Research And Implementation Of Low-altitude Target Detection Phased Array Radar Echo Simulation Method

During the development of radar system, extensive tests are necessary to evaluate the radio system’s performances, also to find any possible deficiency in the system, in such a way to improve and perfect it. Field testing needs lots of human and material resources; it is time-consuming and sensitive to the environment. Therefore, the field testing might not be suitable for testing a particular function in the radar system. Compared with field testing, the radar echo simulator can simulate the echo in real time. It provides a relatively realistic electromagnetic environment for testing the radar system, which gives great convenience to the development and research of the radar system. This paper sets the topic as the echo simulator for phased array radar in low altitude target detection; it analyses the simulation of low altitude target’s echo signal.In the first place, the paper analyses the signal composition of the echo from low altitude target. It introduced the basic methods and theories of radar echo simulation. Then, the paper introduces two common radar transmission waveforms. Based on the fundamental radar principle, it simulates and models the coherent video signal, mirror target echo, clutter, and radar receiver noise mathematically.Afterwards, this paper described its research in the simulation method of the point target’s video echo signal. It discusses in detail the target fluctuation, doppler simulation method, phased array antenna’s sum-difference beamforming. The paper also discussed the simulation of coherent clutter. It simulates the Rayleigh distribution, Lognormal distribution, Weibull distribution clutter based on the ZMNL. It applies the SIRP to simulate the complex K distributed clutter.Based on the FPGA, the paper implements the simulation of low altitude target’s echo signal. It explains each functional module’s implementation and the flow chart in detail. It focuses on the phased array’s formation and the real-time computation of four types coherent clutter. Afterwards, based on simulation and captured data, it presents the output of each functional module in the echo simulation system. These outputs are analysed and verified in the Matlab. At last, we feed the integrated mixed echo into the signal processing system and the result confirms the correctness of the echo simulation system.