Robust design and evaluation of phase codes for radar performance optimization with a finite alphabet constraint

Abstract

This letter considers the robust design of radar waveform with discrete phase codes under constant modulus constraint to enhance target detectability. To solve the resultant max-min non-convex optimization problem, a robust discrete phase coding algorithm via iterative technology (R-DPCA-IT) is developed which monotonically improves the worst-case SNR and has an upper bound ensuring to converge a finite value. At each iteration, the original multidimensional quadratic optimization problem is turned into multiple one-dimensional optimization problems solved globally via line search. Finally, the computational time and objective value of the proposed algorithm are assessed in comparison with the existing methods.