Comparison of two detection combination algorithms for phased array radars

Phased array radars have been widely studied. One issue observed is that adjacent radar beams detect the same target. This multiplicity is resulted from a few factors such as the radar beam spacing, radar power, target size and trajectory etc. It degrades the radar performance greatly by asking for redundant confirmation beams and therefore increasing the false track rate. No public solutions to detection combination have been reported. This paper provides a comparison of two straight forward detection combination algorithms: cross-line combination and in-line combination. The raw multiple detection data were generated by a simulator of multi-function radar (MFR) and the combination algorithms are evaluated with the recorded simulation data. With the given radar setup, the cross-line combination algorithm needs to buffer 2-3 scanned lines of data and the delay is about 2-3 seconds. The in-line combination algorithm reduces the buffer to one scanned line of data and its delay is about 1 second. However, the first algorithm is able to remove about 2/3 of raw detections and achieve a better performance of noise suppression. The later can reduce about 1/3 of the raw detection, with less noise suppression.