A software-defined, dual-polarized radar system

Hershberger, Jeremy; Pratt, Thomas G.; Kossler, Robert

doi:10.1109/cama.2016.7815747

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…Later publications focused on the design of radar prototypes built around commercial SDRs or digital processing blocks. The majority of them used the Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) [3][4][5][6][7]. Many applications of SDRadar have been described, including, but not limited to: passive radar using signals of opportunity [8,9], synthetic aperture radar [10][11][12], hybrid radar and communication systems [4,10], ground penetrating radar [13], MIMO Radar [14,15] and cognitive radar [16][17][18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Multi-Frequency SDR-Based GBSAR: System Overview and First Results

2021

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This work describes a system-level overview of a multi-frequency GBSAR built around a high performance software defined radio (SDR). The main goal of the instrument is to be employed as a demonstrator and experimental platform for multi-frequency GBSAR campaigns. The system is capable of operating in P, L, C and X-bands, and signal generation and digital signal processing are customizable and reconfigurable through software. An overview of the software and hardware and implementations of the system are presented. The operation of the system is demonstrated with two measuring campaigns showing focused amplitude images at different frequencies. It is shown how the usage of SDR for GBSAR systems is a viable design option.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Multi-Frequency SDR-Based GBSAR: System Overview and First Results

2021

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“…An alternative and increasingly popular hardware option [ 34 , 35 ] is centered around a measurement system design based on inexpensive, commercially available software defined radios (SDRs). We have described a 4-channel prototype using the B210 USRP boards developed by Ettus Research (Santa Clara, California) [ 36 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These units incorporate the major functional elements of a sophisticated transmitter and receiver into a single chip (Analog Devices AD9361, Norwood, MA), and operate over an impressively large bandwidth of 70 MHz to 6 GHz. They are finding use in a range of radar applications [ 34 ]. Measurement requirements for our log transformed tomographic image reconstruction algorithm along with the associated calibration process have been stable and robust over several generations of hardware systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low Cost, High Performance, 16-Channel Microwave Measurement System for Tomographic Applications

Meaney

Hartov

Raynolds

et al. 2020

Sensors

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We have developed a multichannel software defined radio-based transceiver measurement system for use in general microwave tomographic applications. The unit is compact enough to fit conveniently underneath the current illumination tank of the Dartmouth microwave breast imaging system. The system includes 16 channels that can both transmit and receive and it operates from 500 MHz to 2.5 GHz while measuring signals down to −140 dBm. As is the case with multichannel systems, cross-channel leakage is an important specification and must be lower than the noise floors for each receiver. This design exploits the isolation inherent when the individual receivers for each channel are physically separate; however, these challenging specifications require more involved signal isolation techniques at both the system design level and the individual, shielded component level. We describe the isolation design techniques for the critical system elements and demonstrate specification compliance at both the component and system level.

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“…Hershberger et al [75] describe a dual-polarization, continuous-wave, mono-static, software-defined radar system, based on the Ettus Research USRP-B210 SDR. The transmit and receive channels make use of different frequency synthesizers, so a phase calibration is performed before the start of each acquisition.…”

Section: Bibliographic Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design and implementation of an SDR-based multi-frequency ground-based SAR system

