CFAR Detector

R2026b

Constant false alarm rate (CFAR) detector

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CFAR Detector block

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Libraries:
Phased Array System Toolbox / Detection

Description

The CFAR Detector block implements a one-dimensional constant false-alarm rate (CFAR) detector. Detection processing is performed on selected elements (called cells) of the input data. A detection is declared when an image cell value exceeds a threshold. To maintain a constant false alarm-rate, the threshold is set to a multiple of the image noise power. The detector estimates noise power for a cell-under-test (CUT) from surrounding cells using one of three cell averaging methods, or an order statistics method. The cell-averaging methods are cell averaging (CA), greatest-of cell averaging (GOCA), or smallest-of cell averaging (SOCA).

For more information about CFAR detectors, see [1].

For each test cell, the detector:

1. estimates the noise statistic from the cell values in the training band surrounding the CUT cell.

2. computes the threshold by multiplying the noise estimate by the threshold factor.

3. compares the CUT cell value to the threshold to determine whether a target is present or absent. If the value is greater than the threshold, a target is present.

Ports

Input

X — Cell matrix

real-valued M-by-1 column vector | real-valued M-by-N matrix

Cell matrix, specified as a real-valued M-by-1 column vector or a real-valued M-by-N matrix.

The size of the first dimension of the input matrix can vary to simulate a changing signal length. A size change can occur, for example, in the case of a pulse waveform with variable pulse repetition frequency.

Data Types: single | double

Idx — Index of cells under test

real-valued length-D vector

Cells-under-test (CUT), specified as a real-valued length-D vector. Indices specify the input elements or cells under test on which to perform detection processing. When X is a vector, Idx specifies the element. When X is a matrix, Idx specifies the row of the element. The same index applies to all columns of the matrix. Detection is performed independently along each column of Xww for the indices specified in Idx.

Data Types: double

K — Threshold factor

positive scalar

Threshold factor, used to calculate the detection threshold, specified as a positive scalar.

Dependencies

To enable this port, set the Threshold factor method parameter to Input port.

Data Types: double

Output

Y — Detection results

D-by-1 vector | D-by-N matrix | 1-by-L | 2-by-L matrix

The format of Y depends on the Output format property.

• When Output format is 'Cut result', Y is a D-by-1 vector or a D-by-N matrix containing logical detection results. D is the length of Idx and N is the number of columns of X. The rows of Y correspond to the rows in Idx. For each row, Y contains 1 in a column if there is a detection in the corresponding column of X. Otherwise, Y contains a 0.

• When Output format is 'Detection report', Y is a 1-by-L vector or a 2-by-L matrix containing detections indices. L is the number of detections found in the input data. When X is a column vector, Y contains the index for each detection in X. When X is a matrix, Y contains the row and column indices of each detection in X. Each column of Y has the form [detrow;detcol]. When the Source of number of detections property is set to 'Property', L equals the value of the Maximum number of detections parameter. If the number of actual detections is less than this value, columns without detections are set to NaN.

Data Types: double

Th — Detection threshold

scalar

Detection threshold applied to cells under test, returned as a scalar.

• When Output format is 'CUT result', Th port outputs the detection threshold whenever an element of Y is 1 and NaN whenever an element of Y is 0. The output of Th has the same size as Y.

• When Output format is 'Detection index', the Th port outputs a detection threshold for each corresponding detection in Y.When the Source of the number of detections parameter is set to 'Property', the number of detections is set by the Maximum number of detections parameter. If the number of actual detections is less than this value, the columns without detections are set to NaN.

Dependencies

To enable this port, select the Output detection threshold check box.

Data Types: double

N — Estimated noise power

positive scalar

Estimated noise power for each detected cell under test, returned as a positive scalar.

• When Output format is 'CUT result', N returns a noise power estimate when Y is 1 and NaN whenever Y is zero. The output from port N has the same size as Y.

• When Output format is 'Detection index', M returns a noise power estimate for each corresponding detection in Y. When the Source of the number of detections property is set to 'Property', L equals the value of the Maximum number of detections parameter. If the number of actual detections is less than this value, columns without detections are set to NaN.

Dependencies

To enable this port, select the Output estimated noise power check box.

Data Types: double

Parameters

CFAR algorithm — CFAR algorithm

CA (default) | GOCA | SOCA | OS

Specify the CFAR detection algorithm using one of the values

CA	Cell-averaging
GOCA	Greatest-of cell averaging
OS	Order statistic
SOCA	Smallest-of cell averaging

Number of guard cells — Number of guard cells

2 (default)

Specify the number of guard cells used in training as an even integer. This parameter specifies the total number of cells on both sides of the cell under test.

