Design and integration of a low cost, size, weight, and power vertical-pointing synthetic aperture radar
Abstract
In modern radar applications, cost, size, weight, and power (C-SWaP) are increasingly
becoming critical factors in the design process. For use cases specifically
in airborne radio frequency (RF) imaging, there is a key opportunity for improvement
in C-SWaP. Typical synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems consist of
aircraft-mounted electronics utilizing an inertial measurement unit (IMU) to provide
accurate and precise location information in order to form the synthetic aperture
as the aircraft is in flight. Most current SAR applications do not have strict
requirements for SWaP since an airframe is capable of handling a sizable amount
of weight. With the increased proliferation of smaller airborne vehicles and drones,
there is a demand for low C-SWaP radar systems capable of imaging.
In this work, the design and operation of a radar system is discussed. First, basic
system requirements including a basic link-budget analysis, and system architecture
with low C-SWaP are explored. The analog hardware is then discussed and a RF
chain analysis is conducted. The capabilities of the backend module used to capture
the data and the IMU used to obtain positional information are then briefly
discussed. A basic analysis of the signal processing for SAR is conducted. Finally,
results of airborne SAR imaging conducted utilizing the radar system described
above are discussed. The system is used in a vertical-SAR (VSAR) configuration
as a radar-altimeter to produce an elevation profile of the ground covered by the
aircraft.
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- OU - Theses [2121]