Scattering Center Modulator for Radar Phase Preservation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Modern radar systems face challenges in processing high-frequency signals due to the complexity of scattering center models, leading to high demands on hardware and software for real-time modulation, and the inability to process radar signals in complex-valued forms often results in loss of phase information when using only real-valued modulation, affecting the reliability of target signatures.
Innovation Solution
A scattering center modulator that modulates a single real-valued high-frequency signal with both the real and imaginary parts of the scattering coefficients, ensuring the phase information is included, using an analog-to-digital converter and generating replicas of the signal with specific delays for multiplication by the real and imaginary parts of the coefficients before addition, thereby reducing hardware complexity and maintaining real-time capability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If complex-valued modulation is used to preserve phase information, then reliability of target signatures is improved, but hardware complexity increases due to requirements for IQ demodulators and complex-valued processing components
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the necessary phase information from the complex scattering coefficients and applies it to real-valued signal modulation. Instead of processing complete complex-valued signals requiring IQ demodulators, the invention separates and utilizes only the phase components, thereby preserving target signature reliability while eliminating the need for complex hardware components.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/electrical system of complex-valued signal processing with an equivalent mathematical approach using real-valued signals. By substituting complex modulation with real-valued modulation enhanced by phase information from scattering coefficients, the invention achieves the same reliability without requiring complex hardware infrastructure.
2Device complexity
If real-valued modulation is used to reduce hardware complexity, then device complexity is reduced, but phase information is lost affecting target signature reliability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces phase information from scattering coefficients as an intermediary element that bridges real-valued modulation and phase preservation. This intermediary phase data is applied to the real-valued signals, enabling them to carry phase-related information without requiring complex modulation schemes, thus maintaining reliability while using simple hardware.
3Productivity
If high sampling rates and bandwidths are used for real-time modulation, then real-time capability is improved, but hardware complexity and processing demands increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and applies only the essential phase information from scattering coefficients to real-valued signals, avoiding the need for high sampling rates and bandwidths associated with complex-valued processing. This extraction approach maintains real-time modulation capability while significantly reducing hardware complexity and processing demands.
Data Source
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AI summary
A system is disclosed comprising an analog-to-digital converter (A/D converter) configured to convert a high-frequency (HF) signal into a single digital input signal; and a scatter center modulator configured to modulate the digital input signal, wherein the modulation comprises: generating a plurality of replicas of the digital input signal; delaying a first replica of the plurality of replicas by a first delay; delaying a second replica of the plurality of replicas by a second delay; multiplying the delayed first replica by a real part of a scatter coefficient; multiplying the delayed second replica by an imaginary part of the scatter coefficient; and adding the multiplied delayed first and second replicas to a digital output signal.