Long binary phase codes with good autocorrelation properties

Abstract

In 1953 R.H. Barker introduced the well-known binary phase codes with good autocorrelation properties. The magnitude of all sidelobes in the related autocorrelation function (ACF) is not larger than one in this case. But the longest known Barker Code has the length N=13, which is a real limitation in practical applications. Binary codes with much longer code length N are required in many radar applications even if the sidelobes are much larger than one. This paper describes a design technique for very long binary phase codes (for any code length N ges 100) and shows the resulting performance figures in the related ACE For the code length of N = 4096 a peak sidelobe of -35.6 dB can be achieved applying the proposed design technique.