Influence of Analog-To-Digital Conversion and Decimation Parameters on the Signal-To-Noise Ratio in the Radar Path

Abstract

Introduction. The digital representation of received radar signals has provided a wide range of opportunities for their processing. However, the used hardware and software impose some limits on the number of bits and sampling rate of the signal at all conversion and processing stages. These limitations lead to a decrease in the signal-to-interference ratio due to quantization noise introduced by powerful components comprising the received signal (interfering reflections; active noise interference), as well as the attenuation of a low-power reflected signal represented by a limited number of bits. In practice, the amplitude of interfering reflections can exceed that of the signal reflected from the target by a factor of thousands.Aim. In this connection, it is essential to take into account the effect of quantization noise on the signal-tointerference ratio.Materials and methods. The article presents expressions for calculating the power and power spectral density (PSD) of quantization noise, which take into account the value of the least significant bit of an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and the signal sampling rate. These expressions are verified by simulating 4-, 8- and 16-bit ADCs in the Mathcad environment.Results. Expressions are derived for calculating the quantization noise PSD of interfering reflections, which allows the PSD to be taken into account in the signal-to-interference ratio at the output of the processing chain. In addition, a comparison of decimation options (by discarding and averaging samples) is performed drawing on the estimates of the noise PSD and the signal-to-noise ratio.Conclusion. Recommendations regarding the ADC bit depth and sampling rate for the radar receiver are presented.