Improved MIMO radar GMTI via cyclic-shift transmission of orthogonal frequency division signals

Abstract

ABSTRACTMinimum detectable velocity (MDV) and maximum detectable velocity are both important in ground moving target indication (GMTI) systems. Smaller MDV can be achieved by longer baseline via multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar. Maximum detectable velocity is decided by blind velocities associated with carrier frequencies, and blind velocities can be mitigated by orthogonal frequency division signals. However, the scattering echoes from different carrier frequencies are independent, which is not good for improving MDV performance. An improved cyclic-shift transmission is applied in MIMO GMTI system in this paper. MDV performance is improved due to the longer baseline, and maximum detectable velocity performance is improved due to the mitigation of blind velocities via multiple carrier frequencies. The signal model for this mode is established, the principle of mitigating blind velocities with orthogonal frequency division signals is presented; the performance of different MIMO GMTI waveforms is analysed; and the performance of different array configurations is analysed. Simulation results by space–time–frequency adaptive processing proves that our proposed method is a valid way to improve GMTI performance.