Improved Angular Tracking Accuracy in Phased Array Radar

Subject Areas : Renewable energy

Ehsan Asgari ¹ , Mojdeh Mahdavi ² , Ruhollah Hafezifard ³

1 - Department of Electrical Engineering. Islamic Azad University, Shahr-e-Qods Branch
2 - Department of Electrical Engineering. Islamic Azad University, Shahr-e-Qods Branch, Tehran, Iran
3 - Department of Electrical Engineering. Islamic Azad University, Eslamshahr Branch

Received: 2018-01-08 Accepted : 2018-04-16 Published : 2018-05-05

Keywords: Monopulse, Tracking Accuracy, Phased Array Radar, Squint Beams, Horn Feeds,

Abstract :

Monopulse is a technique which is used to detect radiation direction of waves. Radiation can be originated from active sources such as radar antennas, disturbances, etc., or passive sources, such as the reflector plates of an aircraft. Nowadays, monopulse technique has been used in many modern radar systems. In radar tracking accuracy, the criterion for evaluating the angulation function is the differential gradient. It needs to have accurate information about antenna dimensions and wavelengths. In this paper, the difference gradient value is normalized and can be completed with knowing the radiation pattern of the antenna without knowing wavelength and gate dimensions. Then, by choosing a four-horns feed, the feed is optimized based on the squint angle. The results indicate that in the whole functional range, the optimum squint angle has the least angular error. Simulations provide us with confidence in the superior performance of the radar tracker with an optimal squint angle for all target angles within the range of the pattern of monopulse radar.

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