A design method for SAR real-time processing system based on Super-step

With the progress of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) development, it is necessary to build SAR real-time processing system with multiple parallel-working DSPs. A system model based on the conception of “Super-step” is proposed in this paper to assist in analysing and designing SAR real-time processing systems with multiple DSPs. `Super-step´ is the fundamental unit of the Bulk Synchronous Parallel (BSP) model, and any parallel processing is able to be treated as a series of super-steps. The SAR system model contains two components - algorithm model and hardware model, which are both based on the conception of “Superstep” and they are analyzed respectively. Finally, based on a real SAR system application, a design process of the real-time processing system is presented by employing the method of `Super-step´, which is validated by a series of imaging results.