Christopher J. Baker

Bio: Christopher J. Baker is an academic researcher from University of Birmingham. The author has contributed to research in topics: Radar & Bistatic radar. The author has an hindex of 41, co-authored 188 publications receiving 6342 citations. Previous affiliations of Christopher J. Baker include Australian National University & Qinetiq.

Passive coherent location radar systems. Part 1: performance prediction

Abstract: Passive coherent location (PCL) systems are a variant of bistatic radar that exploit 'illuminators of opportunity' as their sources of radar transmission. Dispensing with the need for a dedicated transmitter makes PCL inherently low cost, and hence attractive for a broad range of applications. Although a number of experimental and development examples exist, relatively little has been reported on the detailed performance of these systems and the resulting effects that these will have on the interpretation of backscatter and exploitation of derived information. In the paper a bistatic form of the radar range equation specifically tailored to PCL systems is developed. Realistic examples are used to examine and compare variations in sensitivity and coverage for three candidate transmitters of opportunity. These are analogue FM radio, cellular phone base stations and digital audio broadcast (DAB). These examples show that a wide and extremely useful set of detection ranges are achievable and also highlight some of the key issues underpinning more detailed aspects of predicting detection performance.

Frequency diverse array radars

Abstract: This paper presents a generalized structure for a frequency diverse array radar. In its simplest form, the frequency diverse array applies a linear phase progression across the aperture. This linear phase progression induces an electronic beam scan, as in a conventional phased array. When an additional linear frequency shift is applied across the elements, a new term is generated which results in a scan angle that varies with range in the far-field. This provides more flexible beam scan options, as well as providing resistance to point interference such as multipath. More general implementations provide greater degrees of freedom for space-time-frequency-phase-polarization control, permitting novel concepts for simultaneous multi-mission operation, such as performing synthetic aperture radar and ground moving target indication at the same time.

Radar Spectrum Engineering and Management: Technical and Regulatory Issues

Abstract: The radio-frequency (RF) electromagnetic spectrum, extending from below 1 MHz to above 100 GHz, represents a precious resource. It is used for a wide range of purposes, including communications, radio and television broadcasting, radionavigation, and sensing. Radar represents a fundamentally important use of the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum, in applications which include air traffic control, geophysical monitoring of Earth resources from space, automotive safety, severe weather tracking, and surveillance for defense and security. Nearly all services have a need for greater bandwidth, which means that there will be ever-greater competition for this finite resource. The paper explains the nature of the spectrum congestion problem from a radar perspective, and describes a number of possible approaches to its solution both from technical and regulatory points of view. These include improved transmitter spectral purity, passive radar, and intelligent, cognitive approaches that dynamically optimize spectrum use.

A Multistage Processing Algorithm for Disturbance Removal and Target Detection in Passive Bistatic Radar

Abstract: The paper examines the problem of cancellation of direct signal, multipath and clutter echoes in passive bistatic radar (PBR). This problem is exacerbated as the transmitted waveform is not under control of the radar designer and the sidelobes of the ambiguity function can mask targets including those displaced in either (or both) range and Doppler from the disturbance. A novel multistage approach is developed for disturbance cancellation and target detection based on projections of the received signal in a subspace orthogonal to both the disturbance and previously detected targets. The resulting algorithm is shown to be effective against typical simulated scenarios with a limited number of stages, and a version with computational savings is also introduced. Finally its effectiveness is demonstrated with the application to real data acquired with an experimental VHF PBR system.

Passive coherent location radar systems. Part 2: waveform properties

Abstract: Resolution and ambiguity in both range and Doppler are parameters of fundamental importance in the design and subsequent performance of any radar system. In passive coherent location (PCL) systems these properties are determined by the transmitted waveform, the location of the transmitter, the location of the receiver and the location of the target. Consequently, the scope for radar design and optimisation would seem to be severely restricted as many factors are not within the control of the radar designer. In this paper practical measurements of transmitted waveforms are reported and used to illustrate their effects on the resulting system design and performance. In particular the 'self-ambiguity' which enables the limits on range and Doppler resolution to be evaluated is computed. The bistatic form of the ambiguity function is subsequently presented and used to illustrate how these best case parameters vary as a function of transmitter, receiver and target locations. Understanding the forms that these functions can take and subsequently the implications for system performance is most important if this type of radar is to be used effectively. It is shown that the radar designer does in fact have some limited freedoms to improve system performance. Finally the implications of transmitter waveform and bistatic geometry on target detection, location and imaging are discussed.

The Perception of the Visual World. By James J. Gibson. U.S.A.: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1950 (George Allen & Unwin, Ltd., London). Price 35s.

