Signal Design and Multiple Target Detection in Presence of Clutter in Pulsed FDA Radar

The small frequency offset across the array elements in frequency diverse array (FDA) radars leads to the range-angle-time dependent beampattern of FDA radars which is different from the angle-only dependent beampattern of the traditional phased arrays. In this paper, a simple signal model for the received signal in pulsed FDA radars is derived and it is shown that the transmitted signal is amplitude modulated by a digital sinc function which depends on the angle of the scatterer. Then, a signal design framework is presented based on the derived model in which it is represented that how the angular coverage zone and range resolution depend on pulsed FDA radar parameters. After that an iterative low complexity constant false alarm rate (CFAR) Generalized Likelihood Ratio Test (GLRT)-based detector for general FDA radars is derived to detect multiple targets in the presence of clutter and noise. The performance of the proposed detection algorithm is verified by simulation results.