Robust Waveform Design for MIMO Radars

Abstract

The problem of robust waveform design for multiple-input, multiple-output radars equipped with widely spaced antennas is addressed here. Robust design is needed as a number of parameters may be unknown, e.g., the target scattering covariance matrix and the disturbance covariance matrix. Following a min-max approach, the code matrix is designed to minimize the worst-case cost over all possible target (or target and disturbance) covariance matrices. The same min-max solution applies to many commonly adopted performance measures, such as the average signal-to-disturbance ratio, the linear minimum mean square error in estimating the target response, the mutual information between the received signal echoes and the target response, and the approximation of the detection probability in the high- and low-signal regimes for a fixed probability of false alarm. Examples illustrating the behavior of the min-max codes are provided.