Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing linear frequency modulation signal design with optimised pulse compression property of spatial synthesised signals

Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) linear frequency modulation (LFM) waveform is widely studied due to its application potentials in multiple-input–multiple-output (MIMO) radar, but its effective design is still a challenge. Considering the critical role, the pulse compression property of spatial synthesised signals plays in MIMO radar, a detailed analysis is made using OFDM LFM signals, resulting in the radical reasons for the high grating sidelobes. Then, a joint optimisation method for OFDM LFM signal design based on genetic algorithm and sequential quadratic programming is proposed to degrade the sidelobe level dramatically. Furthermore, to nullify the grating sidelobes thoroughly, a modification is performed through optimising the relaxed frequency steps of the OFDM LFM waveform, which involves a balance between sidelobe property and orthogonality. Numerical results validate the theoretic analysis and show the superior performance of the designed OFDM LFM waveforms in pulse compression properties of spatial synthesised signals.