Performance Prediction for Coherent Noise Radars Using the Correlation Coefficient

Noise radars, as well as certain types of quantum radar, can be understood in terms of a correlation coefficient which characterizes their detection performance. Although most results in the noise radar literature are stated in terms of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), we show that it is possible to carry out performance prediction in terms of the correlation coefficient. To this end, we derive the range dependence of the correlation coefficient under the assumption that all external noise is additive white Gaussian noise. We then combine our result with a previously-derived expression for the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of a coherent noise radar, showing that we can obtain ROC curves for varying ranges. A comparison with corresponding results for a conventional radar employing coherent integration shows that our results are sensible. The aim of our work is to show that the correlation coefficient is a viable adjunct to SNR in understanding noise radar performance.