Radar technology is used for both military and commercial applications like collision avoidance systems. There are different types of radars like continuous-wave radars, pulsed radars, and modulated continuous-wave radars. Pulsed radars can be moving target indicator radars for long-range detection or pulsed Doppler radars for velocity data. Pulse characteristics provide information about the radar system and its target. Range resolution is affected by pulse width, with wider pulses providing better range but poorer resolution. Modulation techniques like phase modulation, linear frequency modulation, digital modulation, and frequency hopping can be used to implement modulated pulsed radars.
Radar technology is used for both military and commercial applications like collision avoidance systems. There are different types of radars like continuous-wave radars, pulsed radars, and modulated continuous-wave radars. Pulsed radars can be moving target indicator radars for long-range detection or pulsed Doppler radars for velocity data. Pulse characteristics provide information about the radar system and its target. Range resolution is affected by pulse width, with wider pulses providing better range but poorer resolution. Modulation techniques like phase modulation, linear frequency modulation, digital modulation, and frequency hopping can be used to implement modulated pulsed radars.
Radar technology is used for both military and commercial applications like collision avoidance systems. There are different types of radars like continuous-wave radars, pulsed radars, and modulated continuous-wave radars. Pulsed radars can be moving target indicator radars for long-range detection or pulsed Doppler radars for velocity data. Pulse characteristics provide information about the radar system and its target. Range resolution is affected by pulse width, with wider pulses providing better range but poorer resolution. Modulation techniques like phase modulation, linear frequency modulation, digital modulation, and frequency hopping can be used to implement modulated pulsed radars.
Radar technology is used for both military and commercial applications like collision avoidance systems. There are different types of radars like continuous-wave radars, pulsed radars, and modulated continuous-wave radars. Pulsed radars can be moving target indicator radars for long-range detection or pulsed Doppler radars for velocity data. Pulse characteristics provide information about the radar system and its target. Range resolution is affected by pulse width, with wider pulses providing better range but poorer resolution. Modulation techniques like phase modulation, linear frequency modulation, digital modulation, and frequency hopping can be used to implement modulated pulsed radars.
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
Download as docx, pdf, or txt
You are on page 1/ 3
FUNDAMENTALS OF RADAR MEASUREMENT AND SIGNAL ANALYSIS
● Introduction:
Radar technology mostly finds its application in the military. There are different types of RADARs for different applications such as Ground Based RADARs for long-range threat detection, ship based RADARs for surface-to-air observation, Airborne RADARs for mapping and altitude determination and Missile RADARs for tracking and guidance. Moreover, commercial and short-range RADARs are growingly being used in automotive applications such as in collision avoidance and autonomous driving.
● Continuous-Wave RADAR:
RADARs can use low duty-cycle pulsed signals. CW RADARs particularly have short range detection capability due to constraints of continuous RF power. Therefore, they are particularly suitable for close-in applications such as unmodulated Doppler speed sensing systems used by police and Modulated CW RADARs used in navy and for RADAR altimeters.
● Pulsed RADAR:
There are two general categories of pulsed RADAR, Moving Target Indicator (MTI) and Pulsed Doppler. MTI radar is a long-range, low pulse repetition frequency (PRF) RADAR used to detect small moving targets (~2 m2) at long distances (up to ~30 km). It is particularly useful when velocity is of no interest. Pulsed Doppler radar, in contrast, utilizes a high PRF to avoid blind speeds and has a shorter unambiguous range (~15 km), high resolution, and provides detailed velocity data.
Pulse characteristics give valuable information about the type of RADAR producing a signal and what possibly is its source like airplane, missile etc.
● Pulsed RADAR operation:
Pulsed RADARs typically use very low duty cycle RF pulses (< 10%). Their PRF, pulse width (PW) and the transmitted power determine their range and resolution. A wider PW generally provides better range, but poor resolution and vice versa. This accounts for one of the fundamental compromises in RADAR engineering. The resolution is often enhanced by pulse compression with a modulated carrier while maintaining a narrow PW allowing for higher power and longer range.
Traditional RADAR systems employ a transmit/receive (T/R) switch allowing the
transmitter and receiver to share one antenna. The transmitter and receiver take turns using the antenna. The transmitter sends out pulses and during the off-time, the receiver can listen for the reflected echo. ● RADAR equation:
Pt G t Ar σ Pr =¿ (4 π )2 R2t R2r
Pr = Received power, Pt = Transmitted power, G t = Transmit antenna gain, Ar = Area
of the receiver antenna, σ = Reflectivity, Rt = Range from the transmitted antenna to the target, and Rr = Range from the receiver antenna to the target.
Unlike many communications systems, RADAR systems experience severe signal path losses. Using the RADAR equation, the received signal level can be calculated to determine if sufficient power exists to detect a reflected RADAR pulse.
● Importance of Pulse Width in RADAR systems:
Pulse width is an important property of RADAR signals. The wider a pulse, the greater the energy contained in the pulse for a given amplitude. The greater the transmitted pulse power, the average transmitted power, the reception range capability of the RADAR which makes the RADAR transmitter work harder.
Range is therefore limited by the pulse characteristics and propagation losses. The PRI and duty cycle set the maximum allowed time for a return echo, while the power or energy transmitted must overcome the background noise to be detected by the receiver.
Pulse width also affects a RADAR’s minimum resolution. As explained earlier, wider pulse RADARs offer less resolution, whereas narrow pulse shorter range RADARs have finer resolution. Echoes from long pulses that may be caused by multiple smaller targets closely spaced, possibly a group of fighter aircrafts can overlap in time that makes it impossible to determine the nature of the target. Narrow pulse widths diminish the overlapping of echoes and improve resolution at the expense of transmit power.
● Modulation techniques to implement modulated pulsed RADARs:
RADARs modulate pulses using the following modulation techniques:
○ Phase modulation:
Phase modulation is often implemented as a version of Binary Phase-Shift Keying
(BPSK) and can also be used to differentiate segments of a pulse.
○ Linear FM Chirps:
An LFM pulse or chirp is one where the pulse begins at one carrier frequency, then ramps linearly, up or down to an end frequency, enabling pulse compression techniques in the receiver to improve range resolution and transmit power efficiency.
○ Digital Modulation:
More effective modulation can be accomplished using M-ary PSK or QAM modulations that resemble noise rather than coherent frequencies to make detection more difficult.
○ Frequency hopping:
This approach involves several frequency hops within a pulse. When each frequency has a corresponding filter with the appropriate delay in the receiver, all segments can be compressed together in the receiver. The variable frequency pattern used by hopping pulses can greatly help with interference problems.
