Quaid-e-Awam

University of Engineering &

Technology Nawabshah

An Introduction to Radar Communication System

Radar: radio detection and ranging

Dr. Abdul Sattar Saand (Assistant Professor)

Department of Electrical Engineering, QUEST.
 RADAR Fundamentals/
RADAR Principle -Concept of Radar Operation

The word radar is an acronym formed from the words radio detection and
ranging.
Radar is a means of employing radio waves to detect and locate objects
such as
aircraft,
ships, and
land masses.
Location of an object is accomplished by determining the distance and
direction from the radar equipment to the object.
The process of locating objects requires, in general, the measurement of
three coordinates:
range,
angle of azimuth (horizontal direction), and
angle of elevation.
This is accomplished by illuminating the volume of space with electromagnetic energy
and sensing the energy reflected by the objects in that space.
The Microwave uses energy in the microwave frequency bands (roughly 0.5 to 100
GHz).
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 RADAR Principle

A basic radar set consists fundamentally of a transmitter and a receiver

and transmitting and receiving antennas. When the transmitted signal
strikes an object (target), some of the energy is sent back as a reflected
signal as shown in figure
The small-beamwidth transmit/receive antenna collects a portion of the
returning energy (called the echo signal) and sends it to the receiver.
The receiver detects and amplifies the echo signal, which is then used to
determine object location.
The basic radar concept is that radio frequency (RF) energy is generated by
the transmitter, radiated by the transmitting antenna, reflected by the target,
collected by the receiving antenna, and detected in the radar receiver. This
is illustrated in Figure

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 The back-reradiation is received by the radar, amplified, and processed.
The range to the target is found from the time it takes for the transmitted
signal to travel to the target and back.
The direction or angular position of the target is determined by the arrival
angle of the returned signal.
A directive antenna with a narrow beamwidth is generally used to find the
direction.
The relative motion of the target can be determined from the doppler shift
in the carrier frequency of the returned signal.

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Basic Principles of RADAR

Transmitter
Antenna

Duplexer

Receiver

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 Basic Elements of RADAR-
Radio Detecting And Ranging
Radar is an electromagnetic sensor for the detection and location of reflecting
objects.
Radar is basically a means of gathering information about the distant Objects
or Targets by sending electromagnetic waves at them and analyze the echoes
(reflected signal).
A RADAR is consisted of
Transmitter,
Receiver (Duplexer) and
a directional antenna,
The transmitter is capable of sending the UHF or microwave signal through
the antenna.

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 Operation:
The radar radiates electromagnetic energy from an antenna to
propagate in space.
Some of the radiated energy is intercepted by a reflecting object,
usually called a target, located at a distance from the radar.
The energy intercepted by the target is reradiated in many
directions.
Some of the reradiated (echo) energy is returned to and received
by the radar antenna.
After amplification by a receiver and with the aid of proper signal
processing, a decision is made at the output of the receiver as to
whether or not a target echo signal is present. At that time, the
target location and possibly other information about the target is
acquired.

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 Basic Components of RADAR Transmitter
The transmitter, which is shown here as a power amplifier, generates a
suitable waveform for the particular job the radar is to perform.
Most radars use a short pulse waveform so that a single antenna can be used
on a time-shared basis for both transmitting and receiving.
The function of the duplexer is to allow a single antenna to be used by
protecting the sensitive receiver from burning out while the transmitter is on
and by directing the received echo signal to the receiver rather than to the
transmitter.

The antenna is the device that allows the transmitted energy to be propagated
into space and then collects the echo energy on receive.

The receiver amplifies the weak received signal to a level where its presence
can be detected. Because noise is the ultimate limitation on the ability of a
radar to make a reliable detection decision and extract information about the
target,

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RADAR BLOCK DIAGRAM

9
TRANSMITTER

1. Functions:
1. Creates the radio wave to be transmitted
2. Conditions the wave to form the pulse train.
3. Amplifies the signal to a high power level to provide adequate
range.
2. Sources of Carrier Wave:
1. Klystron,
2. Traveling Wave Tube (TWT)
10
3. Magnetron.
 POWER SUPPLY

Function of Power Supply:

Provides the electrical power for all the components.

