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The PARSAX - full polarimetric FMCW radar with dual-orthogonal signals

Conference Paper · December 2008

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 S06 - P08 - 1

The PARSAX – New Full Polarimetric FMCW Radar

with Dual-Orthogonal Signals
Oleg A. Krasnov#1, Leo P. Ligthart#2, Galina P. Babur#3, Fred van der Zwan#4
#
International Research Centre for Telecommunications and Radar (IRCTR),
Delft University of Technology, Mekelweg 4, 2628 CD, Delft, The Netherlands
1
[email protected], [email protected],
3
[email protected], [email protected]

ABSTRACT system, which defined by unit vectors triplet

G G G G
The article describes the IRCTR PARSAX radar sys- ( k , eH , eV ) with unit vector k oriented in propagation
tem – S-band fully polarimetric high resolution Doppler G G
direction, unit vectors eH and eV placed in horizontal
FMCW radar with dual-orthogonal sounding signals,
which has the possibility to measure all elements of and vertical planes, respectively, are mostly in use. As
the radar targets polarization scattering matrix simul- result, the electric field vector can be expressed as
G G G
taneously, in one sweep. decomposition E (t ) = E H (t ) ⋅ eH + EV (t ) ⋅ eV or, in
more convenient for analysis matrix form
1. INTRODUCTION
The long history of the radar polarimetry shows that G E (t )
the knowledge of the radar target polarization scatter- E (t ) = H (1)
EV (t )
ing matrix gives an additional information for the im-
provement of target detection, identification and pa- where complexity of components means that they
rameters estimation and retrieval algorithms. The ap- keep information not only about amplitude, but also
plication of these algorithms to the real radar scenes about their phases.
and targets, which usually can be characterized as to
be dynamic, temporally unstable and spatially- The resulting transformation of the radar signal’s vec-
distributed themselves (atmospheric objects) or sur- tor structure in the radar channel, which includes po-
rounded by such objects (targets on the land and sea larization characteristics of the transmitter and receiver
surface), has serious limitations that follow from non- antennas, propagation media and radar target, can be
simultaneity of the polarization scattering matrix ele- written as linear operator:
ments measurements. In most of the existent radars G G
with polarimetric capabilities, the pulse-to-pulse based ER (t − τ ) = Sˆ (t ,τ ) ⋅ ET (t ) (2)
switching of the transmitted and/or received polariza-
tion is used to decouple the elements of the scattering or, in matrix form,
matrix. This introduces temporal, frequency and phase
unambiguities in the polarimetric results. E HR (t − τ ) S (t ,τ ) SVH (t ,τ ) E (t )
= HH ⋅ HT , (3)
There is known solution of the polarimetric radar de-
EVR (t − τ ) SHV (t ,τ ) SVV (t ,τ ) EVT (t )
sign, which still has not been widely used by radar
developers – to use the signals with dual orthogonality where E xT (t ) and E xR (t ) represent the electric field
[1], [2], [3]. The orthogonally-polarized components of components of the transmitted and received wave-
such signals are waveforms that are orthogonal in forms, respectively.
terms of their inner product. Such type of sounding
signals provides the unique possibility to split all ele- The full polarization scattering matrix of the radar
ments of scattering matrix and to measure all of them channel Ŝ can be decomposed as sequential multipli-
simultaneously during one pulse or single sweep time. cation of the scattering matrixes of all radar channels’
components:
The structure of the paper is the following. The Section
2 gives an overview of the polarimetric radar with dual- Sˆ (t ,τ ) = Rˆ ⋅ Pˆ− (t ,τ ) ⋅ Sˆ0 (t ,τ ) ⋅ Pˆ+ (t ,τ ) ⋅ Tˆ (4)
orthogonal sounding signals concept. In Section 3, the
brief description of the PARSAX radar, which imple-
ments the presented concept and is currently under where Tˆ - polarization diagram of transmitter an-
development in IRCTR, is given. The Section 4 shortly tenna; R̂ - polarization diagram of receiver antenna;
presents the radar performance analysis in terms of Sˆ0 (t ,τ ) - true polarization scattering matrix of the ra-
the level for co- and cross-channels interferences. And
the Section 5 includes conclusions. dar target, which is a function of time t and range-
dependent time delay τ ; Pˆ (t ,τ ) and Pˆ (t ,τ ) are the
+ −
2. POLARIMETRIC AGILE RADAR CONCEPT forward and backward propagation matrices, which
The vector nature of electromagnetic fields requires to describe the amplitudes, phases and polarization
analyze processes of transmitting, scattering and re- changes of the electromagnetic waves during the
ceiving of the radar signals in some predefined coordi- propagation. In case of the propagation media with
nate system. In the standard for radar applications polarization isotropy Pˆ+ / − (t ,τ ) = a+ / − (t ,τ ) ⋅ Iˆ , where Iˆ
cases of the plane waves, the Cartesian coordinate