Amézaga Sarries

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Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) has proven a valuable tool in the monitoring of the Earth, either at a global or local scales. SAR is a coherent radar system able to image extended areas with high resolution, and finds applications in many areas such as forestry, agriculture, mining, structure inspection or security operations. Although space-borne SAR systems can image extended areas, their main limitation is the long revisit times, which are not suitable for applications where the target experiments rapid changes, in the scale of minutes to few days. GBSAR systems have proven useful to fill this revisit time gap by imaging relatively small areas continuously, with extensions usually smaller than a few square kilometers. Ground Based SAR (GBSAR) systems have been used extensively for the monitoring of slope instability, and are a common tool in the mining sector. The development of the GBSAR is relatively recent, and various developments have taken place since the 2000s, transitioning from the usage of Vector Network Analyzers (VNAs) to custom radar cores tailored for this application. This transition is accompanied by a reduction in cost, but at the same time is accompanied by a loss of operational flexibility. Specifically, most GBSAR sensors now operate at a single frequency, losing the value of the multi-band operation that VNAs provided. This work is motivated by the idea that it is worth to use the value of multi-frequency GBSAR measurements, while maintaining a limited system cost. In order to implement a GBSAR with these characteristics, it is realized that Software Defined Radio (SDR) devices are a good option for fast and flexible implementation of broadband transceivers. This thesis details the design and implementation process of an SDR-based Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) GBSAR system from the ground up, presenting the main issues related with the usage of the most common SDR analog architecture, the Zero-IF transceiver. The main problem is determined to be the behavior of spurs related to IQ imbalances of the analog transceiver with the FMCW demodulation process. Two effective techniques to overcome these issues, the Super Spatial Variant Apodization (SSVA) and the Short Time Fourier Transform (STFT) signal reconstruction techniques, are implemented and tested. The thesis also deals with the digital implementation of the signal generator and digital receiver, which are implemented on top of an RF Network-on-Chip (RFNoC) architecture in the SDR Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). Another important aspect of this work is the development of an radiofrequency front-end that extends the capabilities of the SDR, implementing filtering, amplification, leakage mitigation and up-conversion to X-band. Finally, a set of test campaigns is described, in which the operation of the system is verified and the value of multi-frequency GBSAR observations is shown. El radar d'obertura sintètica (SAR) ha demostrat ser una eina valuosa en el monitoratge de la Terra, sigui a escala global o local. El SAR és un sistema de radar coherent capaç d’obtenir imatges de zones extenses amb alta resolució i té aplicacions en moltes àrees com la silvicultura, l’agricultura, la mineria, la inspecció d’estructures o les operacions de seguretat. Tot i que els sistemes SAR embarcats en plataformes orbitals poden obtenir imatges d'àrees extenses, la seva principal limitació és el temps de revisita, que no són adequats per a aplicacions on l'objectiu experimenta canvis ràpids, en una escala de minuts a pocs dies. Els sistemes GBSAR han demostrat ser útils per omplir aquesta bretxa de temps, obtenint imatges d'àrees relativament petites de manera contínua, amb extensions generalment inferiors a uns pocs quilòmetres quadrats. Els sistemes SAR terrestres (GBSAR) s’han utilitzat àmpliament per al control de la inestabilitat de talussos i esllavissades i són una eina comuna al sector miner. El desenvolupament del GBSAR és relativament recent i s’han produït diversos desenvolupaments des de la dècada de 2000, passant de l’ús d’analitzadors de xarxes vectorials (VNA) a nuclis de radar personalitzats i adaptats a aquesta aplicació. Aquesta transició s’acompanya d’una reducció del cost, però al mateix temps d’una pèrdua de flexibilitat operativa. Concretament, la majoria dels sensors GBSAR funcionen a una única freqüència, perdent el valor de l’operació en múltiples bandes que proporcionaven els VNA. Aquesta tesi està motivada per la idea de recuperar el valor de les mesures GBSAR multifreqüència, mantenint un cost del sistema limitat. Per tal d’implementar un GBSAR amb aquestes característiques, s’adona que els dispositius de ràdio definida per software (SDR) són una bona opció per a la implementació ràpida i flexible dels transceptors de banda ampla. Aquesta tesi detalla el procés de disseny i implementació d’un sistema GBSAR d’ona contínua modulada en freqüència (FMCW) basat en la tecnologia SDR, presentant els principals problemes relacionats amb l’ús de l’arquitectura analògica de SDR més comuna, el transceptor Zero-IF. Es determina que el problema principal és el comportament dels espuris relacionats amb el balanç de les cadenes de fase i quadratura del transceptor analògic amb el procés de desmodulació FMCW. S’implementen i comproven dues tècniques efectives per minimitzar aquests problemes basades en la reconstrucció de la senyal contaminada per espuris: la tècnica anomenada Super Spatial Variant Apodization (SSVA) i una tècnica basada en la transformada de Fourier amb finestra (STFT). La tesi també tracta la implementació digital del generador de senyal i del receptor digital, que s’implementen sobre una arquitectura RF Network-on-Chip (RFNoC). Un altre aspecte important d’aquesta tesi és el desenvolupament d’un front-end de radiofreqüència que amplia les capacitats de la SDR, implementant filtratge, amplificació, millora de l'aïllament entre transmissió i recepció i conversió a banda X. Finalment, es descriu un conjunt de campanyes de prova en què es verifica el funcionament del sistema i es mostra el valor de les observacions GBSAR multifreqüència.

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A software-defined, dual-polarized radar system

Cited by 8 publications

References 8 publications

A Multi-Frequency SDR-Based GBSAR: System Overview and First Results

A Multi-Frequency SDR-Based GBSAR: System Overview and First Results

Low Cost, High Performance, 16-Channel Microwave Measurement System for Tomographic Applications

Design and implementation of an SDR-based multi-frequency ground-based SAR system

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