Aperiodic waveforms with mismatched filtering for target detection in heavy clutter. Part I - SIMO radar architecture

Periodic waveforms used for most radar operations in heavy clutter often suffer from range-folding and/or Doppler frequency aliasing effects. Aperiodic waveforms with a “thumbtack” ambiguity function do not have range and/or Doppler ambiguities, but due to the relatively high sidelobe levels cannot support the high sub-clutter visibility required in many applications. In this paper, we demonstrate that for typical HF OTHR scenarios, aperiodic waveforms and mismatched filtering can provide the required level of sub-clutter visibility with acceptable SNR degradation. Theoretical results are complemented by experimental validation.