Design of integrated radar and communication system based on MIMO-OFDM waveform

Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform enables radar and communication functions simultaneously, which encounters low angle resolution and poor data rate for traditional single input single output (SISO) systems. To solve these problems, an integrated radar and communication system (IRCS) with multiple input multiple output (MIMO) OFDM waveform is proposed. The different limitations of radar and communication in designing such a system are investigated. Then, an optimization problem is devised to obtain suitable system parameters, including the number of subcarriers, subcarrier spacing, number of symbols, pulse repetition frequency (PRF) and length of cyclic prefix (CP). Finally, to satisfy the requirements of both radar and communication, the IRCS parameters are derived in three typical cases. Several numerical results are presented to illustrate the demands of radar and communication, inconsistent or consistent, for the IRCS parameters and the superiority of the proposed system.

DOA estimation of wideband signals based on iterative spectral reconstruction

In order to solve the problem of coherent signal subspace method(CSSM) depending on the estimated accuracy of signal subspace, a new direction of arrival(DOA) estimation method of wideband source, which is based on iterative adaptive spectral reconstruction, is proposed. Firstly, the wideband signals are divided into several narrowband signals of different frequency bins by discrete Fourier transformation(DFT). Then, the signal matched power spectrum in referenced frequency bins is computed, which can form the initial covariance matrix. Finally, the linear restrained minimum variance spectral(Capon spectral) of signals in other frequency bins are reconstructed using sequential iterative means, so the DOA can be estimated by the locations of spectral peaks. Theoretical analysis and simulation results show the proposed method based on the iterative spectral reconstruction for the covariance matrices of all sub-bands can avoid the problem of determining the signal subspace accurately with the coherent signal subspace method under the conditions of small samples and low signal to noise ratio(SNR), and it can also realize full dimensional focusing of different sub-band data, which can be applied to coherent sources and can significantly improve the accuracy of DOA estimation.

System Design and Signal Processing for Frequency Diverse Array Radar

Frequency diverse array(FDA)radar has been studied for more than 15 years and has attracted a lot of attention due to its potential advantages over the well-known phased array radar.The representative feature of FDA is range-angle-time-dependent transmit beampattern and its underlying properties are continuously revealed in the research.The formulation and exploitation of the transmit diversity with a frequency increment is the fundamental principle,which brings extra degrees-of-freedom(DOFs)in the transmit dimension.As the FDA radar carries additional information in range,it provides more flexibility in signal processing and also brings in new technical issues.This article overviews the state-of-the-art in FDA radar area and its applications,mainly based on the progress in our group.There are two main catalogs in FDA radar area,namely coherent FDA and FDA-MIMO(multiple-input multiple-output)radars.Potential applications including target parameter estimation,ambiguous clutter suppression,and deceptive jammer suppression are discussed.

Modified Omega-K algorithm for processing helicopter-borne frequency modulated continuous waveform rotating synthetic aperture radar data

With appropriate geometry configuration, helicopter- borne rotating synthetic aperture radar （ROSAR） can break through the limitations of monostatic synthetic aperture radar （SAR） on forward-looking imaging. With this capability, ROSAR has extensive potential applications, such as self-navigation and self-landing. Moreover, it has many advantages if combined with the frequency modulated continuous wave （FMCW） technology. A novel geometric configuration and an imaging algorithm for helicopter-borne FMCW-ROSAR are proposed. Firstly, by per- forming the equivalent phase center principle, the separated trans- mitting and receiving antenna system is equalized to the case of system configuration with antenna for both transmitting and receiving signals. Based on this, the accurate two-dimensional spectrum is obtained and the Doppler frequency shift effect in- duced by the continuous motion of the platform during the long pulse duration is compensated. Next, the impacts of the velocity approximation error on the imaging algorithm are analyzed in de- tail, and the system parameters selection and resolution analysis are presented. The well-focused SAR image is then obtained by using the improved Omega-K algorithm incorporating the accurate compensation method for the velocity approximation error. FJnally, correctness of the analysis and effectiveness of the proposed al- gorithm are demonstrated through simulation results.

Target location with signal fitting and sub-aperture tracking for airborne multi-channel radar

The location of a moving target based on signal fitting and sub-aperture tracking from an airborne multi-channel radar is dealt with.The proposed approach is applied in two steps：first,the ambiguous slant-range velocity is derived with a modified single-snapshot multiple direction of arrival estimation method,and second,the unambiguous slant-range velocity is found using a track-based criterion.The prominent advantage of the proposed approach is that the unambiguous slant-range velocity can be very large.Besides,the first stage is carried out at the determinate range-Doppler test cell by azimuth searching for fitting best to the moving target signal,therefore,the location performance would not be sacrificed in order to suppress clutter and/or interference.The effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed method are validated with a set of airborne experimental data.

Array-error estimation method for multi-channel SAR systems in azimuth

For multi-channel synthetic aperture radar（SAR） systems, since the minimum antenna area constraint is eliminated,wide swath and high resolution SAR image can be achieved.However, the unavoidable array errors, consisting of channel gainphase mismatch and position uncertainty, significantly degrade the performance of such systems. An iteration-free method is proposed to simultaneously estimate position and gain-phase errors.In our research, the steering vectors corresponding to a pair of Doppler bins within the same range bin are studied in terms of their rotational relationships. The method is based on the fact that the rotational matrix only depends on the position errors and the frequency spacing between the paired Doppler bins but is independent of gain-phase error. Upon combining the projection matrices corresponding to the paired Doppler bins, the position errors are directly obtained in terms of extracting the rotational matrix in a least squares framework. The proposed method, when used in conjunction with the self-calibration algorithm, performs stably as well as has less computational load, compared with the conventional methods. Simulations reveal that the proposed method behaves better than the conventional methods even when the signal-to-noise ratio（SNR） is low.

Control and utilization of range-dependent beampattern with waveform diverse array radars

The transmit antenna beampattern of the phased array radar is only a function of angle,limiting its ability to discriminate the targets from the same direction.Recently,the waveform diverse array radars expand the angle-dependent beampattern to an angle-time-range-dependent three-dimensional function by modulating the frequencies/time delays/phases across different transmit antenna elements.In this respect,extra Degrees-of-Freedom(DOFs)in the range domain are achieved,which opens up an innovative way to fulfil the tasks with enhanced system performance by jointly using the angle and range information.This paper summaries the developments of waveform diverse radars,including the Frequency Diverse Array(FDA),the Space-Time-CirculatingArray(STCA),and the Element-Pulse-Coding(EPC)frameworks,with emphasis on the analysis of the range-dependent beampattern from the basic properties upon how it is controlled.Moreover,the most recent advances of utilizing such a range-dependent beampattern in target detection,parameter estimation and identifiability,clutter suppression,jammer suppression and Synthetic Aperture Radar(SAR)imaging are discussed.

Highly robust ground moving target detection and relocation method for distributed satellites

The performance of ground moving target detection for distributed satellites will be affected signifi-cantly when there is an image registration error,clutter decorrelation and array error.In this paper,a new approach to moving target detection and relocation is proposed based on multi-channel and multi-pixel adap-tive signal processing in an image domain.First,multi-channel and multi-pixel joint data are equated to a simple array model.Given that there is an image registration error,the real steering vector of the moving target can be estimated through a space projection approach.The optimal beam forming approach is used to cancel clutter,and at the same time the cross-track velocity of the mov-ing target can be determined by searching for the peak value of the cost function.The moving target can then be relocated on the SAR image.The simulation results indicate that this method has a good robustness to image registration error,clutter decorrelation and array error.The detection performance and the estimation accuracy are significantly improved.