Dynamic Management of Digital Array Resources for Radar Target Tracking

Digital array radar systems possess both analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog data converters at every element of the antenna array, which enables ultimate flexibility in beamforming, waveform synthesis, and multi-function operation. In this paper, we discuss resource optimization through target-and track-dependent schemes for exploiting a digital array's transmit flexibility. For example, a digital array can be segmented into multiple transmit sub-arrays to dynamically trade between SNR and volume coverage. We discuss adjusting the size of the transmit sub-array to ensure adequate on-target SNR and spoiling the transmit beam to ensure a maneuverable target does not escape. The power density and SNR tradeoffs are discussed, and some simulated examples are provided.