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     

Medium PRF Performance Analysis

A discussion of various types of x-band airborne radars is presented together with their systematic development through the years to the present time. Starting with simple, low pulse-repetition frequency (PRF) radars for measuring radar-target range, airborne radar development proceeded with more sophisticated high PRF Doppler radars where radar-target range and range rate were measured simultaneously. The use of Doppler (frequency) in signal processing allowed the separation of moving from nonmoving targets (ground), enabling the detection of moving targets in the presence of ground clutter. More recent developments in waveform generation and selection has resulted in the development of medium PRF radars, whereby a greater degree of tactical flexibility in target detection is achieved by combining the desirable features of both low and high PRF radars. Part of the available literature gives an overview, together with a specific example of the design and performance of an airborne medium PRF radar. Here, however, the systematic evolution of these radars is emphasized and the necessary theoretical background is developed for their performance calculations. Modern day airborne radars may be equipped with all three modes of operation, low, medium, and high PRF, allowing the operator to utilize the mode best suited for the tactical encounter. Low PRF and high PRF radars have been described elsewhere and are given here primarily for the sake of completeness and for the necessary background for developing medium PRF radar equations. They are also needed for developing the reasons why medium PRF radars came into being.     

Clutter Spectra of Low PRF AMTI Pulse-Doppler Radar

Approximate expressions are derived for the video clutter spectra in the receiver of a low pulse repetition frequency (PRF), airborne moving target indicator (AMTI), pulse-Doppler radar for both step-scanning and continuous-scanning antennas. The receiver is assumed to process the received waveform with a clutter-tracking oscillator and a window function is employed to obtain short-term spectra. Except for the broadening effects of the window function, it is shown that the clutter spectrum can be simply related to the antenna voltage-gain pattern. It is further shown, in the scanning antenna case, that the combined spectral broadening due to platform motion and antenna scanning cannot be assumed to be the result of the convolution of the separate effects unless the antenna gain pattern has a Gaussian shape. The approximate clutter expressions are illustrated by examples and are shown to agree well with the results of computer calculations.     

Doppler ambiguity resolution using multiple PRF

An algorithm for velocity ambiguity resolution in coherent pulsed Doppler radar using multiple pulse repetition frequencies (PRF) is presented. It relies on the choice of particular values for the PRFs. The folded frequency of the target signal is obtained by averaging the folded frequency estimates for each PRF, and a quasi maximum likelihood criterion is maximized for ambiguity order estimation. The fast implementation of this nonambiguous estimation procedure is based on the fast Fourier transform (FFT), The proposed waveform allows full exploitation of any (even) number of PRFs, which appears to be important for estimation improvement. The effects of the waveform parameters and the folded frequency estimation variance on the performance of the ambiguity order estimation procedure are evaluated theoretically and through computer simulations. Mean square error (MSE) curves are given to assess the Doppler frequency estimation accuracy. Finally, the new method is compared with a classical technique and the implementation of the algorithm in a clutter environment is addressed.     

Clutter Suppression by Complex Weighting of Coherent Pulse Trains

Uniform coherent pulse trains offer a practical solution to the problem of designing a radar signal possessing both high range and range-rate resolution. The Doppler sensitivity provides some rejection of off-Doppler (clutter) returns in the matched filter receiver. This paper considers the use of a processor in which members of the received pulse train are selectively weighted in amplitude and phase to improve clutter suppression. The techniques described are particularly suitable for rejecting interference entering the processor through ambiguous responses (range sidelobes) of the signal. The complex weights which are derived are optimum in the sense that they produce the maximum clutter suppression for a given detection efficiency. In determining these weights, it is assumed that the distribution of clutter in range and range rate relative to targets of interest is known. Thus, clutter suppression is achieved by reducing the sidelobe levels in specified regions of the receiver response. These techniques are directly applicable to array antennas; the analogous antenna problem would be to reduce sidelobe levels in a particular sector while preserving gain. Complex weighting is most successful when the clutter is limited in both range and velocity.     

Mitigating Range Ambiguity in High PRF Radar using Inter-Pulse Binary Coding

The paper proposes a way to increase the energy within a coherent processing interval (CPI) using more pulses instead of longer pulses. Long coded pulses result in masking targets at close range and poor Doppler tolerance. Increasing the number of pulses implies high pulse repetition frequency (PRF), which suffers from range ambiguity and target folding. These drawbacks of a high PRF can be mitigated by inter-pulse coding. The approach suggested here should be attractive for close and mid range applications of radar, ground penetrating radar, ultrasound imaging, and more.     

