Segmented BAQ algorithm for SAR raw data of strong target in weak background

In order to improve the performance of block adaptive quantization (BAQ) when dynamic range of the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) echo is far larger than the radar receiver's, this paper proposes a segmented BAQ algorithm for SAR raw data of strong target in weak background. Firstly, unlike traditional ADC processing, the 12-bit ADC system is used before BAQ. The quantization and saturation error of 12-bit ADC system is analyzed. Moreover, the mapping relationship between standard deviation of output signal (SDOS) of the ADC and the average signal magnitude (ASM) for 12-bit ADC is deduced. Secondly, the concept of the segmented compression is proposed and a segmented non-uniform scalar quantizer for SAR raw data of strong target in weak background is designed. Thirdly, the encoding scheme is provided. Experiment results based on simulated data show that the performance of the proposed algorithm is better than that of traditional BAQ.