Introduction to Radar System and Component Tests White Paper

This White Paper provides a general overview of different military and commercial radar systems. It also covers some typical measurements on such systems and their components.

(pplication Roland *ote Minihold / ieter !ues"#$%"&%' &M(%")$"e

Contents

Ta+le of Contents & %

%.& %.%

(+stract .................................................................................. , -verview of Typical Radar (pplications and Common Radar Types....................................................................................... .
Typical radar applications ............................................................................ Radar /re0uencies1 ' !ands1 Wavelength and (pplications ...................2

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..& ..% .., ... ..2 ..3 ..) ..# ..4 ..&" ..&& ..&% ..&, ..&.

Radar 50uation....................................................................... 3 Common Radar Types ........................................................... 4

CW 6 oppler7 and /MCW 6 oppler 6Speed7/Range7 Radar7 .....................4 Simple Pulse 6Range7 and Pulse oppler 6Speed/Range7 Radar ..........&& Pulse oppler radar ...................................................................................&% Pulse Compression Radar 6/M Chirp and Phase Coded7 ......................&, /re0uency'(gile Radar 6/(R7 ' Suppression of 8amming and Improved Clutter Re9ection.........................................................................................&. Stepped'/re0uency Radar 6Imaging (pplication7...................................&. Moving'Target Identification 6MTI7 Radar ................................................&2 Monopulse Radar 6Phase or (mplitude Comparison7 / 6Range and (ngle Measurement7 .............................................................................................&3 Phased'(rray Radar1 igital !eamforming .............................................&) Synthetic'(perture Radar 6S(R7...............................................................%" !istatic1 Multistatic Radar .........................................................................%& Passive Radar .............................................................................................%& Multimode Radar ........................................................................................%% The /uture of Radar evelopments..........................................................%.

2 3 )

Common Radar (++reviations............................................ %2 :iterature............................................................................... %# (dditional Information......................................................... %#

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Rohde ; Schwar< Introduction to Radar System and Component Tests %

& (+stract
It was =erman engineer Christian >uelsmeyer who first used the radar principle to +uild a simple ship detection device intended to help avoid collisions in fog 6Reichspatent *r. &322.37. /irst widely used radar technology was developed for military purpose during World War II. Today1 more than half a century later1 there is a much wider radar application area +eyond the military one. Radar is needed for weather forecast1 airport traffic control and automotive applications such as car distance surveillance and pedestrian detection. (dditionally radar technology today is afforda+le on a mass production +asis due to highly integrated signal processing components which ma?e it possi+le to detect even low power signals in applications where at former times much more R/ energy was needed. :ow power radar components automatically mean savings in costs and si<e. In addition there are a lot of C( tools availa+le for the development of such systems and to deal with higher fre0uencies up to &&" =>< and +eyond.

R;S created two complementary papers1 application note &M(&%) and white paper &M(%") regarding current radar technology in order to demonstrate its contri+ution to test and measurement of radar systems and components. The white paper gives an overview on radar Systems and important measurements on them. The corresponding application note &M(&%) goes into details in e@plaining radar test technology along with the specific products needed to perform the tests. !oth documents1 &M(&%) and &M(%") are addressing students who want to +ecome familiar with radar issues as well as radar professionals who want to solve certain test and measurement tas?s.

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Rohde ; Schwar< Introduction to Radar System and Component Tests ,

% -verview of Typical Radar (pplications and Common Radar Types

%.& Typical radar applications
Typical radar applications are listed here to give an idea of the huge importance of radar in our world. Surveillance Military and civil air traffic control1 ground'+ased1 air+orne1 surface coastal1 satellite' +ased Searching and trac?ing Military target searching and trac?ing /ire control Provides information 6mainly target a<imuth1 elevation1 range and velocity7 to a fire' control system *avigation Satellite1 air1 maritime1 terrestrial navigation (utomotive Collision warning1 adaptive cruise control 6(CC71 collision avoidance :evel measurements /or monitoring li0uids1 distances1 etc. Pro@imity fuses Military useA =uided weapon systems re0uire a pro@imity fuse to trigger the e@plosive warhead (ltimeter (ircraft or spacecraft altimeters for civil and military use Terrain avoidance (ir+orne military use Secondary radar Transponder in target responds with coded reply signal Weather Storm avoidance1 wind shear warning1 weather mapping Space Military earth surveillance1 ground mapping1 and e@ploration of space environment Security >idden weapon detection1 military earth surveillance

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Rohde ; Schwar< Introduction to Radar System and Component Tests .

%.% Radar /re0uencies1 ' !ands1 Wavelength and (pplications

Radar !ands1 '/re0uencies1 'Wavelengths and their (pplications
!and >/ P B>/ /re0uency , to ," M>< ," to ,"" M>< ,"" to &""" M>< Wavelength &" m to &"" m &m to &" m "., m to & m (pplication Coastal radar systems1 over'the'hori<on 6-T>7 radarsE Fhigh fre0uencyF FPF for FpreviousF1 applied retrospectively to early radar systems Gery long range 6e.g. +allistic missile early warning71 ground penetrating1 foliage penetratingE Fultra high fre0uencyF :ong'range air traffic control and surveillanceE F:F for FlongF Terminal air traffic control1 long'range weather1 marine radarE FSF for FshortF Satellite transpondersE a compromise 6hence FCF7 +etween C and S +andsE weather radar Missile guidance1 marine radar1 weather1 medium'resolution mapping and ground surveillanceE in the BS( the narrow range &".2%2 =>< H %2 M>< is used for airport radar. *amed C +and +ecause the fre0uency was ?ept secret during World War %. >igh'resolution mapping1 satellite altimetryE fre0uency 9ust under I +and 6hence FuF7 I +and is used +y meteorologists for detecting clouds and +y police for detecting speeding motorists. I +and radar guns operate at %..&2" H ".&"" =><. (utomotive radar uses %. D %3 =><. Mapping1 short range1 airport surveillanceE fre0uency 9ust a+ove I +and 6hence FaF7E photo radar1 used to trigger cameras that ta?e pictures of license plates of cars running red lights1 operates at ,..,"" H ".&"" =>< Millimeter +and1 su+divided as +elow. The letter designators appear to +e random1 and the fre0uency ranges dependent on waveguide si<e. Multiple letters are assigned to these +ands +y different groups. Bsed for military communications Gery strongly a+sor+ed +y the atmosphere )3 =>< :RR and )4 =>< SRR automotive radar1 high'resolution meteorological o+servation and imaging

