FDA-MIMO radar detection for independent and nonidentically distributed fluctuating targets

Abstract

Due to its range-dependent target response, frequency diverse array multiple-input multiple-output (FDA-MIMO) radar systems enable superior detection capabilities as compared with conventional phased-array radars. This paper proposes an incoherent detector for airborne FDA-MIMO radar to detect independent but possibly non-identically distributed fluctuating targets. For FDA-MIMO, variations in the target's flight attitude result in different distributions of the target radar cross section (RCS) for different pulses. In order to allow the FDA-MIMO RCS to vary due to the large frequency increments across the array antennas, we formulate a statistical FDA-MIMO RCS model for the reflected signal. We further derive the analytical detection probability for an FDA-MIMO radar measuring independent and non-identically distributed fluctuating targets. The resulting expression takes the form of an infinite sum; to enable evaluation in practice, an upper bound of the truncation error is also derived. The proposed method and all theoretical analysis are verified by numerical results, which provides theoretical basis and guidance for FDA-MIMO system implementation and design in independent and non-identically distributed fluctuating targets detection.