Practical aspects of optimal mismatch filtering and adaptive pulse compression for FM waveforms

The sensitivity impact of range straddling in the form of mismatch loss is well known. What is less appreciated, however, is the effect upon dynamic range, particularly for receive filtering that seeks to minimize range sidelobes. For FM-based waveforms, which are readily implementable in a high-power radar system, it is shown that least-squares (LS) mismatched filtering (MMF) realizes a penalty in sidelobe suppression when range straddling occurs. This degradation can be partially compensated through modification of the LS MMF implementation. Alternatively, adaptive pulse compression (APC), appropriately modified for application to FM waveforms, demonstrates robustness to both straddling and eclipsing effects. Simulated and experimentally measured results are provided to demonstrate the efficacy of these filtering approaches.