Staggered Costas Signals

A radar signal, based on coherent processing of a train of staggered Costas bursts, is suggested and investigated. The selection of sequences of each burst is based on a minimum number of collocation of their individual ambiguity function sidelobe peaks. The resulting ambiguity function combines qualities of both "thumbtack" and "bed of nails" signals. Comparison with linear-FM, V-FM, and complementary phase coded (CPC) signals is given, as well as comparison with hybrid signals consisting of both phase and frequency coding.