Multi-channel Data Acquisition and Digital Beam Forming system for Space-borne Sweep SAR Mission

One of the major advantages of onboard Digital Beam Forming (DBF) system is that it substantially reduces the SAR sensor data rate, while improving the system performance. ISRO’s first 24-channel Data Acquisition and Beam Forming (DABF) system has been successfully designed and developed at Space Applications Centre for Dual Frequency Sweep SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) mission. This paper discusses the hardware design details, beam forming algorithm implementation and performance of multi-channel data acquisition & digital beam forming system, developed for the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission, based on a novel Sweep SAR concept.