IF versus video limiting for two-channel coherent signal processors

Intermediate frequency (IF) and video limiting are evaluated and compared for a two-channel coherent digital signal processor, where the video limiting is that of the analog-to-digital (A/D) converters, occurring separately in each channel. The input is a narrow-band random signal. Video limiting is shown to produce considerably higher distortion sidebands outside the input signal band. Within the input signal band, video-limiting distortion is about 1 dB worse. The results are useful for both the radar moving target indicator (MTI) and mapping applications.