Architecture of a multistatic FMCW direction-finding radar

The key technology of the future will be the use of low-cost sensor networks in order to replace large aperture antennas. The proposed multistatic radar system is composed of a transmitter, a number of receivers, dispersed in a lower altitude area, and a central processing station. Each receiver extracts the targets bistatic range and range-rate information, while estimating their azimuth angle. The receiver bistatic measurements, after local data processing, are sent to a central processing station, where three dimensional multiple target tracking is conducted. The main objective of the proposed multistatic radar system is to increase the detection probability of targets with low monostatic RCS, taking advantage of the Bistatic Radar Cross Section (BRCS) and the low operating frequency (low UHF band). Furthermore, the transmitter is only charged with the operation of emitting a Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) signal and an appropriate synchronization beacon, while the receiver performs a totally passive function. The main design objective is the use of a low cost radar sensor which performs an unsophisticated operation, while the main system functionality is accumulated in the central processing station.