Digital Beamforming Architecture and Techniques for a Spaceborne Interferometric Ka-Band Mission

The paper presents the instrument concept and performance of a Ka-band single-pass interferemetric mission proposed for measuring topography and topographic changes. A formation flying constellation of two compact synthetic aperture radars (SAR) satellites equipped with innovative digital beamforming hardware and advanced operation modes is described

New Findings on GLRT Radar Detection of Nonfluctuating Targets via Phased Arrays

This paper addresses the standard generalized likelihood ratio test (GLRT) detection problem of weak signals in background noise. In so doing, we consider a nonfluctuating target embedded in complex white Gaussian noise (CWGN), in which the amplitude of the target echo and the noise power are assumed to be unknown. Important works have analyzed the performance for the referred scenario and proposed GLRT-based detectors. Such detectors are projected at an early stage (i.e., prior to the formation of a post-beamforming scalar waveform), thereby imposing high demands on hardware, processing, and data storage. From a hardware perspective, most radar systems fail to meet these strong requirements. In fact, due to hardware and computational constraints, most radars use a combination of analog and digital beamformers (sums) before any estimation or further pre-processing. The rationale behind this study is to derive a GLRT detector that meets the hardware and system requirements. In this work, we design and analyze a more practical and easy-to-implement GLRT detector, which is projected after the analog beamforming. The performance of the proposed detector is analyzed and the probabilities of detection (PD) and false alarm (PFA) are derived in closed form. Moreover, we show that in the low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) regime, the post-beamforming GLRT detector performs better than both the classic pre-beamforming GLRT detector and the square-law detector. This finding suggests that if the signals are weak, instead of processing the signals separately, we first must to reinforce the overall signal and then assembling the system's detection statistic. At last, the SNR losses are quantified, in which the superiority of the post-beamforming GLRT detector was evidenced as the number of antennas and samples increase.Comment: 13 pages, 12 figures, 1 tabl

An Integrated Radar Tile for Digital Beamforming X-/Ka-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar Instruments

This paper presents the first experimental assessment of a highly integrated dual-band dual-polarized antenna tile designed for synthetic aperture radar (SAR) digital beamforming (DBF) satellite applications. The demonstrator described in this paper is the first comprehensive experimental validation of an RF module providing the X-band and Ka-band (9.6- and 35.75-GHz) operation with custom downconversion stages. All the antennas, transitions, and downconversion chips are integrated in the same antenna tile fabricated using a customized 15-layer high density interconnect process. The designed tile goes to the limits of the proposed technology and for the high trace density and for the size of the vertical transitions. The proposed results represent the state of the art in terms of compactness for a DBF SAR RF module even though the demonstrator was manufactured with a standard low-cost technology. The experimental assessment proves the validity of the proposed manufacturing and integration approaches showing a substantial agreement between the performance of the individual blocks and of the integrated system

Radiometric Degradation Associated with Terrain Height Variations and Pulse Duration in Scan-On-Receive SAR Images

Scan-on-receive (SCORE) is a key digital beamforming (DBF) technique for future high-resolution wide-swath spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems. Compared to a conventional approach, it allows to improve the signal-to-noise ratio and the range ambiguity suppression. Nevertheless, it also exposes the system to new errors, associated with terrain height variations and pulse duration. This work investigates the mutual effect of these error sources on the SCORE SAR image. A novel, closed, mathematical expression is derived, respectively, for the impulse response function of the image formation process and for the radiometric loss affecting the image pixels. This makes it possible to predict and quantify the effect of terrain height variations and pulse duration as a function of system, processing, and geometric parameters. The numerical results, based on the end-to-end simulation of the SAR image formation process in different operational scenarios, highlight the relevance of this effect and of the derived analytical description, especially in view of the demanding radiometric quality requirements imposed on future SAR images

Spaceborne Reflector SAR Systems with Digital Beamforming

Spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imaging enters an era where increasingly short revisit times, or large swath widths, respectively, and high spatial resolutions are requested. These requirements impose contradicting constraints on conventional SAR systems using analog beamforming technology. The development for future radar satellites is therefore towards digital beamforming (DBF) systems where the analogous receiver hardware is replaced by digital components. Concerning the SAR antenna the innovative concept of a parabolic mesh reflector in conjunction with a digital feed array is becoming a promising architecture for this new SAR system generation. These antennas, already a mature technique for communication satellites, have the potential to outperform planar array antennas in terms of gain at a moderate hardware effort. This article provides a hardware concept study based on a design in X-band. Focus is put on digital beamforming algorithms adopted to the SAR case and important performance figures are derived

