Innovative Waveforms and Related Signal Processing for Missile Defense Radars

Missile defense radar applications face increasing challenges in their detection, tracking, and discrimination functions. They include (a) noise jamming and clutter environment that become more severe as the required system sensitivities grow larger; (b) deceptive jamming that becomes more insidious with the progress of digital technology; and (c) difficult RFI situations as the operating bands become wider and as the RF environment becomes more crowded. To measure up against such challenges TSC proposes to leverage and to further evolve extremely fast waveform and filter generation capabilities that are based on TSC’s developed Local Optimization technique, together with corresponding signal processing algorithms. They include (a) high control over time domain characteristics with good peak and integrated sidelobes, as well as tailored notches; (b) spectral control with tailored in-band notching; (c) polyphase based orthogonal families of codes with excellent auto and cross-correlation characteristics; (d) synthetic wideband (HRR) waveforms with narrowband processing coupled with low spectral overlap which provide time-energy efficiency coupled with good electronic protection potential; and (e) significant experience and existing capabilities in signal environment modeling and adaptive processing. The adaptive use of said waveforms in the changing environments is a key goal of TSC throughout the proposed effort.