Science & technology trends in cognitive radar concept

Abstract

Currently, human operators provide cognition in a radar system. However, advances in the “digitization” of radar front-ends, including digital arbitrary waveform generators (AWG) and advanced high performance embedded computing (HPEC) make it possible to vary all key radar parameters (power, pulse length, number of pulses, pulse repetition frequency (PRF), modulation, frequency, polarization) on a pulse-by-pulse basis within ns or ms and over a wide operating range. This timescale is much faster than the decision-making ability of a human operator. The cognitive-inspired techniques in radar, that are intensively developing last years, mimic elements of human cognition and the use of external knowledge to use the available system resources in an optimal way for the current goal and environment. Radar systems based on the perception-action cycle of cognition that senses the environment, learns relevant information from it about the target and the background and then adapts the radar to optimally satisfy the needs of the mission according to a desired goal are called cognitive radars. In the article, recent ideas and applications of cognitive radars were analyzed.