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The orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) mode with a linear frequency modulation (LFM) signal as the baseband waveform has been widely studied and applied in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar systems. However, its high sidelobe levels after pulse compression affect the target detection of radar systems. For this paper, theoretical analysis was performed, to investigate the causes of high sidelobe levels in OFDM-LFM waveforms, and a novel waveform optimization design method based on deep neural networks is proposed. This method utilizes the classic ResNeXt network to construct dual-channel neural networks, and a new loss function is employed to design the phase and bandwidth of the OFDM-LFM waveforms. Meanwhile, the optimization factor is exploited, to address the optimization problem of the peak sidelobe levels (PSLs) and integral sidelobe levels (ISLs). Our numerical results verified the correctness of the theoretical analysis and the effectiveness of the proposed method. The designed OFDM-LFM waveforms exhibited outstanding performance in pulse compression and improved the detection performance of the radar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among the sensors necessary to equip vehicles with an autonomous driving system, there is a tacit agreement that cameras and some type of radar would be essential. The ability of radar to spatially locate objects (pedestrians, other vehicles, trees, street furniture, and traffic signs) makes it the most economical complement to the cameras in the visible spectrum in order to give the correct depth to scenes. From the echoes obtained by the radar, some data fusion algorithms will try to locate each object in its correct place within the space surrounding the vehicle. In any case, the usefulness of the radar will be determined by several performance parameters, such as its average error in distance, the maximum errors, and the number of echoes per second it can provide. In this work, we have tested experimentally the AWR1843 MIMO radar from Texas Instruments to measure those parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers a terahertz (THz) dual-function multi-input multi-output (MIMO) radar and communication system with the assistance of a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) and jointly designs the constant modulus (CM) waveform and RIS phase shifts. A weighted optimization scheme is presented, to minimize the weighted sum of three objectives, including communication multi-user interference (MUI) energy, the negative of multi-target illumination power and the MIMO radar waveform similarity error under a CM constraint. For the formulated non-convex problem, a novel alternating coordinate descent (ACD) algorithm is introduced, to transform it into two subproblems for waveform and phase shift design. Unlike the existing optimization algorithms that solve each subproblem by iteratively approximating the optimal solution with iteration stepsize selection, the ACD algorithm can alternately solve each subproblem by dividing it into multiple simpler problems, to achieve closed-form solutions. Our numerical simulations demonstrate the superiorities of the ACD algorithm over the existing methods. In addition, the impacts of the weighting coefficients, RIS and channel conditions on the radar communication performance of the THz system are analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a resource management approach for distributed multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar systems equipped with phased array antennas. The approach focuses and adjusts narrow beams from all transmit and receive nodes to generate a regularly shaped observation area for reliable detection. Based on this, a structured early warning framework can be built by evenly arranging sufficient observation areas to cover the surveillance region and periodically scanning these areas for continuous monitoring. Observation area generation, a core technique for this framework, involves the joint optimization of beamforming weights for both transmit and receive nodes, as well as the beam dwell time. Our optimization strategy is designed to achieve two key objectives: minimizing beam dwell time to ensure rapid alerts for defense systems, and minimizing node transmit power to extend operational time while reducing the risk of intercept. To address the problem of observation area generation, we propose a two-stage method. The first stage uses the signal-to-clutter-plus-noise ratio (SCNR) as a new criterion to determine the transmit and receive beamforming weights. The second stage employs a power factor as an additional variable to scale the transmit beamforming weights under various beam dwell times, constructing a Pareto solution set for the problem. Numerical simulations validate the effectiveness of our method, demonstrating improved detection capabilities compared to monostatic phased array radar systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We focus on an integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) system—a single platform equipped with multiple antennas transmitting a waveform to detect targets and communicate with downlink users. Due to spectrum sharing between multiple-input–multiple-output (MIMO) radar and multiuser MIMO (MU-MIMO) communication, beamforming is becoming increasingly important as a technique that enables the creation of directional beams. In this paper, we propose a novel joint transmit beamforming design scheme that employs a beam pattern approximation strategy for radar sensing and utilizes rate-splitting for multiuser communication offering advanced interference management strategies. The optimization problems are formulated from both radar-centric and trade-off viewpoints. First, we propose a radar-centric beamforming scheme to achieve sensing efficiency through beam pattern approximation, while requiring the fairness signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) to be higher than a given threshold to guarantee a minimal level of communication quality, while the obtained performance for the communication system is limited in this scheme. To address this problem, we propose a beamforming design scheme from a trade-off viewpoint that flexibly optimizes both sensing and communication performances with a regularization parameter. Finally, we propose a partial rate-splitting-based beamforming design method aimed at maximizing the effective sensing power, with the constraint of a minimal sum rate for downlink users. Numerical results are provided to assess the effectiveness of all proposed schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a fast method to generate a