DRFM CORDIC processor and sea clutter modeling for enhancing structured false target synthesis

Abstract

In this thesis, we investigate two critical components of a digital-image synthesizer electronic warfare architecture that can be used to infuse false targets into high-range resolution profiling radars. The first investigation encompasses the design of an in-phase and quadrature (I/Q) converter based on a CORDIC (Coordinate Rotation Digital Computer) algorithm. Mathematical modeling is used to examine the accuracy of converting a digitized radar signal I/Q sample into a corresponding five-bit binary phase angle. Results obtained from MATLAB show that 18 CORDIC iterations are required to achieve accuracy at 5.625˚. The resulting design was implemented using the Verilog hardware description language. The second investigation concerns generating sea clutter to impose on the false target. The mean-power return of the sea clutter is calculated using the average power of the radar-cross section derived from the Naval Research Laboratory sea clutter model. The modulation coefficients for the sea clutter were generated using the fluctuating power returns and Doppler spectra generated using a random KA distribution. The coefficients for several sea states were generated using MATLAB. Results show that the correct sea clutter model can effectively add realism to the false target image.