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Rohde ; Schwar< Introduction to Radar System and Component Tests 2

, Radar 50uation
The acronym R( (R stands for R(dio etection (nd Ranging. /igure & shows the +asic principle.

/igure &A !asic principle of Radar and its parameters

(n electromagnetic wave of power Pt is transmitted to a flying o+9ect1 for e@ample to a plane and is partly reflected +ac? to the antenna with the receiving power Pr. /rom the time delay +etween the transmitted and received signal the distance to the plane can +e calculated. (dditional information can +e gained from the fre0uency shift of the received signal1 which is proportional to the speed of the plane. Receiving a signal of sufficient power +y an ade0uate power to noise ratio is the +iggest challenge of radar systems. The so called KRadar 50uationL gives hints on the power relations within the system as indicated in /igure &. The Radar 50uation delivers the received power Pr as result. (ccording to the Radar 50uation following independent parameters determine the received power P r A

Pt @ = % @ @% M@ Pr @ 6.@ 7, M R .

6/ormula &7

PtA The power transmitted +y the antenna1 dimension is d!m. *umeric e@amples A 3, d!m for real world Radar applications1 &, d!m for la+oratory tests =A =ain of the transmitting antenna1 dimension in d!i. The parameter determines how much the radiation +eam of the antenna is focused toward the direction of the target. *umeric e@amples are &% d!i for a !iJuad antenna and )" d!i for a highly focusing para+olic antenna.

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A The wavelength of the transmitted signal1 dimension in meter. The wavelength can +e directly calculated from the fre0uency. *umeric e@amplesA ".", m for a &" =>< signal and ".&% m for a %.2. =>< signal A Radar cross section1 RCS1 is a virtual area representing the intensity of the reflection. *ot all of the radiated power is reflected +ac? to transmitting antenna1 as indicated +y the small waves close to the plane in /igure &. The KSigmaL 6@ 7 of the o+9ects determines the virtual area of the reflecting o+9ect 6plane7 from which all of the incoming radiation energy is reflected +ac? to the antenna. The dimension is %%s0uare meter1 Km L in short. Practical e@amples are &% m for a commercial plane1 %%& m for a person or "."& m for a +ird. Refer to N&#O1 page 3332 for further e@amples.

RA istance +etween the transmitting antenna and the reflecting o+9ect. imension in m. *umeric e@amples are #""" m for real world applications or 2 m for la+oratory conditions. It has to +e stressed that this parameter reduces the result1 i.e. the received signal +y the power of .1 with the effect that far distant o+9ects are providing only a small amount of received power.

5@ample
Parameter Transmitted power =ain of transmit antenna Wavelength 6fre0uency7 Radar cross section istance Received power1 linear Received power1 logarithmic (++reviation Pt = @ 6f7 @@ R Pr Prlog Galue1 5@ample & 3, %# ".", 6&"M&"47 &% #&&. & '4" Galue 5@ample % &, &% ".&% 6%.2M&" 47 "1, 2 &)..M&" , '.# Bnit d!m d!i m6><7 m% m pW d!m

Ta+le &A Parameters of Radar 50uitation and two e@amples

5@ample & shows a a real world e@ample1 derived from NPo<arO1 e@ample % shows a radar application which can +e reali<ed under la+oratory conditions for e@ample in an anechoic cham+er. 5@ample & read in clear te@t A ( radar transmitting antenna with gain of %# d!i is transmitting an electromagnetic wave at &" =>< with a power of 3, d!m to a plane %in a distance of a+out #""" m. The plane has a radar cross section of &% m . !y means of the Radar 50uation the received power +ac? at the antenna is calculated to '4" d!m. 5@ample % read in clear te@tA In a radar test la+oratory implemented in an anechoic cham+er a test transmitter provides &, d!m to a matched antenna of &% d!i with a fre0uency of %.2 =><. The reflecting o+9ect with a cross section of %"., m is located in 2 m distance from the transmitting antenna. (ccording to the Radar 50uation the test receiver is going to receive a reflected signal of '.# d!m.

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Rohde ; Schwar< Introduction to Radar System and Component Tests )

When comparing e@ample & to e@ample % we can conclude that despite much +igger transmitting power1 +etter transmit antenna gain and +igger radar cross section in e@ample & the received reflected power of e@ample & is almost 2" d! lower than the received signal of e@ample %. The reason is the smaller wavelength lam+da which affects the result +y a power of % and especially the +igger distance R of e@ample & which affects the result +y a power of .. Small wavelengths1 i.e. high fre0uencies are aimed for in most radar systems1 especially in antenna arrays1 +ecause of the resulting small antenna si<e. It is o+vious also1 that in radar technology one has to deal with very small receiving power especially for far distant o+9ects.

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Rohde ; Schwar< Introduction to Radar System and Component Tests #

. Common Radar Types

This section lists the most common types of radar systems with +rief e@planations of how they wor?.

