ECE 4346

Selected Topic in Communication Engineering

Ir Dr. Ahmad Fadzil Ismail

Introduction to Radar Systems

Introduction
 Acknowledgement

Notes are adapted from MIT Open CourseWare

Developers of Materials
Dr. Eric D. Evans
Dr. Andrew D. Gerber
Dr. Robert M. ODonnell

Dr. Robert G. Atkins

Dr. Pamela R. Evans
Dr. Robert J. Galejs
Dr. Jeffrey S. Herd
Dr. Claude F. Noiseux
Dr. Philip K. W. Phu
Dr. Nicholas B. Pulsone
Dr. Katherine A. Rink
Dr. James Ward
Dr. Stephen D. Weiner
And many others
 Outline

Why radar?

The basics

Course agenda
 What Means are Available for
Lifting the Fog of War ?
D-Day + 1

The Invasion of Normandy

D-Day

Courtesy of National Archives.

 What Means are Available for
Lifting the Fog of War ?
Courtesy of US Marine Corp, History Division.

Iwo Jima
1945

Courtesy of National Archives. Courtesy of National Archives.

 Military Means of Sensing

Optical/IR Radar Acoustic Other

Ground surveillance/ Surveillance Sonar Chem/Bio
reconnaissance/ID Tracking Blast detection Radiological
Laser targeting Fire control Troop movement
Applications

Night vision Target ID/ detection

Space surveillance discrimination
Missile seekers Ground surveillance/
reconnaissance
Ground mapping
Moving target detection
Air traffic control
Missile seekers

Long range
Attributes

All-weather
Day/night
3-space target location
Reasonably robust against
countermeasures
 Early Days of Radar
Chain Home Radar, Deployment Began 1936
Chain Home Radar Coverage Sept 2006 Photograph of
circa 1940 Three Chain Home
(21 Early Warning Radar Sites) Transmit Towers, near
Dover

Dover
Radar Site

Courtesy of Robert Cromwell.

Used with permission.
 Chain Home Radar System

Typical Chain Home Radar Site

Radar Parameters
Frequency
20-30 MHz
Wavelength
10-15 m
Antenna
Dipole Array on
Transmit
Crossed Dipoles on
Receive
Azimuth Beamwidth
About 100o
Peak Power
350 kW
Detection Range
~160 nmi on
German Bomber
Chain Home Transmit & Receive Antennas

Two Transmitter Towers

/2 360'

/2 One Receiver Tower

240'
215'

95'

45'

0'
Main Gap Filler
Antenna Antenna

Transmit Antenna Receive Antenna

 Radar and The Battle of Britain
Chain Home Radar Coverage
circa 1940
(21 Early Warning Radar Sites)
The Chain Home Radar
British Force Multiplier
during the Battle of Britain
Timely warning of direction
and size of German aircraft
attacks allowed British to
Focus their limited numbers
of interceptor aircraft
Achieve numerical parity
with the attacking German
aircraft
Effect on the War
Germany was unable to
achieve Air Superiority
Invasion of Great Britain
was postponed indefinitely
 Surveillance and Fire Control Radars
Courtesy of Raytheon. Courtesy of Raytheon. Used with permission. Photo courtesy
Used with permission. of ITT
Corporation.
Used with
permission.

Courtesy of Raytheon.
Used with permission. Courtesy of Raytheon. Used with permission. Courtesy of US Navy.

Introduction-14
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
Courtesy of Global Security.
AG 6/18/02
Used with permission. Courtesy of Raytheon. Used with permission.
 Airborne and Air Traffic Control Radars
Courtesy of US Air Force. Courtesy of US Navy.

Courtesy of Northrop Grumman.

Used with permission.

Courtesy Lincoln Laboratory.

Courtesy of US Air Force.

Introduction-15
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
Courtesy of US Air Force.
AG 6/18/02
Courtesy of US Air Force.
Courtesy of Boeing Used with permission
 Instrumentation Radars

Introduction-16
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
AG 6/18/02
 Outline

Why radar?

The basics

Course agenda
 RADAR
RAdio Detection And Ranging

Antenna
Propagation

Target
Cross
Section
Reflected
Transmitted Pulse
Pulse (echo)

Radar observables:
Target range
Target angles (azimuth & elevation)
Target size (radar cross section)
Target speed (Doppler)
Target features (imaging)
 Electromagnetic Waves

Courtesy Berkeley National Laboratory

Radar Frequencies
 Properties of Waves
Relationship Between Frequency and Wavelength

Speed of light, c
1, 2, 3,
c = 3x108 m/sec
= 300,000,000 m/sec
Figure by
MIT OCW.

