Time-frequency Signature Sparse Reconstruction using Chirp Dictionary

This paper considers local sparse reconstruction of time-frequency signatures of windowed non-stationary radar returns. These signals can be considered instantaneously narrow-band, thus the local time-frequency behavior can be recovered accurately with incomplete observations. The typically employed sinusoidal dictionary induces competing requirements on window length. It confronts converse requests on the number of measurements for exact recovery, and sparsity. In this paper, we use chirp dictionary for each window position to determine the signal instantaneous frequency laws. This approach can considerably mitigate the problems of sinusoidal dictionary, and enable the utilization of longer windows for accurate time-frequency representations. It also reduces the picket fence by introducing a new factor, the chirp rate a. Simulation examples are provided, demonstrating the superior performance of local chirp dictionary over its sinusoidal counterpart.