Mathematical optimization and game theoretic methods for radar networks

Radar systems are undoubtedly included in the hall of the most momentous discoveries of the previous century. Although radars were initially used for ship and aircraft detection, nowadays these systems are used in highly diverse fields, expanding from civil aviation, marine navigation and air-defence to ocean surveillance, meteorology and medicine. Recent advances in signal processing and the constant development of computational capabilities led to radar systems with impressive surveillance and tracking characteristics but on the other hand the continuous growth of distributed networks made them susceptible to multisource interference. This thesis aims at addressing vulnerabilities of modern radar networks and further improving their characteristics through the design of signal processing algorithms and by utilizing convex optimization and game theoretic methods. In particular, the problems of beamforming, power allocation, jammer avoidance and uncertainty within the context of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar networks are addressed. In order to improve the beamforming performance of phased-array and MIMO radars employing two-dimensional arrays of antennas, a hybrid two-dimensional Phased-MIMO radar with fully overlapped subarrays is proposed. The work considers both adaptive (convex optimization, CAPON beamformer) and non-adaptive (conventional) beamforming techniques. The transmit, receive and overall beampatterns of the Phased-MIMO model are compared with the respective beampatterns of the phased-array and the MIMO schemes, proving that the hybrid model provides superior capabilities in beamforming. By incorporating game theoretic techniques in the radar field, various vulnerabilities and problems can be investigated. Hence, a game theoretic power allocation scheme is proposed and a Nash equilibrium analysis for a multistatic MIMO network is performed. A network of radars is considered, organized into multiple clusters, whose primary objective is to minimize their transmission power, while satisfying a certain detection criterion. Since no communication between the clusters is assumed, non-cooperative game theoretic techniques and convex optimization methods are utilized to tackle the power adaptation problem. During the proof of the existence and the uniqueness of the solution, which is also presented, important contributions on the SINR performance and the transmission power of the radars have been derived. Game theory can also been applied to mitigate jammer interference in a radar network. Hence, a competitive power allocation problem for a MIMO radar system in the presence of multiple jammers is investigated. The main objective of the radar network is to minimize the total power emitted by the radars while achieving a specific detection criterion for each of the targets-jammers, while the intelligent jammers have the ability to observe the radar transmission power and consequently decide its jamming power to maximize the interference to the radar system. In this context, convex optimization methods, noncooperative game theoretic techniques and hypothesis testing are incorporated to identify the jammers and to determine the optimal power allocation. Furthermore, a proof of the existence and the uniqueness of the solution is presented. Apart from resource allocation applications, game theory can also address distributed beamforming problems. More specifically, a distributed beamforming and power allocation technique for a radar system in the presence of multiple targets is considered. The primary goal of each radar is to minimize its transmission power while attaining an optimal beamforming strategy and satisfying a certain detection criterion for each of the targets. Initially, a strategic noncooperative game (SNG) is used, where there is no communication between the various radars of the system. Subsequently, a more coordinated game theoretic approach incorporating a pricing mechanism is adopted. Furthermore, a Stackelberg game is formulated by adding a surveillance radar to the system model, which will play the role of the leader, and thus the remaining radars will be the followers. For each one of these games, a proof of the existence and uniqueness of the solution is presented. In the aforementioned game theoretic applications, the radars are considered to know the exact radar cross section (RCS) parameters of the targets and thus the exact channel gains of all players, which may not be feasible in a real system. Therefore, in the last part of this thesis, uncertainty regarding the channel gains among the radars and the targets is introduced, which originates from the RCS fluctuations of the targets. Bayesian game theory provides a framework to address such problems of incomplete information. Hence, a Bayesian game is proposed, where each radar egotistically maximizes its SINR, under a predefined power constraint

Fuzzy Chance-constrained Programming Based Security Information Optimization for Low Probability of Identification Enhancement in Radar Network Systems

In this paper, the problem of low probability of identification (LPID) improvement for radar network systems is investigated. Firstly, the security information is derived to evaluate the LPID performance for radar network. Then, without any prior knowledge of hostile intercept receiver, a novel fuzzy chance-constrained programming (FCCP) based security information optimization scheme is presented to achieve enhanced LPID performance in radar network systems, which focuses on minimizing the achievable mutual information (MI) at interceptor, while the attainable MI outage probability at radar network is enforced to be greater than a specified confidence level. Regarding to the complexity and uncertainty of electromagnetic environment in the modern battlefield, the trapezoidal fuzzy number is used to describe the threshold of achievable MI at radar network based on the credibility theory. Finally, the FCCP model is transformed to a crisp equivalent form with the property of trapezoidal fuzzy number. Numerical simulation results demonstrating the performance of the proposed strategy are provided

