Radar Core Electronics for the European Radar SOSTAR-X - Recent Results

A Radar Core Electronics (CE) has been developed for the European SOSTAR-X (Stand-Off Surveillance and Target Acquisition Radar) programme. Taking into account the requirements for different SAR modes, MTI modes, and simultaneous SAR/MTI modes, the main functions (frequency genera-tion, radar timing, waveform generation, demodulation, A/D-conversion, digital pre-processing and formatting) have been identified, and a modular, configurable and flexible CE has been designed. Key features are e.g. programmable high resolution waveforms, waveform agility, bursts with different pulse repetition frequencies (PRFs), pulse synchronous and burst synchronous operation, and radar sensor control incl. antenna pointing control. The CE has been integrated and tested and turned out to fully comply with the requirements. After integration with the antenna during the Radar Sensor (RS) integration in the Compact Antenna Test Range in Friedrichshafen, the RS was embedded into the SOSTAR-X demonstration system on a Fokker 100 aircraft. The performed tests and obtained results show the high performance of the CE and proved that the CE performs all tasks as expected. The design of the CE is also suitable for other carriers, like UAVs and satellites. Other programmes like the TerraSAR-X satellite for which EADS also built the Radar Core Electronics show that a small chassis size can be achieved while meeting a similar or even better performance.