PC based real-time radar environment simulation

Abstract

We present a Radar Environment Simulator (RES) that simulates the radar environment of a pulse Doppler radar in real-time. Hereby, the RES simulates pre-defined scenarios fully autonomously and interactively with the radar system. The RES generates digital I/Q signals containing radar returns of point sources, jammers and distributed clutter sources. Sophisticated physical models for point source RCS and Doppler, for jammer returns as well as for distributed clutter ensure a very accurate simulation of the radar environment. Because the RES is based on a high performance multicore PC platform consisting of COTS components, it is not only very compact and easy to transport but also cheaper than other traditional hardware based radar environment simulators. Additionally, due to the Software based signal generation, it is easy to extend and maintain.