Equivalences between Mimo and Physical/Synthetic Radar Arrays and its Implications in the Selection of Imaging Algorithms

A first analysis of the equivalences between Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) and physical/synthetic radar arrays is presented. The establishment of these equivalences is addressed to make use of efficient radar imaging algorithms, which were originally conceived for SAR systems, with MIMO arrays. The main advantage of MIMO arrays is that, with a reduced cost and complexity of the antenna feeding network, they offer imaging capabilities very close to those of SAR and physical radar arrays. This makes MIMO radar a very interesting option in real-time imaging applications (e.g., surveillance of small areas). The paper will present some numerical simulations using some reference scenarios where the imaging capabilities of MIMO arrays will be assessed. A comparative analysis with the well-known SAR and uniformly spaced radar arrays will be presented. Here the study is made with one-dimensional radar apertures, and subsequently will be extended to two-dimensional radar apertures. The analysis of the performance of the MIMO arrays is based on a Matlab simulation tool that is used to optimize the array topology and also to form the radar images of a synthetic scenario. The optimization technique is based on a genetic algorithm, using a fitness function measuring the degree of uniformness and uniqueness of the loci of the phase centers of the tx/rx pairs of the MIMO array. Results show that the found topologies show a performance close to uniformly spaced physical radar arrays.

FORTUNY GUASCH Joaquim;  MARTINEZ-VAZQUEZ Alberto;  MENDEZ DOMINGUEZ Elias; 

2009-01-26

Antenna Measurement Techniques Association

JRC47649

www.amta2008.com,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC47649,