© Proceedings of the 8th International Symposium on Tropospheric Profiling, ISBN 978-90-6960-233-2

Delft, The Netherlands, October 2009. Editors, A. Apituley, H.W.J. Russchenberg, W.A.A. Monna
 S06 - P08 - 2

is the unity matrix, the complex scalar functions To generalise the described approaches to measure
a+ / − (t ,τ ) describe the attenuation and phase the full polarization scattering matrix of radar target
and to analyze another possibility to solve this task, a
changes of propagating signals.
concept of polarimetric radar sounding signal with dual
As follows from the Eq. 3, in general case, the re- orthogonality - in polarimetric and in time-frequency
ceived radar signals are the combination of the polari- spaces - has been proposed in [1], [2], and [3]. It re-
zation matrix and transmitted vector components quires that the complex envelop of the polarization
components E HT (t ) and EVT (t ) of the transmitted
E HR (t ) S (t ) ⋅ E HT (t ) + SVH (t ) ⋅ EVT (t )
= HH (5) signal must satisfy the following condition

EVR (t ) SHV (t ) ⋅ E HT (t ) + SVV (t ) ⋅ EVT (t )
U = ∫ E HT (t ) ⋅ E VT
*
(t ) ⋅ dt ≡ 0 (10)
If the signals in the polarization-orthogonal transmitter
channels are the same ( E HT (t ) = EVT (t ) = ET (t ) ), i. e. the inner product of the orthogonally polarized
then components of the radar sounding signals has to
equal zero. The spatially-distributed nature of the mov-
E HR (t ) S (t ) + SVH (t )  ing radar targets requires even more strict condition
= HH ⋅ ET (t ) (6) for successful scattering matrix elements extraction:
EVR (t ) SHV (t ) + SVV (t )
U (τ , ωd ) = ∫ E iT (t ) ⋅ E *jR (t − τ , ωd ) ⋅ dt ≅ 0 , (11)
and there is no possibility to separate co- and cross-
polar matrix elements. where i, j = H , V ; i ≠ j , τ is the signal time delay,
In most of the existent radar polarimeters this problem which is proportional to the target’s range, ωd - Dop-
is solved by the separation of transmit signals with
pler frequency shift, and the asterisk shows a complex
orthogonal polarization in time. During the first pulse or
conjugation.
sweep time only H-polarized component is transmitted
and, as result, the received signal is equal to: The proposed concept of the dual-orthogonal po-
larimetric signals gives the possibility to extend analy-
E HR (t1 − τ ) S (t ,τ )  sis from the cases of orthogonal in time signals (7) -
= HH 1 ⋅ ET (t1 ) (7)
EVR (t1 − τ ) SHV (t1 ,τ ) (8) and orthogonal in frequency signals (9), to more
general case of signals with waveform orthogonality.
The second transmitted pulse has only V-polarization: The most widely known examples of such signals are
• The pair of chirp signals (linearly frequency modu-
E HR (t2 − τ ) S (t ,τ )  lated, LFM) with positive and negative frequency
= VH 2 ⋅ ET (t2 ) (8)

EVR (t2 − τ ) SVV (t2 ,τ ) slope.

