Low cost phased array radar for applications in engineering education

Abstract

Hands-on instruction in engineering education is beneficial to the development of a workforce that understands the complexity of building radar systems. Unfortunately, building phased array systems tends to be too costly to allow student access to the hardware necessary for developing these skills. This paper presents a low cost phased array based on a time-domain multiplexed, multiple-input, multiple-output (TDM-MIMO) approach that has been built for education. This array has been utilized in several free courses held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology during the Independent Activity Period (IAP) between semesters. Students have built, tested, and taken home a number of these radars and continue to operate these on their own, either for recreation or as part of their undergraduate research activities.

A Radionavigation Systems Course

“…Other universities offer similar practical courses related to radar [1]- [5] and weather radar applications [6]- [8]. Few publications, however, deal with radionavigation-related courses [9].…”

Random phase center motion technique for enhanced angle-Doppler discrimination using MIMO radars

“…The consecutive switching scheme of transmit-receive-pairs yields a simple Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) based received processing for resolving different angle of arrivals. The sidelobe suppression of the backscatter is addressed by virtual antenna overlapping; this decreases the virtual array aperture and therefore the angular resolution [2]. The authors in [3] have used a linear switching scheme like [2] in an inter-chirp modulated mechanism.…”

“…The sidelobe suppression of the backscatter is addressed by virtual antenna overlapping; this decreases the virtual array aperture and therefore the angular resolution [2]. The authors in [3] have used a linear switching scheme like [2] in an inter-chirp modulated mechanism. This is mainly because linear switching of antenna elements across pulses results into angle-Doppler coupling [2].…”

“…The authors in [3] have used a linear switching scheme like [2] in an inter-chirp modulated mechanism. This is mainly because linear switching of antenna elements across pulses results into angle-Doppler coupling [2]. Works like [4]- [7] have addressed the aforementioned coupling problem.…”

“…A low cost approach of achieving orthogonality among different transmitters is the utilization of Time Division Multiplex (TDM) MIMO, where only one transmitter is active at a time and therefore the transmitted signals are orthogonal with respect to time. Works like [2] have developed a low cost Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) radar by switching the transmitters and receivers across FMCW chirps in a linear fashion. The consecutive switching scheme of transmit-receive-pairs yields a simple Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) based received processing for resolving different angle of arrivals.…”