SBIR Phase I:Combining Time Compressed Synthetic Pulses and Frequency Scalable Antennae to Optimize UWB Sensor Dynamic Range

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project proposes to capitalize on evolving concepts for sensor optimization that will facilitate the detection of human targets through caves, hillsides, buildings, foliage, fog, and other opaque materials. This technology will have broad application in homeland security, airport security, hostile police action, high school and other hostage events, and for search and rescue. The phase I effort will include a feasibility study of simulated and real data to determine if novel pulse and antennae geometries will simultaneously enhance the dynamic range and resolution of evolving ultra-wideband sensing. The hypothesis of this proposal suggests that these improvements will facilitate unattended remote sensing of human and other targets through a wider range of materials without sacrificing extended range, resolution, and clutter suppression. This effort will include field measurements to assess the initial potential of select pulse shapes, antenna geometries, and loading schemes to detect humans through a variety of low-loss and high-loss opaque materials. There are two primary applications for this technology, situational awareness and subsurface investigation. The former, which is the most attractive for early market entry, comprises homeland security, police/fire/search and rescue, and military actions where the location of human subjects and the detection of possible weapons on the opposite side of walls, vegetation, snow, fire, fog, darkness, smoke, or other opaque media is sought. The latter includes geophysical exploration, ore body investigation, utility detection and location, road-bed and bridge subsurface scans for cracks and voids, and unattended ground sensing from a fixed point to assess subsurface changes that can be used to predict earth or structural failure.