Speckle Reduction Using Correlated Mixed-Integration Techniques

In this work the effects of averaging (compounding) the intensities from partially correlated phased array antennas are studied as a means of speckle reduction. Compounding intensities from subarrays is often referred to as mixed-integration in the radar literature. Correlated subarrays are obtained from a large coherent phased array by division into subarrays after coherent signal detection. Overlapping subarrays share common elements. Model calculations of the covariance matrix are made for both synthetic aperture and fixed phased array systems. These results are then used to calculate the speckle contrast reductions for multiple compounded partially correlated arrays for these different configurations. The results are applicable to a variety of coherent systems such as microwave radars, laser radars, sonars, and ultrasound.