A method and system for sidelobe blanking of unit digital cylindrical phased array radar

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and system for sidelobe blanking of a unit digital cylindrical phased array radar, belonging to the field of cylindrical phased array radars. The method comprises: obtaining a cylindrical phased array; dividing the cylindrical phased array into K sub-arrays; performing digital beamforming on the K sub-arrays to form three beams of sum, azimuth difference, and elevation difference for each sub-array; after digital beamforming, using the array element at the most central physical position of the K sub-arrays as a blanking channel, multiplying the blanking channel by different weight coefficients K1 and K2 to form an azimuth blanking beam and an elevation blanking beam, respectively; performing joint detection on the sum beam of each sub-array and the azimuth blanking channel and elevation blanking channel of the K-1 sub-arrays, suppressing sidelobe blanking at different azimuths and elevations, and forming a final detection point. The above scheme in the present invention effectively suppresses sidelobe interference and reduces false alarms.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of cylindrical phased array radars, and in particular to a method and system for sidelobe blanking of a unit digital cylindrical phased array radar. Background Art

[0002] A typical cylindrical phased array antenna has M*N array elements, all evenly distributed across the cylindrical array surface. The cylindrical array surface consists of N circular rings, each with M elements (this can also be understood as M vertically arranged linear arrays evenly distributed across the cylindrical surface, each consisting of N elements). Unit digitization involves performing analog-to-digital processing on each element channel. For example, a cylindrical phased array with M*N elements would include M*N ADCs.

[0003] Radar main antennas are typically highly directional, with high mainlobe gain and low sidelobe gain. The mainlobe is typically very narrow, while the sidelobes cover a large area. Therefore, interference signals are highly likely to enter the radar antenna through the sidelobes. To suppress interference, the sidelobe gain is typically very low. However, when the radar is exposed to strong active jamming, the interference signal can overwhelm the target signal. Cylindrical phased arrays, however, are prone to high sidelobes, both during transmission and reception. To effectively suppress interference from these sidelobes, dedicated shadowing channels are required to mitigate these interferences. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a method and system for sidelobe blanking of a unit digital cylindrical phased array radar, which can effectively suppress the interference of side lobes and reduce false alarms.

[0005] To achieve the above object, the present invention provides the following solutions:

[0006] In a first aspect, the present invention provides a method for sidelobe blanking of a unit digital cylindrical phased array radar, the method comprising:

[0007] Get a cylindrical phased array;

[0008] Dividing the cylindrical phased array into K sub-arrays;

[0009] Perform digital beamforming on the K sub-arrays to form three beams of sum, azimuth difference, and elevation difference for each sub-array;

[0010] After digital beamforming, the array element at the physical center of the K sub-arrays is used as the blanking channel. The blanking channel is multiplied by different weight coefficients K1 and K2 to form azimuth blanking beams and elevation blanking beams respectively.

[0011] The sum beam of each sub-array is jointly detected with the azimuth blanking channel and elevation blanking channel of K-1 sub-arrays to suppress the sidelobe blanking at different azimuths and elevations and form the final detection point.

[0012] Optionally, the cylindrical phased array includes M*N array elements.

[0013] Optionally, each sub-array includes M*N / K array elements.

[0014] In a second aspect, the present invention provides a unit digital cylindrical phased array radar sidelobe blanking system, the system comprising:

[0015] A cylindrical phased array acquisition module, used for acquiring a cylindrical phased array;

[0016] A division module, configured to divide the cylindrical phased array into K sub-arrays;

[0017] A digital beamforming module, configured to perform digital beamforming on the K sub-arrays to form three beams of sum, azimuth difference, and elevation difference for each sub-array;

[0018] A azimuth-blind beam and elevation-blind beam determination module is used to, after digital beamforming, use the array element at the physical center of the K sub-arrays as a blanking channel and multiply the blanking channel by different weight coefficients K1 and K2 to form an azimuth-blind beam and an elevation-blind beam, respectively;

[0019] The detection point determination module is used to jointly detect the sum beam of each subarray with the azimuth blanking channel and elevation blanking channel of K-1 subarrays, suppress the sidelobe blanking at different azimuths and elevations, and form the final detection point.

[0020] Optionally, the cylindrical phased array includes M*N array elements.

