Design Method Of Airborne Early Warning Radar Waveform Optimization

Airborne Early Warning Radar will encounter with different target in different clutter environmental, the selection of radar waveform parameter like pulse repetition frequency(PRF) and pulse width would directly affect radar detection performance. In particular, the pulse repetition frequency determines clutter’s superimposing in frequency domain and time domain of the radar receiver. Thus it will cause blind zone in distance-frequency detection space of pulse Doppler radar. So how to select a reasonable value of the waveform parameter of airborne radar is significant. For resolving the problems, this article systematic discussed detection under the influence of PRF, and the maximum detection area percentage PRF design methods have also been given. The main contents are :1. Put forward a kind of collaborative optimization method in the system level that constraint the interaction of the waveform parameters and system parameters. The method using PRF as the main object of optimization, the maximum detectable area percentage as the optimization target, and then get the waveform parameter optimization.2. For expediting the calculation of value detection area percentage of different PRF values, on the basis of the analysis of the precise antenna clutter modeling, proposed a two-dimensional power spectrum based on simplified pattern fast calculation method. The main lobe, pitch direction side lobe and residual sidelobes are simplified calculating the contribution of clutter power in space- frequency, then get the clutter power spectrum after simplification.3. Proposed to use genetic algorithm, nearby the optimum average frequency value, meet the staggered PRF group selected constraint conditions, looking for M/N criterion optimal stagger PRF group and the corresponding waveform parameters. Calculation shows that through this method to get the optimal PRF group compared with the existing PRF group, the detection area percentage and omnidirectional detection performance has been significantly improved4. The last chapter, the effects of near or far topography and the antenna sidelobe level of near or far zone on detection performance is analyzed through simulation and get the guidelines of the using of the early warning aircraft and the side lobe antenna design.