Data processing method of radar system, radar system

Abstract

This application discloses a data processing method and a radar system for a radar system. The method includes: transmitting a transmitted beam through an antenna array and receiving echo signals to detect meteorological objects and target objects within a preset range; processing the echo signals to generate digital in-phase quadrature signals, characterizing the signal strength and phase information of the echo signals; performing digital beamforming (DBF) processing based on the digital in-phase quadrature signals to generate multi-beam digital signals of the desired beams; extracting meteorological parameters from the multi-beam digital signals to obtain meteorological information, and extracting target information to obtain target information. The phased array meteorological radar system achieves the function of simultaneously performing meteorological and target detection. Furthermore, it improves target angle measurement accuracy by using sum and difference beams for elevation multi-beam processing and dual-frequency beams for azimuth multi-beam scanning, and improves scanning speed and data rate through elevation multi-beam processing and local azimuth volume scanning.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of meteorological observation, and more specifically, to a data processing method for a radar system and a radar system. Background Technology

[0002] Currently used target surveillance radars, by adding weather channels and utilizing time-division multiplexing, along with additional weather waveforms and scanning methods, can achieve both target surveillance and weather detection capabilities with a single radar. However, due to limitations in scanning speed and operating waveforms, simultaneous target surveillance and weather detection are difficult to achieve. Meanwhile, commonly used mechanically scanned weather radars, with significantly different processing methods compared to target surveillance radars, lack beamforming capabilities and have slower scanning speeds, thus only possess weather target detection capabilities and lack the ability to detect, extract, and process targets such as aircraft.

[0003] There is currently no effective solution to the problem that weather detection radars in related technologies cannot perform weather detection and target surveillance simultaneously. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The main objective of this application is to provide a data processing method and radar system for a radar system, addressing the problem that meteorological radars in related technologies cannot simultaneously perform meteorological detection and target surveillance. By adding a target processing channel, digital multi-beam processing is used for sum and difference beam angle measurement in elevation, and dual-frequency beam angle measurement is used in azimuth, improving target angle measurement accuracy. Furthermore, elevation multi-beam processing and local azimuth volume scanning are used to increase scanning speed and data rate, thereby solving the problem that meteorological radars cannot perform target detection.

[0005] To achieve the above objectives, according to one aspect of this application, a data processing method for a radar system is provided. The method includes: transmitting a transmitted beam through an antenna array and receiving an echo signal, wherein the transmitted beam is used to detect meteorological objects and target objects within a preset range; processing the echo signal to generate a digital in-phase quadrature signal, wherein the digital in-phase quadrature signal is used to characterize the signal strength and phase information of the echo signal; performing digital beamforming (DBF) processing on the digital in-phase quadrature signal to generate a multi-beam digital signal of a desired beam, wherein the desired beam is the beam reflected by the meteorological object and the target object in the echo signal; extracting meteorological information from the multi-beam digital signal to obtain meteorological parameters of the meteorological object; and extracting target information from the multi-beam digital signal to obtain target information of the target object.

[0006] Optionally, processing the echo signal to generate a digital in-phase quadrature signal includes: preprocessing the echo signal to obtain a processed echo signal, wherein the preprocessing includes amplitude limiting and low-noise amplification; and performing down-conversion and analog-to-digital sampling on the processed echo signal to obtain the digital in-phase quadrature signal.

[0007] Optionally, performing down-conversion and analog-to-digital sampling on the processed echo signal to obtain the digital in-phase quadrature signal includes: performing down-conversion on the processed echo signal to obtain an intermediate frequency echo signal; performing analog-to-digital sampling on the intermediate frequency echo signal to obtain a digital intermediate frequency echo signal; and performing digital down-conversion on the digital intermediate frequency echo signal to obtain the digital in-phase quadrature signal.

[0008] Optionally, before performing digital beamforming (DBF) processing on the digital in-phase quadrature signal to generate the multi-beam digital signal with the desired beam, the method further includes: performing channel equalization and correction processing on the digital in-phase quadrature signal to obtain a processed numerical quadrature video signal, wherein the processed digital in-phase quadrature signal is used to perform DBF processing to obtain the multi-beam digital signal.

[0009] Optionally, performing digital beamforming (DBF) processing on the digital in-phase quadrature signal to generate the desired multi-beam digital signal includes: performing DBF processing on the digital in-phase quadrature signal in the elevation direction to generate a sum-difference beam; performing DBF processing on the digital in-phase quadrature signal in the azimuth direction to generate a dual-frequency beam; and packaging the digital in-phase quadrature signal, the corresponding sum-difference beam, and the dual-frequency beam to generate the multi-beam digital signal.

[0010] Optionally, the antenna array includes multiple waveguide slot antennas. DBF processing is performed on the azimuth component of the digital in-phase orthogonal signal to generate a dual-frequency beam, which includes: determining the bandwidth spacing of different frequencies at different beamwidths based on the operating frequency band of the waveguide slot antenna array and the waveguide dispersion effect; and obtaining the dual-frequency beam through radar frequency agility processing based on the bandwidth spacing.

[0011] Optionally, the meteorological information extraction of the multi-beam digital signal to obtain the meteorological parameters of the meteorological object includes at least one of the following: performing digital video integration (DVIP) on the digital in-phase quadrature signal of the multi-beam digital signal to obtain the signal power of the meteorological object; performing pulse pair processing (PPP) / fast Fourier transform (FFT) on the digital in-phase quadrature signal to obtain the radial velocity and spectral width of the meteorological object.

