Joint resource allocation and robust weighting in element-pulse coding MIMO radar for tracking multiple targets under deceptive jamming

Abstract

Given the practical challenges of implementing distributed multi-input multi-output (MIMO) radar systems, achieving enhanced tracking performance under constrained resources is essential for centralized MIMO radar in complex deceptive jamming environments. This paper proposes a resource-aware closed-loop signal processing framework for centralized element-pulse coding MIMO (EPC-MIMO) radar to enhance multi-target tracking (MTT) performance. Specifically, by leveraging a priori MTT information, signal preprocessing, and transmit-receive spatial frequency, true and false targets are effectively distinguished, and data-independent weight is employed to suppress deceptive jamming. To achieve robust deceptive jamming suppression and optimal MTT, a joint resource allocation and robust weighting (JRARW) strategy is developed for beam selection, power allocation, and robust weight optimization. Utilizing the posterior Cramér-Rao lower bound (PCRLB) as a quantitative metric for tracking accuracy, the PCRLB for EPC-MIMO radar is derived and adopted as the objective function. Given the non-convexity of the JRARW, a three-stage cycle-based solution is proposed to address it. Simulation results demonstrate that the JRARW has outstanding capabilities in robust deceptive jamming suppression and MTT.