Power Requirement by Transmitter:

1. The transmitter is the largest consumer of power is , which may require several
kW of average power.
2. The actually power transmitted in the pulse may be much greater than 1 kW.
3. Usually only average amount of power consumed is provided , not the high
power level during the actual pulse transmission.
4. Energy is often stored in a capacitor bank, during the rest time.
5. The stored energy then can be put into the pulse when transmitted, increasing
the peak power.

11
SYNCHRONIZER

Function of the Synchronizer:

1. Regulates that rate at which pulses are sent (i.e. sets PRF)
2. Resets the timing clock for range determination for each pulse.

12
DUPLEXER SWITCH

Purpose of Duplexer:
1. To protect the receiver from the high power output
of the transmitter.
2. A duplexer is not required if the transmitted power
is low. 13
ANTENNA

Function of Antenna:
1. Transmit pulses
2. Focus the energy into a well-defined beam.
3. Keep track of its own orientation by using a
synchro-transmitter or phased array system.
14
 DISPLAY

Types of Radar Displays:

1. A-Scan (Amplitude vs Time) No information on direction of target
2. Plan Position Indicator Displayed in the same relative direction as the
antenna.

15
 Type of Radar Antennas

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 Type of Radar Antennas

The type and characteristics of the radar antenna strongly influence its performance
and capabilities. Most early microwave radar employs reflector antennas that are
configured to provide the required radar coverage. The RF energy is directed from a
feed horn onto a reflector to form the radar beam. Two types of reflector antennas are
illustrated in Figure bellow.

The dish antenna:

As shown in Figure 2.3 (a) employs a circular reflector with a parabolic shape.
This shape generates a narrow symmetrical beam, often called a pencil beams to
point the beam toward the target.
Dish antennas are well suited to tracking or making observations of individual
targets.
Due to their narrow beams and beam agility that is limited by mechanical scanning,
they are usually not effective in broad area surveillance.

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 Type of Radar Antennas

The parabolic reflector antenna:

As shown in Figure (b) generally has a rectangular or oval outline.
Its shape usually follows a parabolic curve in the horizontal plane, producing a
narrow, focused beam in azimuth.
The reflector shaping and feed-horn illumination in the vertical plane are designed
to provide a wider beam in elevation, producing a fan-shaped beam pattern.
Such radar usually rotates to scan the beam in the azimuth coordinate.
The elevation antenna pattern is designed to provide the desired altitude coverage.
The result is volume search around the radar with a periodic revisit at an interval
determined by the antenna rotation period.
Since this period is typically from 5 to 20 seconds, radars with these antennas are
limited in their ability to track directional targets and to make high rate target
observations. .

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 Type of Radar Antennas
Phased-array antennas:
These antennas employ newer technology, often at a higher cost than for reflector
antennas. However, they provide greater flexibility for multifunction applications. An
example of a phased-array radar is shown in Figure (c).
These radars usually employ planar faces containing an array of radiating elements.
The phase of the RF radiation from each element may be electronically controlled to
form a beam pointing in any desired direction within about 60 of the array broadside
direction.
This allows rapid, electronic beam steering. Planar arrays often generate pencil
beams, although the beam cross section may be elliptical if the array is not circular or
square. Linear phased-array antennas, which generate fan beams, are occasionally
used.
By rapidly repositioning their beams, phased-array antennas may support both wide-
area surveillance and high-data-rate target observation and tracking of multiple targets.
Most phased-array antennas are computer-controlled, and many have multiple
waveforms, operating, and signal-processing modes.
They are capable of multimode operation that interleaves the various search, tracking,
and measurement functions, and may rapidly respond to the tactical situation and user
needs.