[0012] Optionally, extracting target information from the multi-beam digital signal to obtain target information of the target object includes: performing detection processing on the digital in-phase orthogonal signals of the multi-beam digital signal to obtain distance information of the target object; performing elevation angle measurement processing on the sum and difference beams of the multi-beam digital signal to obtain the elevation angle of the target object; performing azimuth angle measurement processing on the dual-frequency beams of the multi-beam digital signal to obtain the azimuth angle of the target object; and generating a point trace of the target object based on the distance information, the elevation angle, and the azimuth angle.

[0013] To achieve the above objectives, according to another aspect of this application, a radar system is provided, comprising: an antenna array, a transceiver assembly, a beamforming module, a data processing terminal, and a target processing terminal. The antenna array is used to transmit a transmitted beam and receive echo signals, wherein the transmitted beam is used to detect meteorological objects and target objects within a preset range. The antenna array is connected to the transceiver assembly, which processes the echo signals to generate digital in-phase quadrature signals, wherein the digital in-phase quadrature signals characterize the signal strength and phase information of the echo signals. The transceiver assembly is connected to the beamforming module. The beamforming module is used to perform digital beamforming (DBF) processing on the digital in-phase orthogonal signal to generate a multi-beam digital signal with the desired beam, wherein the desired beam is the beam reflected by the meteorological object and the target object in the echo signal; the beamforming module is connected to the data processing terminal, which is used to extract meteorological information from the multi-beam digital signal to obtain the meteorological parameters of the meteorological object; the beamforming module is also connected to the target processing terminal, which is used to extract target information from the multi-beam digital signal to obtain the target information of the target object.

[0014] Optionally, the antenna array includes multiple waveguide slot antenna elements; there are multiple transceiver components, each of which includes a first number of transceiver channels, and each transceiver channel is connected to a waveguide slot antenna element; the beamforming module includes a digital beamforming (DBF) processing module.

[0015] This application uses an antenna array to transmit a beam and receive echo signals to detect meteorological objects and target objects within a preset range. The echo signals are processed to generate digital in-phase quadrature signals, representing the signal strength and phase information of the echo signals. Digital beamforming (DBF) processing is performed on the digital in-phase quadrature signals to generate multi-beam digital signals of the desired beams reflected by the meteorological objects and target objects. Meteorological information is extracted from the multi-beam digital signals to obtain meteorological parameters of the meteorological objects, and target information is extracted from the multi-beam digital signals to obtain target information of the target objects. This achieves the goal of obtaining detection information of meteorological objects or target objects through different processing of the echo signals, realizing the technical effect of simultaneously detecting meteorological objects and target objects. This solves the problem in related technologies where meteorological radars cannot simultaneously perform meteorological detection and target monitoring. Attached Figure Description

[0016] The accompanying drawings, which form part of this application, are used to provide a further understanding of this application. The illustrative embodiments and descriptions of this application are used to explain this application and do not constitute an undue limitation of this application. In the drawings:

[0017] Figure 1 This is a flowchart of a data processing method for a radar system according to an embodiment of this application;

[0018] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the overall architecture of a radar system provided according to an embodiment of this application;

[0019] Figure 3 This is a flowchart of data processing for target object detection provided according to an embodiment of this application;

[0020] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of a radar scanning structure provided according to an embodiment of this application;

[0021] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of a radar system provided according to an embodiment of this application;

[0022] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of an electronic device provided according to an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0023] It should be noted that, unless otherwise specified, the embodiments and features described in this application can be combined with each other. This application will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0024] To enable those skilled in the art to better understand the present application, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present application, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort should fall within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0025] It should be noted that the terms "first," "second," etc., in the specification, claims, and accompanying drawings of this application are used to distinguish similar objects and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that such data can be interchanged where appropriate for the embodiments of this application described herein. Furthermore, the terms "comprising" and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion; for example, a process, method, system, product, or apparatus that comprises a series of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those steps or units explicitly listed, but may include other steps or units not explicitly listed or inherent to such processes, methods, products, or apparatus.

[0026] The present invention will now be described in conjunction with preferred implementation steps. Figure 1 This is a flowchart of a capacitive pen detection method provided according to an embodiment of this application, such as... Figure 1 As shown, the method includes the following steps:

[0027] Step S101: Transmit a transmitted beam through an antenna array and receive an echo signal, wherein the transmitted beam is used to detect meteorological objects and target objects within a preset range;

[0028] Step S102: Process the echo signal to generate a digital in-phase quadrature signal, wherein the digital in-phase quadrature signal is used to characterize the signal strength and phase information of the echo signal;

[0029] Step S103: Perform digital beamforming (DBF) processing on the digital in-phase quadrature signal to generate a multi-beam digital signal of the required beam, wherein the required beam is the beam reflected by the meteorological object and the target object in the echo signal.

[0030] Step S104: Extract meteorological information from the multibeam digital signal to obtain meteorological parameters of the meteorological object; extract target information from the multibeam digital signal to obtain target information of the target object.