Clutter Performance of Coherent Pulse Trains for Targets with Range Acceleration

The clutter performance of coherent pulse trains is examined when the duration of the pulse train is increased to values for which range acceleration effects must be taken into account. The problem of target detection against a clutter background with differential Doppler is studied in terms of the range acceleration effects on the conventional Doppler response. Specifically considered are the consequences on the sidelobe level and width of the main Doppler lobe. The analysis shows that the sidelobe level remains essentially unchanged when the range acceleration mismatch becomes significant. However, the main Doppler response broadens in proportion to the magnitude of the acceleration mismatch. Thus, an increase of the signal duration for better Doppler resolution is useful only until acceleration effects spread the Doppler spectrum of the clutter and eliminate the differential Doppler between targets and clutter.     

Properties of Staggered PRF Radar Spectral Components

Expressions for moving target indicator (MTI) improvement factor limitation due to pulse repetition frequency (PRF) staggering and loss of target detectability for various values of Doppler frequency in the passband are presented. It is also shown that the product of variance of stagger periods and clutter variance is an important parameter determining the performance of a staggered PRF MTI radar.     

Radio Interference in Helicopter-Borne Pulse Doppler Radars

Radio interference generated in a helicopter-borne pulse Doppler radar system due to rotating blades is analyzed for the case that blades are located in the far field region of the radar antenna. A first-order estimate of the blade interference power spectrum is obtained as a function of antenna depression angle and radar (helicopter) altitude and speed. Numerical calculations show that blade interference is very weak compared with the direct ground clutter. It extends, however, into the clutter-free region which causes false alarms and degrades the radar performance.     

Near-Field Analysis of Helicopter Rotating Blades Modulation Interference

A near-field analysis is carried out to obtain the level of modulation interference due to rotating blades in a helicopter-borne pulse Doppler radar system. The interference power spectra are calculated for different values of antenna depression angle and helicopter (radar) speed at a constant helicopter altitude of 300 m. Numerical results for the case of 1 kW radiated power show that blade interference level is about 5 to 8 dBW/Hz less than that of the direct ground clutter in the clutter region. It extends, however, into the clutter-free region which may cause false alarms and degradation of the radar performance.     

Clutter Suppression Properties of Weighted Pulse Trains

A common but troublesome requirement on radar sensors is the detection of a target in the interference from undesired scatterers, or clutter. Systems with coherent processing of pulse trains are uniquely suited for the purpose because, with pulse trains, it is possible to concentrate the receiver output for particular values of Doppler and thus suppress the clutter by Doppler filtering. This paper discusses to what degree the effectiveness of the method can be enhanced by tapering, or weighting, of the pulse amplitudes. The general results are illustrated by computer-plotted response functions for weighted pulse trains. The clutter suppression efficiency of weighting is calculated both for unilateral weighting in the receiver and for bilateral weighting in both receiver and transmitter. The significance of additional phase weighting is discussed and the results for pure amplitude weighting are compared with publishedwork on phase and amplitude weighting.     

MTI Optimization in a Multiple-Clutter Environment

A means of optimizing a moving target indicator (MTI) filter for rejecting several types of clutter, which are generated by different mechanisms such as by rain or the ground, is formulated. lt is found that the optimal performance of such a filter depends on the spectral density functions, average radar cross sections, and the relative mean Doppler frequencies of each type of clutter. lt is shown that the optimal improvement factor of such a filter is bounded by the weighted average (weighted in accordance with the radar cross sections of the clutter types) of the improvement factor for the individual clutter type. lt is also shown that the improvement factor of such a filter is a function of the relative mean Doppler frequency f0 between the clutter types. As f0 increases, the performance of the MTI system degrades. The worst improvement factor occurs when f0 is equal to half of the radar pulse-repetition frequency (PRF).     

