Multistatic radar

Here we extend the bistatic case to netted scenarios. The topology selected is the simple case of N transmitters and one common receiver, i.e. we have in effect a series of multiple bistatic geometries with varying baselines. The reason for this choice lies in the fact that it is convenient to reference all calculations to the single receiver, thus obtaining one unified form for the ambiguity function. 

The analysis is based on the matched filtering performed at the receiver. Before proceeding to the mathematical background, it is necessary to state the assumptions made when modeling the system. These are  

It must be noted that the echoes that arrive at the receiver do not have the same intensity, as the propagation lengths of the waves are different. Thus, a weighting must be applied, according to the signal power. The weighting factors are calculated by the following set of equations  

Examining the scenario with M receivers and one common emitter there is a significant practical limitation when attempting to implement the previous methodology. It was assumed in that analysis that the scattered signals must be processed jointly. This is easier to achieve 

The outcome of this procedure will be the same as in the previous case in terms of the system s parameters (resolution and ambiguity), but not exploited via centralized processing as the ambiguity function seen by each receiver will be individually different. 

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BISTATIC AND MULTISTATIC RADAR SENSORS FOR HOMELAND SECURITY... 

Keywords radar bistatic radar multistatic radar ambiguity function parasitic radar forward scatter Babinet s principle passive coherent location netted radar. 

Here we introduce the principles of bistatic and multistatic radar. Firstly, we examine what is meant by these terms and then go on to develop the fundamental relationships that govern performance in terms of sensitivity, coverage, range resolution, Doppler resolution and target location accuracy. This provides the essential information necessary to understand the advantages and disadvantages of bistatic and multistatic radar operation for candidate applications. More detail can be found in the excellent text of Willis [1]. 

Bistatic and multistatic radar sensors for homeland security... 

A particular variant on the bistatic and multistatic themes is Passive Coherent Location (PCL). This is normally taken to mean a system where transmissions are provided by a third party and only the receiver is formerly part of the design. This is sometimes also referred to as a hitch hiking mode of operation. It is also usually referred to as an example of bistatic radar although, as we shall see later, many transmissions can be used from a variety of transmitter sites thus making an example of multistatic radar. 

In summary, the essentials of bistatic and multistatic radar have been introduced and the resulting performance shows considerable promise for many application types. The additional attraction of the low cost of PCL makes this especially worthy of further attention. 

H. Rohling, A. Hofi and U. Liibbert Multistatic Radar Principles for Automotive RadarNet Applications, IRS 2002 International Radar Symposium, Bonn, Germany, 2002, pp. 181-185. 

Keywords tomography moving targets spatial diversity ultra narrow band (UNB) monostatic radar multistatic radar. 

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