A Two-Stage STAP Method Based on Fine Doppler Localization and Sparse Bayesian Learning in the Presence of Arbitrary Array Errors

In the presence of unknown array errors, sparse recovery based space-time adaptive processing (SR-STAP) methods usually directly use the ideal spatial steering vectors without array errors to construct the space-time dictionary; thus, the steering vector mismatch between the dictionary and clutter data will cause a severe performance degradation of SR-STAP methods. To solve this problem, in this paper, we propose a two-stage SR-STAP method for suppressing nonhomogeneous clutter in the presence of arbitrary array errors. In the first stage, utilizing the spatial-temporal coupling property of the ground clutter, a set of spatial steering vectors with array errors are well estimated by fine Doppler localization. In the second stage, firstly, in order to solve the model mismatch problem caused by array errors, we directly use these spatial steering vectors obtained in the first stage to construct the space-time dictionary, and then, the constructed dictionary and multiple measurement vectors sparse Bayesian learning (MSBL) algorithm are combined for space-time adaptive processing (STAP). The proposed SR-STAP method can exhibit superior clutter suppression performance and target detection performance in the presence of arbitrary array errors. Simulation results validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Calibration Method of Array Errors for Wideband MIMO Imaging Radar Based on Multiple Prominent Targets

Wideband multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) imaging radar can achieve high-resolution imaging with a specific multi-antenna structure. However, its imaging performance is severely affected by the array errors, including the inter-channel errors and the position errors of all the transmitting and receiving elements (TEs/REs). Conventional calibration methods are suitable for the narrow-band signal model, and cannot separate the element position errors from the array errors. This paper proposes a method for estimating and compensating the array errors of wideband MIMO imaging radar based on multiple prominent targets. Firstly, a high-precision target position estimation method is proposed to acquire the prominent targets’ positions without other equipment. Secondly, the inter-channel amplitude and delay errors are estimated by solving an equation-constrained least square problem. After this, the element position errors are estimated with the genetic algorithm to eliminate the spatial-variant error phase. Finally, the feasibility and correctness of this method are validated with both simulated and experimental datasets.

Fast Synthesis Method for Large Aperture Array Pattern in the Presence of Array Errors

In this paper, an improved array synthesis method with array errors is proposed for large aperture arrays. Because of the array errors such as amplitude-phase errors and positions errors, the performance of the array synthesis is reduced seriously. Firstly, the ideal fast low sidelobe synthesis method is obtained based on the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) method. Then, by using Taylor expansion to remove the coupling relationship between the position of the element and the scanning angle, the compensation matrix for the pattern function and the array weighted vector with amplitude phase and position errors are derived. At last, the conversion relationship between the array with errors and the array weight vector is corrected in the iterative process. The theoretical simulation experiments verify the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method for the linear array and rectangular array pattern synthesis. Then, the influence of Taylor expansion order on the pattern synthesis results is analysed.

An Improved Sub-Array Adaptive Beamforming Technique Based on Multiple Sources of Errors

In this paper, a new robust adaptive beamforming method is proposed in order to improve the robustness against steering vector (SV) mismatches that arise from multiple types of array errors. First, the sub-array technique is applied in order to obtain the decoupled sample covariance matrix (DSCM), in which the auxiliary sensors are selected to decouple the array. The decoupled interference-plus-noise covariance matrix (DINCM) is reconstructed with the estimated interference SV and maximum eigenvalue of the DSCM. Furthermore, the desired signal SV is estimated as the corresponding eigenvector determined by the correlation coefficients of the assumed SV and eigenvectors. Finally, the optimal weighting vector is obtained by combining the reconstructed DINCM and the estimated desired signal SV. Our simulation results show significant signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) enhancement of the proposed method over existing methods under multiple types of array errors.

Sparsity-Based Robust Bistatic MIMO Radar Imaging in the Presence of Array Errors

A sparse recovery method for robust transmit-receive angle imaging in a bistatic MIMO radar is proposed to deal with the effect of array gain-phase errors. The impact of multiplicative array gain-phase errors is changed to be additive through model reformulation, and transmit-receive angle imaging is formulated to a sparse total least square signal problem. Then, an iterative algorithm is proposed to solve the optimization problem. Compared with existing methods, the proposed method can achieve a significant performance gain in the case that the number of snapshots is small. Simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.