Decimating pseudorandom noise receiver

A pseudorandom noise (PN) coded CW radar with a novel decimating digital correlator is discussed. The motivation for using this decimation technique is to reduce the analog-to-digital (A/D) sampling rate and corresponding digital signal processing (DSP) rates. This provides the radar designer the ability to improve the range resolution of the radar beyond the current capabilities of A/D and DSP hardware. This new decimating digital correlation technique is based on existing theories of decimating PN sequences. The fundamental principles of this decimating digital correlator design are presented and simulation results are provided to demonstrate feasibility.