High-resolution Tracking of Projectiles by Bistatic Doppler Radar

The study proposes a range detection method using a continuous wave bistatic Doppler radar operating in the millimeter wave regime. This method allows simultaneous detection of the target's range and velocity with high-range resolution. It works by transmitting a continuous wave and measuring the Doppler shifts corresponding to the target's movements in different directions. Range resolution in this approach is determined solely by Doppler resolution without transmitting modulated waveforms. The high-range resolution is achieved because the Doppler resolution depends only on the processing time window. In this scheme, range resolution relies on the processed integration time of the detected signal and the target's velocity. The transmission uses separate antennas and is received by a single antenna, with the received signal heterodyned with a sample of the transmitted signal to obtain Doppler shifts related to the target's movement. This method enables the collection of additional target classification information, such as velocity, distance, direction, and instantaneous velocity. Using digital processing, the high-resolution distance between the radar and the target can be calculated in real time by analyzing the differences between the resulting intermediate frequencies caused by the Doppler effect. The method has been tested experimentally and proved effective, requiring only one receiver for detection, and using a fixed, single-frequency transmission.