Measurement of fast-flying targets in near-zone

Abstract

This thesis deals with the problem of detection, identification and tracking of fast flying objects close to radar sensors, which reflects a current set-up in radar based active defense systems (ADS). Furthermore, a comprehensive noise analysis of CW radar is presented. Various configurations of CW radar are proposed and evaluated – from multiple installations of identical CW radar sensors to a set of receivers sharing the same HW component (e.g. local oscillator or the whole transmitter) – with the aim of finding the best and simplest possible configuration to fulfill the demanding requirements of ADS. Since the radar sensors are very complicated systems, the best solution cannot be identified without considering individual requirements on the system and available technology (i.e. frequency range, modulation, etc.). Therefore the thesis only concludes the principal properties of the proposed configurations. Another topic investigates available methods for in-field radar sensor testing and calibration. With regard to various methods and their limitations, the selected solution uses an antenna with an electronically controlled phase shifter and short-end stub. The last part is dedicated to the comprehensive noise analysis of a homodyne CW radar system with quadrature demodulation, which includes the amplitude and phase noise of local oscillator, noise of linear and quasi-linear RF components and noise of low frequency circuits. Even though the analysis has been developed on homodyne CW radar, the results are applicable to a much wider range of CW radar sensors. The follow-up research into this topic may be focused on behavior of SDR-based radar systems.