..& CW 6 oppler7 and /MCW 6 oppler 6Speed7/Range7 Radar7

( continuous wave 6CW7 radar system with a constant fre0uency can +e used to measure speed. >owever1 it does not provide any range 6distance7 information. ( signal at a certain fre0uency is transmitted via an antenna. It is then reflected +y the target 6e.g. a car7 with a certain oppler fre0uency shift. This means that the signalFs reflection is received on a slightly different fre0uency. !y comparing the transmitted fre0uency with the received fre0uency1 we can determine the speed 6+ut not the range7. >ere1 a typical application is radar for monitoring traffic. Radar motion sensors are +ased on the same principle1 +ut they must also +e capa+le of detecting slow changes in the received field strength due to varia+le interference conditions that may e@ist. Radar speed traps operated +y the police use this same technology. Camera systems ta?e a picture if a certain speed is e@ceeded at a specified distance from the target.

/igure %A Mo+ile traffic monitoring radar MultaRadar C ' Mo+ile speed radar for speed enforcement from 8enoptic

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Rohde ; Schwar< Introduction to Radar System and Component Tests 4

There are also military applicationsA CW radars are also used for target illumination. This is a straightforward applicationA The radar +eam is ?ept on target +y lin?ing it to a target trac?ing radar. The reflection from the target is then used +y an antiaircraft missile to home in on the target. CW radars are somewhat hard to detect. (ccordingly1 they are classified as low'pro+a+ility'of' intercept radars. CW radars lend themselves well to detecting low'flying aircraft that attempt to overcome an enemyFs air defense +y Phugging the groundP. Pulsed radar has difficulties in discriminating +etween ground clutter and low'flying aircraft. CW radar can close this gap +ecause it is +lind to slow'moving ground clutter and can pinpoint the direction where something is going on. This information is relayed to co'located pulse radar for further analysis and action. N)O

/MCW radar The disadvantage of CW radar systems is that they cannot measure range due to the lac? of a timing reference. >owever1 it is possi+le to generate a timing reference for measuring the range of stationary o+9ects using what is ?nown as Pfre0uency'modulated continuous waveP 6/MCW7 radar. This method involves transmitting a signal whose fre0uency changes periodically. When an echo signal is received1 it will have a delay offset li?e in pulse radar. The range can +e determined +y comparing the fre0uency. It is possi+le to transmit complicated fre0uency patterns 6li?e in noise radar7 with the periodic repetition occurring at most at a time in which no am+iguous echoes are e@pected. >owever1 in the simplest case +asic ramp or triangular modulation is used1 which of course will only have a relatively small unam+iguous measurement range.

/igure ,A !asic principle of /MCW radar. The targetQs velocity is calculated +ased on the measured delay @t +etween the transmit signal and the received signal1 whereas the fre0uency offset @f gives the range

This type of range measurement is used1 for e@ample1 in aircraft to measure altitude 6radio altimeter7 or in ground trac?ing radar to ensure a constant altitude a+ove ground. -ne +enefit compared to pulse radar is that measurement results are provided continuously 6as opposed to the timing grid of the pulse repetition fre0uency7. /MCW radar is also commonly used commercially for measuring distances in other ways1 e.g. level indicators. (utomotive radar is in most cases /MCW radar too.

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Rohde ; Schwar< Introduction to Radar System and Component Tests &"

..% Simple Pulse 6Range7 and Pulse oppler 6Speed/Range7 Radar

/igure .A !asic principle of a simple pulse radar system

( simple pulse radar system only provides range 6plus direction7 information for a target +ased on the timing difference +etween the transmitted and received pulse. It is not possi+le to determine the speed. The pulse width determines the range resolution.

/igure 2A irection information with a<imuth angle determination in a radar system with a rotary antenna

The direction information 6a<imuth angle 7 is determined from the time instant of the receive pulse with reference to the instantaneous radiation direction of the rotating antenna. The important measurements on 6non'coherent7 radar e0uipment of this sort are the range accuracy and resolution1 (=C settling time for the receiver1 pea? power1 fre0uency sta+ility1 phase noise of the :- and all of the pulse parameters. The (=C circuit of the receiver protects the radar from overload conditions due to near+y collocated radars or 9amming countermeasures. The attac? and decay time of the (=C circuit can +e varied +ased on the operational mode of the radar. Since the roundtrip of a radar signals travels appro@imately &2" meters per microsecond1 it is important to measure the response of the (=C for +oth amplitude and phase response when su+9ect to different overload signal conditions. The measured response time will dictate the minimum detection range of the radar.

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Rohde ; Schwar< Introduction to Radar System and Component Tests &&

.., Pulse oppler radar

( pulse oppler radar also provides radial speed information a+out the target in addition to range information 6and direction information7. In case of coherent operation of the radar transmitter and receiver1 speed information can +e derived from the pulse'to'pulse phase variations. I/J demodulators are normally used. The latest pulse oppler radar systems normally use different pulse repetition fre0uencies 6PR/7 ranging from several hundred >< up to 2"" ?>< in order to clarify any possi+le range and oppler am+iguities. More advanced pulse oppler radar systems also P use Pstaggered PR/1 i.e. the PR/ changes on an ongoing +asis to get rid of range am+iguity and reduce clutter as well. Important criteria for achieving good performance in pulse oppler radar systems include very low phase noise in the :-1 low receiver noise and low I/J gain phase mismatch 6to avoid Pfalse target indicationP7 in addition to the measurement parameters listed a+ove. When measuring the pulse'to'pulse performance of a radar transmitter1 it is important to understand the varia+les that can impact the uncertainty of the measurement system for accurate oppler measurementsA

