MIMO Radar Target Detection Using Low-Complexity Receiver

This paper studies reduced complexity target detection using multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) radar with lower complexity. To reduce either hardware or software complexity, some parts of the test statistic are eliminated in the proposed method. For the general case where clutter-plus-noise and reflection coefficients are correlated, the test statistic requires the computation of a set of matched filters (MF-s). These MFs correlate the clutter-plus-noise-free signal received at one receiver due to the signal transmitted from some transmit antenna with the signal received at another receiver. For a special case of uncorrelated clutter-pIus-noise and reflection coefficients and orthogonal waveforms, the proposed method is equivalent to choosing a subset of transmitters to maximize detection probability. In this case we prove that selecting the transmitters at each receiver corresponding to the largest signal-to-clutter-plus-noise ratio (SCNRs) leads to the best detection performance. In the more general case our algorithm picks the best of these MFs to implement under the constraint that the total number of these MFs that one can implement at each receiver is limited.