Simultaneous Range/Velocity Detection with an Ultra-Wideband Random Noise Radar Through Fully Digital Cross-Correlation in the Time Domain

摘要

This research effort examines the theory, application, and results of applying two-dimensional cross-correlation in the time domain to ultra- wideband (UWB) random noise waveforms for simultaneous range and velocity estimation. When applying common Doppler processing techniques to random noise waveforms for the purpose of velocity estimation, the velocity resolution degrades as the signal bandwidth or the target speed increase. To mitigate the degradation, the Doppler approximation is not utilized, and instead, wideband signal processing theory is applied in the time domain. The results show that by accurately interpolating each sample in the digitized reference signal, a target's velocity and range can be extracted simultaneously. However, the drawback consists of the amount of time involved in processing the data. As technology continues to advance, it is believed that the Air Force Institute of Technology UWB Random Noise Radar (RNR) will be capable of simultaneously estimating a target's range and velocity near real-time through 2D non-coherent cross-correlation in the time domain.