Signal'to'noise ratio of the signal ' the +etter the signal to noise ratio of the signal1 the lower the uncertainty due to noise contri+ution. !andwidth of the signal ' the +andwidth of the I/ ac0uisition system must +e sufficient to accurately represent the risetime of the pulsed signal1 however too much +andwidth can result in added noise contri+ution uncertainty. Reference 6or time+ase7 cloc? sta+ility. 8itter or uncertainty due to the measurement point of the rising edge of the signal D rising edge interpolation or signals that have changing edges impact this uncertainty. -vershoot and preshoot of the rising and falling edges D any ringing on the rising and falling edges can impact the measurement points adversely on a pulse to pulse +asis. It is important that the measurement point1 or the average set of measurement points1 are sufficiently far away in time from the leading and falling edges of a pulse. (pplying a =aussien filter to smooth the impact of the rising and falling edges can reduce this phenomena and is often implemented in the oppler measurement system of a radar receiver. Time +etween measured signals D due to the PRI of the measured signal1 the close'in phase noise of the measurement system needs to +e considered due to the integration time at lower offset fre0uencies. The same varia+les can also contri+ute to the uncertainty in the signal generator when testing the receiver circuit and oppler measurement accuracy.

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Rohde ; Schwar< Introduction to Radar System and Component Tests &%

... Pulse Compression Radar 6/M Chirp and Phase Coded7

Classic pulse and pulse oppler radar transmits e@tremely short pulses. Increasing the pulse power allows the radar system to achieve greater range results. ecreasing the duration of the transmit pulses also decreases the pulse volume and provides +etter range resolution for the radar system1 i.e. closely spaced targets can +e distinguished with smaller distances +etween them. Pulse compression com+ines the power'related +enefits of very long transmit pulses 6good range7 with the +enefits of very short transmit pulses 6high distance resolution7. :ower pea? power can then +e used. !y modulating the transmit pulses1 a timing reference is produced within the transmit pulse1 similar to fre0uency'modulated continuous wave 6/MCW7 radar systems. Several different modulation techni0ues can +e used. The most common areA

:inear fre0uency modulation 6/M chirp7 *on'linear fre0uency modulation 5ncoded pulse phase modulation 6e.g. !ar?er code7 Polyphase modulation and time'fre0uency coded modulation (lthough pulse compression techni0ue has various +enefits such as low pulse power with good range and distance resolution1 there is a significant disadvantageA The minimum measurement range is degraded depending on the pulse length1 since the radar receiver is +loc?ed during the transmit pulse. (s this is a ma9or disadvantage for radar systems used for air traffic control1 they typically use +oth techni0uesA !etween the fre0uency'modulated pulses for the larger range1 small 6very short7 pulses are transmitted which only have to cover the near+y area and do not re0uire very high pulse power. :inear /M is most common in older radar systems. (n e@ample is the air'defense radar RRP' &&) N.ON.O. *on'linear /M 6*:/M7 is +ecoming more practical use +ecause of its various +enefits such as inherently low range sidelo+es which yields an advantage in S*R compared to :inear /M. N&3O 5ncoded pulse phase modulation is very common1 particularly !ar?er codes with lengths of && and &, N&2O. In advanced military radar systems1 polyphase pulse compression is also used increasingly with special codes N&.O.

Pulse compression radar signal re0uire +ase+and IJ collection of the signal covering the !W of the pulse risetime1 wide+and analog /M demodulation or vector demodulation and new displays of the information for analysis 6amplitude1 fre0uency1 and phase vs. time71 and digital demodulation/5GM measurement for !PSI/JPSI modulations.

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Rohde ; Schwar< Introduction to Radar System and Component Tests &,

..2 /re0uency'(gile Radar 6/(R7 ' Suppression of 8amming and Improved Clutter Re9ection
/re0uency hopping is an effective techni0ue for a radar system to circumvent 9amming and electronic counter'countermeasures 65CCM7. It is typically used in military radar applications. Clutter re9ection is also possi+le using /(R. Su+'microsecond switching times and +andwidths ranging from several hundred M>< in the C +and to over % =>< at 42 =>< are typical. -ther measurement parameters that are relevant with /(R include the fre0uency switching/settling time1 hop se0uence1 switching spurious and +road+and amplitude and phase sta+ility. This type of radar should consider the test of the radar not under static conditions1 +ut the hopping conditions across the !W of interest. -scilloscopes with //T analysis often need to +e employed to assess hopping performance and anomalies due to hopping se0uences.

..3 Stepped'/re0uency Radar 6Imaging (pplication7

Stepped'fre0uency radar systems are used in imaging applications. With typical +andwidths ranging from several hundred M>< to % =><1 resolutions of R&" cm can +e achieved.

/igure 3A Timing diagram for stepped'fre0uency radar

The fre0uency is increased +y a fi@ed value from pulse to pulse. Typical +ursts contain &%# pulses. The +enefit of a stepped'fre0uency radar system is that one can o+tain wide +andwidth and thus good resolution without needing a large //T capture +andwidth N&)O. ue to the wide R/ +andwidth of the transmitter and receiver1 these su+systems must e@hi+it e@cellent sta+ility in order to o+tain the desired high resolution. Impacted stepped fre0uency radar is reduced cost of testing each pulse1 +ut added cost of pulse to pulse coherent analysis 6magnitude and phase sta+ility is most important7. (s was the case with fre0uency agile radar1 the settling time of the local oscillator is also an important measurement parameter.

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Rohde ; Schwar< Introduction to Radar System and Component Tests &.

..) Moving'Target Identification 6MTI7 Radar

The idea +ehind MTI radar is to suppress reflected signals from stationary and slow'moving o+9ects such as +uildings1 mountains1 waves1 clouds1 etc. 6clutter7 and thus o+tain an indication of moving targets such as aircraft and other flying o+9ects. >ere1 the oppler effect is e@ploited1 since signals reflected +y targets moving radially with respect to the radar system e@hi+it an offset vs. the transmitted fre0uency which is proportional to their speed 6e.g. in linear /M radar7. In pulse radar systems1 the pulses reflected +y moving o+9ects have a varia+le phase from pulse to pulse referenced to the phase of the transmitted pulses.

