V.T. Lobach - Head of Department of Radio Engineering and Telecommunication Systems, Radio Engineering Systems and Management Institute of SFU (Taganrog). E-mail: rts@tgn.sfedu.ru A.O. Kasyanov - Deputy Commander Department, FSUE «RNIIRS» (Rostov-on-Don). E-mail: kasao@mail.ru M.V. Potipak - Associate Professor, Department of Radio Engineering and Telecommunication Systems, Radio Engineering Systems and Management Institute of SFU (Taganrog). E-mail: potipak@sfedu.ru K.V. Sumatokhin - Head of Department, FSUE «RNIIRS» (Rostov-on-Don). E-mail: alexander.o.kasyanov@gmail.com

Most of today\'s radars use highly directional beam pattern generated with phased array for space scaning. So beam scanning is performed sequentially to overview sector of interests. In some cases there are tactical restrictions to the observing time, which leads to mutually contradictory requirements for antenna beam width. The simplest solution is to expand the directivity pattern, but it leads to a loss of angle resolution. One of the most promising approaches for the rapid assessment of parameters of objects in a wide sector of angles is to use a digital method of beamforming for MIMO radar. The paper considers principle of digital beamforming in coherent MIMO radar with frequency-division waveforms. The main difference between the proposed solutions from existing analogues is a sequential procedure of forming MIMO channel matrix. Using multifrequency probing signal together with the MIMO technology allows to organize digital beamforming for spatial selection of the echoes. The simulation of the characteristics of virtual antenna array is performed for different variants of receiving and transmitting arrays elements orientation. It is shown that the weighting function processing help to reduce side-lobe level of the final virtual antenna array, through the expansion of the main lobe. It is noted that serial MIMO channel matrix forming leads to simplification of radar hardware implementation, by using one channel for transmission and one for reception.

 

1. Davis M., Showman G., Lanterman A. Coherent MIMO radar: The phased array and orthogonal waveforms // IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine. 2014. T. 29. № 8. S. 76−91.
2. Haimovich A.M. Distributed MIMO radar for imaging and high resolution target localization. NewJerseyInstofTechNewark. 2012. 19 s.
3. Ma C.etal. MIMOradarwidebandarrayrange-angleimaging //PIERSonline. 2009. S. 21−25.
4. Robey F.C.et al. MIMOradartheoryandexperimentalresults // ConferenceRecordoftheThirty-EighthAsilomarConferenceon Signals, SystemsandComputers. 2004. IEEE. T. 1. S. 300−304.
5. Qu Y.etal. PerformanceanalysisofbeamformingforMIMOradar //ProgressInElectromagneticsResearch. 2008. T. 84. S. 123−134.
6. Bliss D., Forsythe K., Fawcett G. MIMO Radar: Resolution, Performance, and Waveforms // Proc. 14th Annual Adaptive Sensor Array Processing Workshop. MIT. 2006. S. 6−7.
7. Commin H., Manikas A. Virtual SIMO radar modelling in arrayed MIMO radar. 2012.
8. Contu M., Lombardo P. Sidelobe control for a MIMO radar virtual array // Radar Conference (RADAR). IEEE. 2013. S. 1−6.
9. Lobach V.T., Potipak M.V. Posledovatelnyjj sposob formirovanija kanalov MIMO pri izmerenii parametrov radiolokacionnykh obektov // Izvestija JUzhnogo federalnogo universiteta. Ser. Tekhnicheskie nauki. 2015. № 11(172). S. 213−230.
10. Lobach V.T., Potipak M.V. Izmerenie dalnosti medlenno dvizhushhejjsja celi radiolokatorom s vysokojj razreshajushhejj sposobnostju po dalnosti // Izvestija JUzhnogo federalnogo universiteta. Ser. Tekhnicheskie nauki. 2014. № 11(160). S. 67−75.
11. Lobach V.T., Potipak M.V. The use of stepped frequency signals for object coordinate measurement // 25th Intern. CrimeanConference on Microwave & TelecommunicationTechnology (CriMiCo).IEEE. 2015. S. 1140−1141.