The signal processor is the portion of the radar system responsible for extracting actionable information about the signal (target, clutter, and jamming) environment from raw radar signals. The signal processor is composed of two major elements: (1) the algorithms that analyze the radar data; and (2) the hardware on which those algorithms are hosted. In this chapter, common approaches to the architecture of radar signal processors are described, along with metrics for evaluating those architectures. The role of both the hardware and the software in determining the effectiveness of a processor is described.

Chapter Contents:

• 13.1 Introduction
• 13.2 Radar Processor Structure
• 13.3 Signal Processor Metrics
• 13.4 Counting FLOPs: Estimating Algorithm Computational Requirements
• 13.5 Implementation Technology
• 13.6 Fixed Point versus Floating Point
• 13.7 Signal Processor Sizing
• 13.8 Further Reading
• 13.9 References
• 13.10 Problems

Inspec keywords: radar signal processing; data analysis

Other keywords: radar system; radar signal processor architecture; radar data analysis

Subjects: Signal processing and detection; Radar equipment, systems and applications