Page 16 - Fundamentals of Radar Signal Processing

Modern Radar series. I believe it remains true today, somewhat to my surprise,

that most radar textbooks generally address either the entire radar system or
very specialized processing topics, and that few attempt to address the full suite
of basic signal processing concepts found in virtually every radar that form the
basis for advanced techniques. That is, the gap still exists. The goal of the text
has therefore remained the same. The specific goal of the second edition is to
strengthen that coverage, broaden it slightly, correct and improve the

presentation, and provide additional resources that will increase its usefulness
as a textbook as well as a professional reference.
This book was originally developed and used over several years in
support of two courses at Georgia Tech. It was primarily developed as a
product of ECE 6272, Fundamentals of Radar Signal Processing, a semester-
length first-year graduate course. Elements of this book were also used in
abbreviated and simplified form in the one-week professional education course

of the same name taught periodically through Georgia Tech’s Professional
Education division. Since publication of the first edition, I have continued to use
it for both courses. Through those experiences and just the passage of time I
have learned more, both about the topics and how to convey them, and I have
tried to incorporate that knowledge into the updated text.
There is one major change and many minor to moderate ones from the first

edition. The major change is the addition of what is now Chap. 7,
“Measurements and Tracking.” This chapter introduces an important basic topic
missing from the first edition, that of measurement accuracy. The Cramèr-Rao
lower bound (CRLB) and maximum likelihood estimation are introduced and
applied to measurements of time delay, frequency, phase, and angle using
common techniques such as matched filtering with peak detection, leading edge
pulse detection, the DFT, and monopulse angle measurement. Also included is

an overview of basic track filtering covering α-β and Kalman filters. This
chapter should have been in the first edition, and I am happy to remedy its
absence now.
Changes to the other portions of the text are more modest. The review of
basic digital signal processing concepts previously in Chap. 1 has been

relocated to App. B and expanded slightly. An entirely new App. A has been
added to reference basic information from random variables and random signals
needed for this text, including common probability density functions (PDFs) in
radar; estimators and the CRLB; and the effect of linear shift-invariant systems
on random signals.
Chapter 2 attempts to improve the discussion of fluctuating target models.
The traditional Swerling models do not apply in many situations today, both
because finer-resolution radars require new PDFs and because the “scan-to-

scan” and “pulse-to-pulse” terminology is a poor fit to processing based on
coherent processing intervals (CPIs). However, the analysis strategy remains
valid. I have therefore kept the presentation of the detector design and analysis