An analysis of chosen image formation algorithms for synthetic aperture radar with FMCW

The modelling of FMCW SAR systems, due to long signal duration time, commonly used start-stop approximation for pulsed radars causes errors in the image. Continuous motion of the radar platform results in additional range-azimuth couplings and range walk term that should be considered in processing of signal from this type of radar. The paper presents an analysis of the following algorithms: Time Domain Correlation (TDC), Range Doppler Algorithm (RDA), and Range Migration Algorithm (RMA). The comparison of the algorithms is based on theoretical estimation of their computation complexity and the quality of images obtained on the basis of real signals of FMCW SAR systems

Emerging Approaches for THz Array Imaging: A Tutorial Review and Software Tool

Accelerated by the increasing attention drawn by 5G, 6G, and Internet of Things applications, communication and sensing technologies have rapidly evolved from millimeter-wave (mmWave) to terahertz (THz) in recent years. Enabled by significant advancements in electromagnetic (EM) hardware, mmWave and THz frequency regimes spanning 30 GHz to 300 GHz and 300 GHz to 3000 GHz, respectively, can be employed for a host of applications. The main feature of THz systems is high-bandwidth transmission, enabling ultra-high-resolution imaging and high-throughput communications; however, challenges in both the hardware and algorithmic arenas remain for the ubiquitous adoption of THz technology. Spectra comprising mmWave and THz frequencies are well-suited for synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging at sub-millimeter resolutions for a wide spectrum of tasks like material characterization and nondestructive testing (NDT). This article provides a tutorial review of systems and algorithms for THz SAR in the near-field with an emphasis on emerging algorithms that combine signal processing and machine learning techniques. As part of this study, an overview of classical and data-driven THz SAR algorithms is provided, focusing on object detection for security applications and SAR image super-resolution. We also discuss relevant issues, challenges, and future research directions for emerging algorithms and THz SAR, including standardization of system and algorithm benchmarking, adoption of state-of-the-art deep learning techniques, signal processing-optimized machine learning, and hybrid data-driven signal processing algorithms...Comment: Submitted to Proceedings of IEE

Dual Radar SAR Controller

The following is a user guide for the Dual Radar SAR Controller graphical user interface (GUI) to operate the dual radar synthetic aperture radar (SAR) scanner. The scanner was designed in the Spring semester of 2022 by Josiah Smith (RA), Yusef Alimam (UG), and Geetika Vedula (UG) with multiple axes of motion for the radar and target under test. The system is operated by a personal computer (PC) running MATLAB. An AMC4030 motion controller is employed to control the mechanical system. An ESP32 microcontroller synchronizes the mechanical motion and radar frame firing to achieving precise positioning at high movement speeds; the software was designed by Josiah Smith (RA) and Benjamin Roy (UG). A second system is designed that employs 3-axes of motion (X-Y + rotation) for fine control over the location of the target under test. The entire system is capable of efficiently collecting data from colocated and non-colocated radars for multiband fusion imaging in addition to simple single radar imaging

A Generalized Continuous Wave Synthetic Aperture Radar

© 2017 IEEE. Attention has been devoted to Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) for half a century. Though it is a well-proven remote sensing technique, conventional pulsed SAR has several inherent limitations. In this paper, we present a new SAR concept, called Generalized Continuous Wave SAR (GCW-SAR). By using continuous wave signaling, the GCW-SAR system achieves better performance and overcomes the limitations such as the minimum antenna area in conventional SAR. Unlike the frequency modulated continuous wave SAR (FMCW-SAR) system, the GCW-SAR image is reconstructed by correlation between the sampled raw data and the location dependent reference signals. A fast image reconstruction algorithm is also presented in the paper. The principle of GCW-SAR and the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm are validated by numerical simulation results

Exploring the Resolution Limit for In-Air Synthetic-Aperture Audio Imaging

SONAR imaging can detect reflecting objects in the dark and around corners, however many SONAR systems require large phased-arrays and immobile equipment. In order to enable sound imaging with a mobile device, one can move a microphone and speaker in the air to form a large synthetic aperture. We demonstrate resolution limited audio images using a moving microphone and speaker of a mannequin in free-space and a mannequin located around a corner. This paper also explores the 2D resolution limit due to aperture size as well as the time resolution limit due to bandwidth, and proposes Continuous Basis Pursuits (CBP) to super-resolve.Mitsubishi Electronic Research Laboratorie