When You Can't See What You're Looking For [Book/Software Reviews

Abstract

Radar really started the microwave industry, but, as cellular communications and eventually Wi-Fi developed, the microwave industry became dominated by communications. Our computational ability is changing the face of radar. This book can be read by anyone; it starts with an overview of traditional radars and moves through the theory and application of NLOS radars, including the computing hardware to realize these radars. While the book contains enough equations to help readers understand the details of the analysis (and even ray tracing), it is not weighed down by derivations. After an overview of NLOS radar, the authors review moving-target-indicator radars, Kalman filters, and Bayesian particle detectors. This overview of traditional radar state of the art sets the stage for mutltipath radars. Also provides an overview of all the physics behind multipath radar. Everything from antennas to scattering, diffraction, ray tracing, and moving-target- indicator processing is discussed. The last three chapters cover terrain databases, modeling, and hardware for calculations. The database interest is clear; if you know your terrain, then it is much easier to compute the probability of a given path. In some parts of the world, laser-based radar has been used to compile 3D databases, which are very useful for NLOS radar. This book is fascinating and thought provoking about what can be done with ever-increasing computational resources. If you are involved with radar, this will be an enjoyable book for you. Watson and Guerci’s book is fascinating and thought provoking.