[0031] The above steps involve transmitting a beam through an antenna array and receiving echo signals to detect meteorological objects and target objects within a preset range; processing the echo signals to generate digital in-phase quadrature signals, which characterize the signal strength and phase information of the echo signals; performing digital beamforming (DBF) processing based on the digital in-phase quadrature signals to generate multi-beam digital signals of the desired beams reflected by the meteorological objects and target objects; extracting meteorological information from the multi-beam digital signals to obtain the meteorological parameters of the meteorological objects; and extracting target information from the multi-beam digital signals to obtain the target information of the target objects.

[0032] This technology achieves the goal of obtaining detection information of meteorological objects or target objects by processing echo signals in different ways, realizing the technical effect of simultaneously detecting meteorological objects and target objects, and thus solving the problem that meteorological radar in related technologies cannot perform meteorological detection and target monitoring at the same time.

[0033] The entity performing the above steps can be a radar system, which may include a processing device to perform the data processing operations in the above steps, such as steps S101-S104.

[0034] It should be noted that a radar system may have more than one data processing device, and may even be connected to remote or cloud-based devices. The aforementioned data processing operations can be assigned to different data processing entities based on the actual situation.

[0035] In step S101, the transmitted beam is sent through the antenna array, and the echo signal is received. The antenna array consists of multiple antenna elements, each of which is connected to the processing device to form a signal channel. The antenna array can use the phased array principle to transmit the beam. Phased array antenna arrays have the advantages of high data rate and flexible beam control.

[0036] Specifically, the process of the antenna array transmitting the transmit beam and receiving the echo signal is as follows: the radar system's processing unit sends the amplitude and phase weighting information and the baseband signal to the digital transceiver component based on the shape of the transmit beam to be generated. It should be noted that the digital transceiver component also has data processing capabilities.

[0037] The digital transceiver unit receives control, clock, and synchronization signals from the processing device, and uses the Direct Digital Synthesis (DDS) algorithm to generate excitation signals transmitted by each antenna element. After power amplification, these signals are sent to the antenna elements.

[0038] The transmitted signal is radiated into the air via an antenna array. The radiated electromagnetic waves undergo power combining in space to form a transmitted beam. When the electromagnetic waves radiated by the antenna encounter meteorological targets such as clouds and rain, they are backscattered and become echo signals from those meteorological targets. When they encounter targets such as aircraft, they are reflected and become echo signals from non-meteorological targets.

[0039] The above step S102 processes the echo signal to generate a digital in-phase quadrature signal, wherein the digital in-phase quadrature signal is used to characterize the signal strength and phase information of the echo signal; in this embodiment, the above digital in-phase quadrature signal is also the digital quadrature video signal IQ.

[0040] Optionally, processing the echo signal to generate a digital in-phase quadrature signal includes: preprocessing the echo signal to obtain a processed echo signal, wherein the preprocessing includes amplitude limiting and low-noise amplification; and performing down-conversion and analog-to-digital sampling on the processed echo signal to obtain a digital in-phase quadrature signal.

[0041] When generating digital in-phase quadrature signals based on the received echo signals, the received echo signals are first preprocessed, including amplitude limiting and low-noise amplification. Amplitude limiting is to remove interference signals, and low-noise amplification is to remove noise from the signal. The purpose of preprocessing is to restore the received echo signals to their initial state.

[0042] Then, based on the preprocessed echo signal, down-conversion processing is performed to remove the carrier signal and obtain the baseband signal in the echo signal. The baseband signal is then subjected to analog-to-digital sampling processing, that is, analog-to-digital conversion, which converts the analog baseband signal into a digital signal, thereby obtaining a digital in-phase quadrature signal.

[0043] Optionally, performing down-conversion and analog-to-digital sampling on the processed echo signal to obtain a digital in-phase quadrature signal includes: performing down-conversion on the processed echo signal to obtain an intermediate frequency echo signal; performing analog-to-digital sampling on the intermediate frequency echo signal to obtain a digital intermediate frequency echo signal; and performing digital down-conversion on the digital intermediate frequency echo signal to obtain a digital in-phase quadrature signal.

[0044] The aforementioned intermediate frequency (IF) refers to the signal frequency within the range of 30MHz to 300MHz, with 60MHz being preferred in this embodiment. IF signals have a short propagation distance during the day, but can propagate over long distances at night due to signal reflection from the ionosphere. However, they are more susceptible to interference from other radio waves.

[0045] Furthermore, some signals may not be suitable for direct transmission due to illegal frequencies or inherent limitations preventing effective transmission. Therefore, signal modulation is necessary. The modulator itself requires a suitable oscillation signal, which is then added to the original signal. This oscillation signal is called the carrier wave, and the modulated carrier wave is typically a high-frequency signal.

[0046] The radio frequency (RF) signal transmitted by the antenna is usually a superposition of the carrier signal and the baseband signal to be transmitted, and it is typically a high-frequency signal. The reflected echo signal after passing through the probe is usually still high-frequency. In order to enable the amplifier to operate stably and reduce interference, a typical receiver converts the high-frequency signal into an intermediate-frequency (IF) signal.

[0047] In this embodiment, when the processed echo signal undergoes down-conversion and analog-to-digital sampling to obtain a digital in-phase quadrature signal, the processed echo signal is first down-converted to obtain an intermediate frequency (IF) echo signal. The main purpose of this down-conversion is to obtain the IF echo signal for easier processing. At this point, it may not be possible to completely separate the carrier signal from the baseband signal.

