Radar Systems Page 1

Radar Systems
Radar stands for RAdio Detection And Ranging. It is a type of radio system where radio
signals are used to determine the position or speed of an object. Often, the object is passive, so
the reflection of the radio signal off of the object is used to determine the speed or velocity of the
object. Radar is used for a variety of purposes, including weather monitoring, air traffic control,
speed enforcement, astrometry, and military applications.

1 Radar Range
Radar signals are usually pulses that are modulated onto an RF carrier. Pulses are used so that
multiple objects can be resolved in the time domain. In the simplest case, for a single reflector, a
pulse with measured round-trip time t allows the range to the object to be calculated as
ct
R=
2
The range resolution, ∆R, is
cτ
∆R =
2
where τ is the pulse width. If two targets, shown graphically in Figure 1, are closer than ∆R =
RA − RB apart, the pulses overlap and the two objects cannot be distinguished. There is usually
a compromise between range resolution and practical limitations of an RF system: narrower
pulses consume more bandwidth, and are more difficult to detect unless special signal processing
techniques are employed.

Figure 1: RADAR problem with two targets

Pulses are usually transmitted periodically so that range information can be provided in real time.
The pulse repetition frequency (PRF) is the rate of transmit pulse repetitions:
1
fr =
tr
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Introducing periodic pulses constrains the radar system as well, since if a target is located beyond
a range
ctr
Ru =
2
then the received pulse arrives after the next pulse has already been transmitted, resulting an
ambiguity as to which transmit pulse the received pulse was associated with in the first place.
To resolve the direction of a target, high gain antennas are used which have very high angular
resolution. By mounting the antenna on a rotating platform, the antenna can scan an area for
targets, producing radar data in angular sweeps. The type of beam varies with the application.
For interferometry and air traffic control, a fan beam is usually employed which is very narrow in
the azimuth direction but quite wide in the elevation plane. How would one shape an aperture
antenna to produce such a beam?

2 Types of Radar Systems

Radar systems can be implemented in one of two ways, which are summarized in Figure 2. In a
monostatic radar system, the transmitter and receiver are co-located at the same physical location,
as shown in diagram (b). The transmitter and receiver may even share the same antenna if a
duplexer is used to switch the antenna between the transmitter and receiver at the right points in
time. Alternatively, a circulator can be used (as shown in diagram (a)) which only allows power
flow from port to port in the direction shown by the arrow (it is an example of a non-reciprocal
network).
In some applications, the receiver is located at some distance remote from the transmitter. This
arrangement is called a bistatic radar system, as shown in diagram (c). It is more common in
weather measurements or in military applications.

3 Radar Reflection
Let’s analyze a monostatic radar system where the same path is traversed by a radio signal to and
from the target. To determine the power of the received signal, we simply use a link budget as we
would for any other radio system. There are some subtle differences, since the target essentially
acts as a re-radiator. The power density incident on the target at a distance R is given by
Wt Gt
Pi =
4πR2 l
where losses in addition to free-space loss are lumped together in a single loss term l. The
amount of power reflected by a passive target is known as the target’s radar cross section, σ,
which obviously must have units of area. Radar cross section is defined as
Pr
σ = 4πR2 (1)
Pi
and is somewhat analogous to effective area for antennas. The resulting power density at the
receiver is given by
Pi σ Wt Gt σ
Pr = =
4πR2 l (4πR2 l)2
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(a) Monostatic radar with single antenna

(b) Monostatic radar with two antennas

(c) Bistatic radar

Figure 2: Types of RADAR systems

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The received power at the receiver is then equal to

Aef f,r Wt Gt σ
Wr = Aef f,r Pr =
(4πR2 l)2

Notice how the received power is inversely proportional to R4 , due to the round-trip nature of the
signal path.
As we learnt when we studied noise systems, ultimately the sensitivity of the receiver is limited
by the noise power in the system. This will thus impose a minimum received power limit on the
radar system which establishes the maximum useful range for the radar. If this minimum useful
signal power is Wmin , then the maximum useful range of the radar is
 1/4
Aef f,r Wt Gt σ
Rmax =
(4πl)2 Wmin

The radar cross section of the target, therefore, plays a very large role in how easily a target is
detected at a certain distance. A table of RCS values for various objects is shown in Table 1.
Note that σ can also be expressed in dBsm (dB relative to a square meter, or 10 log σ).

