Impact of radar systematic error on the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing chirp waveform orthogonality

Abstract Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) chirp waveform, which is composed of two successive identical linear frequency modulated subpulses, is a newly proposed orthogonal waveform scheme for multiinput multioutput synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems. However, according to the waveform model, radar systematic error, which introduces phase or amplitude difference between the subpulses of the OFDM waveform, significantly degrades the orthogonality. The impact of radar systematic error on the waveform orthogonality is mainly caused by the systematic nonlinearity rather than the thermal noise or the frequency-dependent systematic error. Due to the influence of the causal filters, the first subpulse leaks into the second one. The leaked signal interacts with the second subpulse in the nonlinear components of the transmitter. This interaction renders a dramatic phase distortion in the beginning of the second subpulse. The resultant distortion, which leads to a phase difference between the subpulses, seriously damages the waveform’s orthogonality. The impact of radar systematic error on the waveform orthogonality is addressed. Moreover, the impact of the systematic nonlinearity on the waveform is avoided by adding a standby between the subpulses. Theoretical analysis is validated by practical experiments based on a C-band SAR system.