Angle Estimation for Range-Spread Targets Based on Scatterer Energy Focusing
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Wideband radar is becoming increasingly significant in modern radar systems. However, traditional monopulse angle estimation techniques are not suitable for wideband targets exhibiting range extension effects. To address this, we explore the angle estimation problem for wideband Linear Frequency-Modulated (LFM) signals and propose a new monopulse angle estimation algorithm tailored for range-spread targets. In this paper, the phase of the highest energy scatterer is used as the reference to compensate for the phases of other scatterers. The compensated scatterers are then accumulated for energy focusing. Finally, the angle of the energy-focused signal is estimated using the sum-and-difference amplitude comparison method. The proposed method can effectively focus the scatterers' energy. Moreover, since the echo of a range-spread target can be regarded as the sum of sinusoids with different frequencies, scatterer energy focusing can effectively improve the performance of the detector. To further demonstrate the practicality of the proposed angle estimation method, it is combined with the detector to evaluate its performance. Simulation results comparing the proposed method with other approaches validate its effectiveness and demonstrate that it achieves a lower signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) threshold and higher angular accuracy. Through the proposed method, tracking and imaging can be achieved entirely within the wideband radar framework. The proposed method can also be extended to other sensor systems, advancing the development of sensor technologies.
Source: Sensors
DOI: 10.3390/s25061723
Authors: Zekai Huang, Peiwu Jiang, Maozhong Fu, Zhenmiao Deng
Institutions: Sun Yat-sen University, Xiamen University of Technology
Language: English
Subfield: Aerospace Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,137
Award: G1283351474
OpenAlex ID: W4408339056