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 Doppler Effect

The Doppler effect is the phenomenon whereby the frequency of a reflected signal is
shifted if there is relative motion between the source and reflecting object.
This is the same effect whereby the pitch of a train's whistle is shifted as the train
moves toward and then away from the listener. Doppler radar, or CW radar, is always
on. It is not turned off and on as pulsed radar is, hence the name, continuous wave.
Only moving targets are "seen" by CW radar because only moving targets cause a
Doppler shift. CW radars use two antennas, one each for transmitting and receiving.
The amount of frequency shift encountered is determined by the relative velocity
between transmitter and target. It is predicted by

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 The Doppler-frequency shift
The target radial velocity, VR, is the component of target velocity in the
direction of the radar. This may be found from the range changes for
successive radar measurements, or from the Doppler-frequency shift of the
return signal.
The frequency of the electromagnetic signal that is reflected from a target
that is moving either toward or away from the radar is changed. The target
velocity component in the direction of the radar is proportional to this
Doppler-frequency shift, fD, of the received signal:
fDc
VR =
2f
where fD is Doppler-frequency shift, C is the speed of light and f is the radar
RF frequency.
The target size is roughly indicated by its radar cross section (RCS), which
is a measure of the fraction of the incident RF signal that is returned in the
direction of the radar.
RCS-is a measure of how detectable an object is with a radar. A larger RCS
indicates that an object is more easily detected. An object reflects a limited
amount of radar energy back to the source.
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 Doppler Effect
The Doppler effect (or Doppler shift) is the change in frequency of
a wave (or other periodic event) for an observer moving relative to
its source.
Frequency of wave emitted by a moving target is different that the
frequency if the object is stationary.
If the object is moving toward you the observed frequency is higher, it is
lower if the source is moving way.
The size of the frequency change depends on how fast the source is
moving

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 Since the electromagnetic energy travels with the speed of light (designated c), the
range from the radar to the target, R, may be determined by measuring the time
interval, t, between the transmitted signal and the received signal:

ct

R=
2
The electromagnetic propagation velocity in the atmosphere is nearly the same as
that in a vacuum, and the approximation c 3 108 m / s is sufficiently accurate for
most analyses.

The direction of the target relative to the radar may be determined by using an
antenna with a directional pattern, and observing the direction from which the peak of
this pattern is pointing when the received signal is maximized.

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Monostatic and Bistatic Radar
Monostatic radar: Most radar has its transmitting and receiving antennas in
essentially the same location referred as monostatic radar.
The Radars often use the same antennas for transmitting and receiving, and so is
monostatic by definition. Other radars have their transmitting and receiving
antennas close together, compared with the target range. These radars have the
same characteristics as monostatic radar, and are included in that class.
Advantages of monostatic radar: are the common use of radar hardware at a
single site and illumination of the same region of space by the transmit and receive
antennas.
Bistatic radar: In this type of RADAR the transmitting and receiving antennas are
separated.
This may be done to avoid interference between the transmitted and received
signals.

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 Monostatic and Bistatic Radar

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 Frequency Bands
Radar has been built and operated at a wide range of frequencies. The
designations for the frequency bands commonly used by radar are given in
Table. Within these broad bands, certain specific bands have been
assigned for radar operation by the International Telecommunication Union
(ITU).

Common radar center frequencies in the various bands include: UHF, 425
MHz; L-band, 1.3 GHz; S band, 3.3 GHz; C band, 5.5 GHz; and X-band, 9.5
GHz.
Radar generally operates in a relatively narrow band of frequencies,
typically 5 to 15% of the center frequency, due both to component
limitations and to the band assignments. For example, an X-band radar
might operate at frequencies from 9 to 10 GHz, a band of 10.5% of the
center frequency of 9.5 GHz.

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 Radar Applications and Functions
Radar has been used, or proposed for use, in a wide range of applications, both in
military and civilian systems. The principal radar functions include : Search; Target
detection; Target position measurement and tracking; Measurement of target
characteristics.
Search, also referred to as surveillance, involves the examination of a volume of
space for possible targets of interest. This is normally done by periodically directing
radar energy in a pattern of beams that cover the search volume.
It is used for many sensing tasks including but not limited to:
Detecting and locating ships
Navigating aircraft and ships in bad weather or at night
Detecting, locating and identifying aircraft for air traffic control
Measuring altitude above the surface for aircraft for air traffic control
Detecting and locating severe weather for ground, ship and aviation safety
Giving early warning of hostile aircraft
Locating and imaging ground objects for navigation and targeting
Measuring motor vehicle velocities for safety

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 Common radar search modes include:

Volume search, where a large three-dimensional volume is

searched.
Barrier search, where a two-dimensional region is searched for
targets that penetrate the barrier region (more precisely, the third
dimension is relatively small).
Horizon search is a type of barrier search.
Cued search, where a target location is approximately known, and
a small volume around the estimated position (the cue), is searched.
Push-broom search, where a moving radar (e.g., on an aircraft),
searches the volume as it moves along its path. This is similar to
barrier search, but the barrier moves with the radar platform.