Table 1: RCS values of various objects

Target σ (m2 )
Insect 10−4
Bird 0.01
Missile 0.5
Person 1
Fighter jet 5–100
Airliner 100–1000
Ship 3,000 – 1,000,000
B-2 stealth bomber 10−6 – 10−4

Sometimes, the return signals from a radar signal are larger than that from a passive reflector.
This is often the case when the radar target wants to be found, such as in air traffic control. A
transponder on the aircraft generates the “reflection”, and often encodes additional information
with the transmission.
If the EIRP of the transponder/beacon is EIRPb = Wb Gb , then the received power is

Aef f,r EIRPb Aef f,r Wb Gb

Wr = 2
= .
4πR l 4πR2 l
The maximum range for an active transponder can then be found as
 1/2
Aef f,r Wb Gb
Rmax =
(4πl)Wmin

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Note that effective area of the receiver antenna is chosen to be that used in the radar system; in
the case of a monostatic radar using the same antenna for transmitting and receiving, the effective
area of the antenna is obviously the same as that of the transmitting antenna.
A bistatic RADAR works similar to a monostatic radar, except that the link from the transmitter
to the target is different from the target to the receiver. The incident power density is
Wt Gt
Pi = ,
4πR12 l1

where R1 is the distance from the transmitter to the target, and l1 are the losses along the same
path. Then,
Aef f,r Wt Gt σ
Wr = Aef f,r Pr =
(4π)2 R12 R22 l1 l2
where R2 and l2 are associated with the path between the receiver and the target.

4 Radar Cross Section of Some Simple Targets

We will consider scattering from two simple geometrical targets: a sphere, and a flat plate.

4.1 RCS of a Sphere

Consider a perfectly conducting sphere, of radius a, as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Electromagnetic wave incident upon a conducting sphere

An incident ray from a plane wave impinges upon the sphere, incident at an angle θ normal to
the sphere. The wave produces a reflection leaving the sphere, that makes the same angle with
the normal. If we extend the reflected ray back into the sphere, it appears to emanate from a
point a distance v away from the sphere’s centre, along the axis of incidence. We are interested
in finding this distance v.

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Analyzing the triangle formed by the axis of incidence and the reflected ray, we find that
x
cot(2θ) =
a sin θ
It then follows that

v = a cos θ − x
= a cos θ − a sin θ cot(2θ)
(1 − tan2 θ) cos θ
= a cos θ − a
sinθ
 2
sin
θ

1 1
= a cos θ 1 − + tan2 θ
2 2
 
1 1 2
= a cos θ + tan θ
2 2
2 tan θ
where the trigonometric identity tan(2θ) = 1−tan2 θ
was used. For small angles θ, the rays leaving
the sphere are approximately paraxial, and
a
v≈
2
which means that these rays appear to originate from a point a distance v away from the centre
of the sphere along the axis of the sphere, as shown in Figure 4. We can treat this point as a
source of spherical waves.
Suppose the incident power density at the sphere is Pi . This power is reflected by the sphere and
appears to originate from a point as described above. Hence, if we choose an area Ai on the
surface of the sphere which is considered to be generating the reflected power density, then at a
distance R from the sphere, conservation of power requires that

Pi A i = P r A r

or
Pr Ai
= .
Pi Ar
The ratio of the two areas is easily found using geometry to be
Ai (a/2)2
= .
Ar R2
Therefore,
Pr
σ = 4πR2 = πa2
Pi
which is an amazingly simple result that is independent of frequency. For this reason, spheres are
often used as calibration standards for RCS measurement systems. The result is easy to remember
as it is the cross-sectional area of the sphere. This result holds for spheres much larger than a
wavelength in radius.
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Figure 4: Scattering from a sphere

4.2 RCS of a Flat Plate

The reflected power density from a sufficiently large (with respect to a wavelength) flat perfectly
conducting object can be easily computed by considering the reflector to be an aperture antenna
with effective area A. The reflected power emanating from the plate is then
W p = Pi A
and we can view the plate has having a “gain”
4π
Gp = A
λ2
which results in a reflected EIRP of Wp Gp . The received power density is then
Wp Gp
Pr =
4πR2
from which it follows that
Pr 4πA2
σ = 4πR2 = .
Pi λ2
Objects having a measured RCS of σ0 can be seen has having equivalent plate areas using this
relationship: r
λ σ0
Aeq =
2 π

5 Radar Systems
5.1 Example Pulsed Radar System
Figure 5 illustrates a practical implementation of a monostatic pulsed radar system. The “pulse”
in this case consists of a frequency shifted carrier which is generated by mixing the local oscillator
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signal at frequency fLO with an intermediate frequency (IF) signal at frequency fIF in the trans-
mitter. This signal is transmitted periodically when the transmit-receive switch to the antenna
connects the transmitter to the antenna. The pulse generator is configured to create pulses of
width τ , repeating every Tr ( = 1/PRF) seconds.
When the switch is in the other position, the receiver is connected to the antenna. In this way, the
transmit/receive switch connected to the antenna, in concert with the pulse generator, perform
a duplexing operation to switch the mode of the system. In receive mode, the received signal
is amplified and downconverted to baseband. Any IF component in the downconverted signal is
detected by the detector, amplified, and output to a display for processing.