constant-modulus (CM) waveform for a multiple-input, multiple-output, (MIMO) radar is proposed. To simplify the optimization process, the design of the transmit waveform is decoupled from the design of transmit beamformers (TBs) and subpulses. To further improve the computational efficiency, the TBs' optimization is conducted in parallel, and a linear programming model is proposed to match the desired beampattern. Additionally, we incorporate the perturbation vectors into the TBs' optimization so that the TBs can be adjusted to satisfy the CM constraint. To quickly generate the CM subpulses with the desired range-compression (RC) performance, the classical linear frequency modulation (LFM) signal and non-LFM (NLFM) are adopted as subpulses. Meanwhile, to guarantee the RC performance of the final angular waveform, the selection of LFM signal parameters is analyzed to achieve a low cross-correlation between subpulses. Numerical simulations verify the transmit beampattern performance, RC performance, and computational efficiency of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among the sensors necessary to equip vehicles with an autonomous driving system, there is a tacit agreement that cameras and some type of radar would be essential. The ability of radar to spatially locate objects (pedestrians, other vehicles, trees, street furniture, and traffic signs) makes it the most economical complement to the cameras in the visible spectrum in order to give the correct depth to scenes. From the echoes obtained by the radar, some data fusion algorithms will try to locate each object in its correct place within the space surrounding the vehicle. In any case, the usefulness of the radar will be determined by several performance parameters, such as its average error in distance, the maximum errors, and the number of echoes per second it can provide. In this work, we have tested experimentally the AWR1843 MIMO radar from Texas Instruments to measure those parameters.

By simultaneously transmitting multiple different waveform signals, a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar possesses higher degrees of freedom and potential in many aspects compared to a traditional phased-array radar. The spatial–temporal characteristics of waveforms are the key to determining their performance. In this paper, a transmitting waveform design method based on spatial–temporal joint (STJ) optimization for a MIMO radar is proposed, where waveforms are designed not only for beam-pattern matching (BPM) but also for minimizing the autocorrelation sidelobes (ACSLs) of the spatial synthesis signals (SSSs) in the directions of interest. Firstly, the STJ model is established, where the two-step strategy and least squares method are utilized for BPM, and the L2p-Norm of the ACSL is constructed as the criterion for temporal characteristics optimization. Secondly, by transforming it into an unconstrained optimization problem about the waveform phase and using the gradient descent (GD) algorithm, the hard, non-convex, high-dimensional, nonlinear optimization problem is solved efficiently. Finally, the method's effectiveness is verified through numerical simulation. The results show that our method is suitable for both orthogonal and partial-correlation MIMO waveform designs and efficiently achieves better spatial–temporal characteristic performances simultaneously in comparison with existing methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Multiple‐input multiple‐output (MIMO) radar, employing multiple transmitters and receivers, enhances radar capabilities. It detects and tracks objects like aircraft and ships using radio waves. Compared with traditional phased‐array radar, MIMO systems offer greater flexibility, improving angular resolution and target detection. Researchers focus on direction of arrival (DoA) evaluation for closely spaced targets. Effective beamforming and accurate DoA estimation are crucial for MIMO radar performance. This study explores two methods: Capon beamforming with Dolph–Chebyshev windowing and the MUSIC algorithm with Eigenvalue thresholding. Tested under low signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) and fewer snapshots, these techniques notably reduce side lobes and enhance angular resolution, validated by experiments. Additionally, the suppression of side lobes significantly improves the clarity and accuracy of target detection, minimizing potential interference and false targets. This enhancement in side lobe suppression facilitates a more precise spatial differentiation between multiple targets, thus contributing to the overall effectiveness and reliability of MIMO radar systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this letter, a novel algorithm is proposed to design symbol‐level waveform for dual‐functional radar‐communication (DFRC) systems with low range sidelobe. Different from current schemes design waveform at the block level, a phase response constraint is introduced at the symbol level to provide an additional degree of freedom to decrease the range sidelobe in the pulse compression procedure, which is highly desired in radar systems. In particular, the phase response at the target direction is constrained to be similar to the given reference phase, and the matching error between the designed beampattern and the desired one is minimized subject to the constant modulus constraint. Furthermore, to guarantee the quality of service for communication, constructive interference is exploited at the symbol level for each communication user. An alternating direction method of multipliers algorithm is also proposed to solve the resulting nonconvex optimization problem with tractable subproblems solved sufficiently by the manifold optimization and standard quadratic problem. Numerical simulation results demonstrate the performance of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel, cost-effective technique for estimating the Doppler effect in the time domain using a single pulse and subsequently leveraging the precise Doppler value to recover the radar waveform. The proposed system offers several key advantages over existing techniques, including the ability to calculate the target speed without any frequency ambiguity and the ability to detect a wide range of target speeds. These two features are not available in any existing techniques, including the conventional moving target detection (MTD) processor. To ensure improved accuracy and robust estimation, the system employs ensemble and iterative techniques by recursively and efficiently reducing the Doppler residues from the signal. Furthermore, the proposed system demonstrates effective signal recovery of a well-known bi-phase code shape at low signal-to-noise ratios in just a few