Waveform Design and Related Processing for Multiple Target Detection and Resolution

The performance of modern radar systems mostly depends on the radiated waveforms, whose design is the basis of the entire system design. Today’s coherent, solidstate radars (either of the phased array type or of the single-radiator type as air traffic control or marine radars) transmit a set of deterministic signals with relatively large duty cycles, an order of 10%, calling for pulse compression to get the required range resolution. Often, power budget calls for different pulse lengths (e.g., short, medium, and long waveforms with a rectangular envelope) to cover the whole radar range. The first part of the chapter includes the topic of mitigating the effect of unwanted side lobes, inherent to every pulse compression, which is achieved both by a careful and optimal design of the waveform and by a (possibly mismatched) suitable processing. The second part of the chapter deals with the novel noise radar technology, not yet used in commercial radar sets but promising: (1) to prevent radar interception and exploitation by an enemy part and (2) to limit the mutual interferences of nearby radars, as in the marine environment. In this case, the design includes a tailoring of a set of pseudo-random waveforms, generally by recursive processing, to comply with the system requirements.