Frequency agile stepped OFDM waveform for HRR

High range resolution (HRR) is an important feature for radar, aiming at target classification. The range resolution is inversely proportional to the bandwidth of the transmitted signal. Pulse burst waveforms can achieve HRR at low expenses when the carrier frequency increases from one pulse to the next, stepping and synthesizing the wide bandwidth. In such a stepped frequency approach the resolution is determined by the bandwidth of the total pulse burst. With the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) waveform, the time/frequency pattern of the transmitted radar signal is fully flexible while the waveform can be generated easily by IFFT. The novelty of this paper is to demonstrate how the combination of frequency agility and HRR processing into one system can benefit from the OFDM flexibility. An elementary scenario with a single stationary or low speed point target is assumed.