iterations. The performance evaluation of the new algorithm demonstrates its practicability and its superiority over traditional radar systems. Implementation on software-defined radio (SDR) reveals that the proposed system excels in Doppler estimation and signal recovery at low SNRs, demonstrating promising results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Robustness against Electronic Warfare/Electronic Defence attacks represents an important advantage of Noise Radar Technology (NRT). An evaluation of the related Low Probability of Detection (LPD) and of Intercept (LPI) is presented for Continuous Emission Noise Radar (CE‐NR) waveforms with different operational parameters, that is, "tailored", and with various "degrees of randomness". In this frame, three different noise radar waveforms, a phase Noise (APCN) and two "tailored" noise waveforms (FMeth and COSPAR), are compared by time–frequency analysis. Using a correlator (i.e. a two antennas) receiver, assuming a complete knowledge of the band (B) and duration (T) of the coherent emission of these waveforms, it will be shown that the LPD features of a CE‐NR do not significantly differ from those of any CE radar transmitting deterministic waveforms. However, in real operations, B and T are unknown; hence, assuming an instantaneous bandwidth estimation will show that the duration T can be estimated only for some specific "tailored" waveforms (of course, not to be operationally used). The effect of "tailoring" is analysed with prospects for future work. Finally, some limitations in the classification of these radar signals are analysed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanodrones are insect-sized drones that could fly in complex environments and confined spaces, and act as an emerging tool for covert surveillance and intelligence attacks, which would become a potential threat to national security. Radar has the advantage of wide range, all-day, and all-weather detection ability, making it a means of detecting such threat. First, this paper introduces a pertinent multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) millimeter-wave (MMW) radar system, with the advantages of low cost and high accuracy. It is utilized to detect three targets: nanodrone, small helicopter, and mechanical bird, through which more detailed features can be obtained. Then, the echo data of the three targets are processed and analyzed, and their distinct micro-Doppler characteristics were obtained. Finally, the Radar Transformer target classification network is used to classify and identify the targets. It has been confirmed that desired results could be achieved through the above process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: While software-defined radars can switch their transmitted waveform on the go, they cannot transmit all waveforms at the same time, meaning they must balance the advantages and drawbacks of each configuration. Here, we propose theoretically and demonstrate experimentally the universal radar, which can apply the desired waveform in the post-processing stage after the physical measurement has been performed. This method also allows using a single measurement of a scene to design and test any other radar in complex scenarios without having to take it to the field. The method is based on post-processing the frequency response measured by a synthetically broadband stepped-frequency continuous wave radar, such as a vector network analyzer. An algorithm for overcoming distortions due to moving targets is derived as well. This approach not only provides an ultra-wideband software-only defined radar, but it also enables the acquired data from any measured site to be used for the design and analysis of almost any other future radar system, significantly cutting the time and cost of new developments. The method suggests the creation of radar raw data repositories that can be shared across diversely different radar platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, to track maneuvering unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) in scenarios with clutter, we propose a novel method based on the probabilistic data association (PDA) algorithm and Rao-Blackwellized particle filter (RBPF) algorithm, and we further improve the tracking performance by Max-Q criterion-based waveform selection. This work develops a maneuvering target model in the context of clutter, integrating linear and nonlinear states as well as observations with false alarms. In order to jointly tackle the mixed-state tracking problem, the PDA algorithm is integrated into the RBPF framework. This allows it to be used with the complex nonlinear and linear hybrid system and helps to minimize the state dimensions of conventional particle filtering (PF). Additionally, by utilizing Q-learning principles, we provide a Max-Q-based criterion to select the waveform parameters, which guarantees low measurement errors and efficiently handles measurement uncertainties. Our simulation results show that the PDA-RBPF algorithm, which has a more appropriate tracking mechanism, produces results that are more accurate than those of the EKF or PF algorithms alone. Furthermore, the RMSE derived by the Max-Q-based criterion is smaller and more robust than that of other selection methods, as well as yielding a fixed waveform. Our proposed mechanism, which combines the concepts of PDA-RBPF and Max-Q waveform selection, performs well in target tracking tasks and exhibits relatively good performance over some existing ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The X-band phased array radar offers faster scanning speed and higher spatial resolution compared to the S-band radar, making it capable of enhancing tornado monitoring and early warning capabilities. This study analyzed the characteristics and nowcasting signals of a tornado case that occurred on June 16, 2022 in the Guangzhou region. Our findings indicate that the violent contraction of rotation radius and the dramatic increase in rotation speed were important signal characteristics associated with tornado formation. The X-band phased array radar, with its high temporal and spatial resolution, provided an opportunity to capture early warning signals from polarimetric characteristics. The X-band phased array radar demonstrated noteworthy ability to identify apparent tornado vortex signature (TVS) features in a 10-minute lead time, surpassing the capabilities of the CINRAD/SA radar. Additionally, due to its higher scanning frequency, the Xband phased-array radar was capable of consistently identifying TVS with shorter intervals, enabling a more precise tracking of the tornado's path. The application of professional radars, in this case, provides valuable insights for the monitoring of