Filter-Bank-Enabled Leaky-Wave Antenna Array Technique for Full-Band-Locked Radar System in Stitched Frequency-Space Domain

Inspired by the filter-bank (FB) concept that is normally used for multirate signal processing, an FB-enabled array technique of leaky-wave antennas (LWAs) is proposed and studied for creating full-band-locked frequency-scanning radar (FSR) systems in a stitched frequency-space domain. This is mainly for addressing the coupling dilemma between the range and angle resolutions, which is historically and naturally inherited from a conventional FSR. First, the typical frequency-modulated continuous-wave system architecture is selected to exemplify and recall the characteristics of a conventional FSR with emphasis on its resolution coupling. Then, a radar solution featuring a stitched frequency-space domain and depending on an FB-enabled array of LWA channels is introduced for realizing the desired resolution decoupling. With the radar equation, FB-related conditions for obtaining the critical “frequency-space stitching” are analytically derived and converted into relevant design specifications of an LWA array, including engineered beam-scanning functions, beam-crossovers, and phase alignments. To facilitate the practical implementation of such a front-end array technique, a detailed and generalized design flow is developed. Finally, for a simple proof of concept, an FB-enabled two-channel LWA array is modeled, fabricated, and measured. Simulated and measured results are in reasonable agreement; both demonstrate the desired “frequency-space stitching” behavior, i.e., enhanced spectrum bandwidth and widened radiation beamwidth. The proposed array solution may be potentially deployed for FSR systems with a full-band-locked beam illumination and a decoupled range-angle resolution, which may present a highly competing scheme against the phased array radar techniques.