MIMO SAR using orthogonal coding: Design, performance analysis, and verifications

Abstract

Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is a promising technology in radar imaging which provides a better balance of azimuth resolution and swath width compared with traditional single-input single-output (SISO) SAR. It has the potential to help scientists and engineers to design ambitious SAR system with higher resolution and wider swath. This paper studies the principle of MIMO SAR using orthogonal coding waveform and then provides the performance analysis in resolution and swath width. By using orthogonal coding waveform, lower channel interference is obtained, which makes MIMO SAR achieve wider unambiguous range swath and lower azimuth ambiguity. Simulations are carried out by means of the system parameters of real spaceborne SAR platform. A ground-based MIMO SAR imaging system with up and down chirp modulation is also designed. The performances of MIMO SAR and SISO SAR are compared, and the validity and advantage of MIMO SAR are verified.