Optimization of “over-coded” radar waveforms

Abstract

Polyphase-Coded FM (PCFM) radar waveforms generated using the power and spectrally efficient continuous phase modulation (CPM) framework can be further enhanced through the use of finer time control by subdividing each phase transition into sub-transitions and by allowing a greater phase excursion per transition interval, herein referred to as over-phasing. These two strategies are denoted collectively as “over-coding”. It is shown that various combinations of sub-transitions and over-phasing can greatly improve waveform design capabilities by expanding the available degrees-of-freedom. It is also demonstrated that the commensurate increase in computational complexity for optimization under the over-coding paradigm can largely be offset through GPGPU processing.