An experimental study of digital array passive bistatic radar system

Passive bistatic radars (PBR) using illuminators of opportunity have attracted much attention over the last years. However, most PBR systems have been rather experimental set-ups tailored to a single frequency band or implemented as laboratory test devices. In case of PBR exploiting transmitters for sources of illumination, there is a problem that radar transmitting signal parameters are unknown, and radar signal processing cannot be conducted accurately. This paper presents a study to demonstrate the feasibility of using a Digital Array Passive Bistatic Radar (DA-PBR) system in weak target detection. The design considerations and the resulting DA-PBR structure are described and the evaluations of various measurement campaigns with this system are summarized.