The recent development of the full digital array technology paves the way to the design of multistatic RADAR systems relying on agile waveforms at emission. This new paradigm fits perfectly with the concept of phase conjugation (or time reversal if applied to large-band data). This technique allows indeed to adaptively build a wave focusing onto a target, leading to an improvement in detection range or in search time as compared to classical approaches. The DORT method, issued from phase conjugation, even permits to detect multiple targets from the knowledge of the multistatic matrix of the antenna array. Based on both a theoretical analysis and an experimental proof provided here, it appears that these methods appear as very promising, especially for cueing and ultra-fast reacquisition modes where the phase conjugation/DORT SNR requirements are more easily fulfilled.

Inspec keywords: waveform analysis; radar detection; object detection; radar antennas; antenna arrays; array signal processing

Other keywords: ultrafast reacquisition mode; cueing; multistatic matrix; multistatic RADAR system design; wave focusing; digital array technology; antenna array; time reversal operator decomposition; signal-to-noise ratio; DORT method; waveform design; phase conjugation-DORT SNR requirement

Subjects: Signal detection; Antenna arrays; Mathematical analysis