Radar Detection in Coherent Multi-Sensor Multi-Frequency Systems

In this paper, two types of multi-sensor multi-frequency radar systems are simulated in a close-to-reality maritime surveillance scenario for detecting extended naval targets. The first type of system is a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar with separated antennas. Such system, which employs multiple spatially distributed transmit (TX) and (RX) nodes, maximizes the information content extracted from each signal by means of a centralized data fusion procedure. The second type of system is a multi-static radar, which instead implements a decentralized information fusion procedure. Both radar network architectures are simulated in the MATLAB® programming environment and their detection capabilities, evaluated in terms of probability of detection and probability of false alarm, analyzed at the varying of different operating parameters.