Efficient and Rapid Modeling of Radar Echo Responses for Complex Targets under Arbitrary Wideband Excitation

Abstract

In practical radar applications, the diversity of wideband transmission signals presents a significant challenge for radar target recognition systems. Traditional electromagnetic (EM) simulation methods often require the point-by-point sampling of target echo signals under specific radiation sources, and this process must be repeated for different transmission signals. This results in extensive EM computations and low computational efficiency. Additionally, the physical attribute information of the target is often obscured within the simulated echoes, complicating feature extraction. To address these issues, we propose a novel method for the efficient and rapid modeling and analysis of complex target time-domain echoes based on a forward scattering center model. This method constructs an impulse response model of the target under unit impulse signal excitation, representing the inherent scattering properties of the target and remaining unaffected by changes in the radiation source. Subsequently, this model is convolved with arbitrary wideband input signals to quickly reconstruct the wideband echo signals of the target. Numerical examples validate the accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed model. This method offers several advantages: firstly, it provides high computational efficiency by quickly convolving with the input signals, thereby avoiding the extensive EM calculations required by traditional methods due to changes in the radiation source. Secondly, it achieves significant data compression; the proposed echo model only requires the model parameters to be calculated at the central frequency point, enabling the rapid reconstruction of target echo data across a wideband range and effectively reducing storage requirements. Finally, it presents clear and complete physical attributes by employing a “cause-to-effect” forward-modeling approach, where the model parameters fully represent the inherent physical properties of the target. This effectively addresses the issue of physical interpretability in optical region radar target recognition.