Improvement in target detection performance of pulse coded Doppler radar based on multicarrier modulation with fast Fourier transform (FFT)

A new approach is proposed for improved target detection of radar systems. This approach is based on multicarrier modulation (MCM) with fast Fourier transforms, i.e. it uses IFFT for modulation in transmitters and FFT for demodulation in receivers. With this approach the required constant false alarm rate (CFAR) detection threshold for target detection in radar based on multicarrier modulation is lower than that required in the case of a single carrier radar system. The paper presents the target detection performance of multicarrier frequency radar in comparison with that of single carrier frequency radar in terms of single pulse detection thresholds. The multicarrier radar system proposed uses a 32-bit complementary code with 8 subcarriers. The detection thresholds required for detection of targets buried in noise, clutter and jamming are computed for a 32-bit complementary pulse coded Doppler radar system based on multicarrier modulation. The paper shows that the technique based on multicarrier modulation improves the target detection performance of a 32-bit complementary pulse coded Doppler radar system with reference to its detection performance when the same system uses a single carrier. This approach for radar target detection with the proposed technique is investigated with extensive simulations, and results are presented.