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 The Doppler Shift in Radar.
The doppler frequency shift fd can be written as

where vr = v cos q is the relative velocity of the target (relative to the

radar) in m/s, v is the absolute velocity of the target in m/s, lambda
is the radar wavelength in m, and theta is the angle between the
targets direction and the radar beam.
To an accuracy of about 3 percent, the doppler frequency in hertz is
approximately equal to vr (kt) divided by l (m).

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 THE RADAR EQUATION
The radar range equation (or radar equation) is very useful for estimating
the range of a radar and as a guide for designing a radar system. The
simple form of the radar equation may be written as

The right-hand side has been written as the product of three factors to
represent the physical processes that take place.
The first factor on the right is the power density at a distance R from a
radar that radiates a power Pt from an antenna of gain Gt.
The numerator sigma, of the second factor is the radar cross section of
the target. It has the unit of area (for example, square meters) and is a
measure of the energy redirected by the target back in the direction of the
radar.
The denominator of the second factor accounts for the divergence of the
echo signal on its return path back to the radar. The product of the first
two factors represents the power per unit area returned to the radar
antenna.
Note that the radar cross section of a target, sigma, is defined by this
equation. The receivingLecture
20-Mar-17 antenna of effective
Notes in Ccommunication Systemsarea
By Ae collects a portion
31 Pr
of the echo power returned toEngr.the Abdul Sattar Saand
radar.
 Radar equation

The power Pr returning to the receiving antenna is given by the equation:

Pt = transmitter power
Gt = gain of the transmitting antenna
Ar = effective aperture (area) of the receiving antenna; this can also be expressed
as
where

lambda= transmitted wavelength

Gr = gain of receiving antenna
= radar cross section, or scattering coefficient, of the target
F = pattern propagation factor
Rt = distance from the transmitter to the target
Rr = distance from the target to the receiver.

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 In the common case where the transmitter and the receiver are at the same
location, Rt = Rr and the term Rt Rr can be replaced by R4, where R is the
range. This yields:

This shows that the received power declines as the fourth power of the range,
which means that the received power from distant targets is relatively very
small.
The equation above with F = 1 is a simplification for transmission in
a vacuum without interference. The propagation factor accounts for the effects
of multipath and shadowing and depends on the details of the environment. In
a real-world situation, pathloss effects should also be considered.

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 The radar equation

received power
(w) transmitted power
(w) antenna gain

effective antenna aperture (m2)

radar cross section (m2)
 RFID (RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION)

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a technique that uses radio

waves to track and identify people, animal, objects, and shipments.
This is done by the principle of modulated backscatter. The term
backscatter refers to the reflection of the radio waves striking the
RFID tag and reflecting back to the transmitter source with its stored
unique identification information.
The basic block for an RFID system is provided in Figure 27. The
RFID system consists of two things:
RFID tag (also called the RF transponder), which includes an
integrated antenna and radio electronics
Reader (also ca11ed a transceiver), which consists of a
transceiver and an antenna.
A transceiver is the combination of

a transmitter and receiver

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 RFID

The reader (transceiver) transmits radio waves that activate (turn on) an
RFID tag.
The tag then transmits modulated data, containing its unique identification
information stored in the tag, back to the reader.
The reader then extracts the data stored on the RFID tag.
Development of RFID technology significantly increased in the 1990s.
Applications included tollbooths that allow vehicles to pass through highway
speeds while still recording data from the tag.
Today, RFID technology is being used to track inventory shipments for
major commercial retailers, the transportation industries, and the
Department of Defense. Additionally, RFID applications are being used in
Homeland Security in tracking container shipments at border crossings.

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