Number of training cells — Number of training cells

2 (default)

Specify the number of training cells used in training as an even integer. Whenever possible, the training cells are equally divided before and after the cell under test.

Rank of order statistic — Rank of order statistic

1 (default)

Specify the rank of the order statistic as a positive integer scalar. The value must be less than or equal to the value of Number of training cells.

Dependencies

This parameter appears when CFAR algorithm is set to OS.

Threshold factor method — Methods of obtaining threshold factor

Auto (default) | Input port | Custom

Specify whether the threshold factor comes from an automatic calculation, the Custom threshold factor parameter, or an input argument. Values of this parameter are:

Auto	The application calculates the threshold factor automatically based on the desired probability of false alarm specified in the Probability of false alarm parameter. The calculation assumes each independent signal in the input is a single pulse coming out of a square law detector with no pulse integration. The calculation also assumes the noise is white Gaussian.
Custom	The Custom threshold factor parameter specifies the threshold factor.
Input port	Threshold factor is set using the input port K. This port appears only when Threshold factor method is set to Input port.

Probability of false alarm — Desired probability of false alarm

0.1 (default)

Specify the desired probability of false alarm as a scalar between 0 and 1 (not inclusive).

Dependencies

This parameter appears only when you set Threshold factor method to Auto.

Custom threshold factor — Custom threshold factor

1 (default)

Specify the custom threshold factor as a positive scalar.

Dependencies

This parameter appears only when you set Threshold factor method to Custom.

Output format — Format of detection results

CUT result (default) | Detection index

Specify the format of detection results returned in output port Y as CUT result or Detection index.

• When set to CUT result, the results are logical detection values (1 or 0) for each tested cell. 1 indicates that the value of the tested cell exceeds a detection threshold.

• When set to Detection index, the results form a vector or matrix containing the indices of tested cells which exceed a detection threshold.

Output detection threshold — Output detection threshold

off (default) | on

Select this check box to create an output port Th containing the detection threshold.

Output estimated noise power — Output estimated noise power

off (default) | on

Select this check box to create an output port N containing the estimated noise.

Source of the number of detections — Source of the number of detections

Auto (default) | Property

Specify the source of the number of detections as Auto or Property. When you select Auto, the number of detection indices reported is the total number of cells under test that have detections. If you select Property, the number of reported detections is determined by the value of the Maximum number of detections parameter.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set the Output format parameter to Detection index.

Maximum number of detections — Maximum number of detections to report

1 (default)

Specify the maximum number of detection indices to report as a positive integer.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set the Output format parameter to Detection index and the Source of the number of detections parameter to Property.

Simulate using — Block simulation method

Interpreted Execution (default) | Code Generation

Block simulation, specified as Interpreted Execution or Code Generation. If you want your block to use the MATLAB^® interpreter, choose Interpreted Execution. If you want your block to run as compiled code, choose Code Generation. Compiled code requires time to compile but usually runs faster.

Interpreted execution is useful when you are developing and tuning a model. The block runs the underlying System object™ in MATLAB. You can change and execute your model quickly. When you are satisfied with your results, you can then run the block using Code Generation. Long simulations run faster with generated code than in interpreted execution. You can run repeated executions without recompiling, but if you change any block parameters, then the block automatically recompiles before execution.

This table shows how the Simulate using parameter affects the overall simulation behavior.

When the Simulink^® model is in Accelerator mode, the block mode specified using Simulate using overrides the simulation mode.

Acceleration Modes

Block Simulation	Simulation Behavior
	Normal	Accelerator	Rapid Accelerator
Interpreted Execution	The block executes using the MATLAB interpreter.	The block executes using the MATLAB interpreter.	Creates a standalone executable from the model.
Code Generation	The block is compiled.	All blocks in the model are compiled.

For more information, see Choosing a Simulation Mode (Simulink).

Programmatic Use

Block Parameter: SimulateUsing

Type: enum

Values: Interpreted Execution, Code Generation

Default: Interpreted Execution

Programmatic Use: Add Block

To add the block programmatically, use the add_block function with one of these library block paths as the source.

"phaseddetectlib/CFAR Detector"

Example: add_block("phaseddetectlib/CFAR Detector","myModel/myBlock",MakeNameUnique="on")

Version History

Introduced in R2014b