Advanced technology of high-resolution radar: target detection, tracking, imaging, and recognition

In recent years, the performances of radar resolution, coverage, and detection accuracy have been significantly improved through the use of ultra-wideband, synthetic aperture and digital signal processing technologies. High-resolution radars (HRRs) utilize wideband signals and synthetic apertures to enhance the range and angular resolutions of tracking, respectively. They also generate one-, two-, and even threedimensional high-resolution images containing the feature information of targets, from which the targets can be precisely classified and identified. Advanced signal processing algorithms in HRRs obtain important information such as range-Doppler imaging, phase-derived ranging, and micro-motion features. However, the advantages and applications of HRRs are restricted by factors such as the reduced signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of multi-scatter point targets, decreased tracking accuracy of multi-scatter point targets, high demands of motion compensation, and low sensitivity of the target attitude. Focusing on these problems, this paper systematically introduces the novel technologies of HRRs and discusses the issues and solutions relevant to detection, tracking, imaging, and recognition. Finally, it reviews the latest progress and representative results of HRR-based research, and suggests the future development of HRRs.