evolutions of severe local storms and even tornadoes and the issuance of early warning signals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two‐dimensional direction‐of‐arrival (DoA) estimation in azimuth and elevation via radar systems equipped with uniform rectangular arrays (URAs) will play an important role in various application areas—most distinctively in future urban air mobility settings with unmanned aerial vehicles. A key factor is the fast and reliable provision of target detections in terms of range and DoA for safe autonomous operation of the vehicle using on‐board antenna arrays with compact installation size. The authors present a technique for improving the performance of DoA estimation using compressive sensing in conjunction with multiple‐input multiple‐output arrays with electronically steered beams in the transmit direction. The simulation study investigates the impact of different design considerations on radar signal processing performance. An optimisation of a radar system using electronic beamsteering in the transmit domain is presented numerically. Based on the architecture of the URAs used, performance and detection accuracy can be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radar coincidence imaging (RCI) is a high‐resolution radar imaging mode which constructs a temporal spatial stochastic radiation field (TSSRF) and uses the correlation between reference signal and echoes for imaging. The correlation between the reference matrix and the echoes is the main factor affecting the imaging performance. In fact, radar target characteristics cause fluctuations in the radar cross section and variations in the scattering intensity of each resolution element. The latter degrades the correlation between the reference matrix and the echoes, seriously affecting the image reconstruction. This paper designs the waveform based on image entropy under fixed transmitting and receiving arrays. The targets with fluctuating scattering intensity at each resolution element are statistically modelled. Simulation results show this approach can improve the imaging performance and reduce the energy dissipation degree of the target grid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Detection of space objects is a key component of space situational awareness, which could help prevent and minimise space collisions. While there have been lots of radar systems designed to detect space objects, few of them have dealt with long baseline distributed bistatic pairs. The authors focus on the feasibility of long baseline bistatic radars, which can be extended for the multistatic case; and the performance of the multistatic system for a target at different altitudes assuming one transmitter over three different scenarios: a cluster of receivers, receivers spread throughout the world and the combination of the two previous cases. To analyse the performance the multiple‐input‐multiple‐output (MIMO) ambiguity function (AF) will be employed. The results of the MIMO AF show how the fusion of different bistatic pairs improves the detection capabilities. Moreover, when the different radar measurements are coherently summed in the MIMO AF, the uncertainty on the location of the target is reduced.

Joint transceiver beamforming is a fundamental and crucial research task in the field of signal processing. Despite extensive efforts made in recent years, the joint transceiver beamforming of frequency diverse array (FDA)-based multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) radar has received relatively less attention and is confronted with some tricky challenges, such as range–angle decoupling and the interaction between multiple performance metrics. In this paper, we initially derive the generalized ambiguity function of the FDA-MIMO radar to explore the intrinsic correlation between its waveform design and resolution. Following that, the joint beamforming optimization is formulated as a nonconvex bivariate quadratic programming problem (NBQP) with the aim of maximizing the Signal-to-Interference-Noise Ratio (SINR) of the FDA-MIMO radar system. Building upon this, we introduce an innovative alternating manifold optimization with nested iteration (AMO-NI) algorithm to address the NBQP. By incorporating manifold optimization into iterative updates of transmit waveform and receiving filter, the AMO-NI algorithm considers the interdependencies among the optimization variables. The algorithm efficiently and expeditiously finds global optimum solutions within a finite number of iterations. Compared with other methods, our approach yields a superior beampattern and higher SINR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we dive into the exciting world of wireless communication, focusing on how millimeter-wave technology and Multiple-Input Multiple-Output phased array antennas are shaping the future of 5G and the upcoming 6G technologies. We cover the latest advancements in millimeter-wave and beamforming technologies, emphasizing their role in enhancing network security and efficiency in automotive vehicles through dual radar communication. Our discussion spans the benefits, applications, challenges, and solutions of these technologies individually from millimeter-wave to beamforming technologies and joint radar communications, alongside a look at their theoretical and practical implementations. We emphasize the integration of beamforming technology in joint radar communications for future automotive vehicles and its impact on automotive systems, smart cities, and the Internet of Things (IoT). Looking ahead, we discuss the potential of these technologies to transform future technology landscapes while also addressing the security implications of merging communication and radar capabilities. This paper aims to provide a clear view of the advancements and prospects of millimeter-wave, beamforming, and dual radar communication technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detection of space objects is a key component of space situational awareness, which could help prevent and minimise space collisions. While there have been lots of radar systems designed to detect space objects, few of them have dealt with long baseline distributed bistatic pairs. The authors focus on the feasibility of long baseline bistatic radars, which can be extended for the multistatic case; and the performance of the multistatic system for a target at different altitudes assuming one transmitter over three different scenarios: a cluster of receivers, receivers spread throughout the world and the combination of the two previous cases. To analyse the performance the multiple‐input‐multiple‐output (MIMO) ambiguity function (AF) will be employed. The results of the MIMO AF show how the fusion of