2021 IEEE International Conference on Electronic Technology, Communication and Information (ICETCI)

Research on Radar Development and Application

and Signal Processing Technology
Changan Zhu, Wenhua Hu*, Hanshen Zhu, Liming Li
Shijiazhuang Campus of AEU
Army University of Engineering
2021 IEEE International Conference on Electronic Technology, Communication and Information (ICETCI) | 978-1-6654-3251-1/21/$31.00 ©2021 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/ICETCI53161.2021.9563524

Shijiazhuang, China
[email protected]

Abstract—This With the development of science and After World War II, new technologies, such as single-
technology, the impact of the ionosphere on satellite navigation, pulse Angle tracking, pulse Doppler signal processing,
radio communication, broadcasting, space exploration and synthetic aperture and pulse compression, as well as friend-
other human activities is more and more significant, the foe identification, automatic fire control, phased array,
application of radar to the ionosphere detection technology is frequency agility, and multi-target detection and tracking,
also more and more important. In this paper, the main were developed. In recent years, because of the increasing
development course of radar is introduced briefly, the threat of low altitude and ultra-low altitude attack, in order to
composition and working principle of radar are expounded,
find such targets as early as possible and take corresponding
and the digital signal processing of radar is analyzed and
countermeasures, an airborne early warning radar is used to
studied emphatically.
complete the functions of ground search, guidance and
Keywords—Radar equipment, Working principle, Signal command radar. Due to the limitation of the low altitude
processing technology, digital signal processing blind area, the ground radar has a very close detection range
for the low altitude flying target, while the early warning
radar installed on the aircraft can go up high and look far,
I. INTRODUCTION TO RADAR DEVELOPMENT and can find the target in time. With the scientific progress of
Radio Detection and Ranging The use of radio to detect microelectronics and other fields, radar technology has been
objects and to visualize their spatial position. For this reason, continuously developed, and its detection means have been
radar is also known as "radiolocation"[1]. Radar is an developed from a previous detector to the fusion and
electronic device that uses electromagnetic waves to detect cooperation of infrared light, ultraviolet light, laser and other
targets. Radar radiates electromagnetic waves to the target to optical detection means. In the military field, modern radars
irradiate and receive its echo, thus obtaining the distance, have various functions, and battlefield commanders scan
range rate of change (radial velocity), azimuth, altitude and targets in a variety of different search and tracking modes,
other information from the target to the electromagnetic and automatically correct the jamming errors. Therefore, the
wave transmitting point. integrated radar system can maximize the effect of the
weapon system, and the radar signal processing is becoming
The generation of radar equipment is closely related to
more and more important.
the progress of military technology and the development of
war forms. The original radar was developed during World
War I when Britain was at war with Germany. Britain II. WORKING PRINCIPLE AND APPLICATION FIELD OF RADAR
needed a technology that could detect metal objects in the
sky to help search for German aircraft in anti-air A. Structure Function
warfare. During the Second World War, the military The specific use and structure of various radar equipment
application of radar technology became more prominent. At are not identical, but the basic form is the same, including:
that time, radars with the functions of surface-to-air, air-to- transmitter, transmitting antenna, receiver, receiving antenna,
ground (search) bombing, air-to-air (interception) fire control signal processor, and display, power supply, data acquisition,
and friend-foe identification appeared. They could detect and anti-jamming and other auxiliary equipment. Radar acts like
accurately track enemy aircraft in the air, and control human eyes and ears. Its information carrier is radio waves,
weapons (mainly artillery) to destroy them. After the Second which travel in a vacuum at the speed of light C. The process
World War, especially since the 1970s, radar technology has is that the radar transmitter radiates the electromagnetic wave
made great progress on the basis of scientific and energy to a certain direction of space through the antenna,
technological development. The early-warning radar of the and the object in this direction reflects the electromagnetic
pulse Doppler system installed on the early-warning aircraft wave encountered; The radar antenna picks up the reflected
can ensure that the radar can detect the echo signal of wave and sends it to the receiving device for processing,
moving target in the background of strong clutter. The early extracting some information about the object.
warning radar installed on the AEW&C aircraft has the
function of guiding and commanding radar at the same time. For example, the basic components of a pulse system
At this time, the role of the AEW&C aircraft is equivalent to radar include waveform generator, duplex, superheterodyne
moving the ground regional air defense command post to the receiver, signal processor, antenna and terminal equipment,
aircraft and becoming a complete air warning and control etc., and its structure is shown in Figure 1. The waveform
system. It is an important type of radar at present, and it has generator is used to generate pulse waveform. A diplexer is a
been widely used in navy, army and air service. transceiver switch; The function of superheterodyne receiver

