Generalized OS CFAR detector with noncoherent integration

Analysis of constant false alarm rate (CFAR) detectors with noncoherent integration has been limited to the cell-averaging (CA) CFAR detector, the maximum mean level detector (MX-MLD) and the order statistics (OS) CFAR detector. Detection performance of the CA CFAR detector that employs noncoherent integration has been studied by several authors even though the false alarm rate of the CA CFAR detector is sensitive to changes in the background clutter-plus-noise level under nonhomogeneous situations. Shor and Levanon analyzed the detection performance of the OS CFAR detector with noncoherent integration in homogeneous situation, but their formula requires numerical integration. In this paper, we extend the detection analysis to the generalized order statistics (GOS) CFAR detector that employs M-pulse noncoherent integration for general chi-square fluctuating targets in nonhomogeneous environments, which covers various OS and CA CFAR detectors. We obtain unified formulas of the false alarm and the detection probabilities for the GOS CFAR detector in closed form. By properly choosing the coefficients of the GOS CFAR detector, one can realize various kinds of CFAR processors, such as the CA CFAR detector, the OS CFAR detector, the censored mean level detector (CMLD) and the trimmed mean (TM) CFAR detector.

[1]  S. Blake.  OS-CFAR theory for multiple targets and nonuniform clutter , 1988 .

[2]  H. M. Finn,et al.  Adaptive detection mode with threshold control as a function of spatially sampled clutter level estimates , 1968 .

[3]  Norihiko Morinaga,et al.  Direct Evaluation of Radar Detection Probabilities , 1987, IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems.

[4]  Hwang Soo Lee,et al.  Performance of order-statistics CFAR detector with noncoherent integration in homogeneous situations , 1993 .

[5]  Hermann Rohling,et al.  Radar CFAR Thresholding in Clutter and Multiple Target Situations , 1983, IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems.

[6]  Irving Kanter.  Exact Detection Probability for Partially Correlated Rayleigh Targets , 1986, IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems.

[7]  A. Cohen.  An Introduction to Probability Theory and Mathematical Statistics , 1979 .

[8]  James A. Ritcey,et al.  Detection analysis of the MX-MLD with noncoherent integration , 1990 .

[9]  John Rickard,et al.  Adaptive Detection Algorithms for Multiple-Target Situations , 1977, IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems.

[10]  V. Hansen,et al.  Detectability Loss Due to "Greatest Of" Selection in a Cell-Averaging CFAR , 1980, IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems.

[11]  M. A. Weiner.  Detection probability for partially correlated chi-square targets , 1988 .

[12]  Saleem A. Kassam,et al.  Analysis of CFAR processors in homogeneous background , 1988 .

[13]  R. Mitchell,et al.  Recursive Methods for Computing Detection Probabilities , 1971, IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems.