Test results of an experimental autonomous aircraft landing system utilizing a 94 GHz FM-CW imaging radar

An experimental system capable of aiding a pilot during adverse weather landings, primarily dense fog, has been built and tested both on the ground and in flight. The system includes a 94-GHz FM-CW (frequency-modulation continuous-wave) radar as the front-end sensor and a back-end digital signal and image processor for image generation, enhancement, and transformation. The high-performance 94-GHz radar utilizes a twisted Cassegrain reflector, an external ILO, and an HEMT (high electron mobility transistor) MIMIC (millimeter wave monolithic integrated circuit) LNA (low-noise amplifier) image-reject mixer front end to overcome the low transmitted power and poor receiver noise qualities of typical W-band radar systems. The back-end processing hardware uses a number of processors in a flexible and reconfigurable pipeline architecture for implementation of a variety of enhancement algorithms. Test results recorded on the ground and in flight indicate that this system has future commercial promise.<>