different bistatic pairs improves the detection capabilities. Moreover, when the different radar measurements are coherently summed in the MIMO AF, the uncertainty on the location of the target is reduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to investigate the performance of Multicarrier Phase Coding (MCPC) and P4-encoded waveforms. Researchers explored the unique properties of these signals, focusing on aspects like phase distribution, autocorrelation, power spectral density for P4 encoding, and aperiodic autocorrelation and ambiguity function for MCPC signals. The findings identified optimal MCPC sequences with reduced peak-to-mean envelope power ratios (PMEPR), improving signal performance. Complementary codes based on permutation were also generated and analyzed for MCPC sequences. The study utilized an improved genetic algorithm to develop new and improved waveforms, underscoring the importance of techniques like optimal sequence permutation, complementary sequences, and classical window frequency weighting in enhancing signal performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Integrated Side Lobe Ratio (ISLR) problem the authors consider here consists in finding optimal sequences of phase shifts in order to minimise the mean squared cross‐correlation side lobes of a transmitted radar signal and a mismatched replica. Currently, ISLR does not seem to be easier than the general polynomial unconstrained binary problem, which is NP‐hard. In their work, the authors aim to take advantage of the scalability of quantum computing to find new optima, by solving the ISLR problem on a quantum annealer. This quantum device is designed to solve quadratic optimisation problems with binary variables (QUBO). After proposing suitable formulation for different instances of the ISLR, the authors discuss the performances and the scalability of their approach on the D‐Wave quantum computer. More broadly, their work enlightens the limits and potential of the adiabatic quantum computation for the solving of large instances of combinatorial optimisation problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper delves into the problem of moving-target detection in partially homogeneous environments (PHE) with unknown Gaussian disturbance using a frequency diverse array multiple-input multiple-output (FDA-MIMO) radar. Using training data, we have derived expressions for four adaptive detectors, including the one-step and two-step generalized likelihood ratio test (GLRT), two-step Rao (TRao) test, and two-step Wald (TWald) test criteria, respectively. All the proposed detectors are characterized by the constant false-alarm rate (CFAR). The theoretical analysis and simulation results validate the effectiveness of the proposed detectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Millimetre‐wave radar has been widely used in health monitoring and human activity recognition owing to its improved range resolution and operation in a variety of environmental conditions. With the MIMO antenna array, 4D radar is increasingly employed in autonomous driving, while its application in assisted living is recent and therefore the value added compared to the increase in signal processing and hardware requirements is still an open question. A model for 4D Time‐division multiplexing (TDM) multiple‐input‐multiple‐output (MIMO) frequency‐modulated Continuous wave radar is established using the human activities from the HDM05 motion capture dataset. The simulator produces an end‐to‐end simulation, including four human motions (jumping Jack, kick, punch, and walk), signal time of flight, noise, MIMO signal processing, and classification. Different pre‐processing and point cloud‐based methods are compared to obtain an average classification accuracy of 90% with PointNet. This study simulates a specific 4D TDM MIMO radar configuration to benchmark signal pre‐processing algorithms, which can also assist other researchers to generate range‐Doppler‐time (range‐Doppler time) point cloud data sets for human activities testing different radar configurations, array configurations, and activities saving valuable time in human resources and hardware development before prototyping to assess expected performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optimizing the energy spectrum density (ESD) of a transmitted waveform can improve radar performance. The design of a time–domain constant–modulus signal corresponding to the transmitted waveform ESD is practically important because constant–modulus signals can maximize transmission power and meet the hardware requirements of radar transmitters. Here, we present a time–domain signal design under dual constraints of energy and constant modulus. The mutual information (MI)–based waveform design method is used to design transmitted waveform ESD under the energy constraint. Then, the bacterial foraging optimization algorithm (BFOA) is proposed to design the time–domain constant–modulus signal. We use minimum mean square error (MMSE) in the frequency domain as the cost function. The BFOA monotonously decreases the MMSE with increasing iterations, which makes the ESD of the time–domain constant–modulus signal close to the MI–based optimal waveform ESD. The simulation results indicate that the proposed algorithm has advantages, including insensitivity to initial phases, rapid convergence, smaller MI loss, and MMSE compared with the iterative reconstruction algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is a guest editorial that discusses advancements and future trends in noise radar technology. Noise radar technology uses random and non-periodic radar signals to eliminate ambiguities present in other radars. The article explores the practical aspects of noise radar technology, such as evaluating the degree of randomness in transmission and the computational load of signal processing. It also covers topics like electronic warfare, anti-intercept features, and the potential applications of artificial intelligence in noise radar technology. The article includes specific papers on implementation aspects, waveform selection, anti-intercept features, and artificial intelligence applications in noise radar technology. The authors hope that this special issue provides valuable insights into the advancements and future trends of noise radar technology. [Extracted from the article]