/igure )A Moving target indicationA Moving targets are indicated +y continuously changing amplitude while fi@ed targets show constant amplitude

-ptimi<ing MTI re0uires the use of very sophisticated techni0ues such as staggered PR/ 6a varia+le pulse interval from pulse to pulse7 in order to offset P+lind velocitiesP or ma?e them visi+le. Important measurement parameters when optimi<ing MTI or the clutter suppression include the followingA =ood pulse'to'pulse phase and amplitude sta+ility for the transmit signal >ighest possi+le phase sta+ility or lowest possi+le phase noise for the :- in the radar system1 particularly for MTI involving targets with low radial speeds

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..# Monopulse Radar 6Phase or (mplitude Comparison7 / 6Range and (ngle Measurement7

/igure #A Monopulse Radar (ntenna

In monopulse radar systems1 at least two antenna groups arranged at spatially distinct locations are used N&,O. !y comparing the summation and difference channels1 it is possi+le to locali<e the reflecting o+9ect within the radar +eam. Bsing counterphase coupling of the left and right antenna groups1 a difference channel 6 (<7 is formed 6Pdelta a<imuthP7. The a<imuth is determined +y e@ploiting the fact that at this angle for a ma@imum of the summation channel1 the difference channel must +e at a minimum. Since the summation channel 6 7 and the difference channel can +e formed from 9ust a single echo1 one pulse is enough to accurately compute the coordinates. 6This is why this way of grouping antennas is also referred to as Pmonopulse antennaP.7 The ratio of the summation channel to the difference channel provides a measure of the offset of the real direction from the center a@is of the antenna 6P+oresightP7. The angular difference +etween the antenna +oresight and the actual offset angle of the target is ?nown as the Poff' +oresight angleP. In , radar systems1 the elevation angle is also measured as the third coordinate. The same techni0ue can +e applied in this case too. The antenna is divided into upper and lower halves. The second difference channel 6 5l7 is now ?nown as the Pdelta elevationP. Channel matching of the different channels is critical in monopulse radar systems and must +e measured. Multi'channel phase'coherent synthesi<ers with ad9usta+le phase offsets are typically used for this purpose. Phase coherent multichannel analysis e.g. +y means of a high performance digital oscilloscope with IJ interface +ecomes important for testing transmitter coherency

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..4 Phased'(rray Radar1 igital !eamforming

Radar applications normally need some ?ind of dynamic +eam steering1 +ecause the area of a static electromagnetic +eam is normally too small for o+9ect detection1 especially within (; applications. In classical radar systems mechanical devices have +een used in order to move the radar +eam to cover a certain area. The ,3"'degree rotating antenna in air surveillance systems is the +est e@ample. -lder fighter planes also are using mechanically moving radar antennas. >owever1 mechanical systems are heavy and failure'prone which +oth are draw+ac?s for e0uipment +eing used in safety'critical applications.

/igure 4A ,3"'degree rotating antenna 6left7 of an air surveillance system and electronically steered antenna 6right7

>igh performance igital Signal Processing along with afforda+le and small1 highly integrated hardware systems have made possi+le another techni0ue called Pdigital +eamformingP 6 !/7 or (5S( 6(ctive 5lectronically Scanned (rray7. /igure &" shows the +asic principleE the literature N%O provides detailed information.

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/igure &"A !asic Principle of (5S( 6(ctive 5lectronically Scanned (rray7 or !/ 6 igital !eamforming7

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!/ always relies on antenna arrays. Modern systems sometimes include up to &""" independent small antennas. To ?eep it simple1 /igure &" includes only % antennas. >owever the operation principle is the same for all +igger systems. (ll su+se0uent discussions are related to a single plane %'dimensional antenna system only. The ,'dimensional real'world antenna system +ehaves in a similar way. In the e@ample provided two sine signals of electrical energy are supplied to two isotropic antennas. (n isotropic antenna is radiating e0ually in all directions. The two signals are of same phase and magnitude1 so called coherent signals. The resulting power of the radiated sum +eam is the sum of the two sine signals. /igure &" shows the relation for the perpendicular direction with respect to our %'5lement antenna array. The +ehavior in this direction of transmission is shown in the left half of /igure &". The situation for a certain side transmission1 a+out .2 degrees1 is shown in the right half. The upper part shows signal superposition1 the lower half shows the same +y using vectors. !lue and green shows the electromagnetic energy transmitted from the two antennas. The red parts of the drawings show the two superposed antenna signals. (s indicated in the lower right1 the side transmission causes a phase shift 6delta7 of +oth antenna signals which causes the red sum signal to +e reduced compared to the sum signal without phase shift. The declined sum signal can +e clearly seen in the signal representation in the upper part of /igure &".

