Fast-time 2-D spatial modulation of physical radar emissions

It was recently shown that polyphase-coded frequency modulation (PCFM) waveforms can be expanded to incorporate a spatial modulation coding across a linear antenna array that enables fast-time beamsteering during a transmitted pulsewidth. Here this joint waveform / spatial modulation framework is generalized to two spatial dimensions via a planar array so that complete fast-time spatial steering freedom is available. The resulting emission represents a physically realizable manifestation of MIMO radar that provides enhanced spatial resolution and target discrimination capability using only matched filtering and non-adaptive beamforming. Spatial modulation can also be viewed as a time-varying form of phase-only transmit beam-shaping where the significant increase in degrees-of-freedom, relative to static beam-shaping, translates into many more possible physically achievable design solutions.