Speed of light (m/s)

Frequency (1/s) =
Wavelength (m)

Examples: Frequency Wavelength

100 MHz 3m
1 GHz 30 cm
3 GHz 10 cm
10 GHz 3 cm
 Properties of Waves
Phase and Amplitude
Amplitude (volts)

Phase, A sin( )

90 phase offset
Amplitude (volts)
A

Phase, A sin( 90 o )
 Properties of Waves
Constructive vs. Destructive Addition

Constructive Partially Constructive

(in phase) (somewhat out of phase)

Destructive Non-coherent signals

(180 out of phase) (noise)
 Polarization
y
Electromagnetic Wave Electric Field
Electromagnetic Wave Electric Field
Magnetic
Magnetic Field
Field

Vertical Polarization Horizontal Polarization

y y

x x E
z z
 Radar Frequency Bands

Wavelength 1 km 1m 1 mm 1 m 1 nm

Frequency 1 MHz 1 GHz 109 Hz 1012 Hz

IR UV
Visible

Ku
K
UHF L-Band S-Band C-Band X-Band Ka
VHF W

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Allocated Frequency (GHz)

30 20 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3
Wavelength (cm)
 IEEE Standard Radar Bands
(Typical Use)

HF 3 30 MHz

VHF 30 MHz300 MHz

Search
UHF 300 MHz1 GHz Radars

L-Band 1 GHz2 GHz

Search &
S-Band 2 GHz4 GHz
Track Radars
C-Band 4 GHz8 GHz
Fire Control &
X-Band 8 GHz12 GHz Imaging Radars
Ku-Band 12 GHz18 GHz

K-Band 18 GHz27 GHz Missile

Seekers
Ka-Band 27 GHz40 GHz

W-Band 40 GHz 100+ GHz

 Radar Block Diagram

Waveform
Transmitter
Propagation Generator
Medium

Signal Processor
Target
Cross
Section Pulse Doppler
Antenna Receiver A/D
Compression Processing

Main Computer
Console /
Tracking & Display
Detection Parameter
Estimation
Recording
 Radar Range Equation

Antenna Aperture A
Transmitted Pulse
Transmit Power PT
Target Cross Section

Received Pulse
Figure by MIT OCW. R

Transmit Transmit Spread Target Spread Receive Dwell

Losses
Power Gain Factor RCS Factor Aperture Time
Received Signal
4A 1 1 1
Energy = PT A
2 4R2 L 4R2
 Signal-to-Noise Ratio

Received Signal

Noise

Received Signal Energy

SNR =
Noise Energy
 What the #@!*% is a dB?

The relative value of two things, measured on a

logarithmic scale, is often expressed in deciBels (dB)

Example:
Signal Power
Signal-to-noise ratio (dB) = 10 log 10
Noise Power

Scientific
Factor of: Notation dB
10 101 10 0 dB = factor of 1
100 102 20 -10 dB = factor of 1/10
1000 103 30 -20 dB = factor of 1/100
.
. 3 dB = factor of 2
.
1,000,000 106 60 -3 dB = factor of 1/2
 Pulsed Radar
Terminology and Concepts
Pulse length
Peak power
Power

Target
Return

Pulse repetition interval

(PRI) Time

Pulse length
Duty cycle =
Pulse repetition interval

Average power = Peak power * Duty cycle

Pulse repetition frequency (PRF) = 1/(PRI)

Continuous wave (CW) radar: Duty cycle = 100% (always on)

 Pulsed Radar
Terminology and Concepts
Pulse length 100 sec
Peak power

1 MW
Power

Target
Return 1 W

Pulse repetition interval

(PRI) 1 msec Time

Pulse length
Duty cycle = 10%
Pulse repetition interval

Average power = Peak power * Duty cycle 100 kW

Pulse repetition frequency (PRF) = 1/(PRI) 1 kHz

Continuous wave (CW) radar: Duty cycle = 100% (always on)

 Brief Mathematical Digression
Scientific Notation and Greek Prefixes

Scientific Standard Greek Radar

Notation Notation Prefix Examples

109 1,000,000,000 Giga GHz

106 1,000,000 Mega MHz, MW
103 1,000 kilo km
101 10 - -
100 1 - -
10-3 0.001 milli msec
10-6 0.000,001 micro sec

MHz = Megahertz
MW = Megawatt
 Radar Waveforms

What do radars transmit?

