosφ-F plane (F=normalized Doppler) are in general ellipses (or straight lines for a sidelooking array). We demonstrate that these well-known properties are distorted by the displacement between transmitter and receiver in a bistatic configuration. It is shown that even for the sidelooking array geometry the clutter Doppler is range-dependent which requires adaptation of the STAP processor for each individual range gate. Conclusions for the design of STAP processors are drawn     

基于稀疏阵列和码分信号的机载预警雷达STAP研究

基于稀疏阵列和码分正交信号,研究了机载雷达的空时自适应处理（STAP）技术,用于空中预警背景下的地面杂波抑制和运动目标探测。提出了稀疏阵列码分多相位中心孔径综合方法,采用正交编码信号实现多发多收,使综合后不同编码信号的相位中心在数量和分布情况上和满阵天线的相同,从而避免了稀疏阵列天线旁瓣较高的问题;在孔径综合的基础上,利用空时自适应处理方法完成杂波抑制,实现运动目标检测。仿真结果表明了本文方法的有效性。     

Framework and Taxonomy for Radar Space-Time Adaptive Processing (STAP) Methods

The goal of radar space-time adaptive processing (STAP) is to detect slow moving targets from a moving platform, typically airborne or spaceborne. STAP generally requires the estimation and the inversion of an interference-plus-noise (I+N) covariance matrix. To reduce both the number of samples involved in the estimation and the computational cost inherent to the matrix inversion, many suboptimum STAP methods have been proposed. We propose a new canonical framework that encompasses all suboptimum STAP methods we are aware of. The framework allows for both covariance-matrix (CM) estimation and range-dependence compensation (RDC); it also applies to monostatic and bistatic configurations. Finally, we discuss a taxonomy for classifying the methods described by the framework.     

基于复近似消息传递的前视雷达成像分辨率增强算法

当机载/弹载雷达工作在前视状态时,由于成像场景内不同角度处目标的多普勒差异很小,很难得到 高的角度分辨率。针对海面舰船目标的前视成像应用,利用成像区域具有明显稀疏性的特点,提出一种基于复 近似消息传递压缩感知处理的前视成像角度分辨率增强算法,建立前视成像的线性观测信号模型,给出复近似 消息传递的迭代计算过程,以及多通道雷达前视成像的处理流程。通过仿真数据和 X 波段雷达实测数据的处 理结果验证了该方法的有效性。     

一种基于协方差矩阵加权的阵元误差补偿STAP处理

机载多通道阵列雷达天线在工程实践中不可避免地存在各类阵元误差,所产生的通道失配问题会对空时二维自适应处理的性能造成大的影响。对存在阵元误差时的阵列信号模型进行了分析,提出了一种基于协方差矩阵加权（CMT）的阵元误差补偿空时自适应处理（STAP）方法,在工程应用中该加权矩阵可通过地面天线定标及校飞过程确定,通过对总干扰协方差矩阵估计的加权预处理,可将实际阵元误差对STAP性能的影响控制在测量误差的影响范围,最后通过仿真验证了算法的有效性。     

一种基于角度-多普勒补偿的均匀圆形

采用均匀圆形相控阵天线的机载雷达杂波分布随距离变化而变化,各距离单元的杂波不再满足独立同分布的条件,造成统计型空时自适应处理(STAP)器性能下降。基于此,本文建立了均匀圆形天线机载雷达模型,对其杂波分布进行了分析,得出了空间角随阵元数非线性变化的特性造成其杂波距离维分布非均匀的结论。研究了一种均匀圆形天线机载雷达杂波抑制方法,该方法先通过修正的角度-多普勒补偿(MADC)预处理消除在杂波谱中心处的非均匀,再利用基于导数更新(DBU)技术进一步减小在其他方位杂波的非均匀程度。仿真结果表明了该方法的有效性。     

Angle/Doppler estimation in heavy-tailed clutter backgrounds

This work describes new methods on the modeling of the amplitude statistics of airborne radar clutter by means of alpha-stable distributions. We develop joint target angle and Doppler, maximum likelihood-based estimation techniques from radar measurements retrieved in the presence of impulsive uncorrelated noise modeled as an alpha-stable random process. We derive the Cramer-Rao bounds (CRBs) for the additive Cauchy interference scenario to assess the best case estimation accuracy which can be achieved. In addition, we introduce a new joint spatial- and Doppler-frequency high-resolution estimation technique based on the fractional lower order statistics of the measurements of a radar array. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed methods can be of interest in the study of space-time adaptive processing (STAP) for airborne pulse Doppler radar arrays operating in impulsive interference environments     

Space-time adaptive processing and adaptive arrays: specialcollection of papers

Space-time adaptive processing (STAP) and related adaptive array techniques hold tremendous potential for improving sensor performance by exploiting signal diversity. Such methods have important application in radar, sonar, and communication systems. Recent advances in digital signal processing technology now provide the computational means to field STAP-based systems. The objective of this special collection of papers is to examine the current state-of-the art in STAP technology and explore the remaining obstacles, practical issues and novel techniques required to implement STAP-based radar, sonar or communication systems     

一种基于角度-多普勒补偿的均匀圆形天线机载雷达杂波抑制方法

采用均匀圆形相控阵天线的机载雷达杂波分布随距离变化而变化,各距离单元的杂波不再满足独立同分布的条件,造成统计型空时自适应处理(STAP)器性能下降。基于此,本文建立了均匀圆形天线机载雷达模型,对其杂波分布进行了分析,得出了空间角随阵元数非线性变化的特性造成其杂波距离维分布非均匀的结论。研究了一种均匀圆形天线机载雷达杂波抑制方法,该方法先通过修正的角度 多普勒补偿(MADC)预处理消除在杂波谱中心处的非均匀,再利用基于导数更新(DBU)技术进一步减小在其他方位杂波的非均匀程度。仿真结果表明了该方法的有效性。     

