Improved bandwidth-synthesis method of stepped-frequency radar for non-cooperative targets

During bandwidth synthesis in stepped-frequency radar, amplitude and phase discontinuity between neighbouring pulses should be corrected by a filter. Usually, this filter is constructed by measured data from a calibrator. However, this may be infeasible in non-cooperative situations. Using the signal characteristics after IDFT across received pulses, an improved bandwidth synthesis method based on scatterer alignment is proposed, which neither requires calibration, nor has the serious deficits of the classical IDFT method, such as a limited unambiguous range-profiling window. Analysis of real data collected by a Ka-band radar has verified its advantages.