This paper proposes a fast phase-only beamforming algorithm for frequency diverse array multiple-input multiple-output radar systems. Specifically, we use the Kronecker decomposition to decompose the desired phase-only weight vector into phase-only transmit and receive weight vectors and to decompose the target steering vector into transmit and receive steering vectors. By using the properties of the Kronecker product, the transmit and receive steering vectors and the transmit and receive weight vectors with the Vandermonde structure are decomposed into Kronecker factors with uni-modulus vectors, respectively. On this basis, in order to maintain the mainlobe gain and form a deep null at the desired position, the Kronecker factors are divided into two parts.The first component, referred to as the interference suppression factors, is responsible for creating deep nulls. The second component, known as the signal enhancement factor, maintains the mainlobe gain. We provide an analytical solution with low complexity for the Kronecker factors. This strategy can obtain the phase-only weights while effectively forming a deep null at the desired position. Numerical experiments are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the advancement of information technology construction, the integration of radar and communication represents a crucial technological evolution. Driven by the research boom of integrated sensing and communications (ISACs), some scholars have proposed utilizing orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) to separately modulate radar and communication signals. However, the OFDM symbols in this paper incorporate a cyclic prefix (CP) and a virtual carrier (VC) instead of zero padding (ZP). This approach mitigates out-of-band power caused by ZP, in addition to reducing adjacent channel interference (ACI). In addition, we introduce low-density parity-check (LDPC) and use an improved normalized min-sum algorithm (NMSA) in decoding. The enhanced decoding efficiency and minimized system errors render the proposed waveform more suitable for complex environments. In terms of signal processing methods, this paper continues to use radar signals as a priori information to participate in channel estimation. Further, we consider the symbol timing offset (STO) and carrier frequency offset (CFO) issues. In order to obtain more reliable data, we use the minimum mean-square error (MMSE) estimation based on the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) to evaluate the channel. Simulation experiments verify that the system we propose not only realizes the transmission and detection functions but also improves the performance index of the integrated signal, such as the bit error rate (BER) of 7 × 10−5, the peak side lobe ratio (PSLR) of −13.81 dB, and the integrated side lobe ratio (ISLR) of −8.98 dB at a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 10 dB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A high-frequency surface wave radar (HFSWR) is the only sensor that provides inexpensive surveillance for up to 200 nautical miles (NM) of the exclusive economic zone in the 3–5 MHz band. However, because of its long wavelength, its angular resolution is low. Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology is an attractive method to improve angular resolution. This paper proposes MIMO waveforms and their processing that can be used in HFSWR systems. This dual modulation method applies linear frequency modulation to each pulse and orthogonal polyphase codes for a few consecutive pulses to enable MIMO processing. The proposed method can effectively remove the correlation of mutual interference and exhibits excellent performance in removing multiple-time-around echoes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conventional back projection (BP) algorithm is an accurate time-domain algorithm widely used for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar imaging, owing to its independence of antenna array configuration. The time-delay curve correction back projection (TCC-BP) algorithm greatly reduces the computational complexity of BP but suffers from spatial-variant correction, sidelobe interference and background noise due to the use of coherent superposition of echo time-delay curves. In this article, a residual attention U-Net-based (RAU-Net) MIMO radar imaging method that adapts complex noisy scenarios with spatial variation and sidelobe interference is proposed. On the basis of the U-Net underlying structure, we develop the RAU-Net with two modules: a residual unit with identity mapping and a dual attention module to obtain resolution spatial-variant correction and denoising on real-world MIMO radar images. The network realizes MIMO radar imaging based on the TCC-BP algorithm and substantially reduces the total computational time of the BP algorithm on the basis of improving the imaging resolution and denoising capability. Extensive experiments on the simulated and measured data demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms both the traditional methods and learning-imaging methods in terms of spatial-variant correction, denoising and computational complexity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The marginal Fisher information (MFI) metric is used to design waveforms for the sake of informationally optimal adaptive‐on‐transmit radar operation. A framework for MFI waveform design is developed and the Polyphase‐Coded FM (PCFM) waveform model is utilised to produce a constant‐modulus, spectrally contained signal amenable to transmission with high‐power amplifiers. The efficacy of the MFI waveform design and minimum mean square error (MMSE) estimation is experimentally demonstrated and extended into an adaptive and dynamic sensing paradigm. The radar transmit waveform is optimised to maximise the Fisher information with respect to the range profile. Upon observing new information from radar echoes, the iterative MMSE (iMMSE) estimator then minimises the estimation error variance according to prior observations. Sequential information maximisation (via waveform design) and error minimisation (via iMMSE) tends towards the Cramér–Rao lower bound (CRLB) with additional measurements improving radar resolution and accuracy. These concepts maximise the information extracted by a radar operating in a congested spectrum where the available bandwidth is limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article deals with the joint design of inter-pulse amplitude, phase and frequency to detect coexisting strong and weak targets in the presence of interference for cognitive radar. First, an amplitude–frequency-phase agile (AFPA) signal model and the corresponding coherent processing method based on phase compensation and non-uniform discrete Fourier transform (NUDFT) are developed. Then, two waveform design criteria, namely the weighted integrated sidelobe level (WISL) and weighted peak sidelobe level (WPSL), are considered to reduce the high sidelobe level in Doppler domain. The waveform is subject to peak-to-average ratio (PAR) constraint to align with current hardware specification, as well