Investigation & experiment of radar systems in unmanned aerial vehicles - I

Abstract

Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)

system is a modern radar technique that allows capturing of high resolution images

through conventional radar principles and advanced signal processing methods.

Operation of FMCW SAR system is usually mounted on a moving platform such as an

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) displacing a particular distance in the selected

direction to create a large synthetic aperture without the use of large antenna. Thus the

system is able capture higher resolution details of the target.

In this report, design and investigation of FMCW SAR system are done in the system

perspective. The overall system is to be built with commercially available components

and the performance of the system is evaluated with the aid of computer simulation

software. The results from all simulations will allow verification of the performance of

the system to determine the functionality of the system.

Studies on the individual component’s parameters have to be done to understand the

effects on the overall system. Components are inclusive of basic radar building blocks of

filters, mixers and amplifiers. Simulations on budget gain, P1dB compression point and

harmonic balance have to be done for the verification of the system meeting the stated

requirements.