The Theory and Method of Pulse Coding for Radar and Its Applications

Abstract

This paper presents a radar working mode based on multi-pulse combination and coding, and the basic concept and theoretical model of pulse-coded radar are established. Using multi-pulse combination and the modulation of the time, frequency, and phase parameters, the pulse signal is coded in time domain, frequency domain, or time-frequency domain. Based on multi-pulse combination and coding, a new working method and theoretical basis are provided to solve the problem of coupling constraints among parameters of traditional pulse and continuous wave radars, which limits the performance of the radar system. Based on the fabricated Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and its tests, the pulse coding, target signal recovery method, and pulse coding performance were studied. The study and test results show that the sampling rate of radar signals could be reduced to break through the limitation of Nyquist sampling theorem and simplify the difficulty of system implementation using frequency division pulse coding method. A 5 GHz bandwidth signal was sampled with 4.8 GHz and was recovered without distortion in the radar system, and an SAR imaging resolution of 0.03×0.03 m was realized. By using the time domain pulse coding method with an increase of duty cycle, the signal-to-noise ratio was improved by over 20 dB. By using the two-dimensional pulse coding method, the SAR signal ambiguity was removed, and the imaging swath of over 90 km was realized. The theoretical and test results verify the significant advantages of the pulse coding method in improving radar performance, by which a new technical approach for the realization of high performance radar system is provided.