Range and speed resolution in coherent distributed MIMO radar with Gaussian pulse trains

Abstract

This paper presents studies on the range and speed resolution in distributed MIMO radar with the use of finite duration Gaussian pulse trains. We consider a network of transmit and receive sensors, where the distance between the randomly placed sensors is comparable to the distance to the target. While the resolution capability of a single transmitter-receiver pair is determined by the carrier frequency and parameters of the pulse train, namely the pulse width, pulse interval and the number of pulses, the orientations of the sensors with respect to the target has a major effect on the ambiguity due to subsidiary peaks. The randomness in the sensor locations randomizes the relative positions of subsidiary peaks of the ambiguity function. With multiple transmitter-receiver pairs, the randomness in the locations of sensors in effect reduces the subsidiary peaks in the ambiguity function of a single transmitter receiver-pair by a factor of MN, where M and N are the number of transmitters and receivers.