[0048] After analog-to-digital sampling, a digital intermediate frequency (IF) echo signal is obtained. The IF echo signal is then subjected to digital down-conversion. At this point, the remaining carrier signal is completely separated from the baseband signal, resulting in a digital in-phase quadrature signal of the baseband signal.

[0049] Step S103 involves performing digital beamforming (DBF) processing on the digital in-phase quadrature signal to generate a multi-beam digital signal with the desired beam. DBF stands for Digital Beam Forming, widely used in array signal processing. Digital beamforming technology, specifically for antenna arrays, utilizes the aperture of the antenna array to form a receiving beam in the desired direction through digital signal processing.

[0050] The physical meaning of DBF (Bandwidth Gain) is as follows: Although the radiation pattern of a single antenna is omnidirectional, digital processing methods are used to compensate for the phase difference caused by the propagation path difference due to the different spatial positions of the sensors when the incident signal is in a certain direction. This achieves in-phase superposition, thereby maximizing energy reception in that direction and completing beamforming in that direction to receive the desired useful signal. This method of focusing the directional gain of the array reception in a specified direction is equivalent to forming a "beam". By changing the weights, the beam can be directed in different directions, and beam scanning can be achieved. Multiple beams can also be formed simultaneously through parallel processing of multiple channels, and appropriate window functions can be selected to reduce sidelobe levels.

[0051] Optionally, before performing digital beamforming (DBF) processing on the digital in-phase quadrature signal to generate the multi-beam digital signal of the required beam, the method further includes: performing channel equalization and correction processing on the digital in-phase quadrature signal to obtain the processed numerical quadrature video signal, wherein the processed digital in-phase quadrature signal is used to perform DBF processing to obtain the multi-beam digital signal.

[0052] Channel equalization and correction processing of digital in-phase quadrature signals can be performed by equalizing and correcting the channel amplitude and phase of the correction signal acquired by the correction system. An equalizer can be used, employing algorithms such as least squares, singular value decomposition, and minimum variance to process the digital in-phase quadrature signals, thereby equalizing and correcting errors caused by the transmission of the digital in-phase quadrature signals through the data channels. This improves the accuracy of the digital in-phase quadrature signals.

[0053] Optionally, performing digital beamforming (DBF) processing on the digital in-phase quadrature signal to generate the desired multi-beam digital signal includes: performing DBF processing on the digital in-phase quadrature signal in the elevation direction to generate a sum-difference beam; processing the two frequency components of the digital in-phase quadrature signal in the azimuth direction to generate a dual-frequency beam; and packaging the digital in-phase quadrature signal, the corresponding sum-difference beam, and the dual-frequency beam to generate a multi-beam digital signal.

[0054] When detecting meteorological objects, their distance and azimuth are usually determined. When detecting target objects, their distance, elevation, and azimuth are usually determined to ascertain their relative position to the radar antenna array. It should be noted that the elevation angle is not considered for meteorological objects because there is no requirement to do so; for meteorological objects, such as clouds, determining the elevation angle is unnecessary. Only the azimuth angle is needed for detection.

[0055] However, in this embodiment, the meteorological object and the target object are not distinguished when transmitting beams. Therefore, when processing the echo signal, all the data that may be used need to be prepared. The elevation and azimuth angles of the sum beam are used as the elevation and azimuth angles of the meteorological object. The elevation angle of the target is obtained by using the sum and difference beams, and the azimuth angle of the target is obtained by using the dual-frequency beams. The digital in-phase quadrature signal itself is used for ranging.

[0056] Optionally, the antenna array includes multiple waveguide slot antennas. The digital in-phase orthogonal signals are processed in the azimuth direction to generate dual-frequency beams, including: determining the bandwidth spacing of different frequencies at different beamwidths based on the operating frequency band of the waveguide slot antenna array and the waveguide dispersion effect; and obtaining dual-frequency beams by radar frequency agility processing based on the bandwidth spacing.

[0057] Since phased array weather radar uses a one-dimensional electrically scanned digital slot waveguide antenna for elevation, it can use sum and difference beams for elevation angle measurement. The challenge lies in improving the accuracy of azimuth angle measurement. By utilizing the waveguide dispersion effect in the azimuth direction of the traveling wave slot antenna, that is, within a certain frequency bandwidth, the direction of the azimuth beam received by the antenna changes with the frequency of transmission, multi-beam measurement can be achieved through frequency division multiplexing.

[0058] Taking the radar operating frequency band of 5.3GHz to 5.5GHz as an example, the beam pointing variation within a 0.2GHz bandwidth is approximately 2.2 times the 3dB beamwidth. When the beam separation angle corresponding to two frequency points is 0.5 times the 3dB beamwidth, the corresponding bandwidth spacing is 45MHz; when the beam separation angle corresponding to two frequency points is 0.25 times the 3dB beamwidth, the corresponding bandwidth spacing is 20MHz.

[0059] By utilizing the frequency agility of radar, two independent beam directions are generated to obtain a dual-frequency beam. Then, the dual-frequency beam can be processed by a multi-beam angle measurement algorithm to obtain the azimuth angle measurement accuracy.

[0060] Optionally, in step S104, meteorological information is extracted from the multi-beam digital signal to obtain meteorological parameters of the meteorological object, including at least one of the following: digital video integration (DVIP) is performed on the digital in-phase quadrature signal of the multi-beam digital signal to obtain the signal power of the meteorological object; pulse pair processing (PPP) / fast Fourier transform (FFT) is performed on the digital in-phase quadrature signal to obtain the radial velocity and spectral width of the meteorological object.

