One-Bit Digital Beamforming

One-bit quantization technique is able to lower power consumption, save storage space, and reduce system cost, which, when tailored for radar sensing, is applicable to small-size platforms, such as unmanned aerial vehicle, small satellite and missile. Prosperous research works on one-bit signal processing have been performed in radar applications. Among them, beamforming with one-bit measurements has not been thoroughly discussed yet. This article addresses the issue of one-bit digital beamforming on receive. First, we revisit the theorem on one-bit quantization generating harmonics. This article extends to analyze the quantization impact on array signals, that is, the dispersive effect, by establishing array signal model and constructing corresponding correlation matrix. The dispersion incurs spatial filter mismatch when forming beams, which poses a big challenge for narrowband digital array systems. This article proceeds to propose a strategy of subband processing for digital receiving and one-bit beamforming. The fundamental and harmonic beams are formed separately within subbands and characterized, respectively. Eventually, two advanced applications are presented for utilizing the fine angular-resolution harmonic beams instead of suppression. One is wide area search for high-speed targets and the other is jamming cancellation. Fruitful simulation results are provided to confirm our theoretical findings.