A Spatial Spectrum Projection Algorithm for Airborne Bistatic Radar Efficient Imaging

Airborne bistatic (and multistatic) radar, which utilizes the spatial diversity of radar platforms to achieve high-resolution imaging, plays a significant role for the next generation radar. Based on the distribution structure of radar platforms, we can deduce the spatial spectrum to reconstruct the targets. However, the processing efficiency of spatial spectrum is different because the echo data can be projected into different shapes in spatial spectrum region. In this paper, an efficient imaging method based on spatial spectrum projection algorithm (SS-PA) for bistatic radar is proposed. First, the spatial spectrum distribution is illustrated based on the system structure. Then, the minimum external rectangular grids are depicted when the spatial spectrum is projected into different directions. Finally, the most efficient imaging view is obtained according to the ratio of spatial spectrum distribution to processing area. The proposed method can provide the most efficient imaging view for bistatic radar, which reduces computational complexity for the system implementation. Simulation result verifies the proposed method.