The Ambiguity Function Of The Stepped Frequency Radar

High range resolution radar systems have many advantages such as target classification, resolution of multiple target, accurate range profile and detection of low radar cross section (RCS) targets in clutter. High range resolution requires large bandwidths. Stepped frequency waveforms can achieve high range resolution by increasing the effective bandwidth without increasing the instantaneous bandwidth which would increase the hardware requirements including higher analog to digital (AID) sampling rates which are limited by existing technology. Under today's hardware limitations, the stepped frequency waveform becomes very important. This thesis briefly discusses the stepped frequency radar and associated signal processing, it investigates the ambiguity function of the stepped frequency waveform and the stepped frequency radar system. Mathematical expressions of ambiguity functions are derived and the improvement of clutter suppression capability for the stepped frequency radar by rejecting initial pulses is also discussed.