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is to amplify the signal and transform the signal to IF and technology, the common frequency band, with L, S, C, X
baseband; The signal processor is used for pulse compression, and other English letters to name. It was adopted by some
matched filtering and other functions. The antenna can countries during the Second World War for the sake of
radiate the generated signal and receive the echo signal. The secrecy and has been used ever since. Table I lists the
terminal equipment is mainly a display, which is used to correspondence between radar frequency band and
display the target information obtained by the radar, wavelength. The frequency band in the table is sometimes
including the azimuth, Angle, altitude and movement of the expressed in terms of wavelength, such as L-band
target. representing 20-25cm with 22cm as the center (S
representing 10cm as the center, accordingly, C representing
Antenna Dupiexer Transmitter
Waveform 5cm, X representing 3cm, Ku representing 2.2cm, Ka
Generator
representing 8mm, etc.) [3]. The table also shows the specific
bands assigned to the radar by ITU. For example, the L-band
Low Noise Radio
includes a frequency range of 1000 ~ 2000MHz, while the
Frequency operating frequency of L-band radar is limited to 1215 ~
Amplifier 1400MHz.

TABLE I. IEEE STANDARD RADAR FREQUENCY REPRESENTATION

Local
Mixer Displayer
oscillator Band Frequency The Wavelength
HF 3~30MHz 100~10m
VHF 30~300MHz 10~1m
UHF 300MHz ~1GHz 1~30cm
Signal Data L 1 ~2GHz 30~15cm
IF Amplifier
Processor Processor
S 2 ~4GHz 15~7.5cm
C 4 ~8GHz 7.5~3.75cm
Fig. 1. Block diagram of the composition of a pulse radar
X 8 ~12GHz 3.75~2.5cm
Ku 12 ~18GHz 2.5~1.67cm
K 18 ~27GHz 1.67~1.11mm
B. Working Principle and Frequency Distribution
Ka 27~40GHz 1.11cm~7.5mm
The Velocimetry principle is the frequency Doppler mm 40~300GHz 7.5~1mm
effect produced by the relative motion between the radar a.
From “IEEE Standard Letter Designations for Radar Frequency Bands" , IEEE std 521-1984.
itself and the target. The frequency of target echo received by
radar is different from the frequency of radar transmission, C. Applications of Radar
and the difference between the two is called Doppler The advantage of radar is that it can detect long-distance
frequency. One of the main information that can be extracted targets in the daytime, and it is not blocked by fog, clouds
from the Doppler frequency is the rate of change in the and rain. It has the characteristics of all-weather and all-day,
distance between the radar and the target. When the target and has a certain penetrating ability. Radar has been widely
and jamming clutter exist in the same spatial resolution unit used in detecting targets on the ground, in the air, at sea, in
of the radar, the radar takes advantage of the difference in space and even underground. As a result, it has become an
Doppler frequency between them to detect and track the essential military electronic equipment and provides a wide
