Effective implementation of passive radar algorithms using general-purpose computing on graphics processing units

Abstract

The paper presents an effective implementation of passive radar algorithms which uses NVIDIA CUDA technology for parallel processing of DVB-T and FM signals. Algorithms were tested in the Passive Coherent Location system (passive radar) which utilizes commercial FM radio and DVB-T television transmitters as “illuminators of opportunity” to detect and track airborne targets. Radar taken into consideration was developed at the Warsaw University of Technology. High computing power is strongly needed in order to provide real-time radar data processing. The aim of this paper is to present a solution that provides sufficient performance to achieve real-time calculations.