[0061] Meteorological information is processed and extracted from the digital in-phase orthogonal signals of multi-beam digital signals. After processing such as digital video integral processing (DVIP), pulse pair processing (PPP) or fast Fourier transform (FFT), the signal power (echo intensity), radial velocity, spectral width, etc. of meteorological targets are output.

[0062] Optionally, in step S104, the target information extraction of the multi-beam digital signal to obtain the target information of the target object includes: performing detection processing on the digital in-phase orthogonal signal of the multi-beam digital signal to obtain the distance information of the target object; performing elevation angle measurement processing on the sum and difference beams of the multi-beam digital signal to obtain the elevation angle of the target object; performing azimuth angle measurement processing on the dual-frequency beams of the multi-beam digital signal to obtain the azimuth angle of the target object; and generating the target object's mark based on the distance information, elevation angle, and azimuth angle.

[0063] The radar extracts target range from the digital in-phase orthogonal signal of the multi-beam digital signal through detection, and performs elevation and azimuth angle measurements to extract and process target information. The servo receives control commands and generates corresponding drive signals to drive the antenna to scan within a specified azimuth angle. The radar also features monitoring and system calibration functions, allowing for real-time online monitoring and calibration of all components.

[0064] It should be noted that the steps shown in the flowchart in the accompanying drawings can be executed in a computer system such as a set of computer-executable instructions, and although a logical order is shown in the flowchart, in some cases the steps shown or described may be executed in a different order than that shown here.

[0065] It should be noted that this application also provides an optional implementation method, which will be described in detail below.

[0066] The current technology addresses the issue that weather radars cannot simultaneously perform weather detection and target surveillance. With the development of weather radar and the application of phased array technology in weather detection, compared to conventional mechanically scanned weather radars, the use of electronic scanning and multi-beam technology has significantly increased sampling speed. Phased array weather radars offer a substantial improvement in temporal resolution for observing weather systems, making it easier to detect short-period weather changes, capture small-scale weather systems, and improve the comparability of data from different spatial locations within the same volume scan. This plays a crucial role in weather system monitoring and early warning. In particular, phased array weather radars employing digital beamforming (DBF) technology offer flexible beam control and easy beamforming, providing a solid foundation for expanding the functionality of phased array weather radars.

[0067] By leveraging the advantages of phased array weather radar's high data rate and flexible beam control, and adding target processing channels, the radar can simultaneously detect, extract, and process information on targets such as aircraft during meteorological observation. This enables phased array weather radar to achieve multi-functional applications, demonstrating both technical feasibility and practical value.

[0068] This embodiment provides a phased array weather radar system with target monitoring capabilities. Addressing the issue that mechanically scanned weather radars lack the ability to detect, extract, and process targets such as aircraft, this system fully utilizes the high data rate and flexible beam control advantages of phased array weather radars. Based on a one-dimensional digital phased array weather radar with azimuth mechanical scanning and elevation electronic scanning, it adds a target processing channel. This is achieved through sum-difference beam angle measurement in elevation and multi-beam angle measurement in azimuth, thus providing a phased array weather radar system with target monitoring capabilities, effectively enhancing the functionality of weather radars. This invention is achieved through the following technical solution:

[0069] 1. Construct a phased array weather radar system;

[0070] The phased array weather radar adopts a one-dimensional digital active phased array system with azimuth mechanical scanning and elevation electronic scanning; it consists of a waveguide slot antenna array, transceiver components, frequency source, digital beamforming module, signal processor, data processing terminal, and target processing terminal.

[0071] 2. Add target processing channel: The target processing channel consists of DBF subsystem and target processing terminal. DBF subsystem performs digital beamforming processing on the multi-element IQ signals output by transceiver subsystem, forming sum and difference beams in the elevation dimension. The sum beam is sent to data processing terminal for meteorological information extraction; the sum and difference beam data are sent to target processing terminal for processing and extraction of target information such as aircraft.

[0072] 3. Achieve elevation angle measurement: The target processing terminal measures the elevation dimension sum and difference beams using the sum and difference method, thereby improving the accuracy of elevation dimension target angle measurement.

[0073] 4. Achieving Azimuth Angle Measurement: In the azimuth dimension, due to the use of a waveguide slot antenna and a one-dimensional electronic scanning system for elevation, it is impossible to generate sum and difference beams. This system utilizes the dispersion effect of the waveguide slot antenna and, by changing the operating frequency, enables the antenna to have a certain electronic scanning capability in the azimuth direction. Furthermore, by rationally setting the operating frequency and utilizing analog front-end broadband reception, multi-channel digital processing, and target detection processing channels, azimuth multi-beam measurement is achieved. The multi-beam angle measurement method is then employed to improve the accuracy of azimuth target angle measurement.

[0074] 5. Local azimuth volume scanning: To further improve target surveillance capabilities, taking into account the high speed of aircraft and hail suppression missiles, the phased array weather radar rotates within a designated azimuth range and performs RHI observations in elevation via electronic scanning, further improving the data update rate and enabling repeated target detection in a very short time.