Waves?

Waves, modulated
by on-off action of
or Pulses? pulse envelope
 Radar Waveforms (contd.)

Pulse at single frequency

Frequency
Time

Pulse with changing frequency

Frequency Linear
Frequency-
Modulated
(LFM)
Waveform

Time
 Radar Range Measurement

e
ang
R
Target

d
i tte
r ansm se
T Pul

ected
fl
Re ulse
P
c
Target range =
2
where c = speed of light
= round trip time
Courtesy of Raytheon. Used with permission.
 Antenna Gain

Isotropic antenna Directional antenna

G = antenna gain

.
 Propagation Effects on Radar Performance

Atmospheric attenuation

Reflection off of earths surface

Over-the-horizon diffraction

Atmospheric refraction

Radar
Radarbeams
beamscan
canbe
beattenuated,
attenuated,reflected
reflectedand
and
bent
bentby
bythe
theenvironment
environment
 Radar Cross Section (RCS)

RCS

Incident x = Reflected
Power Density Power
(Watts/m2) (m2) (Watts)

Radar Cross Section (RCS, or s) is the effective cross-

sectional area of the target as seen by the radar

measured in m2, or dBm2

 Signal Processing
Pulse Compression
Problem: Pulse can be very long; does not allow accurate range measurement

1 msec x c = 150 km
2

?
Figure by
MIT OCW.

Solution: Use pulse with changing frequency and signal process using matched filter

Matched
Filter
Uncompressed pulse Compressed pulse
 Bandwidth

Narrowband Low
Waveform c
Frequency

Compressed R = Range
Pulse 2B Resolution

Bandwidth
Time Range

Wideband
Waveform High
Compressed Range
Frequency

Resolution
Bandwidth

Pulse

Time Range
.

Why Bandwidth is Important

Wideband Target Profile

Bandwidth

Very High
(X 30)
Power

High
(X 10)

Medium
(X 3)

Low

Relative Range (m)

 Detection of Signals in Noise

Detected Target

False
Alarm Detection
Threshold
Power

Missed
Target

RMS
Noise
Level

Range
 Coherent Integration

Signal buried
Pulse 1
in Noise
(SNR < 0 dB)
Voltage

+ Pulse 2

0
+ Pulse 3
Signal integrated
.. out of Noise
. (SNR increases by N)

+ Pulse N

Power
|x|2
Signals are same each time;
add coherently (N2)
Noise is different each time;
0
doesnt add coherently (N)
 Doppler Effect

Observer A Observer B

Observer A Hears Observer B Hears

Driver Hears
Figure by MIT OCW.
Doppler Shift Concept
c
f ==
f
c v

c
f = f (2v/)
Doppler
shift

 Why Doppler is Important

Surface Radar Airborne Radar

Clutter returns are much larger than Note: if youre moving too, you need
target returns to take that into account.
however, targets move, clutter
doesnt.

Doppler
Doppler lets
lets you
you separate
separate things
things that
that are
are moving
moving from
from things
things that
that arent
arent
 Clutter Doppler Spectra

70
Land
60
Sea
50 Rain
Relative Power (dB)

Chaff
40 Birds
30

20

10
Target
0

-10

-20
0 50 100 150 200
Velocity (m/s)
 Radar Block Diagram

Waveform
Transmitter
Propagation Generator
Medium

Signal Processor
Target
Cross
Section Pulse Doppler
Antenna Receiver A/D
Compression Processing

Main Computer
Console /
Tracking & Display
Detection Parameter
Estimation
Recording
 Outline

Why radar?

The basics

Course agenda
 Introduction to Radar Systems
Outline

Introduction

Radar Equation

Propagation Effects

Target Radar Cross Section

Detection of Signals in Noise & Pulse Compression

Radar Antennas

Radar Clutter and Chaff

Signal Processing-MTI and Pulse Doppler

Tracking and Parameter Estimation

Transmitters and Receivers

 References

Skolnik, M., Introduction to Radar Systems, New York,

McGraw-Hill, 3rd Edition, 2001
Nathanson, F. E., Radar Design Principles, New York,
McGraw-Hill, 2nd Edition, 1991
Toomay, J. C., Radar Principles for the Non-Specialist, New
York, Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1989
Buderi R., The Invention That Changed the World, New
York, Simon and Schuster, 1996