Abstract
A spectrum sensing technique is described which is used to enhance the performance of harmonic step-frequency radar in the presence of harmful radio frequency (RF) interference (RFI). This technique passively monitors the RF spectrum for subbands of high signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) within a constrained bandwidth of interest. An optimal subband is selected for the harmonic radar that maximizes SINR and minimizes the range resolution cell size, two conflicting objectives. The approach is tested using an experimental setup that injects high power RFI into a harmonic step-frequency radar, which significantly degrades radar performance. It is shown that the proposed spectrum sensing technique significantly improves the SINR and the peak-to-average sidelobe power level of the harmonic radar at the sacrifice of range resolution.
Highlights
The ever-growing wireless communications industry poses several radio frequency (RF) challenges for radar systems [1, 2]
By maintaining a high signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) using the SS-MO technique, it becomes more likely for the harmonic step-frequency radar to increase detection performance or lower the false alarm rate
The peak-to-average sidelobe ratio (PSLR) measured for the SS-MO algorithm is significantly higher with a maximum increase of over 25 dB. These results indicate that the SS-MO technique significantly improves PSLR when high power, narrowband interference is present in band to
Summary
The ever-growing wireless communications industry poses several radio frequency (RF) challenges for radar systems [1, 2]. These solutions do not address the second (i.e., radar as the RFI source) and third (i.e., modifiable radar bandwidth used to comply with government regulations) radar challenges discussed in the opening paragraph To address these two challenges, joint radar and radio spectrum sharing techniques have been proposed for coexistence within a fixed frequency band of interest [24, 25]. A potential solution that addresses all of the above radar challenges is the spectrum sensing, multiobjective optimization (SS-MO) technique originally introduced by the authors in [27] This technique passively monitors the operating band of the radar for RFI while the radar remains inactive. This system measures the harmonic response from a nonlinear circuit element (i.e., a passive amplifier) in the presence of RFI.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