Figure 5: Pulsed radar system

5.2 Doppler Radar

Doppler radar refers to radar systems designed where the transmitter and/or receiver are in motion.
The well known Doppler effect produces a perceived up-shift or down-shift in frequency when a
constant frequency source is moved toward or away from an observer, respectively. The exact
Doppler shift in frequency can be calculated by considering Figure 6.
Consider a perfect conducting plate is moving at a velocity v in the +z direction. A plane wave
with frequency ω = 2πf is also travelling in the +z direction towards the plate. This plane wave

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Figure 6: Incident and reflected waves from a moving PEC plate

is given by
Ei = E0 ejω(t−z/c) = E0 ejω(1−v/c)t
A reflection is generated at the conductor surface which has reflection coefficient Γ. This wave is
perceived as having a slightly different frequency ω 0 :
0 0
Er = ΓE0 ejω (t+z/c) = ΓE0 ejω (1+v/c)t

At the surface of the conductor, the tangential fields must be zero. Assuming the incident field
is polarized parallel to the conductor,

Ei + ΓEr = 0

and since Γ = −1 for a PEC,

Ei= Er
jω(1−v/c)t 0
e = ejω (1+v/c)t
ω(1 − v/c) = ω 0 (1 + v/c).

The difference between the perceived and actual frequency can be expressed as
v
ω 0 − ω = −(ω 0 + ω) = ∆ω
c
The carrier frequency ω is usually much, much larger than the produced Doppler shift. Therefore,
ω 0 + ω ≈ 2ω, and
v
∆ω = −2ω
c
or
f v
∆f = fd = −2v = −2 .
c λ
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Notice that the Doppler frequency in this case is negative, meaning that the perceived frequency
at the receiver is lower than the actual frequency of the transmitter.
If the plate does not move directly away from the observer at z = 0, but rather along a linear
path at an angle θ with the z-axis, then
v
fd = −2 cos θ.
λ

Doppler radar is used in many systems for detecting the velocity of objects. Speed enforcement
and military applications are the most obvious examples. Doppler radar is also used to track
storms, since the movement of a storm cell produces measurable Doppler effects that can be used
to plot the course of the storm using Radar.
An example of an implementation of a monostatic Doppler radar system is shown in Figure 7. A
circulator is used to isolate the transmitted and received signals in the system. Direct mixing of
the transmitted and received signal yields the Doppler frequency at the IF output of the mixer,
which can be subsequently filtered, amplified, and displayed.

Figure 7: Doppler radar system

5.3 FM CW Radar
A radar system that uses a continuous wave (CW) signal, versus a pulse, is known as a CW radar
system. To detect the distance and/or velocity of objects, the frequency of the transmitted signal
is swept (modulated) with time, hence the FM name. The frequency is usually swept linearly with
time; such a signal is sometime called a “chirp” though the definition is quite broad.
A plot of the frequency of the transmitted signal versus time is shown in Figure 8. At the end of
the up-shift, the frequency of the signal is ramped back down, though this is optional and needed
only if there are two unknowns in the system (position and velocity). Shown in the dashed line is
the received signal (echo) frequency, which is obviously time-delayed relative to the transmitted
signal.

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Figure 8: FMCW radar system

The instantaneous transmitted waveform frequency can be expressed as

f (t) = f0 + 2fr ∆f t, t ≤ tr /2
f (t) = f0 + ∆f − 2fr ∆f (t − tr /2), t > tr /2

where fr = 1/tr is the frequency of the ramp signal. The frequency of the received echo is simply
a time-shifted version of this function, plus any Doppler shift added due to movement of the
target:
fe (t) = f (t − 2R/c) + fd

If these two signals are applied to the inputs of a mixer, the difference frequency signal can be
used to estimate the range and speed of the target. Where the transmitted and received signals
overlap and have positive slopes (the “up-frequency” segment), the frequency difference is

f+ = 4Rfr ∆f /c − fd

while on the “down-frequency” segment, the difference is

f− = −4Rfr ∆f /c − fd .

Hence, by observing the mixer output at both stages of the frequency sweep, enough data can be
obtained to solve these equations simultaneously, leading to

c(f+ − f− )
R=
8fr ∆f
and
f+ + f−
fd = − .
2
The latter equation can be used to solve for the target’s velocity.

Prof. Sean Victor Hum Radio and Microwave Wireless Systems