Performance bounds for interference mitigation in radar systems

Abstract

This paper addresses the problem of interference suppression in airborne radar systems. Both hot clutter (terrain-scattered interference) that is induced by interfering sources (jammers, etc.) and cold clutter that results from radar transmitter reverberations are considered. A new method is presented for the calculation of the space-time covariance matrix that will be observed under specific topographical conditions. The method incorporates site-specific phenomenological data as well as system effects such as array geometry, receiver filtering, and system bandwidth. This approach differs significantly from the usual approach in which sampled-data analysis is used to estimate the covariance matrix. The new approach allows direct calculation of the degree to which the interference can be mitigated for a specific heterogeneous terrain environment. From these results, one can infer performance bounds which are tighter and thus more meaningful than the thermal noise floor limit.