Abstract
We report on the realization of a multichannel imaging radar that achieves uniform 2-D cross-range resolution by means of a linear array of a special form of leaky-wave antennas. The presented aperture concept enables a tradeoff between the available range resolution and a reduction in the number of channels required for a given angular resolution. The antenna front end is integrated within a multichannel radar based on stepped-carrier orthogonal frequency-division modulation, and the advantages and challenges specific to this combination are analyzed with respect to signal processing and a newly developed calibration routine. The system concept is fully implemented and verified in the form of a mobile demonstrator capable of soft real-time 3-D processing. By combining radio frequency (RF) components operating in the <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$W$ </tex-math></inline-formula> -band (85–105 GHz) with the presented aperture, a 3-D resolution of less than <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${1.5}^\circ \times {1.5}^\circ \times $ </tex-math></inline-formula> 15 cm is demonstrated using only eight transmitters and eight receivers.
Highlights
B ANDWIDTH yields range resolution—this fundamental property of radar systems has driven the development of radio frequency (RF) components and the exploration of higher and broader frequency bands for more than five decades
2) What specific properties does a highly directive, hybrid aperture have regarding the interaction of resolutions, and how can these be tuned during design and operation?
3) What challenges and opportunities come with the integration of such a hybrid aperture into an SC-orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) radar, with a special focus on signal processing and calibration?
Summary
B ANDWIDTH yields range resolution—this fundamental property of radar systems has driven the development of radio frequency (RF) components and the exploration of higher and broader frequency bands for more than five decades. OFDM radar is widely considered to be a promising technology for many spectrally dense scenarios requiring higher flexibility than conventional analog modulation [18], and several current hardware and algorithm development trends (e.g., in the fields of analog/digital converters, field-programmable logic, and sparse reconstruction techniques [19], [20]) are working toward eliminating the remaining obstacles to its widespread usage For this reason, our detailed discussion of the steps necessary to integrate the presented aperture into such a system, covering aspects from signal processing to calibration algorithms, will hopefully prove valuable to future system designs.
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