For the radar polarimeter with such sequential algo- • The pair of signals with phase modulation by or-
rithm of the measurement, a special care has to be thogonal codes (PCM)
taken about the phase difference between columns of The application of such sophisticated signals for the
scattering matrix, which are measured independently radar targets polarization scattering matrix measure-
and in different moments of time. This non- ments will remove most difficulties from the results
simultaneity in measurements provides severe errors interpretation, providing all elements of polarization
in case of dynamic targets and requires some type of matrix that are simultaneously measured at the same
correction/compensation. frequency band. The price for such enhancement of
Another approach for the radar target scattering matrix the measurements quality has to be paid by the chal-
measurements consists in the use of the frequency lenging complication of the radar technology. The re-
difference between orthogonally-polarized sounding cent studies, which have been done by IRCTR in the
signals framework of the PARSAX project, show the possibility
for described concept implementation using state-of-
E HR (t ) S (t ) SVH (t ) E (t , ω 1 ) art analog and digital components and techniques.
= HH ⋅  HT =
EVR (t ) SHV (t ) SVV (t ) EVT (t , ω 2 )
(9) 3. THE PARSAX RADAR DESIGN
S (t , ω 1 ) ⋅ E HT (t , ω 1 ) + SVH (t , ω 2 ) ⋅ EVT (t , ω 2 ) The PARSAX radar currently being developed by
= HH
S HV (t , ω 1 ) ⋅ E HT (t , ω 1 ) + SVV (t , ω 2 ) ⋅ EVT (t , ω 2 ) IRCTR is a full-polarimetric S-band radar, which uses
dual-orthogonal digitally generated sounding signals,
The frequency filtration in the receiver channels in this high-dynamic range reception of scattered signals and
case gives the possibility to separate elements of po- their advanced digital processing on intermediate fre-
larization matrix and to extract simultaneous polarimet- quency for simultaneous measurements of all ele-
ric information. But there is still a difference between ments of the polarization scattering matrix during one
columns of scattering matrix, which are estimated at sounding sweep. The early analog-to-digital conver-
different frequencies. This effect can be critical for sion provides wider dynamic range, linearity, and pos-
some applications and types of targets, especially the sibility to implement complicated algorithms for the
estimation and interpretation of the phase difference signal and data processing, which are more sensitive
between columns of scattering matrix since those and at the same time more stable against the influ-
phases are defined at different frequency bands. ence of noise, ground clutter and external interfer-
ences.
 S06 - P08 - 3

