On the occurrence of ghost targets in linear FMCW radar: A worst case study

In LFMCW (linear frequency modulated continuous wave) radar, there is a nonzero probability for mismatches to occur under certain conditions. We show that this probability strongly depends on the modulation employed as well as on the distribution of targets. Hence a good approach to reduce mismatches is to carefully design the modulation used. Instead of utilizing extensive simulations based on target statistics to accurately estimate the probability of mismatches, we characterize a modulation in terms of its worst case number of mismatches possible. The focus of this paper is to identify conditions for the worst case and to deduce general rules for the modulation design.