[0021] Optionally, each sub-array includes M*N / K array elements.

[0022] In a third aspect, the present invention provides an electronic device comprising a memory and a processor, wherein the memory is used to store a computer program, and the processor runs the computer program to enable the electronic device to execute the above-mentioned unit digitized cylindrical phased array radar sidelobe blanking method.

[0023] In a fourth aspect, the present invention provides a computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that it stores a computer program, which, when executed by a processor, implements the above-mentioned unit digital cylindrical phased array radar sidelobe blanking method.

[0024] According to the specific embodiments provided by the present invention, the present invention discloses the following technical effects:

[0025] Cylindrical phased arrays are common arrays that can achieve 360° azimuth coverage through sliding window scanning. The arc-shaped array elements tend to form high sidelobes in the left and right 120° azimuths, especially when the array element spacing is large (greater than half a wavelength). The present invention effectively suppresses sidelobe interference and reduces false alarms by combining detection of the current subarray with K-1 shadow channels. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying any creative work.

[0027] Figure 1 This is a flow chart of a method for sidelobe blanking of a unit digital cylindrical phased array radar according to embodiment 1 of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 2 This is a schematic structural diagram of a unit digital cylindrical phased array radar sidelobe blanking system according to embodiment 2 of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] The following will clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative efforts are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0030] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a method and system for sidelobe blanking of a unit digital cylindrical phased array radar, which can effectively suppress the interference of side lobes and reduce false alarms.

[0031] In order to make the above-mentioned objects, features and advantages of the present invention more obvious and easy to understand, the present invention is further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0032] Example 1

[0033] Figure 1 The embodiment of the present invention is a method for sidelobe blanking of a unit digital cylindrical phased array radar, such as Figure 1 As shown, the method of the present invention includes:

[0034] Step 101: Acquire a cylindrical phased array.

[0035] The cylindrical phased array contains M*N array elements, forming K sub-transmitting and receiving beams.

[0036] Step 102: Divide the cylindrical phased array into K sub-arrays.

[0037] Each sub-array includes M*N / K array elements.

[0038] Step 103: Perform digital beamforming on the K sub-arrays to form three beams of sum, azimuth difference, and elevation difference for each sub-array.

[0039] Digital beam forming (DBF) technology is used for array antennas. It utilizes the array's aperture and digital signal processing to form a receive beam in the desired direction. The physical meaning of DBF is that while the directivity pattern of a single antenna is omnidirectional, digital processing methods are used to compensate for phase differences caused by the different propagation paths of the sensors in different spatial locations for incident signals from a particular direction. This allows for in-phase superposition, maximizing energy reception in that direction and completing beamforming to receive the desired signal. This concentration of the array's directional gain in a specific direction is equivalent to forming a "beam." By adjusting weights, the beam can be directed in different directions, enabling beam scanning. Multiple beams can be formed simultaneously through multi-channel parallel processing, and appropriate window functions can be selected to reduce sidelobe levels.

[0040] Step 104: After digital beamforming, the array element at the most physical center of the K sub-arrays is used as a blanking channel. The blanking channel is multiplied by different weight coefficients K1 and K2 to form an azimuth blanking beam and an elevation blanking beam, respectively.

[0041] Step 105: perform joint detection on the sum beam of each sub-array and the azimuth blanking channels and elevation blanking channels of the K-1 sub-arrays to suppress sidelobe blanking at different azimuths and elevations, and form a final detection point.

[0042] Example 2

[0043] Figure 2 FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a unit digital cylindrical phased array radar sidelobe blanking system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 As shown, the system of the present invention includes:

[0044] Cylindrical phased array acquisition module 201, used to acquire a cylindrical phased array.

[0045] The division module 202 is configured to divide the cylindrical phased array into K sub-arrays.

[0046] The digital beamforming module 203 is configured to perform digital beamforming on the K sub-arrays to form three beams of sum, azimuth difference, and elevation difference for each sub-array.

[0047] The azimuth-masked beam and elevation-masked beam determination module 204 is configured to, after digital beamforming, use the physically centermost elements of the K sub-arrays as the masked channels and multiply the masked channels by different weight coefficients K1 and K2 to form azimuth-masked beams and elevation-masked beams, respectively.