[0075] The phased array weather radar employs a one-dimensional digital active phased array system, with mechanical azimuth scanning and electronic elevation scanning. It consists of a waveguide slot antenna array, transceiver components, a frequency source, a digital beamforming module, a signal processor, and a data processing terminal. By adding a target processing terminal, the radar gains target surveillance capabilities, such as... Figure 2 As shown, Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the overall architecture of a radar system provided according to an embodiment of this application. The phased array weather radar has the following technical features:

[0076] A. The antenna uses a waveguide slot antenna array, with each waveguide slot antenna element connected to a digital transceiver channel, and the waveguide feed is end-fed.

[0077] B. The transceiver includes multiple digital transceiver components, each of which includes multiple (typically 8) transceiver channels. A digital waveform generator (DWG) can provide different transmit phases for each antenna element, offset (electrically scan) and shape the transmitted beam to produce different beam directions and shapes.

[0078] C. The digital beamforming module has multiple digital beamforming capabilities and can output multiple beamforming results according to the array element settings.

[0079] D. The servo turntable adopts a one-dimensional azimuth turntable plus an elevation erection structure, that is, the phased array weather radar uses mechanical scanning in the azimuth direction and has the ability to perform one-dimensional electronic scanning in the elevation direction. This is also the antenna form and scanning method commonly used by phased array weather radars to balance scanning capability and cost.

[0080] The phased array weather radar operates as follows: The digital beamforming module sends amplitude and phase weighting information and baseband signals to the digital transceiver unit (DVR) based on the desired transmit beam shape. The DVR receives control, clock, and synchronization signals from the system, uses a digital signal generator (DDS) to generate excitation signals for each unit's transmission, amplifies the power, and sends them to the waveguide slot antenna unit. The transmitted signals are radiated into the air through the waveguide slot antenna array. The radiated electromagnetic waves undergo power combining in space to form the transmit beam. When the radiated electromagnetic waves encounter meteorological targets such as clouds and rain, they are backscattered, becoming echo signals from these meteorological targets; when they encounter targets such as aircraft, they are reflected, becoming echo signals from non-meteorological targets.

[0081] The echo signals received by each waveguide slot antenna element are sent to the analog transceiver module. After amplitude limiting, low-noise amplification, down-conversion, A / D sampling, and digital down-conversion processing, digital orthogonal video signals I and Q, reflecting signal strength and phase information, are generated. These are the aforementioned digital in-phase orthogonal signals, packaged, and transmitted via optical fiber to the digital beamforming module. At the digital beamforming module, channel equalization and correction are performed, and amplitude and phase control processing is carried out using DBF to form the required receiving beam. The synthesized multi-beam digital signal is sent to the signal processor via one optical fiber for meteorological information processing and extraction. After processing such as digital video integral processing (DVIP), pulse pair (PPP), or fast Fourier transform (FFT), the signal power (echo intensity), radial velocity, and spectral width of the meteorological target are output. The other optical fiber is sent to the target processing terminal, where the target distance is extracted through detection, and elevation and azimuth angle measurements are performed for target information extraction and processing. The servo receives control commands and generates corresponding drive signals to drive the antenna to scan within the specified azimuth angle. The radar is also designed with monitoring and system calibration functions, which can perform real-time online monitoring and calibration of each component.

[0082] Figure 3 This is a flowchart of the data processing for target object detection according to the embodiments of this application. The target processing flow is as follows: Figure 3 As shown, the digital beamforming module preprocesses the data, generating sum and difference beams in elevation and dual-frequency beams in azimuth, and sends the IQ data with angle code information to the target processing terminal. At the target processing terminal, step S1 performs constant false alarm rate (CFAR) detection on the received IQ data to extract range information, uses sum and difference beams for elevation angle measurement, and uses dual-frequency beams for azimuth angle measurement. Step S2 merges and aggregates the generated point tracks. Step S3 generates track information through data processing steps such as track initiation, track filtering, extrapolation, point track association, and point navigation resolution. Step S4 displays the point navigation information on the display device, thus completing the extraction and processing of target information.

[0083] Since phased array weather radars employ one-dimensional electrically scanned digital slot waveguide antennas for elevation, elevation angle measurement can be performed using sum and difference beams. The challenge lies in improving azimuth angle measurement accuracy. This invention utilizes the waveguide dispersion effect in the azimuth direction of traveling wave slot antennas. Specifically, within a certain frequency bandwidth, the azimuth beam direction received by the antenna changes with the frequency of transmission, achieving multi-beam measurement through frequency division. Taking the radar operating frequency band of 5.3GHz to 5.5GHz as an example, the beam direction change within a 0.2GHz bandwidth is approximately 2.2 times the 3dB beamwidth. When the beam separation angle corresponding to two frequency points is 0.5 times the 3dB beamwidth, the corresponding bandwidth spacing is 45MHz; when the beam separation angle corresponding to two frequency points is 0.25 times the 3dB beamwidth, the corresponding bandwidth spacing is 20MHz. Utilizing the radar's frequency agility, two independent beam directions are generated, and angle measurement accuracy is provided through a multi-beam angle measurement algorithm.

[0084] To further enhance target surveillance capabilities, and taking advantage of the high speeds of aircraft and hail suppression munitions, the phased-array weather radar rotates within a designated azimuth range and performs RHI observations via electronic scanning in elevation, further improving the data update rate. This allows for repeated target detection in a very short time, with rapid radar azimuth and elevation scans, such as... Figure 4 As shown, Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of a radar scanning structure provided according to an embodiment of this application.

