Abstract:

To address the issue of insufficient radar detection capability caused by the low signal-to-noise ratio of target echoes, a coherent synthesis method for distributed aperture rotating array radar (DARAR) based on two-stage compensation is proposed. Firstly, a parallel control model is employed to uniformly manage the servo subsystems, ensuring consistent rotation across multiple radars. Next, by utilizing prior information such as the distributed system layout and beam pointing, the echo signal undergoes a first-level coarse compensation. Finally, a regional cross-correlation (RCC) method estimates the time and phase parameters within a small-scale range, completing the second-level fine compensation of time and phase and achieving coherent synthesis of multiple rotating array radar echo signals. A system comprising a three-node DARAR is designed, and joint detection experiments targeting unmanned aerial vehicles are conducted. Experimental results demonstrate that the efficiency of coherent synthesis increases by more than 20% under signal-to-noise ratios ranging from 8 dB to 13 dB. The proposed method enables DARAR operation and enhances the detection capability of rotating array radar.

Key words: distributed coherent synthesis, rotating array radar, spatial synchronization, time alignment, phase compensation