[0048] The detection point determination module 205 is used to perform joint detection on the sum beam of each subarray and the azimuth blanking channels and elevation blanking channels of K-1 subarrays, suppress the sidelobe blanking at different azimuths and elevations, and form the final detection point.

[0049] Example 3

[0050] The present invention provides an electronic device, comprising a memory and a processor, wherein the memory is used to store a computer program, and the processor runs the computer program to enable the electronic device to execute the above-mentioned unit digital cylindrical phased array radar sidelobe blanking method.

[0051] Example 4

[0052] The present invention provides a computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that it stores a computer program, which, when executed by a processor, implements the above-mentioned unit digital cylindrical phased array radar sidelobe blanking method.

[0053] The above solution in the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0054] Cylindrical phased arrays are common arrays that can achieve 360° azimuth coverage through sliding window scanning. The arc-shaped array elements tend to form high sidelobes in the left and right 120° azimuths, especially when the array element spacing is large (greater than half a wavelength). The present invention effectively suppresses sidelobe interference and reduces false alarms by combining detection of the current subarray with K-1 shadow channels.

[0055] The various embodiments in this specification are described in a progressive manner, with each embodiment focusing on the differences from other embodiments. Reference can be made to the common and similar parts between the various embodiments. For the systems disclosed in the embodiments, since they correspond to the methods disclosed in the embodiments, the description is relatively simple, and the relevant parts can be referred to the method description.

[0056] This document uses specific examples to illustrate the principles and implementation methods of the present invention. The above examples are only intended to help understand the method and core concept of the present invention. At the same time, those skilled in the art will find that the specific implementation methods and application scopes may vary based on the concept of the present invention. In summary, the contents of this specification should not be construed as limiting the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for sidelobe blanking of a unit digital cylindrical phased array radar, characterized in that: The method comprises: Get a cylindrical phased array; Dividing the cylindrical phased array into K sub-arrays; Perform digital beamforming on the K sub-arrays to form three beams of sum, azimuth difference, and elevation difference for each sub-array; After digital beamforming, the array element at the center of the K sub-array physical position is used as the shadow channel, and the shadow channel is multiplied by different weight coefficients. and , forming azimuth-blind beam and elevation-blind beam respectively; The sum beam of each sub-array is jointly detected with the azimuth blanking channel and elevation blanking channel of K-1 sub-arrays to suppress the sidelobe blanking at different azimuths and elevations and form the final detection point.

2. The method for sidelobe blanking of a unit digital cylindrical phased array radar according to claim 1, characterized in that: The cylindrical phased array includes M*N array elements.

3. The method for sidelobe blanking of a unit digital cylindrical phased array radar according to claim 1, characterized in that: Each sub-array includes M*N / K array elements.

4. A unit digital cylindrical phased array radar sidelobe blanking system, characterized in that: The system comprises: A cylindrical phased array acquisition module, used for acquiring a cylindrical phased array; A division module, configured to divide the cylindrical phased array into K sub-arrays; A digital beamforming module, configured to perform digital beamforming on the K sub-arrays to form three beams of sum, azimuth difference, and elevation difference for each sub-array; The azimuth and elevation blind beam determination modules are used to take the most central element of the K sub-array physical positions as the blind channel after digital beam forming, and multiply the blind channel by different weight coefficients. and , forming azimuth-blind beam and elevation-blind beam respectively; The detection point determination module is used to jointly detect the sum beam of each subarray with the azimuth blanking channel and elevation blanking channel of K-1 subarrays, suppress the sidelobe blanking at different azimuths and elevations, and form the final detection point.

5. The unit digital cylindrical phased array radar sidelobe blanking system according to claim 4, characterized in that: The cylindrical phased array includes M*N array elements.

6. The unit digital cylindrical phased array radar sidelobe blanking system according to claim 4, characterized in that: Each sub-array includes M*N / K array elements.

7. An electronic device, characterized in that: The electronic device comprises a memory and a processor, wherein the memory is used to store a computer program, and the processor runs the computer program to enable the electronic device to perform the unit digitized cylindrical phased array radar sidelobe blanking method according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

8. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The device stores a computer program, which, when executed by a processor, implements the sidelobe blanking method for a unit digital cylindrical phased array radar as described in any one of claims 1 to 3.

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