[0085] The phased array weather radar system with target monitoring function provided in this embodiment only adds a target signal processing channel. While achieving weather detection, it can also perform high-precision position measurement of targets such as aircraft, making it economical and practical. Compared with mechanically scanned weather radar, it expands and enhances the functions and applications of weather radar. Compared with surveillance radar with weather detection function, it is more suitable for weather detection, allowing for simultaneous weather detection and target monitoring.

[0086] The practical value of this implementation method in the meteorological field lies in the fact that evaluating the effectiveness of weather modification operations has always been a challenge, and the real-time and scientific nature of the analysis and evaluation of the effects before and after hail suppression operations or aircraft seeding is difficult to achieve. By adopting this system, on the one hand, the rapid scanning capability (especially the rapid vertical profile scanning capability) of phased array weather radar is used to accurately measure changes in cloud formations before and after operations or seeding; on the other hand, the target monitoring function of this system is used to measure the precise location information of blast-resistant munitions and seeding aircraft, providing comparative observation data between the operational area and non-operational areas, and providing real-time multi-dimensional detection information for weather modification operation evaluation.

[0087] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of a radar system provided according to an embodiment of this application, such as... Figure 5As shown in the figure, this application embodiment also provides a radar system, including: an antenna array 51, a transceiver component 52, a beamforming module 53, a data processing terminal 54, and a target processing terminal 55, as detailed below.

[0088] Antenna array 51 is used to transmit a beam and receive echo signals. The transmitted beam is used to detect meteorological objects and target objects within a preset range. Antenna array 51 is connected to transceiver component 52, which processes the echo signals to generate digital in-phase quadrature signals. The digital in-phase quadrature signals are used to characterize the signal strength and phase information of the echo signals. Transceiver component 52 is connected to beamforming module 53, which performs digital beamforming (DBF) processing based on the digital in-phase quadrature signals to generate multi-beam digital signals of the desired beams. The desired beams are the beams reflected by meteorological objects and target objects in the echo signals. Beamforming module 53 is connected to data processing terminal 54, which extracts meteorological information from the multi-beam digital signals to obtain meteorological parameters of the meteorological objects. Beamforming module 53 is also connected to target processing terminal 55, which extracts target information from the multi-beam digital signals to obtain target information of the target objects.

[0089] By transmitting a beam through an antenna array and receiving echo signals, the system detects meteorological objects and target objects within a preset range. The echo signals are processed to generate digital in-phase quadrature signals, characterizing the signal strength and phase information. Digital beamforming (DBF) processing is then performed on the digital in-phase quadrature signals to generate multi-beam digital signals reflecting the desired beams from the meteorological objects and target objects. Meteorological information is extracted from the multi-beam digital signals to obtain meteorological parameters of the meteorological objects, and target information is extracted from the multi-beam digital signals to obtain target information of the target objects. This achieves the goal of obtaining detection information of meteorological objects or target objects through different processing of the echo signals, realizing the technical effect of simultaneously detecting meteorological objects and target objects. This solves the problem in related technologies where meteorological radars cannot simultaneously perform meteorological detection and target monitoring.

[0090] This application also provides a data processing device for a radar system. It should be noted that the data processing device for the radar system in this application can be used to execute the data processing method for a radar system provided in this application. The data processing device for the radar system provided in this application is described below. The device includes: a detection module, an acquisition module, a beam module, and a processing module. The device will be described in detail below.

[0091] The detection module transmits a beam through an antenna array and receives echo signals. The transmitted beam is used to detect meteorological objects and target objects within a preset range. The acquisition module, connected to the detection module, processes the echo signals to generate digital in-phase quadrature signals, which characterize the signal strength and phase information of the echo signals. The beamforming module, connected to the acquisition module, performs digital beamforming (DBF) processing based on the digital in-phase quadrature signals to generate multi-beam digital signals of the desired beams, where the desired beams are the beams reflected from the meteorological objects and target objects in the echo signals. The processing module, connected to the beamforming module, extracts meteorological information from the multi-beam digital signals to obtain meteorological parameters of the meteorological objects and extracts target information from the multi-beam digital signals to obtain target information of the target objects.

[0092] The data processing device of the aforementioned radar system transmits a beam through an antenna array and receives echo signals to detect meteorological objects and target objects within a preset range. It processes the echo signals to generate digital in-phase quadrature signals, characterizing the signal strength and phase information of the echo signals. Based on the digital in-phase quadrature signals, it performs digital beamforming (DBF) processing to generate multi-beam digital signals of the desired beams reflected by the meteorological objects and target objects. Meteorological information is extracted from the multi-beam digital signals to obtain meteorological parameters of the meteorological objects, and target information is extracted from the multi-beam digital signals to obtain target information of the target objects. This achieves the goal of obtaining detection information of meteorological objects or target objects through different processing of the echo signals, realizing the technical effect of simultaneously detecting meteorological objects and target objects. This solves the problem in related technologies where meteorological radars can only perform alternating detection by adding radars and cannot simultaneously perform meteorological detection and target monitoring.

[0093] The data processing device of the radar system includes a processor and a memory. The detection module, acquisition module, beam module, processing module, etc. are all stored as program units in the memory. The processor executes the program units stored in the memory to realize the corresponding functions.

[0094] It should also be noted that the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Unless otherwise specified, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes that element.

