Polyphase-Coded FM (PCFM) Radar Waveforms, Part II: Optimization

This paper addresses polyphase code optimization with respect to the nonlinear frequency modulation waveform generated by the continuous phase modulation implementation. A greedy search leveraging the complementary metrics of peak sidelobe level, integrated sidelobe level, and spectral content yield extremely low range sidelobes relative to waveform time-bandwidth product. Transmitter distortion is also incorporated into the optimization via modeling and actual hardware. Thus the physical radar emission can be designed to address spectrum management and enable the physical realization of advanced waveform-diverse schemes.