Development of airborne moving target radar for long range surveillance

The following topics are discussed in the context of the development of an airborne moving target radar for long range surveillance: US Navy long range shipborne radar; Cadillac I airborne early warning (AEW) radar; Cadillac II airborne early warning (AEW) radar; airborne moving target indicating (AMTI) radar; related post-war radar activities; and the invention of the displaced center antenna. Among the topics studied is the use of a monopulse antenna in an MTI radar to remove the degradation of the MTI caused by rapid scanning of the antenna. A method of using a monopulse antenna for motion compensation in airborne MTI is discussed.<>     

Sensitivity of MIMO STAP Radar with Waveform Diversity

Space-time adaptive processing (STAP) is an effective method adopted in airborne radar to suppress ground clutter. Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar is a new radar concept and has superiority over conventional radars. Recent proposals have been applying STAP in MIMO configuration to the improvement of the performance of conventional radars. As waveforms transmitted by MIMO radar can be correlated or uncorrelated with each other, this article develops a unified signal model incorporating waveforms for STAP in MIMO radar with waveform diversity. Through this framework, STAP performances are expressed as functions of the waveform covariance matrix (WCM). Then, effects of waveforms can be investigated. The sensitivity, i.e., the maximum range detectable, is shown to be proportional to the maximum eigenvalue of WCM. Both theoretical studies and numerical simulation examples illustrate the waveform effects on the sensitivity of MIMO STAP radar, based on which we can make better trade-off between waveforms to achieve optimal system performance.     

Knowledge-based space-time adaptive processing for airborne earlywarning radar

This paper describes an innovative concept for knowledge-based control of space-time adaptive processing (STAP) for airborne early warning radar. The knowledge-based approach holds potential for significant performance improvements over classical STAP processing in nonhomogeneous environments by taking advantage of a priori knowledge. Under this approach, knowledge-based control is used to direct pre-adaptive filtering, and to carefully select STAP algorithms, parameters, and secondary data cells     

非正侧视阵列机载雷达多空间角补偿算法

 非正侧阵列机载雷达的杂波分布随距离变化而变化,各距离单元的杂波分布不再满足独立同分布条件,造成统计型空时自适应处理(STAP)处理器性能下降。本文提出了一种多空间角补偿(MSAC)的非正侧视机载雷达杂波抑制方法,该方法先通过角度-多普勒补偿(ADC)预处理以消除在谱中心处的杂波非均匀,然后采用MSAC法在多个多普勒方向使参考单元和待检测单元的杂波谱保持一致,从而进一步消除在其余方位的杂波非均匀。仿真结果表明了该方法的性能明显优于ADC法,且运算量增加不多。     

Reduced-rank STAP for high PRF radar

Due to the range ambiguity of high pulse-repetition frequency (HPRF) radars, echoes from far-range fold over near-range returns. This effect may cause low Doppler targets to compete with near-range strong clutter. Another consequence of the range ambiguity is that the sample support for estimating the array covariance matrix is reduced, leading to degraded performance. It is shown that space-time adaptive processing (STAP) techniques are required to reject the clutter in HPRF radar. Four STAP methods are studied in the context of the HPRF radar problem: low rank approximation sample matrix inversion (SMI), diagonally loaded SMI, eigencanceler, and element-space post-Doppler. These three methods are evaluated in typical HPRF radar scenarios and for various training conditions, including when the target is present in the training data     

Implementing digital terrain data in knowledge-aided space-time adaptive processing

Many practical problems arise when implementing digital terrain data in airborne knowledge-aided (KA) space-time adaptive processing (STAP). This paper addresses these issues and presents solutions with numerical implementations. In particular, using digital land classification data and digital elevation data, techniques are developed for registering these data with radar return signals, correcting for Doppler and spatial misalignments, adjusting for antenna gain, characterizing clutter patches for secondary data selection, and ensuring independent secondary data samples. These techniques are applied to select secondary data for a single-bin post-Doppler STAP algorithm using multi-channel airborne radar measurement (MCARM) program data. Results with the KA approach are compared with those obtained using the standard sliding window method for choosing secondary data. These results illustrate the benefits of using terrain information, a priori data about the radar, and the importance of statistical independence when selecting secondary data for improving STAP performance     

NEW METHOD FOR REDUCED RANK STAP—NON CLUTTER CHANNEL METHOD

Space- time adaptive processing(STAP) is aleading technology candidate for improving detec-tion performance of advanced airborne early warn-ing radar.In practical radar systems,the optimumfully adaptive space- time processing[1] cannot al-ways be implemented because of the computationalcomplexity,so the design of suboptimum proces-sors has been one of the key topics in STAP.Sev-eral reduced- rank STAP methods have been pro-posed in recent years.For example,based on thegeneralized sidelobe…     

基于3DT的空时自适应单脉冲参数估计算法

空时自适应处理(STAP)是机载预警雷达抑制杂波和干扰的一项关键技术,而多普勒三通道联合自适应处理(3DT)是适合工程实现的降维(RD)STAP方法。STAP目标检测后还需进一步估计目标的角度参数,因此将自适应单脉冲(AM)技术引入3DT,提出了一种高精度联合估计目标速度与方位空间角的空时自适应单脉冲算法。理论分析与仿真实验结果表明,当目标多普勒频率偏离检测多普勒单元中心频率时,该算法能同时减少目标多普勒跨越损失和空时导引矢量失配损失,进而提高输出信杂噪比(SCNR),改善目标测角精度。