as spectrum and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) loss constraints to enhance interference suppression capabilities. Subsequently, two polynomial-time iterative optimization algorithms are proposed for each of the resulting two non-convex problems. One integrates coordinate descent (CD) and first-order Taylor expansion convex approximation (FTECA), while the other incorporates CD and alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM), thus updating frequency code and amplitude-phased code alternatively. Finally, numerical simulations demonstrate that the proposed method exhibits significantly better detection performance in the scenario where strong targets are accompanied by weak targets compared to the compressive sensing (CS) approach. • Inter-pulse amplitude, frequency and phase agile waveform. • Inter-pulse agile design via CD-FTECA algorithm for minimizing WISL. • Developing a CD-ADMM framework to track the non-convex problem of minimizing WPSL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the coexistence problem of frequency diverse array multiple-input multiple-output (FDA-MIMO) radar and communication systems. The communication system and radar share the same frequency band, and the overlap of the frequency spectrum will interfere with each other's performance, which constitutes a dynamic non-cooperative coexistence problem. We model the FDA-MIMO radar interference suppression process as a Markov decision process (MDP). The interference signals received by FDA-MIMO radar are generated by the communication system, including constant interference, frequency-hopping interference, and intermittent interference. FDA-MIMO radar realizes flexible transmission waveform spectrum control through transmission power allocation. Reinforcement learning (RL) is applied to obtain the optimal power allocation strategy of FDA-MIMO radar, and it is compared with the Sense and Avoid (SSA) algorithm. The simulation results show that the FDA-MIMO radar power allocation method based on reinforcement learning can effectively suppress the communication system's interference and improve the radar's signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio (SINR) and range resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of conformal arrays offers a significant advancement in Multiple-Input–Multiple-Output (MIMO) radar, enabling the placement of antennas on irregular surfaces. For joint Direction-of-Departure (DOD) and Direction-of-Arrival (DOA) estimation in conformal-array MIMO radar, the current spectrum-searching methods are computationally too expensive, while the existing rotation-invariant method may suffer from phase ambiguity caused by the non-Nyquist spacing of the sensors. In this paper, an improved rotationally invariant technique is proposed. The core function of the proposed algorithm is to estimate the phase differences between the adjacent sensors; then, it eliminates phase ambiguity via the previous estimated standard phase difference. Thereafter, DODs and DOAs are obtained via Least Squares (LS) fitting. The proposed method provides closed-form estimates for joint DOD and DOA estimation, which is much more efficient than the existing spectrum-searching techniques. Numerical simulations show that the proposed algorithm can accurately determine 2D DODs and DOAs of targets, only requiring approximately 1% of the running time required by existing spectrum-searching approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Site-specific estimates of precipitation can be used to assess crop productivity and identify areas vulnerable to crop damages caused by extreme weather events such as droughts and floods. Spatial interpolation of precipitation such as Parameter-elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM) has been used to estimate precipitation in an area of interest. However, the reliability of spatial interpolation is often affected by the availability of precipitation measurements from weather stations in a given region especially under complex terrain conditions. Here we propose an alternative approach for site-specific estimation of precipitation using both radar reflectivity data and topographic features. At first, radar reflectivity data are used as inputs to an artificial neural network (ANN) for estimation of precipitation. These radar precipitations at each grid cell are used to represent the observations at virtual weather stations for spatial interpolation using PRISM. Furthermore, the radar precipitations are compared with the observations at actual weather stations for their bias correction. This approach is referred to as PRISM and Radar Estimation for Precipitation (PREP). A case study was conducted in Jeollabuk-do, South Korea to compare the degree of agreement between PREP and PRISM. It was found that PREP had higher degree of agreement for the daily estimates of precipitation than PRISM in the given region with a complex terrain including coast and mountains. For example, the root mean square error (RMSE) of precipitation estimates for PREP was 22.1% less than that for PRISM in 2020. PREP also had greater value of the critical success index (CSI) than PRISM especially under heavy precipitation events, e.g.,>180 mm, and no rainfall conditions. These findings indicate that the PREP would improve the reliability of site-specific estimates of precipitation, which would facilitate decision-making in agriculture and early warning of extreme weather events. • Novel approach called PRISM and Radar Estimation for Precipitation is proposed. • The PREP integrated radar reflectivity with PRISM to enhance accuracy. • Utilized ANN within PREP to correct radar reflectivity. • The PREP exhibited a higher degree of agreement in daily precipitation than PRISM. • The PREP highlight improvement in site-specific precipitation estimation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Waveform design is a significant topic in multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) radar. In this paper, we address the problem of waveform design for colocated narrowband MIMO radar transmit beampattern synthesis. The existing methods have not comprehensively considered the transmit beampattern synthesis under multiple practical constraints, such as constant modulus constraint, Doppler tolerance, high range resolution and low auto-correlation sidelobe. We consider these practical constraints and propose a novel chirp rate diversity-based linear frequency modulated (CRD-LFM) waveform design for approximating the desired MIMO radar transmit beampattern. To tackle the problem, we improve the classical two-step approach. Firstly we design the covariance matrix using the existing closed-form solution. Then we model the problem of obtaining