TABLE I
Main Characteristics of the PARSAX Radar

Central frequency: 3.315 GHz

S band Modulation bandwidth: 2 - 50 MHz
Resolution: 75 - 3 m
Sweep time: 1 ms

Antennas Two parabolic reflectors

Isolation receiver-transmitter: 100 dB

Receiver Diameter: 2.12 m

Antenna Beam width: 4.6°
Gain: 32.75 dB

Transmitter Diameter: 4.28 m

Antenna Beam width: 1.8°
Gain: 40.0 dB
Figure 1. Block-diagram of the PARSAX full po-
larimetric CW radar with dual-orthogonal sounding Solid state power amplifiers
signals Transmitter 100 Watt max per channel
- 80 dB attenuators (8 bits control
bus)
The Fig. 1 and Table I present a simplified block-
diagram and the main characteristics of the radar. Dynamic range: better 70 dB (SFDR)
1 stage down conversion
The design of the radar’s receiver and transmitter has ADC at Intermediate Frequency (125
been done using Agilent Advanced Design System Receiver
MHz, sampling 400 MHz, 14 bits)
(ADS) simulation software. The simulation and analy- FPGA-based 4 channels digital proc-
sis of the full radar model gives the possibility to opti- essor
mize the transmitter and the receiver chains from dif-
ferent aspects, to formulate requirements for every Digital vector waveform generator
block and to make a clever choice of such blocks from Waveforms (sampling up to 1.2 GHz, 14 bits)
the product variety on the component’s market. The Linear frequency modulation
radar system RF components have been tested and PCM with orthogonal codes
the measured parameters have been used in a second
stage of the simulation to control and validate selected control circuit, which prevents the increasing of the
technical solutions. input power above some specified level. The proposed
solution suggest that such circuit does not control the
The presence of two independent orthogonal wave- gain of the receivers RF/IF amplifiers, but changes
forms in every channel of the radar’s receiver, which is sweep-by-sweep output power of the radar’s transmit-
distinctive for such type of radar polarimeters, has ter in a way that the sweep-period averaged input
required the proper choice of parameters, which have power of the receivers will be in the optimal range.
to be used for the system performance characteriza-
tion and optimization during design process. For ex- High performances of the radar’s analog RF part pro-
ample, the spur-free dynamic range (SFDR) parame- vide good matching with the parameters of the digital
ter has been selected to characterize the system’s waveforms generator and with the digital receiver.
dynamic range, since it is sensitive to the interfering These blocks implemented on the base of state-of-art
tones that produce in-band spurious products. PC boards, which include the latest versions of Analog
Device 14-bit ADC’s with sampling frequency up to
More details about the radar design approach and 400 MHz and Xilinx FPGA’s for the digital signal proc-
results can be found at [4], [5]. essing implementation. This hardware provides nec-
The CW PARSAX radar operates in situation when the essary characteristics and flexibility for the implemen-
radar receiver is working under the influence of the tation of different types of orthogonal waveforms and
continuous signal with the total power equal to the their processing algorithms.
sum of all reflections in the illuminated volume. The
strong reflections can be produced by the closest ob- 4. SYSTEM PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS
jects through the antennas main beam or sidelobes The performance analysis of the radar system with
and, as result, might saturate the radar’s receiver. The dual-orthogonal signals in case of point targets can be
simulation of the proposed architecture for the done using two parameters – peak sidelobe level
PARSAX radar design using the ADS software shows (PSL) and isolation (I) [2]. They are defined as
that the best performances of the receiver, related to
the maximum dynamic range and signal-to-noise ratio, ⎡ R (0) ⎤
can be achieved at some level of the input signal’s PSLi  min ⎢ 20 ⋅ log10 ii ⎥ (12)
τ ∉Ωi
⎢⎣ Rii (τ ) ⎥⎦
power. The further increasing of the input power pro-
duces the degradation of the radar system perform-
ances. The typical behavior of the PARSAX receiver’s ⎡ R (0) ⎤
I i  min ⎢ 20 ⋅ log10 ii ⎥, i, j = 1, 2 (13)
SFDR as a function of the input power is presented in ∀τ
⎢⎣ Rij (τ ) ⎥⎦
Figure 2. These arguments show the necessity to in-
clude in the PARSAX radar design the automatic gain
 S06 - P08 - 4

Figure 2. The PARSAX radar receivers Spur-Free Figure 3. Performance parameters of the FMCW
Dynamic Range as function of the input signals power polarimetric radar with dual-orthogonal LFM signals
(ADS simulation).
that it simultaneously transmits two orthogonally polar-
where Rii (τ ) and Rij (τ ) are the autocorrelation and ized waveforms with complex envelops, which are
orthogonal in terms of their inner product. This prop-
cross-correlation functions of the transmitted signals
erty gives the possibility to measure all complex ele-
complex envelopes, the index i denotes the wave- ments of the radar targets polarization scattering ma-
form that is considered between those simultaneously trix simultaneously at the same frequency band within
transmitted, Ωi is the interval of τ values corre- one sweep time. Another important property of pre-
sponding to the mainlobe of Rii (τ ) . The PSL is a sented design is the digital generation of the vector
waveforms for the sounding signals and the digital IF
measure of protection from the maximum residual «co- receiver. Such approach provides real flexibility in
channel» interference due to interfering target and the terms of using different types of orthogonal waveforms
isolation I is a measure of protection from the maxi- and their processing algorithms. The operational use
mum residual «cross-channel» return due to the same of the radar is expected in the course of the year 2009.
target or to an interfering target.
Acknowledgment. At the International Research Cen-
The results of these parameters calculations as func- tre for Telecommunications and Radar (IRCTR), Delft
tions of the parameter α for the Hamming weighting University of Technology a major research project is
function underway for feasibility study, design and develop-
ment of full polarimetric FMCW radar with dual-
⎛ 2π t ⎞
w(t ) = α + (1 − α ) cos ⎜ ⎟, t ≤T 2 (14) orthogonal signals for simultaneous measurement of
⎝ T ⎠ all elements of radar target’s polarization scattering
matrix. This project is performed under a contract with
are shown in Figure 3 for the different values of the Dutch Technology Foundation STW.
sounding signals compression ratio, which is defined
as a product B = T ⋅ Δf of the signal duration T and REFERENCES
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sion ratio (between 2000 and 50000) the cross-
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5. CONCLUSIONS
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