Wideband Radar Frequency Measurement Receiver Based on FPGA without Mixer

Abstract

In this letter, a flexible and compatible with fine resolution radar frequency measurement receiver is designed. The receiver is implemented on the platform of Virtex-5 Field Programmable Grid Array (FPGA) from Xilinx. The Digital Down Conversion (DDC) without mixer based on polyphase filter has been successfully introduced in this receiver to obtain lower speed data flow and better resolution. This receiver can adapt to more modulation types and higher density of pulse flow, up to 200000 pulses per second. The measurement results indicate that the receiver is capable of detecting radar pulse signal of 0.2us to 2.5ms width with a major frequency root mean square error (RMSE) within 0.44MHz. Moreover, the wider pulse width and the higher decimation rate of DDC result in better performance. This frequency measurement receiver has been successfully used in a spaceborne radar system.