Diversity waveform signal processing for delay-Doppler measurement and imaging

Coherent pulse-Doppler radar systems, whether used for synthetic aperture imaging or surveillance purposes, generally transmit a coherent pulse train made up of identical pulses. While these pulses may contain complex modulation-for example, linear FM chirps or frequency and phase coding-the fact remains that these pulses are usually identical. In this paper, we consider the potential advantages of pulse trains made up of pulses that are distinctly different from pulse-to-pulse. In particular, we investigate a signal processing algorithm that provides increased resolution and discrimination through delay-Doppler sidelobe suppression in the region surrounding the mainlobe of the delay-Doppler response. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science (USA).