Joint Direction-of-Departure and Direction-of-Arrival Estimation in a UWB MIMO Radar Detecting Targets with Fluctuating Radar Cross Sections

Abstract

This paper presents a joint direction-of-departure (DOD) and direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar utilizing ultra wideband (UWB) signals in detecting targets with fluctuating radar cross sections (RCS). The UWB MIMO radar utilized a combination of two-way MUSIC and majority decision based on angle histograms of estimated DODs and DOAs at each frequency of the UWB signal. The proposed angle estimation scheme was demonstrated to be effective in detecting targets with fluctuating RCS, compared to conventional spectra averaging method used in subband angle estimations. It was found that a wider bandwidth resulted in improved estimation performance. Numerical simulations along with experimental evaluations in a radio anechoic chamber are presented.