Information-theoretic matched waveform in signal dependent interference

The design of transmit waveforms is critical to the performance of a radar system. Traditionally, pulsed and wideband chirp transmit waveforms are used. Our focus here is on the design of waveforms matched to extended targets. In the literature, optimum transmit waveform design in additive receiver noise has been investigated both from SNR maximization and information-theoretic approaches. In this paper, we extend the information-based approach to the signal-dependent interference problem. In particular, we investigate the use of information theory to generate the optimum waveform matched to a Gaussian distributed target ensemble with known spectral variance in the presence of signal-dependent clutter. Several waveform design examples are shown. We also apply this waveform technique to a cognitive radar application.