Hybrid MIMO Phased Array Radar With Center-Spanned Subarrays

Hybrid Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output(MIMO) phased array radar, or Phased MIMO radar, is recognized for its capacity to provide trade-off between transmit coherent gain and waveform diversity gain. Such trade-off can be flexibly implemented by changing subarray partition schemes of the system, which in turn enhances system performance. In this paper, a center-spanned subarray configuration is proposed with detailed steps to develop: First, the center element of the whole transmit array is chosen. Next, the surrounding region of center element is determined as the center subarray for subsequent spanning. Finally, the subarray partition is implemented through spanning subarrays around the center subarray. Both theoretical derivations and simulation results reveal that the hybrid MIMO phased array radar with the proposed center-spanned subarray configuration has lower sidelobe beampattern and higher Signal to Interference Noise Ratio(SINR) than that of equally or unequally overlapped subarray partitions.