Keywords.

CW radars, FM-CW radars

3.5

APPLICATIONS OF CW RADARS

The chief use of the simple unmodulated CW radar is for the measurement
of the relative velocity of a moving target.
The principal advantage of a CW doppler radar over other non-radar
methods of measurement of speed is that there need not be any physical
contact between the measuring device and the object whose speed is being
measured. Another advantage is that the CW radar, when used for short or
moderate ranges, is characterized by simpler equipment than a pulse radar.
Among its disadvantages is the fact that the amplitude of the signal that
can be transmitted by a CW radar is dependent on the isolation that can be
achieved between the transmitter and the receiver since the transmitter noise
that nds its way into the receiver limits the receiver sensitivity. This limits
the maximum range of the radar. The pulse radar has no similar limitations
to its maximum range because the transmitter is not operative when the
receiver is turned on.
One of the greatest shortcomings of the simple CW radar is its inability to obtain a measurement of range. This limitation can be overcome by
modulating the CW carrier, as in the frequency-modulated radar described
in the next section.

44

3.6

FREQUENCY MODULATED CW RADAR

(FM-CW)

From the principle of CW radars we see that the Doppler frequency shift can
be used to determine the presence of a moving target and its relative velocity
along the LOS. In chapter 2 we had mentioned that one of the primary
functions of a radar is to measure the range to an object. This does not
appear to be possible in a CW radar since we have no way of determining
the time after which a particular part of the transmitted waveform comes
back in the form of an echo. This is so since it is impossible to distinguish
one part of a continuous signal waveform from another. In pulse radars
there is considerable gap between one pulse and the next and so it was easy
to associate or identify a pulse with its echo. Recall that even there this
identication became dicult when the gap between pulses was small (or
the target was at a large distance), giving rise to second-time-around echoes.
In CW radars an exactly similar eect, though of a more serious nature,
occurs thus making it impossible to identify a part of and echo waveform
with its original transmitted waveform. This is the reason why an ordinary
radar is incapable of measuring range to an object.
A solution to this problem can be obtained by using frequency modulation. A simple way to do this is to vary the transmitted frequency over a
certain range. Then the transit time is proportional to the dierence in frequency between the echo signal and the transmitter signal (for a stationary
target). The greater the transmitter frequency deviation in a given time interval, the more accurate the measurement of the transit time. Radars which
use this mode of operation are called frequency modulated continuous wave
(FM-CW) radars. Below we will describe how range measurement is done in
FM-CW radars.
In FM-CW, the transmitted signal frequency is varied as a function of
45

Figure 3.5: Linear frequency modulation in FM-CW radars

time. Suppose it increases linearly with time, then we will have a variation
as shown in Fig 3.5.
Here,fb is the beat frequency which is dened as the dierence between
the transmitted and received frequency. Since the beat (or dierence frequency) is caused only by the targets range (as the target is stationary) it is
also denoted by fr . Consider the transmitter CW signal at time tA , having
frequency fa . This signal hits the stationary target and comes back to the
radar at time tB when the frequency of the transmitted signal would have
increased to fc . Hence, the increase in the transmitted frequency during the
to-and-fro transit time T of a signal is (fc fa ) and is the beat frequency.
Thus, at any given instant in time the dierence between the currently trans-

46

mitted signal frequency and the currently received signal is a measure of the
to-and-fro transit time of the transmitted signal.
We extract range information from a measurement of f )b as follows: Let
the slope of the curve shown Fig.3.5 be f 0 , the rate of change of frequency, or
the modulation rate. Note that this is a known quantity since the modulation
rate is chosen by the designer at the radar end. Then,
fb = fr = f 0 T = f 0 2R
c
where, R is the distance to the target and so T =

2R
.
c

From the above we

get

R=

fb c
2f o

(3.18)

The above analysis shows that measurement of fb and the knowledge the
frequency modulation rate is sucient to obtain the required range information.
The obvious aw in the above scheme is that the transmitted frequency
cannot go on increasing indenitely. A solution is to use a periodic change in
the frequency. A particular case is the triangular-frequency modulation waveform.
This is shown in Fig. 3.6 below where both the frequency modulation scheme
and the resulting beat frequency curve is given. Note that the sign of the
beat frequency is not preserved and hence it always appears as a positive
frequency. Here, the beat frequency is given by fr at all points except in
the neighbourhood of the peaks of the transmitted signal. Note that the
frequency of the triangular modulation waveform is fm and hence its time
period is given by

1
.
fm

This is shown in the gure. Thus we have,

fr =

4Rfm f
2R 0 2R f /2
f =
.
=
c
c 1/(4fm )
c
47

(3.19)

Figure 3.6: Triangular frequency modulation in FM-CW radars

Hence, the measurement of beat frequency measure the range as,



cfr
c
R=
=
fr = kfr
4fm f
4fm f

(3.20)

where, k = [c/(4fm f )] can be used for callibrating the frequency counter.

