Prerequisites & Notation

Prerequisites for This Chapter

This chapter develops radar signal processing from the radar equation through matched filtering, range-Doppler processing, detection theory, and spatial filtering. It assumes familiarity with the following topics.

  • Electromagnetic scattering and far-field approximation(Review ch06)

    Self-check: Can you write down the scattered field for a point target in the far field of a transmit/receive array?

  • The sensing operator and its Kronecker structure(Review ch07)

    Self-check: Can you explain why A=AfreqARxATx\mathbf{A} = \mathbf{A}_{\text{freq}} \otimes \mathbf{A}_{\text{Rx}} \otimes \mathbf{A}_{\text{Tx}}?

  • Fourier transforms and power spectral density(Review ch04)

    Self-check: Can you compute the Fourier transform of a rectangular pulse and state Parseval's theorem?

  • Antenna arrays and beamforming fundamentals(Review ch07)

    Self-check: Can you write the steering vector a(θ)\mathbf{a}(\theta) for a ULA and explain how beamforming suppresses interference?

  • Neyman-Pearson detection and the likelihood ratio test(Review ch01)

    Self-check: Can you state the Neyman-Pearson lemma and derive the threshold for a given false alarm probability?

Notation for This Chapter

Symbols introduced or heavily used in this chapter. See also the NGlobal Notation Table master table.

SymbolMeaningIntroduced
PtP_tTransmit powers01
Gtx,GrxG^{\text{tx}}, G^{\text{rx}}Transmit and receive antenna gainss01
σ\sigmaRadar cross-section (RCS) in m2^2s01
RRRange (distance to target) in meterss01
fd=2v/λf_d = 2v/\lambdaDoppler frequency shifts02
s(t)s(t)Transmitted waveform (complex baseband)s02
χA(τ,ν)\chi_A(\tau, \nu)Ambiguity function of waveform s(t)s(t)s02
hMF(t)=s(t)h_{\text{MF}}(t) = s^*(-t)Matched filter impulse responses03
WWSignal bandwidths03
Pfa,PdP_{\text{fa}}, P_dProbability of false alarm and detections05
a(θ)\mathbf{a}(\theta)Array steering vector at angle θ\thetas06
Rcn\mathbf{R}_{cn}Clutter-plus-noise covariance matrixs06