On Adaptive Cell-Averaging CFAR (Constant False-Alarm Rate) Radar Signal Detection

Abstract

In radar signal detection, the problem is to automatically detect a target in a nonstationary noise and clutter background while maintaining a constant probability of false-alarm. Classical detection using a matched filter receiver and a fixed threshold is not applicable due to the nonstationary nature of the background noise. Therefore, adaptive threshold techniques are needed to maintain a constant false-alarm rate(CFAR). One approach to adaptive detection in nonstationary noise and clutter background is to compare the processed target signal to an adaptive threshold. In the cell-averaging CFAR processing, an estimate of the background noise from the leading and the lagging reference windows is used to set the adaptive threshold. A threshold multiplier(or scaling factor)is used to scale the threshold to achieve the desired probability of false-alarm. In the first part of this report, we have proposed two modified cell-averaging detectors for multiple target situations. The first one is a weighted cell-averaging CFAR detector, WCA-CFAR, where weighted leading and lagging reference windows are used to obtain the adaptive threshold. The second is a cell-censored, cell averaging CFAR processor where a predetermined fixed threshold is used to eliminate those cells that may contain interference.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 1987
Accession Number
ADA196286

Entities

People

  • Mourad Barkat
  • Pramod Varshney

Organizations

  • Syracuse University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Human Systems
  • Sensors

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Background Noise
  • Computations
  • Data Fusion
  • Detection
  • Detectors
  • False Alarms
  • Gaussian Noise
  • Hybrid Systems
  • Literature Surveys
  • Network Topology
  • Probability Density Functions
  • Processing Equipment
  • Random Variables
  • Sensor Networks
  • Signal Detection
  • Two Dimensional
  • Warning Systems

Fields of Study

  • Engineering

Readers

  • Radar Systems Engineering.