It can +e summari<ed now1 that the antenna array has a specific ma@imum propagation direction1 which is 4" degrees1 +ecause of isotropic antennas supplied +y two signals of same phase and magnitude 6S coherent signals7. The resulting +eam radiated to the side1 for instance .2 degrees1 is smaller due to a phase shift we are getting +ecause of different propagation path lengths. We rdcan summari<e this in following ta+le 6, line7A

!ehavior of sum signals

Two antenna supply signals In phase 6coherent7 Phase loc?ed +ut not in phase6certain angle7 4" degrees sum signal Ma@imum :ess than ma@imum @ degrees sum signal :ess than ma@imum Ma@imum

Ta+le %A !ehavior of sum signals dependent on phase of antenna supply signals

The way in which the antenna array sum signal is declining along with the side angle depends on the distance +etween the antenna elements. It is therefore a property specific to the geometry of the antenna array. (dditionally it depends on the wavelength1 i.e. the fre0uency of the radar signal1 +ecause the phase shift is related to the wavelength. So far considered two antenna supply signals of same magnitude and phase have +een considered1 so called coherent signals. If a small phase shift is applied now in +etween +oth signals1 we can reverse the effects so far descri+ed1 i.e. decline the 4"'degree +eam and increase the .2 degree side +eam to a ma@imum. If the phase +etween +oth signals is increased until a certain value the +eam moves slowly ato .2 degree. Turning the +eam +y a certain angle is one way of so called P+eamformingP. The results can now +e summari<ed again in Ta+le %1 lowest line. The phase shift of antenna array supply signals can +e generated in different ways. The simplest way is to use supply ca+les of different lengths. (nother method is to implement phase'shifting elements in the appropriate antenna supply circuits. >owever1 +oth methods are static and the phase shift canFt +e e@ternally controlled. The (pplication *ote &M(&%) related to this White Paper1 descri+es an integrated circuit performing digitally controlled phase shifting. It is also shown how such phase shifters can +e directly digitally controlled +y test instruments1 e@. networ? analy<ers. ( high performance digital scope can +e suited to test the transmitted delay +etween up to . channels of T/R modules if the s?ew +etween the scope channels is sufficiently low 6RR & ns7.

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Phased'array radar antennas have hundreds or even thousands of individual radiating elements 6as opposed to a reflector antenna with a single radiator7. The magnitude and phase of the power fed to the elements can +e individually controlled1 ma?ing it possi+le for the overall antenna to produce wave fronts with nearly any desired shape. In real'world operation1 the pattern can +e turned +y a+out H3"T. The efficiency of the antenna drops at larger angles. Bnli?e a conventional antenna that is moved mechanically1 a phased array can rotate its pattern in space with practically no delay.

/igure &&A (ctive 5lectronically Scanned (ntenna Schematic iagram 6from7

Since phased'array antennas are very costly1 they are used primarily in military and S(R satellite applications. The standard is now an active phased'array radar 6or active electronically scanned array1 (5S(7 +ased on many individual1 small transmit/receive modules1 whereas the passive variant 6P5S(7 uses a common R/ source whose signal is modified using digitally controlled phase shifter modules. What is important with (5S( is the uniformity of the different modules in terms of the amplitude and phase1 which involves considera+le test and cali+ration effort. Gery fast automated test systems are re0uired to align an array of hundreds1 sometimes thousands if elements to achieve target performance.

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..&" Synthetic'(perture Radar 6S(R7

Synthetic'aperture radar 6S(R71 li?e the related real'aperture radar 6R(RE see also side'loo?ing air+orne radar71 +elongs to the class of mapping radar systems. Such radar systems are deployed in aircraft or satellites to provide a two'dimensional view of a section of terrain +y scanning the earthFs surface using electromagnetic waves. In defense industry1 inverse synthetic aperture radar imaging 6IS(R7 of moving o+9ects is an important tool for automatic target recognition. !oth S(R and IS(R have the same underlying theory1 the main difference is the geometry configuration. In S(R imaging1 the radar is flying in the space1 and the o+9ect is stationary1 while in IS(R imaging1 the o+9ect is moving and the radar is stationary. !ut only the relative movement +etween the o+9ect and the radar is important. So the IS(R imaging pro+lem can +e found to +e e0uivalent to the more easily understood S(R imaging pro+lem. The +asic principle +ehind S(R involves an antenna that can +e moved perpendicularly to the radiation direction. The position must +e precisely ?nown at all times. The direction of motion is normally referred to as the Palong trac?P or a<imuth and the related cross coordinate as the Pcross trac?P or range. The PfootprintP is the area which the real antenna is currently covering. The PswathP is the strip of terrain which the footprint crosses due to the ongoing motion of the real antenna. S(R involves replacing the instantaneous snapshot produced +y a large antenna with many snapshots produced using a small1 mo+ile antenna. uring the course of the related movement1 each o+9ect in the target area is illuminated at a different angle of view and recorded accordingly. (s long as the path of the real antenna is ?nown with sufficient accuracy1 the aperture of a large antenna can +e synthesi<ed on the +asis of the magnitude and phase of the received radar echoes in order to attain a high spatial resolution in the direction in which the antenna is moving.

/igure &%A Synthetic'aperture radar 6S(R7. The S(R antenna +eam is moved +ac? and forth while traveling along the a<imuth

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The +est possi+le resolution that can +e attained in the a<imuth or flight direction using S(R is e0ual to half the length of the real antenna1 i.e. for a decrease in the a<imuth antenna length :(< 6designated as : in /ig. 47 of the real antenna1 its resolution capacity (< improves as followsA

@ (< @

: (< %

The resolution in the radial direction 6slant range7 is determined in principle +y the signal +andwidth of the transmit signal that is usedA

@Sl

c" @ % !R
where Co is the speed of light

/or a resolution of & m1 we thus need a signal +andwidth of &2" M><. TodayFs S(R systems use a signal +andwidth of U& =>< 6% =>< is desira+le7 in order to attain a resolution of R&" cm. The signal +andwidth is normally attained using pulse compression techni0ues such as linear fre0uency modulation. More advanced S(R systems also use stepped fre0uency1 polari<ation switching and other comple@ techni0ues 6e.g. intrapulse +eamsteering1 multiaperture recording in a<imuth1 spatiotemporal waveform encoding1 etc.1 in the TerraS(R C7. N2ON3O N%"O Test challenges are the +andwidth of interest for the generation and analysis tools. There is a trade'off +etween tools and stepped fre0uency vs. single fre0uency e.g. higher effort for pulse to pulse coherent analysis vs. higher analysis +andwidth needed.