the waveforms from the covariance matrix as a nonlinear optimization problem, and we utilize the Sequential Quadratic Programming (SQP) algorithm to solve it. The simulations demonstrate that the waveforms obtained by this method can well approximate the desired transmit beampattern and have higher range resolution. Furthermore, we verify that the suppression of auto-correlation sidelobe can be achieved using amplitude weighting, which is easily realizable in practical engineering. • A chirp rate diversity-based waveform design method for MIMO radar is proposed. • It is verified that varying the chirp rate of waveforms can adjust the beampattern. • An improved two-step method for MIMO radar waveform optimization is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The problem of Vandermonde constrained CP tensor decomposition for angle estimation in MIMO radar under spatially colored noise is addressed. • The smoothed estimate of the temporal cross-correlation matrix is presented to provide improved robustness to colored noise in the case of the limited number of pulses. • Constrained alternating least squares (ALS) based on new rectification strategy for Vandermonde factors is used to solve CP decomposition model. • With the help of temporally smoothed cross-correlation and constrained ALS, the proposed method exhibits superior angle estimation performance. We address the problem of Vandermonde constrained CANDECOMP/PARAFAC (CP) tensor decomposition in application to angle estimation for bistatic multiple-input multiple output (MIMO) radar under spatially colored noise. By exploiting the temporally uncorrelated characteristic of colored noise, a new denoising scheme based on the temporally smoothed cross-correlation approach is presented. Then, after rearranging the smoothed cross-correlation matrix into a fourth-order tensor, a Vandermonde constrained CP tensor decomposition model is formulated, which fully exploits the multidimensional structure of the array measurement and the Vandermonde structure of the factor matrices. To solve this model, an efficient constrained alternating least squares (ALS) algorithm is developed to decompose the Vandermonde factor matrices. Finally, joint estimates of direction of departure (DOD) and direction of arrival (DOA) are obtained by the generators of the Vandermonde factor matrices. Compared with the state-of-the-art approaches, the proposed method can achieve better angle estimation performance by jointly using the temporally smoothed cross-correlation denoising operation and enforcing the Vandermonde structure information in the tensor decomposition. Numerical simulation results verify the effectiveness and improvement of our algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the problem of mainlobe deceptive jammer suppression via joint transmit–receive design in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar. At the design stage, a discrete element-pulse coding (DEPC) phase is implemented in both the slow-time pulses and transmit array antennas. After decoding and compensation of the delayed pulses, the true and false targets can be identified in the joint transmit–receive (JTR) spatial frequency domain. Furthermore, to eliminate the false targets, a data-dependent beamforming technique is adopted, where an optimization problem is constructed to maximize the output signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) by optimizing the DEPC coefficients and the weight vector of the receive filter in an alternating way. Specifically, two methods, including the Single Jammer Suppression (SJS)-Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (ADMM) and Multiple Jammers Suppression (MJS)-Gradient Descent (GD) methods are developed for the cases of a single jammer and multiple jammers, respectively. A series of numerical results are utilized to verify the effectiveness of the proposed methods for mainlobe deceptive jammer suppression. • The DEPC-MIMO scheme is proposed by discretizing element pulse coding coefficients. • The true and false targets are distinguished in the transmit–receive spatial domain. • The false targets are suppressed by optimizing DEPC coefficients and weight vector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a novel joint radar and communication (JRC) system that utilizes a chaotic optoelectronic oscillator (OEO) to generate a wideband radio frequency carrier. By mixing the carrier with an on-off keying (OOK) signal through intensity modulation and direct detection, a wideband JRC waveform is generated. One part of the waveform is used for transmitting, while the other serves as a reference for radar reception. The unique properties of the chaotic OEO signal, such as its randomness and large bandwidth, are leveraged to achieve superior system performance and eliminate the need for an electronic arbitrary waveform generator. In the proof-of-concept experiment, the JRC system achieves a radar range resolution of 7 cm and a wireless communication rate of 125 Mbit/s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recently developed frequency diverse array (FDA) radar applies a small frequency increment across the array elements, which provides advantages in clutter suppression, jamming suppression, and target detection for existing radar systems. In this paper, the frequency increment is enlarged to guarantee that the transmit waveforms are orthogonal in frequency domain for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar. A multi-scale moving target detection method of FDA-MIMO radar is proposed. The FDA radar with a large frequency increment suffers from the deteriorated decorrelation of scatterers within the same range bin and causes the inner-bin range dependence (IRD) property in transmit spatial domain. By taking additional space–time snapshots in transmit domain as training samples, the space–time adaptive processing (STAP) is applied in joint receive and Doppler domain for clutter suppression, which alleviates the requirement of insufficient training samples in non-stationary clutter environment. In the sequel, a set of beamformers within the whole angular domain of interest is utilized for target detection, which achieves target detection under the condition of random target locations and sizes. Numerical simulation results are provided to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. • FDA radar of large Δ f can realize waveform orthogonality and obtain range DOFs. • FDA of large Δ f improves the range resolution to distinguish inner-bin scatterers. • The proposed STAP method alleviates the pressure on insufficient training samples. • A set of beamformers are designed to detect target with random locations and sizes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]