Abstract: Let's read! We will often find out this sentence everywhere. When still being a kid, mom used to order us to always read, so did the teacher. Some books are fully read in a week and we need the obligation to support reading. What about now? Do you still love reading? Is reading only for you who have obligation? Absolutely not! We here offer you a new book enPDFd the perception of the visual world to read.

Cognitive radar: a way of the future

Abstract: This article discusses a new idea called cognitive radar. Three ingredients are basic to the constitution of cognitive radar: 1) intelligent signal processing, which builds on learning through interactions of the radar with the surrounding environment; 2) feedback from the receiver to the transmitter, which is a facilitator of intelligence; and 3) preservation of the information content of radar returns, which is realized by the Bayesian approach to target detection through tracking. All three of these ingredients feature in the echo-location system of a bat, which may be viewed as a physical realization (albeit in neurobiological terms) of cognitive radar. Radar is a remote-sensing system that is widely used for surveillance, tracking, and imaging applications, for both civilian and military needs. In this article, we focus on future possibilities of radar with particular emphasis on the issue of cognition. As an illustrative case study along the way, we consider the problem of radar surveillance applied to an ocean environment.

Joint Radar and Communication Design: Applications, State-of-the-Art, and the Road Ahead

Abstract: Sharing of the frequency bands between radar and communication systems has attracted substantial attention, as it can avoid under-utilization of otherwise permanently allocated spectral resources, thus improving efficiency. Further, there is increasing demand for radar and communication systems that share the hardware platform as well as the frequency band, as this not only decongests the spectrum, but also benefits both sensing and signaling operations via the full cooperation between both functionalities. Nevertheless, the success of spectrum and hardware sharing between radar and communication systems critically depends on high-quality joint radar and communication designs. In the first part of this paper, we overview the research progress in the areas of radar-communication coexistence and dual-functional radar-communication (DFRC) systems, with particular emphasis on application scenarios and technical approaches. In the second part, we propose a novel transceiver architecture and frame structure for a DFRC base station (BS) operating in the millimeter wave (mmWave) band, using the hybrid analog-digital (HAD) beamforming technique. We assume that the BS is serving a multi-antenna user equipment (UE) over a mmWave channel, and at the same time it actively detects targets. The targets also play the role of scatterers for the communication signal. In that framework, we propose a novel scheme for joint target search and communication channel estimation, which relies on omni-directional pilot signals generated by the HAD structure. Given a fully-digital communication precoder and a desired radar transmit beampattern, we propose to design the analog and digital precoders under non-convex constant-modulus (CM) and power constraints, such that the BS can formulate narrow beams towards all the targets, while pre-equalizing the impact of the communication channel. Furthermore, we design a HAD receiver that can simultaneously process signals from the UE and echo waves from the targets. By tracking the angular variation of the targets, we show that it is possible to recover the target echoes and mitigate the resulting interference to the UE signals, even when the radar and communication signals share the same signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The feasibility and efficiency of the proposed approaches in realizing DFRC are verified via numerical simulations. Finally, the paper concludes with an overview of the open problems in the research field of communication and radar spectrum sharing (CRSS).

Radio Tomographic Imaging with Wireless Networks

Abstract: Radio Tomographic Imaging (RTI) is an emerging technology for imaging the attenuation caused by physical objects in wireless networks. This paper presents a linear model for using received signal strength (RSS) measurements to obtain images of moving objects. Noise models are investigated based on real measurements of a deployed RTI system. Mean-squared error (MSE) bounds on image accuracy are derived, which are used to calculate the accuracy of an RTI system for a given node geometry. The ill-posedness of RTI is discussed, and Tikhonov regularization is used to derive an image estimator. Experimental results of an RTI experiment with 28 nodes deployed around a 441 square foot area are presented.

Human Activity Classification Based on Micro-Doppler Signatures Using a Support Vector Machine

Abstract: The feasibility of classifying different human activities based on micro-Doppler signatures is investigated. Measured data of 12 human subjects performing seven different activities are collected using a Doppler radar. The seven activities include running, walking, walking while holding a stick, crawling, boxing while moving forward, boxing while standing in place, and sitting still. Six features are extracted from the Doppler spectrogram. A support vector machine (SVM) is then trained using the measurement features to classify the activities. A multiclass classification is implemented using a decision-tree structure. Optimal parameters for the SVM are found through a fourfold cross-validation. The resulting classification accuracy is found to be more than 90%. The potentials of classifying human activities over extended time duration, through wall, and at oblique angles with respect to the radar are also investigated and discussed.