Integrated Kalman Filter of Accurate Ranging and Tracking With Wideband Radar

Accurate ranging and wideband tracking are treated as two independent and separate processes in traditional radar systems. As a result, limited by low data rate due to nonsequential processing, accurate ranging usually performs low efficiency in practical application. Similarly, without applying accurate ranging, the data after thresholding and clustering are used in wideband tracking, leading to a significant decrease in tracking accuracy. In this article, an integrated Kalman filter of accurate ranging and tracking is proposed using methods of phase-derived-ranging and Bayesian inference in wideband radar. Besides the motion state, in this integrated Kalman filter, the complex-valued high-resolution range profile (HRRP) is also introduced as a reference signal by coherent integration in a sliding window, which incorporates target’s scattering distribution and phase characteristics. Corresponding kinetic equations are derived to predict the motion state and the reference signal in the next moment. A ranging process is constructed based on the received signal and the predicted reference signal in order to estimate innovation using methods of phase-derived-ranging and Bayesian inference, and a sequential update for motion state can be accomplished with the Kalman filter as well. In every recursion, the complex-valued reference signal is also updated by coherently integrating the latest pulses. The integrated Kalman filter takes full use of high range resolution and phase information, improving both efficiency and precision compared with conventional approaches of ranging and wideband tracking. Implemented in a sequential manner, the integrated Kalman filter can be applied in a real-time application, realizing simultaneous ranging with high precision and wideband tracking. Finally, simulated and real-measured experiments confirm the remarkable performance.