target from the jamming clutter[2]. The principle of range of services for social and economic development (such
measuring the target azimuth is to use the sharp azimuth as weather forecasting, resource detection, environmental
beam of the antenna to calculate the target height according monitoring, etc.). At the same time, it plays an important role
to the elevation Angle and distance by measuring the in astronomical research, atmospheric physics, ionospheric
elevation Angle. The ranging principle is to measure the time structure and other scientific fields. Airborne and spaceborne
difference between the transmitting pulse and the echo pulse, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) have become important
because electromagnetic waves travel at the speed of light, remote sensing transmitters. Airborne radar is mainly used
which can be converted into the precise distance between the for target detection, fire control and other tasks and to ensure
radar and the target. flight safety (navigation, terrain avoidance, etc.), some
Radar with different operating frequencies differs greatly airborne imaging radar can also be used for geodetic
in engineering implementation. In fact, most radars work in mapping airborne radar in space flight, radar can be used to
the frequency band of 200 ~ 10000 MHz. According to the control the flight and landing of space aircraft. Nowadays,
working principle of radar, no matter what the frequency of with the rapid development of space technology, early
the transmitted wave is, as long as the target is detected and warning and surveillance radars (spaceborne or space-based
located by radiating electromagnetic energy and using the radars) installed on satellites can monitor and track targets all
echo reflected from the target, it belongs to the scope of day and become the type that countries pay close attention to
radar system work. The operational frequency range of and develop, for example, they are an important part of the
common radars is 220-35000MHz (220MHz to 35GHz), but "Star Wars" program of the United States [4]. Ground radar
in fact all types of radars operate beyond this range at both is mainly used for air (aircraft, missiles, etc.) and space
ends. For example, sky-wave over-the-horizon (OTH) radar targets for detection, positioning and precision tracking
operates at 4MHz or 5MHz, while ground-wave over-the- Ground radar can also detect the precise shape of the ground,
horizon radar operates at as low as 2MHz. At the other end its spatial resolution can reach a few meters to dozens of
of the spectrum, millimeter-wave radars can operate above meters; In addition to detecting air and sea targets, ship radar
94GHz, experimental millimeter-wave radars operate at can also be used as a navigation tool. In addition, radar also
frequencies in excess of 240GHz, and Laser radars operate at shows good application potential in flood warning, sea water
higher frequencies. At present in the field of radar monitoring, soil geological survey, forest resource inventory
and so on.

