Non-linear processing for multicarrier MIMO Radar for Improved Target Resolution

Abstract

The matched filter receiver is derived with signalto-noise ratio (SNR) or detection performance as the optimality criterion, and does not consider target resolution. In this paper, we investigate non-linear processing schemes which can provide resolution better than the matched filter receiver. A Multicarrier MIMO Radar is considered, where each transmit antenna uses a different subcarrier. First, we derive ambiguity function for such a system. Then we study the improvement in delay-Doppler images of proposed non-linear processing schemes when compared with optimal linear matched filter processing. Closed form expressions for probability of detection and false alarm for proposed schemes are then derived. We observe that our non-linear schemes provide significant improvement in target resolution with very small degradation in detection performance.

Multi‐carrier radar waveforms for communications and detection

“…Multi‐carrier based radar waveform designs have recently gained strong interest due in part to the success of multi‐carrier waveforms such as Orthogonal Frequency Division Modulation (OFDM) in radio communication technologies. From a radar‐centric point of view, multi‐carrier waveforms can be used to improve detection and measurement performance [1–3]. Furthermore, the use of such waveforms improves resistance to multipath fading [4, 5], the ability to overcome the limitations of a congested frequency spectrum [6], the ability to exploit frequency diversity gains stemming from the fact that target scattering centres inherently resonate differently at different frequencies [7], and the potential to perform radar and communication functions simultaneously within the same hardware using the same waveform [8–10].…”