Performance improvement for constellation SAR using signal processing techniques

A new concept of spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) implementation has recently been proposed - the constellation of small spaceborne SAR systems. In this implementation, several formation-flying small satellites cooperate to perform multiple space missions. We investigate the possibility to produce high-resolution wide-area SAR images and fine ground moving-target indicator (GMTI) performance with constellation of small spaceborne SAR systems. In particular, we focus on the problems introduced by this particular SAR system, such as Doppler ambiguities, high sparseness of the satellite array, and array element errors. A space-time adaptive processing (STAP) approach combined with conventional SAR imaging algorithms is proposed which can solve these problems to some extent. The main idea of the approach is to use a STAP-based method to properly overcome the aliasing effect caused by the lower pulse-repetition frequency (PRF) and thereby retrieve the unambiguous azimuth wide (full) spectrum signals from the received echoes. Following this operation, conventional SAR data processing tools can be applied to focus the SAR images fully. The proposed approach can simultaneously achieve both high-resolution SAR mapping of wide ground scenes and GMTI with high efficiency. To obtain array element errors, an array auto-calibration technique is proposed to estimate them based on the angular and Doppler ambiguity analysis of the clutter echo. The optimizing of satellite formations is also analyzed, and a platform velocity/PRF criterion for array configurations is presented. An approach is given to make it possible that almost any given sparse array configuration can satisfy the criterion by slightly adjusting the PRF. Simulated results are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed approaches.     

Medium PRF radar PRF selection using evolutionary algorithms

Evolutionary algorithms are applied to the optimization of pulse repetition frequency (PRF), for both eight-and nine PRFs, in medium PRF radar while considering the detailed effects of sidelobe clutter and many other technical factors. The algorithm presented also ensures that all the solutions produced are fully decodable and have no blind velocities. The evolutionary algorithm was able to identify near-optimum PRF sets for a realistic radar system with only a modest computational effort.     

Missing radar pulse clutter processing

The degradation of conventional clutter processing filters due to missing pulses resulting from RF interference blanking, ambiguous range returns when no filter pulses are used, or eclipsing is described. The effects of a missing pulse on uncompensated and optimum clutter filters are investigated. The maximum improvement factor method and other methods are compared to the optimum filtering. New methods and results using a minimax log energy search method are described and are shown to provide performance and/or implementation complexity advantages     

基于常规多普勒滤波器组结构的合成宽带距离像性能分析

为了消除散布效应对宽带信号的不利影响,可以利用多个窄带信号合成宽带信号;同时,通过在子带内处理相干脉冲串,可进行杂波抑制、目标速度估计和区分不同速度的目标。然而,在子带内分别使用常规多普勒滤波器组,会引进多普勒散布效应所造成的输出失配误差,从而造成合成距离像的失真。分析了多普勒散布效应与子带常规多普勒滤波器组输出失配之间的关系,推导了运动目标通过滤波器组后所成高分辨距离像的距离走动公式,给出了适合子带常规多普勒滤波器组的目标速度临界值。仿真实验验证了以上结论。     

Performance comparison of PRF schedules for medium PRF radar

Previous work has shown how evolutionary algorithms (EAs) are an effective tool in optimising the selection of pulse repetition frequency (PRF) values of medium PRF schedules in an airborne fire control radar (FCR) application requiring target data in three PRFs. The optimisation is driven by the requirement to minimise range/Doppler blindness whilst maintaining full decodability. In this paper we detail work in which the optimisation process is applied to design novel short medium PRF schedules requiring target data in just two PRFs. The paper reports on the testing of a variety of near-optimum schedules to compare their blindness, decoding, and ghosting performances. The results show that in many situations, the 2 of N schedules are a practical alternative to conventional 3 of N processing.     

Resolution Performance of Pulse Trains with Large Time-Bandwidth Products

The coherent pulse train has good clutter suppression performance because the energy in its matched-filter response is essentially concentrated within sharp ambiguous spikes. However, this is so only when the Doppler distortions are neglected, so that the Doppler effect is taken as a simple translation of the carrier frequency. This paper analyzes the consequences of Doppler distortions on the resolution performance of pulse trains. It is found that Doppler distortions widen the Doppler ambiguities of the pulse train response, with the widening factor proportional to the order of the Doppler ambiguity. This reduces the interval between Doppler ambiguities, and hence the Doppler width of a clutter space that can be accommodated without severe clutter interference. For an operation in a Doppler-ambiguous mode, it also degrades nominal Doppler resolution performance. A detailed analysis of the effects is presented, and numerical results on the widening of the Doppler ambiguities are obtained.     

Medium PRF set selection using evolutionary algorithms

This paper presents a new and novel method of selecting multiple pulse repetition frequency (PRF) sets for use in medium PRF pulsed-Doppler radars. Evolutionary algorithms are used to minimise the blind areas in the range/Doppler space. The evolutionary algorithm allows optimal solutions to be generated quickly, far faster than with exhaustive searches, and is fully automatic, unlike existing techniques. The evolved solutions compare very favorably against the results of both an exhaustive search and existing published PRF set selection methods. This evolutionary approach to generation of PRF sets is a major advance in medium PRF radar design.