Broadband Synthetic Aperture Scanning System for Three-Dimensional Through-the-Wall Inspection

This letter presents a cost-effective technique for through-the-wall imaging of objects beyond a wall. The approach relies on an amplitude-only multimonostatic radar that operates as a synthetic aperture radar. In contrast to conventional approaches, the system employs recent broadband techniques for phase retrieval. Thus, the complexity of the scanner is reduced, whereas it preserves the capacities of a conventional broadband system to retrieve the 3-D profile of objects. Moreover, the system is compatible with state-of-the art techniques that require full (i.e., amplitude and phase) acquisitions. Results at different frequency bands are shown to illustrate how the system can provide accurate estimation of the profile of metallic objects behind building materials such as plywood, plasterboard, or hollow bricks and mortar.