[0095] Those skilled in the art will understand that embodiments of this application can be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, this application can take the form of a completely hardware embodiment, a completely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, this application can take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) containing computer-usable program code.

[0096] The above are merely embodiments of this application and are not intended to limit the scope of this application. Various modifications and variations can be made to this application by those skilled in the art. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made within the spirit and principles of this application should be included within the scope of the claims of this application.

Claims

1. A method of data processing for a radar system, characterized by, The method includes: The system transmits a beam through an antenna array and receives echo signals, wherein the transmitted beam is used to detect meteorological objects and target objects within a preset range. The echo signal is processed to generate a digital in-phase quadrature signal, wherein the digital in-phase quadrature signal is used to characterize the signal strength and phase information of the echo signal; Digital beamforming (DBF) processing is performed on the digital in-phase orthogonal signal to generate a multi-beam digital signal of the desired beam, wherein the desired beam is the beam reflected by the meteorological object and the target object in the echo signal; Meteorological information is extracted from the multibeam digital signal to obtain the meteorological parameters of the meteorological object, and target information is extracted from the multibeam digital signal to obtain the target information of the target object.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, Processing the echo signal to generate a digital in-phase quadrature signal includes: The echo signal is preprocessed to obtain a processed echo signal, wherein the preprocessing includes amplitude limiting and low-noise amplification. The processed echo signal is down-converted and analog-to-digital sampled to obtain the digital in-phase quadrature signal.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The processed echo signal is down-converted and analog-to-digital sampled to obtain the digital in-phase quadrature signal, including: The processed echo signal is down-converted to obtain an intermediate frequency echo signal; The intermediate frequency echo signal is subjected to analog-to-digital sampling processing to obtain a digital intermediate frequency echo signal; The digital intermediate frequency echo signal is subjected to digital down-conversion processing, and the digital in-phase quadrature signal is obtained.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Before performing digital beamforming (DBF) processing on the digital in-phase quadrature signal to generate the multi-beam digital signal of the desired beam, the method further includes: The digital in-phase quadrature signal is subjected to channel equalization and correction processing to obtain a processed digital quadrature video signal, wherein the processed digital in-phase quadrature signal is used for DBF processing to obtain the multi-beam digital signal.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, Digital beamforming (DBF) processing is performed on the aforementioned digital in-phase quadrature signal to generate a multi-beam digital signal for the desired beam, including: The digital in-phase quadrature signal is subjected to DBF processing in the elevation direction to generate a sum-difference beam; The digital in-phase quadrature signal is subjected to DBF processing in the azimuth direction to generate a dual-frequency beam; The multi-beam digital signal is generated by packaging the digital in-phase quadrature signals, along with the corresponding sum and difference beams and dual-frequency beams.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, The antenna array includes multiple waveguide slot antennas, and performs DBF processing on the azimuth component of the digital in-phase quadrature signal to generate a dual-frequency beam, including: Based on the operating frequency band of the waveguide slot antenna array and the waveguide dispersion effect, the bandwidth spacing of different frequencies under different beamwidths is determined. The dual-frequency beam is obtained by radar frequency agility processing based on the bandwidth interval.

7. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, Meteorological information is extracted from the multibeam digital signal to obtain meteorological parameters of the meteorological object, including at least one of the following: The signal power of the meteorological object is obtained by performing digital video integration (DVIP) on the digital in-phase quadrature signal of the multi-beam digital signal. The radial velocity and spectral width of the meteorological object are obtained by performing pulse pair processing (PPP) / Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) on the digital in-phase quadrature signal.

8. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, Target information extraction is performed on the multi-beam digital signal to obtain target information of the target object, including: The distance information of the target object is obtained by performing detection processing on the digital in-phase quadrature signal of the multi-beam digital signal; The pitch angle of the target object is obtained by performing pitch angle measurement on the sum and difference beams of the multi-beam digital signal; The dual-frequency beam of the multi-beam digital signal is subjected to azimuth angle measurement processing to obtain the azimuth angle of the target object; Based on the distance information, the pitch angle and the azimuth angle are used to generate the dot pattern of the target object.

9. A radar system, characterized in that, include: Antenna array, transceiver components, beamforming module, data processing terminal, target processing terminal, The antenna array is used to transmit a beam and receive echo signals, wherein the transmitted beam is used to detect meteorological objects and target objects within a preset range; The antenna array is connected to the transceiver component, which processes the echo signal to generate a digital in-phase quadrature signal, wherein the digital in-phase quadrature signal is used to characterize the signal strength and phase information of the echo signal. The transceiver component is connected to the beamforming module, which is used to perform digital beamforming (DBF) processing based on the digital in-phase quadrature signal to generate a multi-beam digital signal with the desired beam. The desired beam is the beam reflected by the meteorological object and the target object in the echo signal. The beamforming module is connected to the data processing terminal, which is used to extract meteorological information from the multi-beam digital signal to obtain the meteorological parameters of the meteorological object. The beamforming module is also connected to the target processing terminal, which is used to extract target information from the multi-beam digital signal to obtain the target information of the target object.

10. The system according to claim 9, characterized in that, The antenna array includes multiple waveguide slot antenna elements; There are multiple transceiver components, each of which includes a first number of transceiver channels, and each transceiver channel is connected to a waveguide slot antenna element. The beamforming module includes a digital beamforming (DBF) processing module.

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