A simplied block diagram of the FM-CW radar is given in Fig.3.7.
In the above analysis the target was assumed to be stationary. Suppose
it is not. Then there will be another frequency change due to the doppler
frequency shift. This is denoted by fd and the beat (dierence) frequency

48

Figure 3.7: Block diagram of a FM-CW radar

will now be
fb = |fr fd |
This will become clearer from the gures given below. First consider an
approaching target. The corresponding waveforms are shown in Fig.3.8. The
gure is self-explanatory. The only feature to note here is that the beat
frequency is lower during the increasing portion of the transmitted frequency
and higher during the decreasing portion of the transmitted frequency. Now
consider the case for receding targets. This is shown in Fig.3.9. Note that
here the beat frequency during the increasing portion of the transmitted
frequency is higher than during the decreasing portion. However, essentially
49

Figure 3.8: Approaching target

there is no distinction between the two beat frequency curves shown in Fig.3.8
and 3.9, if they are considered in isolation. The direction of movement of
the target (i.e., wheter it is approaching or receding)has to be determined by
other means.
For approaching targets, let us denote fb (up) = |fr fd | fb (down) = fr + fd
The words up and down refer to the increasing and decreasing portions
of the transmitted frequency i.e., when the frequency is increasing (or going
up)or decreasing (or going down)with time. For receding targets, we have,
50

Figure 3.9: Receding target

fb (up) = fr + fd ,
fb (down) = |fr fd |
By taking the average frequency, the range frequency fr can be found as
follows (if fr fd )
fr = (1/2)[fb (up) + fb (down)]
The dierence between them will yield the doppler frequency as (if fr fd )
51

fd = (1/2)|[fb (up) fb (down)]|

Using fr in (3.18) yields the range and using fd we can nd the target relative
velocity along the LOS.
The above analysis is true if fr fd . If fr < fd then (3.22)will yield
doppler frequency and (3.23) will yield range frequency.
Example 3.2:In a FM-CW radar, transmitting at an average frequency of
100 MHz, the rate of triangular frequency variation is 20 KHz. Calculate
the beat frequencies during the increasing and decreasing portions of the FM
cycle. The radar-target conguration is as shown below.

ANSWERS
Refer to Fig 3.6 for explanation of the terms used below. The average
52

transmission frequency =f=100 MHz = 100x106 Hz. The peak-to peak frequency variation = f = 20 KHz = 20x103 Hz. The rate of triangular
frequency modulation = fm = 20 Hz. Then the slope of the variation in
, is
frequency, given by A

A=

f /2
20 103 /2
=
= 8 105 Hz/Sec
1/(4fm )
1/(4 20)

(3.21)

Distance of the target = R = 50 km = 50 x 103 m.

Then, the beat frequency due to range only is

fr =

2 (50 103 ) (8 105 )

2R
A
=
= 266.66Hz.
c
3 108

(3.22)

From the gure we see that the target is a receding one with relative
velocity
vr = 400cos600 = 200 m/sec.
Then the beat frequency due to doppler eect only is,

fd =

2vr f
2 200 100 103
= 133.33Hz.
=
c
3 108

(3.23)

From Fig 3.9 the beat frequency during the increasing and decreasing portions of the transmitted frequency are
fb (up) = fr + fd = 266.66 + 133.33 = 400 Hz.
fb (down) = fr - fd = 266.66 - 133.33 = 133.33 Hz.

53

PROBLEMS AND EXERCISES

1. Derive Eqn (3.7) from Eqn (3.6) under suitable assumptions and obtain
the doppler frequency shift as given in Eqn (3.4).
2. A target is being tracked by two radars as shown below. If Radar 1
registers a doppler shift of -100 Hz and Radar 2 a doppler shift of +60 Hz,
then what is the velocity of the target?

Is there a direction of ight which the target can employ so that it escapes
detection by both the radars at the instant shown in the gure?
3. Let a stationary CW radar, transmitting at 300 MHz, be at point A
54

Figure 3.10: sample gures example

and a moving target at point B as shown in the gure given below. Plot
vs. fd on a graph sheet as varies from, 0 to 1800 in steps of 150 . (b) Let
the initial value of be 450 . Plot fd vs. time in seconds as time varies from
0 to 10 seconds in steps of 2 seconds.
4. What are the simplifying assumptions made to solve Example 3.2?
Suppose in this problem the average transmission frequency is 400 MHz,
then nd fb (up) and fb (down) and show how one can obtain fr and show
how one can obtain fr and fd from these two values.
5. Sketch the beat frequency curve of a sinusoidal frequency modulated
CW radar for an approaching target. Find the equation for the beat frequency as a function of time.
6. In a FM-CW radar the shape of the frequency modulation is as shown
55

in the gure. Sketch the echo waveform from a stationary target and from a
receding target. Sketch the beat frequency waveform for both cases.

56