AN INNOVATIVE RADAR IMAGING SYSTEM BASED ON THE CAPABILITY OF AN UWB ARRAY TO STEER SUCCESSIVELY IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS

An innovative radar imaging system, based on the capability of a flxed UWB array to radiate short pulses in difierent directions along time with the principle of electronic beam steering, is presented in this paper. To demonstrate its concept, the analysis presented in this paper is based on simulation results. As function of the use of either only one antenna or several antennas in reception, two radar imaging algorithms have been developed and are detailed in this paper. These algorithms permit to obtain an image of the analyzed scene thanks to the transient beam pattern of the array used in emission. Finally, with a same analyzed scene, these algorithms have been compared with the time reversal method and the back projection algorithm, in association with a SAR imaging system. The conditions of applicability of these methods are also discussed.