ECE 492/592: Intro to Radar Systems
Description:
Introduction to basic principles of radar and key radar sub-systems: transmitter and receiver architectures; sub-components, e.g. filters, amplifiers, mixers, and oscillators; sources of degradation, such as noise and non-linearity; radar range equation, phenomenology (target reflectivity models, clutter, stealth and scattering), radar measurements of range and velocity, basic radar waveforms, pulse compression, coherency. Technical writing proficiency and communication skills will be honed in this course through oral and written student presentations/assignments. A “learn through experimentation” philosophy is espoused in the class via experiments/projects conducted using software-defined CW/FMCW radars and cyber-physical human systems (CPHS).
Recommended Pre-Requisites:
ECE 211/ECE 331 Circuit Analysis and ECE 301 Linear Systems (or equivalents)
Textbooks:
- Introduction to Airborne Radar (George Stimpson)
- Principles of Modern Radar, volume 1: Basic Principles (Richards, Scheer, Holm)
Lecture Topics:
1. Introduction to electromagnetic wave properties and phenomenology; polarimetry, scattering, reflection, radar cross section, target reflectivity and clutter modeling
2. Radar range equation for point targets, distributed targets, area and volumetric scattering, applications to military and meteorological radar
3. Basic radar measurements and waveforms; simple pulse, CW, FMCW radar, measurement of range and velocity, Doppler effect, pulse compression, coherent versus non-coherent radar, pulsed Doppler radar
4. Radar architectures and sub-systems; antennas, transmitters, receivers, topologies for different waveforms
5. Applications of RF sensing for indoor monitoring, health, and more
Grading:
Homework (not necessarily weekly) 10%
Design Problem 10%
Labs 40%
Mid-Term Exam 15%
Final Exam 25%