Multicodes for improved range resolution in radar

Third generation (3G) wireless systems are required to support a variety of communication services like voice, image, motion picture transmission, etc, each of which requires different transmission rates. Multi-code modulation has been introduced therefore as a means of supporting multi-rate services and operating in multi-cell environments [8, 9, 10]. This multi-rate multi-function capability may be used in Radar related applications, too. For example, a single transmitted waveform consisting of two orthogonal codes can be used to simultaneously track a target and obtain high range resolution. Tracking requires low bandwidth and high resolution needs a high bandwidth signal. Orthogonal codes like Walsh codes can be used to provide multiple rates if the codes are chosen from the same matrix, because certain Walsh codes of the same length have very different bandwidths. Therefore, as an extension to its use in communication, multi-codes can be used to enable multi-function operations in a Radar system. The first criterion for choosing a Radar waveform, whether single or multi-code, is its resolving capability in range and Doppler. A measure of range resolution or sensitivity to delay commonly used in Radar literature is the Peak to Sidelobe Level Ratio (PSLR) of the code\u27s autocorrelation function. The multi-codes proposed in this work are found to have better (lower) PSLRs than existing radar codes when the number of simultaneously transmitted codes is large. In the special case of using an entire set of orthogonal codes of any length, the resulting multi-code consists of just a single pulse of thickness equal to the chip width of the code used. This pulse will have a \u27perfect\u27 autocorrelation function with only a single peak at the main lobe and zero sidelobes. This gives the ideal PSLR for radar purposes. An important aspect of using multi-codes in Radar is the need for multiple transmitters to avoid the high peak factor that would result if only a single antenna 15 used. This requires the Radar system to have multiple transmitters as in phased array radar. The best example is a multi-function digital array radar that transmits a unique orthogonal code from each of its antenna elements as described by Rabideau and Parker in [13]. The system described in this publication makes use of the array mode of operation of the Radar to transmit orthogonal codes from each antenna element which are then phased and combined at the receiver. The phase (or angle) of the signal at each receive antenna element can be used to better resolve targets that are spatially separated. This thesis introduces the concept of multicodes in Radar. Further, the advantages of using multiple coded waveforms over the known Radar polyphase codes are demonstrated by simulations