A Priority-Based Scheduling Scheme for Search, Track, and Communications in MPARs

The modern battlefield scenario is strongly influenced by the innovative capabilities of multifunction phased array radars (MPARs), which can perform a plethora of sensing and communication (COM) activities sequentially or in parallel. In fact, the MPAR can functionally cluster its phased array into bespoke subapertures implementing different tasks. Accordingly, a portion of the other available resources, e.g., bandwidth, power-aperture product (PAP), and time, is also assigned to each subaperture, and the grand challenge is the definition of strategies for optimal scheduling of the tasks to be executed. In this respect, a rule-based algorithm for task scheduling is proposed in this article. In a nutshell, in each time window, the procedure first allocates the radar tasks (viz., volume search, cued search, update, and confirmation tracking) and then utilizes the COM looks to fill the empty intraslot time left by the radar tasks. When there are two concurrent looks, the allocation is performed according to their priorities. Moreover, if the bandwidth and PAP are sufficient, some of them can be also scheduled in parallel. Interesting results in terms of bandwidth and time occupancy efficiency are observed from simulations conducted in challenging scenarios comprising also multiple maneuvering targets.