Coherent Integration and Parameter Estimation for High-Speed Target Detection With Bistatic MIMO Radar

This article explores the coherent integration and parameter estimation problem for high-speed target detection using bistatic multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar. Unlike the traditional intrachannel coherent integration that could only focus the target’s energy during the multipulse observation, the bistatic MIMO radar implements joint intrachannel integration and interchannel integration to improve detection performance. However, its difficulties lie in that the high-speed motion results in the range migration (RM) in the intrachannel and the phase and envelope differences among multichannel. To solve these problems, we propose a multichannel coherent integration methodology in the radon Fourier transform (RFT) domain for the bistatic MIMO radar. First, we apply the RFT to integrate the target energy in the intrachannel. Then, the multichannel coherent accumulation is performed by the design of the phase compensation function and envelope alignment function. Finally, based on the relationship between the integration peak’s location and target parameters, a Broyden-like method and linear equation solving are, respectively, presented to estimate the target’s position and velocity. The effectiveness of the proposed method is assessed via simulation experiments and real-measured data. It is further noted that the proposed method can detect targets at low signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) which are not attainable using state-of-the-art methods.