Software defined radar (SDRadar) systems move radar signal processing tasks from hardware to software. SDRadar-based sensors enjoy unparalleled flexibility and dynamic-configurability in comparison to traditional designs and have exciting potential as both development and deployment platforms for smart radar sensor networks, which may be deployed across a range of host platforms to perform sensing and imaging tasks optimally. Implemented in multi-purpose and inexpensive Software Defined Radio (SDR) hardware platforms, SDRadar allows for dynamic optimization of waveforms, frequency, power, and topology.
Research at MiXIL focuses on developing next-generation SDRadar sensors for wide-band operation across multiple applications, including water-table monitoring, subsurface tomography and UAV mine detection. We have developed waveforms and methods for improving the resolution performance of low-cost SDRadars through synthetic wide-band waveform reconstruction.
S. Prager, T. Thrivikraman, M. Haynes, J. Stang, D. Hawkins and M. Moghaddam. Ultra-Wideband Synthesis for High-Range Resolution Software Defined Radar, IEEE Radar Conference, Oklahoma City, OK, April 2018.