Tracking Performance of MIMO Radar for Accelerating Targets

Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar utilizes orthogonal waveforms on each transmit element to achieve virtual aperture extension. Compared to a directed beam radar, MIMO radar has increased Doppler resolution due to the longer integration times required to maintain the same energy on target. However, the requirement for longer integration times can also cause target returns to be spread over multiple range-Doppler bins, which decreases probability of detection. This paper derives an analytical expression for probability of detection that explicitly accounts for range-Doppler migration. The effect of target velocity, target acceleration and integration time on range-Doppler migration is analyzed. A framework for velocity and acceleration compensation and step sizes for full and partial compensation are proposed. Single-target track completeness and track accuracy are compared for directed beam radar, MIMO radar with full compensation, MIMO radar with partial compensation, and uncompensated MIMO radar. Results indicate that compensation is required to prevent degraded probability of detection and track completeness as target velocity and acceleration increase. Full compensation mitigates the effects of range-Doppler migration but requires additional computational complexity. The use of partial compensation reduces computational complexity requirements but has diminished tracking performance due to coasting over missed measurements.