Early Verification of RADAR Front Ends with Model-Based Design

Overview

In the world of radar systems, meeting system-level requirements necessitates the development of highly optimized antenna arrays and RF front ends. In this webinar, we provide practical examples RF design and simulation techniques of transmit / receive / antenna modules to enhance the overall radar system performance and reduce costly re-spins.

We will guide you through the process of trading off RF component specifications to meet system requirements effectively. Discover how system-level models can serve as virtual platforms for comprehensive system exploration, enabling you to make informed design decisions and anticipate the impact of noise, impedance mismatches, dispersion, and non-linearity.

By bridging the analysis of a single antenna element with array optimization, we will develop innovative array architectures, synthesize patterns to mitigate interference, and create smarter beamforming algorithms that optimize radar system performance in different scenarios.

Accounting for RF impairments is crucial in determining radar signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and probability of detection. We will explore how comprehensive radar models, encompassing the RF TR (transmit/receive) module, antenna array, and data processing algorithms, can help configure different waveforms and develop compensation algorithms. Gain insights into mitigating RF impairments such as impedance mismatch, antenna coupling, leakage, noise, and non-linearity to enhance radar system performance.

Finally, we will showcase how the ability to directly utilize data sheet specifications and component measurements enhances the fidelity of models. Discover how this enables you to evaluate and mitigate the impact of RF impairments at the system level, ensuring optimal performance before building costly prototypes.

Highlights

• Radar design and verification including RF impairments such as noise and non-linearity
• Dual polarized antenna design and optimization
• Integrating RF measurements into radar system-level simulation
• Scaling up antenna array design and analysis to hundreds of elements

About the Presenter

Leif is a recent addition to MathWorks’ Industry Marketing team where he covers aerospace and defense industry areas. Prior to joining MathWorks in 2022, Leif spent 18 years at Raytheon Technologies developing, integrating and testing various air, missile and maritime defense radars for US and non-US military customers. He is also a former U.S. Navy submarine officer.

Giorgia Zucchelli is the product manager for RF and mixed-signal at MathWorks. Before moving to this role in 2013, she was an application engineer focusing on signal processing and communications systems and specializing in analog simulation. Before joining MathWorks in 2009, Giorgia worked at NXP Semiconductors and at Philips Research. Giorgia has a master’s degree in electrical engineering and a doctorate in electronics for telecommunications from the University of Bologna.