..&& !istatic1 Multistatic Radar

In most cases1 the transmitter and receiver use the same antenna through time'domain multiple@ing. This type of radar system is ?nown as Pmonostatic radarP. ( +istatic radar system has one transmitter location and one or more receiver locations with a large distance or offset angle +etween them. It is easy to turn a monostatic radar system into a +istatic radar system +y setting up additional receiving sites. ( +istatic radar system can also +e created using two monostatic radar systems that operate on the same fre0uency. In a +istatic radar system1 the transmitter and receiver are separated +y a large distance and usually also have a large a<imuth offset. This means that a signal will +e received even if no power 6or only very little power7 is reflected directly toward the monostatic radar system due to the geometry of the reflecting o+9ect 6stealth technology7. This type of system has practical applications in weather radar N4O and the military1 e.g. to intercept KstealthL flying o+9ects. When using multiple spatially separated receivers1 we use the term multistatic radar. These radar have an increased importance on time+ase and networ? synchroni<ation. Measurement systems must have +etter synchroni<ation and lower cloc? 9itter to for meaningful pulse'to'pulse measurements. This is especially important in low'phase noise applications i.e. slow moving target detection.

..&% Passive Radar

Passive radar is a radiolocation technology which1 unli?e conventional radar1 does not actively transmit electromagnetic energy in order to detect and trac? the reflections that are produced. Instead1 reflections and the oppler 5ffect are evaluated for transmissions from ?nown +roadcast transmitters1 mo+ile radio transmitters and other systems that produce constant signals. Passive radar systems are difficult to locate1 since they do not transmit any signals. This is a decisive advantage in military applications. (nother advantage is the a+ility to intercept stealth aircraft1 which is very limited with e@isting active radar technology. N&"O
&M(%")$"e Rohde ; Schwar< Introduction to Radar System and Component Tests %&

It is also important to understand that the collection systems need to cover the !W of the signals that need to +e analy<ed. /or instances1 #" M>< near airports can cover each cellular infrastructure1 however new digital video signals must +e collected over wider spans1 or individually over multiple analysis. The collection of passive radar signals is continually evolving as new wireless infrastructure1 digital video1 and digital audio terrestrial +roadcast stations are deployed world wide.

..&,

Multimode Radar

Many of the radar systems used nowadays in military applications 6e.g. in aircraft7 are multimode radar systems which must handle a wide range of tas?sA Target searching and trac?ing Weapon guidance (ltimeter >igh'resolution ground mapping !ad weather and terrain avoidance 5lectronic counter'countermeasures 65CCM7 ifferent PR/ modes are used in these applications1 including /M chirp1 !ar?er phase modulation or comple@ modulation1 (5S( antennas1 S(R1 fre0uency hopping1 intrapulse polari<ation1 etc.

5@ampleA Technical specifications for a military air+orne data ac0uisition systemN#OA -perates from air+orne platforms Multi'mode Multi'+and /ully Coherent /ully Polarimetric /R5JB5*CV !(* S @ (1 ! ; C &"" to 3"" M>< @ / %.4 to ,.. =>< @ I 4." to &&.%2 =>< @ 8 &2.2 to &3." =>< P-:(RIS(TI-*S @ :inear vertical and hori<ontal @ Circular left and right'hand P5 5ST(:S @ (<imuth and elevation control using +oresighted optical trac?ing system @ Sector scanning at up to ." deg/s (*T5**(S @ Garious 6to suit application7

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M- 5S @ /re0uency'agile @ Polarisation'agile @ Pulse'+y'pulse data recording to (mpe@ CRSi or compati+le media @ Bser'defina+le transmit waveforms up to ,% ? samples @ & to ." ?>< PR/ @ Bser'selecta+le range am+its 6)3# to &%%## cells7 @ Simultaneous two'channel1 co and/or cross polar receiver @ Bp to 2"" M>< instantaneous +andwidth 6%.%2 =>< using eight 2"" M>< 2"W overlapped pulses7 @ ata sampling at &""1 %2" or 2"" M><

(T( =(T>5RI*= M- 5S @ >igh Range Resolution ".,3 m using P PS linear chirp modulation over 2"" M>< +andwidth )3# to &%%## contiguous "., m range cells @ @ Bltra >igh Range Resolution ".& m using P PS linear chirp modulation over %.%2 =>< +andwidth 6eight 2"" M>< 2"W overlapped pulses7 ,")% to .4&2% contiguous ".")2 m range cells Testing a multimode radar system of this sort is comple@ and costly. /ast1 fully automated test systems are needed.

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..&. The /uture of Radar evelopments

In the future1 we can e@pect to encounter multisensory systems that com+ine radar and infrared 6or other7 systemsN&&O. This will ma?e it possi+le to com+ine the +enefits of the different types of systems while suppressing certain wea?nesses N&&O. Military on+oard radar systems will +e increasingly confronted with the stealth characteristics of advanced aircraft. The contradiction +etween the different re0uirements imposed on aircraft must +e solved 6i.e. planes should e@hi+it stealth properties while not revealing their position through the use of on+oard radar7. -ne possi+ility involves the use of a +istatic radar system with a separate illuminator and only a receiver on'+oard the aircraft. In the future1 radar antennas will in many cases no longer e@ist as discrete elements with suita+le radomes. Instead1 they will +e integrated into the geometrical structure of the aircraft1 ship or other platform that contains them. The ne@t generation of (5S( radars used on'+oard aircraft will have more than one fi@ed array in order to +e a+le to handle greater spatial angles. /inally1 the speed of the digital +ac?'end e0uipment handling the radar raw data will need to increase i.e. through parallel processing in order to handle data rates as needed for high' resolution radar operating modes.N&%O

