Staggered pulse repetition frequency doppler processing

A pulse-Doppler radar system, comprising:

• a transmitter configured to generate and transmit a waveform comprising a plurality of pulses generated with a staggered pulse repetition frequency from pulse to pulse;
• a receiver configured to receive reflected radar signals and convert the received radar signals to complex digital received data;
• a plurality of Doppler filters spanning an entire required Doppler visibility range and configured to filter the complex digital received data into complex digital output data;
• and
• a processor configured to perform target detection of objects of interest based on the power of the complex digital output data by summing the squares of the real and imaginary components of the complex digital output data at each range/Doppler cell,
• wherein the plurality of Doppler filters are each configured at a specific object to range rate (Rdot) across the entire required Doppler range to reject stationary and wideband clutter while passing the specific Rdot.

A method of operating a pulse-Doppler radar system, the method comprising the steps of:

• generating a waveform comprising a plurality of pulses generated with a staggered pulse repetition frequency (PRF) from pulse to pulse;
• receiving reflected return signals from the generated waveform;
• Doppler filtering the received return signals by a plurality of Doppler filters spanning an entire required Doppler visibility range to generate complex digital output data;
• and
• performing target detection of objects of interest based on the power of the complex digital output data by summing the squares of the real and imaginary components of the complex digital output data at each range/Doppler cell,
• wherein the plurality of Doppler filters span at least a range defined between:
• a predetermined object to range rate (Rdot) of the system, and
• (−1)×(the predetermined Rdot).

A method of operating a pulse-Doppler radar system, the method comprising the steps of:

• generating a waveform comprising a plurality of pulses generated with a staggered pulse repetition frequency (PRF) from pulse to pulse;
• receiving reflected return signals from the generated waveform;
• Doppler filtering the received return signals by a plurality of Doppler filters spanning an entire required Doppler visibility range to generate complex digital output data;
• and
• performing target detection of objects of interest based on the power of the complex digital output data by summing the squares of the real and imaginary components of the complex digital output data at each range/Doppler cell,
• wherein the step of Doppler filtering the received return signals comprises filtering using Doppler filters each configured at specific object to range rates (Rdots) across the entire required Doppler range.