Comparison of different array modes for portable ultra-wideband through wall imaging radar

Considering the requirement of portability, the number of antennas used for the portable ultra-wideband (UWB) through wall imaging radar (TWIR) is limited. It is faced with challenges to take full advantage of antennas to obtain the optimal performance. In this paper, we study three kinds of array configuration modes (STR, SSIMO and MIMO) and compare their imaging performance based on two criterions - cross-range resolution and interference region (IR). Different array modes can generate different effective aperture and element density. Our simulation results show that the array configuration should be considered carefully to get the optimized aperture and element density. Among the three array mode, MIMO obtains the best combined performance. The STR mode is seldom employed because of the difficulties for engineers to realize the antenna multiplexing. And SSIMO is most time consuming.