A new electronic reconnaissance technology for MIMO radar

MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output) radar has been recently introduced as an important new radar system which emits orthogonal waveforms to cover a wide surveillance space. Therefore, the electronic reconnaissance technology for MIMO radar is of great significance in the future war. In this paper, a new electronic reconnaissance mode and identification algorithm for MIMO radar is proposed. In detail, a single reconnaissance aircraft is used to fly along a circumference of suspicious radar, collecting radiated signals on multiple positions. Furthermore, the collected data is analyzed and the number of orthogonal waveforms is estimated to detect and discriminate whether it´s a MIMO radar. Studies show that the wider angle range the reconnaissance aircraft flies by, the better the estimation results will be. Accurate estimates can be achieved when the flying angle exceeds a certain threshold. In addition, the reconnaissance aircraft requires a longer flight when MIMO radar uses more orthogonal waveforms or the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is relatively low.