Radar tomography via time-division MIMO noise radar

Abstract

MIMO approach to implementation of radar tomography is described and preliminary results of its experimental validation using Ka-band noise waveform ground based SAR are presented. MIMO concept with time-division to of Tx/Rx channels is applied to emulate 2D aperture synthesis combined with range resolution due to wideband random signals. Two linear synthetic apertures have been used for transmit and receive antennas oriented in vertical and horizontal directions, respectively. Range resolution in radar tomography is determined by power spectrum width of the transmitted signal, while its cross-range resolution is defined by 2D aperture dimensions. This enabled generation of 3D coherent radar images in radar tomography mode.