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 Specifically speaking, in military application, radar is an which was the beginning of radar digital signal processing,
important part of air defense and combat system. In the and its function was limited to automatic detection. In the
aspect of air defense, it should accomplish target surveillance 1960s, digital technology began to be applied to radar signal
and weapon control functions. Target surveillance means to processing. From the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s, digital
detect targets in a certain area, identify and track them, and signal processing theory and micro-electronic technology
guide weapons to intercept and destroy them. Active developed rapidly, and LSI began to be applied to radar
attacking missiles also rely on radar for weapon guidance signal processing. The representative achievements are
and detonation. The anti-missile defense system mainly moving target detector, digital moving target display
defends incoming ballistic missiles, and the whole system is technology and digital pulse compression technology. After
also based on radar to detect and track incoming missiles, as the mid-1980s, with the practical application and continuous
well as guide and control our interceptor missiles to destroy development of digital technology, the emergence of ultra-
the incoming missiles at the appropriate time and large scale, ultra-high speed integrated circuit, as well as a
place. Nowadays, with the rapid development of space variety of digital signal processing chips, signal processing
technology, the radar installed on the artificial satellite technology from analog to digital, signal processing
platform becomes the spaceborne or space-based radar, functions greatly improved, promoted the spatial and
which is also the concern of various countries in military temporal signal processing, It includes the realization and
construction. The satellite-based early warning and development of phased array and digital beamforming,
surveillance radar can detect in real time bomber fleets and space-time two-dimensional adaptive signal processing and
ballistic missiles launched from land, air and submarines, as synthetic aperture. Modern radar is faced with more complex
well as detect and track some orbital weapons and space electromagnetic environment and developing towards multi-
vehicles in orbit. A network of surveillance radars on several function, which requires new and breakthrough progress in
low-orbit satellites could form an ideal national space early radar signal processing technology. In the future, there will
warning system that could detect, map and image areas of be more and more small targets, moving targets and stealth
global interest on an all-day, all-weather basis. targets under complex background. Detection and
recognition of such targets, precise resolution technology,
In the civil field, radar is widely used in the modern air space-time two-dimensional processing technology, target
and ground transportation system. For example, the airport radar imaging technology, etc., will be an important content
traffic control radar functions as both warning and guidance in the development of radar signal processing [5].
radar. It also carries on the observation mapping to the rain
area, guides the aircraft to avoid the thunderstorm, so often
has observed the weather near the airport Doppler weather B. Advantages of Digital Signal Processing
radar. Specialized weather observation radar is used to Modern radar systems generally use digital signal
measure the location, characteristics and movement speed processing, different radar systems, the signal digitized
and trajectory of storms and clouds. It is an important position is not the same. The operation of signal processing
reference for national weather forecast. A type of radar can be roughly divided into signal regulation and
mounted on an aircraft or satellite can be used as a interference suppression, imaging, monitoring and post-
microwave remote-sensing device, which receives physical processing. Radar digital signal processing refers to the
information about the earth's surface. Because this kind of method taken to complete radar digital signal detection and
radar has two-dimensional high resolution, it can image the information extraction functions, and converts analog video
terrain and landform. TELAR is also involved in the signals into digital signals through sampling, retention and
exploration of Earth's resources, including Marine resources, layering. The reflected echo of the object is a weak high-
forest cover, geological structure and environmental frequency signal, which is transformed into an analog signal
pollution mapping. Space vehicles already use radar to with a certain intensity (continuous in time and any real
control rendezvous, docking and landing on the moon. Large value in amplitude) after frequency conversion, amplification
ground-based radars can be used to detect and track satellites and filtering. Radar signal processing must adopt analog to
and other space objects. The field of radar astronomy uses digital converter, the analog signal into digital signal, and
ground-based radar systems to help understand meteor then carry out various operations and processing. Compared
properties and establish accurate measurements of with analog signal processing, digital signal processing has
astronomical units. Carrier-mounted radars are used for the following advantages: ① The integrated design of many
collision avoidance and observation of navigation buoys, and functions in a processor, which can be flexibly selected and
shore-based radars are used for port and river traffic combined according to external instructions or pre-
surveillance. In addition, radar is also used for highway programmed programs. ② Accuracy is only dependent on
speed, ground penetrating radar for the detection of word length, unlike analog processing, where performance is
underground objects, and for the detection of oil, etc. dependent on user adjustment, so performance is stable and
reliable. ③ It is conducive to the application of high-speed
III. RADAR DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING LSI, thus reducing the weight and volume of signal processor
[6]. Compared with other fields of digital signal processing,
A. Development of Radar Signal Processing radar digital signal processing is characterized by large
Early radar applications are mainly to search and track signal bandwidth, thus high sampling rate, and real-time
targets such as aircraft and ships in the background of clutter, output, signal processing capacity in unit time.
using analog signal processing technology and relying on
display and human eye observation to complete signal C. A/ D Conversion Processing Steps
detection and parameter extraction. Therefore, the initial In principle, the conversion of analog video signal into
radar signal processing is almost all analog. In the 1950s, the digital signal can be divided into three steps, sampling,
radar system began to use computers for signal processing, retention and quantization. Figure 2 shows the basic flow of

