Survey of bistatic and multistatic radar

A view of the broad subject area of multistatic radar is given in an attempt to clarify the several different terms used for various possible configurations and to classify them. The potential of multistatic systems compared to monostatic ones is listed, and the dependence on different configurations, types of co-operation, implemented techniques, modes of operation and different applications are shown. The complexity in all areas of bistatic radar caused by the initially simple bistatic geometry is explained in detail, including Doppler characteristics, cell area, resolution and cross-section. It is shown that pulse chasing by a correct motion of the varying receive window with multiple-beam generation and switching or scanning is necessary, if bistatic radar is to compete with monostatic radar. Compromise configurations with reduced complexity and limited potential for special applications are classified and the basic additional performances of multi-bistatic configurations are listed.