Sensing-Assisted Receivers for Resilient-By-Design 6G MU-MIMO Uplink

We address the resilience of future 6G MIMO communications by considering an uplink scenario where multiple legitimate transmitters try to communicate with a base station in the presence of an adversarial jammer. The jammer possesses full knowledge about the system and the physical parameters of the legitimate link, while the base station only knows the UL-channels and the angle-of-arrival (AoA) of the jamming signals. Furthermore, the legitimate transmitters are oblivious to the fact that jamming takes place, thus the burden of guaranteeing resilience falls on the receiver. For this case we derive one optimal jamming strategy that aims to minimize the rate of the strongest user and multiple receive strategies, one based on a lower bound on the achievable signal-to-interference-to-noise-ratio (SINR), one based on a zero-forcing (ZF) design, and one based on a minimum SINR constraint. Numerical studies show that the proposed anti-jamming approaches ensure that the sum rate of the system is much higher than without protection, even when the jammer has considerably more transmit power and even if the jamming signals come from the same direction as those of the legitimate users.Comment: Accepted to 3rd IEEE International Symposium on Joint Communications & Sensin

Game theoretic distributed waveform design for multistatic radar networks

We examine the interaction of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) based clusters of radars within a game theoretic framework, using potential games. The objective is to maximise the signal-to-disturbance ratio (SDR) of the clusters of radars, by selecting most appropriate waveforms. We prove that the proposed game theoretic algorithm converges to a unique Nash equilibrium using discrete concavity and the larger midpoint property. As a result, each cluster can determine the best waveform for illumination (equilibrium) by strategising the actions of the other clusters

Adaptive MIMO Radar for Target Detection, Estimation, and Tracking

We develop and analyze signal processing algorithms to detect, estimate, and track targets using multiple-input multiple-output: MIMO) radar systems. MIMO radar systems have attracted much attention in the recent past due to the additional degrees of freedom they offer. They are commonly used in two different antenna configurations: widely-separated: distributed) and colocated. Distributed MIMO radar exploits spatial diversity by utilizing multiple uncorrelated looks at the target. Colocated MIMO radar systems offer performance improvement by exploiting waveform diversity. Each antenna has the freedom to transmit a waveform that is different from the waveforms of the other transmitters. First, we propose a radar system that combines the advantages of distributed MIMO radar and fully polarimetric radar. We develop the signal model for this system and analyze the performance of the optimal Neyman-Pearson detector by obtaining approximate expressions for the probabilities of detection and false alarm. Using these expressions, we adaptively design the transmit waveform polarizations that optimize the target detection performance. Conventional radar design approaches do not consider the goal of the target itself, which always tries to reduce its detectability. We propose to incorporate this knowledge about the goal of the target while solving the polarimetric MIMO radar design problem by formulating it as a game between the target and the radar design engineer. Unlike conventional methods, this game-theoretic design does not require target parameter estimation from large amounts of training data. Our approach is generic and can be applied to other radar design problems also. Next, we propose a distributed MIMO radar system that employs monopulse processing, and develop an algorithm for tracking a moving target using this system. We electronically generate two beams at each receiver and use them for computing the local estimates. Later, we efficiently combine the information present in these local estimates, using the instantaneous signal energies at each receiver to keep track of the target. Finally, we develop multiple-target estimation algorithms for both distributed and colocated MIMO radar by exploiting the inherent sparsity on the delay-Doppler plane. We propose a new performance metric that naturally fits into this multiple target scenario and develop an adaptive optimal energy allocation mechanism. We employ compressive sensing to perform accurate estimation from far fewer samples than the Nyquist rate. For colocated MIMO radar, we transmit frequency-hopping codes to exploit the frequency diversity. We derive an analytical expression for the block coherence measure of the dictionary matrix and design an optimal code matrix using this expression. Additionally, we also transmit ultra wideband noise waveforms that improve the system resolution and provide a low probability of intercept: LPI)