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digital signal processing. simulation can be carried out for specific problems, but
superposition principle cannot be applied.
Quantization Sample Encipher
E. Signal Processing Method
Signal processing methods have two kinds, one is the
signal into the signal stream, the other is to execute an
Analog A/D Digital D/A Analog
Signal Signal Signal Signal Signal
instruction and then execute the next instruction, form an
Input Sampler Sampler Sampler Output instruction stream. A digital signal processor in a radar may
use either or both of these methods. Generally speaking, the
Fig. 2. Digitai signal processing flow chart former is suitable for those with high sampling speed and
simple function. The latter is suitable for those with low
• Sampling: first, a group of equidistant extremely sampling speed and complex functions.
narrow pulses are multiplied with the input analog
In signal processing, there are certain requirements for
signal to obtain the time-domain discrete signal with
data structure, and the number of bits will affect the precision
the amplitude of analog quantity, which is completed
of the whole machine. In order to maintain a very high
by the sampling circuit. Sometimes unequal interval
precision, the word length must be increased. In order not to
sampling pulses are required, such as the use of
increase the word length too much, truncation or rounding
multiple repetition frequencies in moving target
measures must be taken. These measures are equivalent to
display radars.
adding noise into the system. Therefore, in order to ensure a
• Holding: In order to stabilize the stratification, the certain accuracy, the length of the system operation word
holding circuit is generally used to keep the signal at should be appropriately larger than the length of the input
the same level as the sampling amplitude during the data. Excessive operation word length will lead to huge
sampling interval, which is usually achieved by the machine structure.
principle of capacitor charging and discharging. Radar signal processing has certain requirements on the
• Quantization:the circuit converts the level aintained hardware structure of the equipment, especially the storage
during each sampling interval into digital signals, of data and instructions. In the early stage, the shift register
usually using binary system, but also can use other control method was adopted. Later, the random access
bases. Digital signal can be used to express the memory method was used more and more. The modern radar
binary value of each signal line level, known as signal processing more adopts the way of read-only memory
parallel; You can also use a single signal line program solidification. Signal processing also has certain
according to the time on the pulse of each binary requirements on instruction language. The higher the level of
value, known as serial. language (that is, task-oriented), the more convenient the
operation, that is, a single action can be adapted to a
D. Signal Processing Classification predefined situation; The lower the language level (that is,
machine oriented), the more flexible the operation, can be
In pulse radar, digital signal processing can be divided programmed to perform a variety of different tasks.
into two parts: in-cycle processing and inter-cycle
processing. Intra-cycle processing refers to the matching or
optimal filtering of echo pulses within one cycle to maximize IV. CONCLUSION
the SNR of a single pulse. Periodic interval processing refers With the scientific progress of microelectronics and other
to the matching or optimal filtering of the complex envelope fields, radar technology has been continuously developed,
of the echo pulse train in multiple cycles so as to maximize and its detection means have been developed from a previous
the SNR at a certain moment in the whole pulse train. For in- detector to the fusion and cooperation of infrared light,
period processing, the sampling period should be less than or ultraviolet light, laser and other optical detection means. In
equal to the resolution unit of the measurement delay the military field, modern radar equipment has a variety of
(distance). For interval processing, the sampling period can functions and is widely used in target detection, search and
be as long as one repetition period. tracking, precision guidance and detection jamming and
About digital signal processing, can be divided into four other military operations. In this paper, the development
categories, namely linear time-varying, linear time-varying, process, function principle, application field and digital
nonlinear time-varying and nonlinear time-varying. In theory, signal processing of radar signal processing are introduced
the easiest thing to solve is the treatment of linear time- briefly. The classification, method and steps of radar signal
variant. This type of simulation treatment is described by processing are analyzed and studied emphatically. At present,
linear constant coefficient differential equations and thus can the theory and application research of various radar signal
be solved by Fourier series or Fourier transforms. Similarly, processing techniques have become a hot field. It can be
this type of numerical processing can be described by linear predicted that radar signal processing will become more and
constant-coefficient difference equations, which can be more important in civil and military fields. This project will
solved using either the Z transform or the discrete Fourier continue to study the radar signal analysis and processing
transform. technology in depth, and lay the foundation for radar
equipment quality state monitoring and application
It is better to use the state variable method to solve the efficiency evaluation.
analysis problem of linear time-varying numerical
processing. This method is especially suitable for simulation REFERENCES
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