FPGA-based coherent Doppler processor for marine radar applications

The goal of this research is to develop a method for affordable and reliable sampling and coherent processing of measurement data collected via a modified magnetron oscillator based non-coherent marine radar system. Non-coherent radar offers limited surveillance in clutter rich environments as compared to more complex and expensive coherent radar systems. The approach used leverages modern technology to affordably and effectively sample the radiated and received signals for further analysis using FFT-based Doppler processing. Track formation of moving targets are fundamental to any advanced radar and is a further focus of this paper. The marine radar hardware is modified to capture the transmitted and the received signals and the captured data was processed on an FPGA board. The cross-correlation and Doppler shift methods are used to find the velocity of the moving targets. In general, the coherent radars are very expensive, and our project will make them more affordable and reliable.