Direct transmit waveform design to match a desired beampattern under the constant modulus constraint

Abstract

In this paper, we study waveform optimization methods for transmit beampattern matching with a multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) radar. The aim is to minimize the squared error between the desired beampattern and the actual one. We propose two algorithms, which are based on cyclic optimization and majorization-minimization (MM), to tackle the highly nonlinear and non-convex optimization problem. The proposed algorithms have simple closed-form solutions at every iteration, which reduce the computational complexity significantly. Moreover, the convergence of the proposed methods can be guaranteed, due to the descent property of MM algorithms and cyclic optimization. In addition, we extend the proposed algorithm to design waveforms for dual-function radar-communication systems. Finally, simulation results demonstrate the superiority of the proposed algorithms compared with state-of-the art methods.