Through-the-Wall Imaging Radar Experiments Based

on 8-Element Vivaldi Radar Sensor

Betul YILMAZ Caner OZDEMIR
Dept. of Electrical-Electronics Engineering Dept. of Electrical-Electronics Engineering
Mersin University Mersin University
33343, Mersin, Turkey 33343, Mersin, Turkey
betuly@mersin.edu.tr cozdemir@mersin.edu.tr

Abstract—In this work, we present the experimental results

and the formed radar images of Through-the-Wall Imaging
Radar (TWIR) experiments that were conducted by our recently
developed radar sensor. Experiments towards to detection and
imaging of both the stationary and the moving targets were
conducted. A back-projection type focusing algorithm was
applied to focus the raw radar images. The resultant measured
TWIR images with good resolution features in both depth and
cross-range domain have demonstrated the notable performance
of our radar sensor.
Index Terms— Remote Sensing; Through-The-Wall Imaging;
Radar; moving target detection, radar signal processing, radar
image processing
II. RADAR SENSOR AND STATIONARY TARGET EXPERIMENT
A. The radar sensor:
The picture of the prototyped sensor device is given in
Fig.1. The details of this design and manufacturing processes
can be found in [7] and will not be repeated here. The
components of the devices are 8-element array of Vivaldi
antennas, an RF switch, a micro-controller card and a 5V
power supply card. This device can be connected to either
frequency or time domain system with proper accessories.

I. INTRODUCTION
Detecting and Imaging human mobility inside a building or
behind a wall can be very critical information in various
applications such as hostage rescue operations, fire rescue
operations and terrorism defending acts [1-2]. Through-the-
Wall Imaging Radar (TWIR) technology is one of the most
promising technology since it can provide non-destructive,
remote detection of human beings and any other objects [3, 4].
Although there are some commercial products in the market
that can provide very good depth resolutions, their cross-range
performance lacks accuracy due to limited number of receivers
in the cross-range direction [5, 6]. To improve the cross-range Figure 1. The prototyped radar sensor device [7]
resolution, we have recently developed a radar sensor that is
especially designed for the use of TWIR applications [7].
In this work, we present the results of several experiments B. Stationary Target Experiment
that involves both stationary and moving objects behind a wall.
For the experiments in this study, Agilent ENA5071C
In the next section, the radar sensor is re-introduced and an
Vector Network Analyzer (VNA) was used as the RF
experiment with static targets behind a wall is presented. The
transceiver that was to be connected to the radar sensor device.
raw radar image and the focused TWIR image after applying
our back-projection type migration algorithm are given. In the The geometry of the experiment is seen in Fig. 2 (a) where
third section, experimental results for a moving target is two Aluminum pipes of different sizes were put on the other
provided. The scenario and the constructed sequential TWIR side of the wall as demonstrated in the figure. The locations
images are shown to demonstrate the usage and the and the diameters of the pipes are also illustrated in the figure.
performance of our radar sensor. In the last section, the work is A picture from the scene is provided in Fig. 2 (b). During the
concluded and the issues regarding the experiences gathered experiment, the sensor was shifted by 1 cm in the cross-range
from this research are discussed. dimension for a total of 11 distinct measurements. Therefore, a