Computational Algorithms for Improved Synthetic Aperture Radar Image Focusing

High-resolution radar imaging is an area undergoing rapid technological and scientific development. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar (ISAR) are imaging radars with an ever-increasing number of applications for both civilian and military users. The advancements in phased array radar and digital computing technologies move the trend of this technology towards higher spatial resolution and more advanced imaging modalities. Signal processing algorithm development plays a key role in making full use of these technological developments.In SAR and ISAR imaging, the image reconstruction process is based on using the relative motion between the radar and the scene. An important part of the signal processing chain is the estimation and compensation of this relative motion. The increased spatial resolution and number of receive channels cause the approximations used to derive conventional algorithms for image reconstruction and motion compensation to break down. This leads to limited applicability and performance limitations in non-ideal operating conditions.This thesis presents novel research in the areas of data-driven motion compensation and image reconstruction in non-cooperative ISAR and Multichannel Synthetic Aperture Radar (MSAR) imaging. To overcome the limitations of conventional algorithms, this thesis proposes novel algorithms leading to increased estimation performance and image quality. Because a real-time imaging capability is important in many applications, special emphasis is placed on the computational aspects of the algorithms.For non-cooperative ISAR imaging, the thesis proposes improvements to the range alignment, time window selection, autofocus, time-frequency-based image reconstruction and cross-range scaling procedures. These algorithms are combined into a computationally efficient non-cooperative ISAR imaging algorithm based on mathematical optimization. The improvements are experimentally validated to reduce the computational burden and significantly increase the image quality under complex target motion dynamics.Time domain algorithms offer a non-approximated and general way for image reconstruction in both ISAR and MSAR. Previously, their use has been limited by the available computing power. In this thesis, a contrast optimization approach for time domain ISAR imaging is proposed. The algorithm is demonstrated to produce improved imaging performance under the most challenging motion compensation scenarios. The thesis also presents fast time domain algorithms for MSAR. Numerical simulations confirm that the proposed algorithms offer a reasonable compromise between computational speed and image quality metrics

Contribuições analíticas para sistemas de radar modernos

Orientador: José Cândido Silveira Santos FilhoTese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Elétrica e de ComputaçãoResumo: Esta tese tem como objetivo avançar no campo de sistemas de radar ao lidar com os seguintes problemas centrais: (i) detecção de alvos distribuídos e pontuais imersos em ruído Gaussiano branco complexo; (ii) desempenho de sistemas de radar na presença de clutter terrestre do tipo Weibull; e (iii) estimação Doppler para alvos de alta velocidade sob ruído Gaussiano de fundo. A primeira parte da tese (Capítulos 2-4) ataca o primeiro problema, por meio do projeto e da análise de detectores phased array ótimos e subótimos para alvos distribuídos e alvos pontuais não-flutuantes. Para cada detector, as estatísticas da variável de decisão são analisadas sob a hipótese de algum - ou mesmo nenhum - conhecimento acerca dos parâmetros do alvo e da potência média do ruído. A partir daí, calculam-se a probabilidade de detecção e a probabilidade de falso alarme. A segunda parte da tese (Capítulos 5 e 6) confronta o segundo problema, fornecendo ferramentas matemáticas eficientes para avaliar o desempenho de um detector square-law operando em clutter terrestre do tipo Weibull. Aqui, as probabilidades de detecção e falso alarme são obtidas em forma fechada e em representação por séries de convergência rápida. Para isso, faz-se uso da função-H de Fox, bem como de um cálculo abrangente de resíduos. Finalmente, na terceira parte da tese (Capítulo 7), é fornecida uma análise estatística completa da estimação Doppler de alvos com alta velocidade sujeitos a ruído Gaussiano de fundo. A solução apresentada combina duas técnicas de processamento de sinais: o processamento de subpulso e o Teorema Chinês do Resto clássico. Além disso, o desempenho dessa técnica híbrida é avaliado em forma fechada. Vale ressaltar que todas as expressões supracitadas da tese são contribuições originais, com destaque para aquelas obtidas em representações por série, que se mostram atrativas pela ampla economia tanto de tempo de execução quanto de carga computacionalAbstract: This dissertation aims to advance in the field of radar systems by dealing with the following key problems: (i) detection of distributed and point-like targets embedded in complex white Gaussian noise; (ii) radar performance in the presence of Weibull-distributed ground clutter; and (iii) doppler estimation for high-velocity targets in background Gaussian noise. The first part of this dissertation (Chapters 2-4) addresses the first problem by designing and analyzing optimal and suboptimal phased-array detectors for distributed and non-fluctuating point-like targets. For each detector, the decision-variable statistics are investigated assuming a certain or no knowledge about the parameters of the target echoes and the average noise power. In each case, the probability of detection and the probability of false alarm are derived. The second part of this dissertation (Chapters 5 and 6) addresses the second problem by providing efficient mathematical tools to evaluate the performance of a square-law detector operating in Weibull-distributed ground clutter. In this case, the probabilities of detection and false alarm are expressed in terms of both closed-form expressions and fast convergent series. To do so, we rely upon the Fox H-function as well as a comprehensive calculus of residues. Finally, in the third part of this dissertation (Chapter 7), we provide a thorough statistical analysis for the Doppler estimation of high-speed targets in background Gaussian noise. The proposed solution combines two signal processing techniques: subpulse processing and the classic Chinese Remainder Theorem. Also, the performance of this hybrid technique is assessed in closed form. It is worth mentioning that all the aforementioned expressions from this dissertation are original contributions, with emphasis on those obtained in terms of series representations, which proved attractive for large savings in both execution time and computational loadDoutoradoTelecomunicações e TelemáticaCAPE