Hardware-in-the-loop radar waveform optimization using radiated emissions

A truly holistic approach to electromagnetic compatibility should include waveform design and diversity, especially when considering high-power radar systems. One current challenge is producing a radar waveform that is physically realizable and that is optimized for a radar´s actual hardware, including the chosen antennas. This work explores the optimization of physical radar radiated electromagnetic emissions based on the continuous phase modulation (CPM) implementation of polyphase codes along with a greedy search for the code search strategy. Multiple metrics for designing the waveform such as the peak sidelobe level (PSL), and integrated sidelobe level (ISL), were used during the optimization process. The optimization of the radar´s waveform includes the effects of the entire transmit chain, including the antenna by measuring the actual electromagnetically radiated emissions of the radar.