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2 Common Radar (++reviations

Common Radar (++reviations

(++reviation (5S( (5W (/C (=C (M (P(R (SR (SR'S

Meaning (ctive 5lectronically Scanned (rray (ir+orne 5arly Warning (utomatic'/re0uency'Control (utomatic =ain Control (mplitude Modulation (ctive Phase (rray Radar (irport Surveillance Radar (irport Surveillance Radar Mode'S 6Mode S is an e@tension to secondary radar. Mode S ma?es it possi+le to 0uery additional information1 e.g. the speed of the aircraft.7 (ir Traffic Control !ase+and Radar etection Sensor !lind Spot etection !andwidth 6or !eamwidth7 Constant /alse (larm Rate Complementary Metal'-@ide Semiconductor Coherent :ocal -scillator igital !eam /orming irect Current 6 or iscrete Circuit7 igital Cassette Recording System Improved irection of (rrival epartment of efense ual Purpose igital Processing System igital Signal Processor igital Terrain Model evice Bnder Test 5rror Correcting Code 5lectronic Counter'Countermeasures 5ffective Isotropic Radiated power 5lectronic Intelligence 6electronic ac0uisition of radar parameters7 5uropean Multifunction Phased (rray Radar 5lectromagnetic Gulnera+ility 5lectronically Steera+le (rray 5lectronic Warfare Support Measures 5lectronic Sta+ility Program 5lectronic Warfare /ault Collection Bnit /ederal Communications Commission /orward Collision Warning /ast /ourier Transform /re0uency Modulated Continuous Wave

(TC !(R S !S !W C/(R CM-S C->!/ C CRSi -( o P PS SP TM BT 5CC 5CCM 5IRP 5:I*T 5MP(R 5MG 5S( 5SM 5SP 5W /CC /CC /CW //T /MCW

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Common Radar (++reviations

(++reviation /SI /T:=a(s =a* =C( >/ I/ :::PI :RR :RB MMIC MT MW *(/T( *RI5T -T> P( P(R P(R P / P5S( P* PR/ PRI PRT PSS R( (R R(M

Meaning /re0uency Shift Ieying /ast'Trac?ing :ocal -scillator =allium (rsenide =allium'*itride =round'Controlled (pproach >igh /re0uency 6, ' ," M><7 Intermediate /re0uency :ocal -scillator :ow -+serva+ility :ow Pro+a+ility of Intercept :ong Range Radar :ine'Replacea+le Bnit Microwave Monolithic Integrated Circuit Moving Target etection Megawatt *orth (merican mar?et *an9ing Research Institute of 5lectronic Technology -ver'The'>ori<on Power (mplifier Phased'(rray'Radar Precision (pproach Radar Pulse esensiti<ation /actor Passive 5lectronically Scanned (rray Pseudo'*oise Pulse Repetition Rate or /re0uency Pulse Repetition Interval Pulse Repetition Time Predictive Safety System Radio etection and Ranging Random (ccess Memory1 Radar (+sor+ing Material1 Rolling (irframe Missile1 or Relia+ility1 (vaila+ility and Maintaina+ility Resolution !andwidth Radar Cross'Section Range and irection /inding Ramp Slope Radar Warning Receiver Receive Surface'to'(ir Missile Synthetic (perture Radar Signal'to'*oise Ratio Serial Peripheral Interface Short Range Radar Solid'State Power'(mplifier Secondary Surveillance Radar Sta+le :ocal -scillator

R!W RCS R / RS RWR RC S(M S(R S*R SPI SRR SSP( SSR ST(:-

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Common Radar (++reviations

(++reviation ST(P SWT T/R T! TRM TWT TC B>/ B:( BW! GCG>/ GS(

Meaning Space'Time (daptive Processing Software'Timer Transmit/Receive Trac?'!efore' etect Transmitter'Receiver Module Traveling Wave Tu+e Transmit Bltra >igh /re0uency Bniform :inear (rray Bltra Wide+and Goltage Controlled -scillator Gery >igh /re0uency Gector Signal (naly<er

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3 :iterature
N&O N%O N,O N.O N2O N3O N)O N#O N4O N&"O N&&O N&%O N&,O N&.O N&2O N&3O N&)O N&#O N%"O Merrill I. S?olni?1&44"1 Radar >and+oo?1 Second 5dition Mc=raw'>ill Merrill I. S?olni?1&44"1 Radar >and+oo?1 Second 5dition Mc=raw'>ill1 Chapter ) httpA//www.radartutorial.eu/inde@.en.html httpA//www.radartutorial.eu/rrp.&&).html httpA//de.wi?ipedia.org/wi?i/Synthetic$(perture$Radar httpA//?eydel.pi@elplaat.de/uploads//ile/vorlesung")'"#/S(R.pdf httpA//www.h%g%.com/approved$entry/().,#") httpA//www.armedforces.co.u?/releases/ra0.,f.3,#,&e"+) httpA//www.pa.op.dlr.de/poldirad/!IST(TIC/inde@.html Silent SentryXPassive Surveillance httpA//defense'update.com/%"&&")%&$super'hornets'future'eo'radar radar'technology'loo?s'to'the'future.html httpA//www.radartutorial.eu/"3.antennas/an&).en.html httpA//dl.acm.org/citation.cfmYidS&%4.22& httpA//en.wi?ipedia.org/wi?i/!ar?er$code httpA//prod.sandia.gov/techli+/access'control.cgi/%""3/"32#23.pdf www.google.com/patents/BS3432,.&.pdf avid M. Po<ar1 Microwave 5ngineering1 Third 5dition1 Wiley httpA//Inverse Synthetic (perture Radar Imaging.pdf

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