Modernizing a radar with a digital receiver

This paper describes how a radar is modernized with a digital receiver. The paper shows the methodology for this, including the characterization of the old analogue receiver and different aspects of the system design of the new digital receiver. The existing radar is modernized in an evolutionary process i.e. replace one or a few sub-units at a time with the latest technology. For the case in this paper the radar was modernized with a digital receiver. Several analogue units were replaced with two PCBs containing FPGAs. This gives higher reliability and lower Life Cycle Cost, reduces the obsolescence risk and, ensures an inherent flexibility in waveform design.