A novel active real-time digital-beamforming imager for personnel screening

Personnel screening is an essential requirement nowadays for securing air traffic as well as critical infrastructures. Several passive and active imaging systems based on millimeter wave technologies were developed to address the demanded security needs. A novel active near-field imager based on two-dimensional sparse array architecture combined with digital-beamforming technique is demonstrated here. The system is fully electronic, and hence operates in real-time to deliver fully focused three-dimensional images of high dynamic range and resolution. A 2 m times 1 m imager is built and demonstrated full agreement with the theoretical design. The imaging concept, measurement technique, and various imaging results are presented.