978-1-5090-2518-3/16/$31.00 ©2016 IEEE

total of 88 (11 measurement x 8 antenna elements) back
scattering coefficient (S11) measurements were attained. During
the measurements, the frequency of the VNA was altered from
3 GHz to 8.5 GHz for a total of 201 discrete points.
(a)
(b)
Figure 2. The stationary target experiment: (a) geometry
and (b) picture for the experiment
After applying the inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT)
operation, the range profiles of each measurement was
achieved. Then, we applied a range-gating procedure to reject
scattering phenomena from the wall and put on a filtering
procedure to enhance the quality of the image. The resultant
two-dimensional (2D) raw TWIR radar image in depth cross-
range dimensions was obtained as plotted in Fig. 3 (a). As
expected, the radargram has two hyperbolas as the ranges of
the pipes were changing for the measurements from different
antenna elements. This feature is very similar to the B-scan
ground penetrating radar (GPR) characteristics [8, 9]. The
correct locations of the pipes are; in fact, at the apexes of these
hyperbolas. Therefore, we applied a back-projection type of
focusing algorithm [9-11] to migrate these hyperbolas to their
true target positions. After applying our back-projection
algorithm to the data in Fig. 3 (a), we have constructed the
TWIR image of the stationary pipes behind the wall as depicted
in Fig. 3 (b). As apparent from the figure, the pipes were
successfully imaged at the correct places behind the wall.
While the range resolution (~3 cm) is really great thanks to an
ultra-wide frequency band (5.5 GHz) of the transmitted signal,
we also note that the cross-range resolution is about 10-15 cm
that is also considered to be well when compared with two
receiver systems in the market.
(a)
(b)
Figure 3. TWIR image results for stationary pipes on the other
side on the wall: (a) raw image in range cross-range domain,
(b) focused image after back-projection algorithm
III. MOVING TARGET EXPERIMENT
For the second experiment whose geometry is given in Fig
4 (a), a walking male-human is considered as the target. The
person has walked towards to wall in the first half of the
measurement recording period and walked away from the wall
in the second half. A picture during the experiment is given in
Fig. 4 (b).
(a)
(b)
Figure 4. The moving target experiment: (a) geometry and (b)
picture for the experiment
The radar sensor was put attached to the wall and a series of
S11 measurements were taken by using our radar sensor and the
VNA. For the raw TWIR images, image differencing scheme
is applied such that each consecutive measurements was
subtracted from the previous one to filter out the motionless
objects (such as wall and any other fixed objects) so that only
moving object, i.e., walking human could be detected and
imaged. During the data collection process, the frequency of
the VNA was changed from 3.5 GHz to 8.5 GHz for a total of
110 equally spaced distinct frequency points. Although many
successive scene shots have been gathered by using our
measurement device for the continuous monitoring of the
scene, only 8 radargram images are shared in this paper due to
space limitations. This consecutive images were migrated by
applying our back-projection migration algorithm. The
resultant focused images are presented in Fig. 5. The time
difference of successive images in Fig. 5 is about 1.2 s.
Figure 5. TWIR images using back-projection focusing for a
walking human (a-d) towards the wall/radar, (e-h) away from
the wall/radar
Images at Fig. 5 (a) to Fig. 5 (e) corresponds to the case for
the man walking towards to wall. As easily seen from these
sequential figures that man started walking from 1m away from
the radar till a distance of 50 cm from the radar as in the case of
the real scenario. Likewise, images at Fig. 5 (e) to Fig. 5 (h)
corresponds to the situation for the man walked away from the
radar/wall. In reality, the man walked from 50 cm to 80 cm
from the radar. By looking at the images, we also notice that
the target is imaged about the correct whereabouts as we move
among the images. The resolution is fairly good both in range
and cross-range domains thanks to 8 distinct sensors in the
cross-range direction and also for the migration algorithm.
IV. CONCLUSION
In this study, we have presented through-the-wall detection
and imaging experiments that were conducted by using our
recently developed a novel radar sensor. Two experiments; one
for the stationary targets and one for the walking person have
been conducted. It has been shown from the TWIR image
results that all targets have been successfully detected and also
imaged at their true positions.
It is well clarified from the radargram results from Fig. 3
and Fig. 5 that the resolution in the cross-range dimension has
been significantly improved due to 8-element sensor
configuration along the cross-range direction. Also, measured
TWIR images has proven the effectiveness of the focusing
ability of the back-projection algorithm.
Although it is not applicable for stationary targets, change
detection algorithms such as image differencing is very
effective in filtering out the stationary clutter within the scene
so providing a successful detection and imaging the moving
targets [12].
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work was supported by Mersin University Scientific
Research Unit under Project No. BAP-FBE EEM (BY) 2011-
7DR. Authors are thankful to Mustafa Berkan Biçer for his
help during experiments.
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