RADAR SYSTEMS

UNIT-3
MTI AND PULSE DOPPLER RADAR

Syllabus:
 Introduction
 Principle of Operation
 MTI Radar with Power Amplifier Transmitter and Power Oscillator
Transmitter
 Delay Line Cancellers- Filter Characteristics
 Blind Speeds
 Double Cancellations
 Staggered PRFs · Range Gated Doppler Filters
 MTI Radar Parameters ·
 Limitations to MTI Performance
 MTI vs. Pulse Doppler Radar
Introduction

The Doppler frequency shift [fd =2Vr / λ] produced by a moving target may be used in a pulse radar
just as in the CW radar, to determine the relative velocity of a target or to separate desired moving targets
from undesired stationary objects (clutter).

The use of Doppler to separate small moving targets in the presence of large clutter has been of
greater interest. Such a pulse radar that utilizes the Doppler frequency shift as a means of discriminating
moving targets from fixed targets is called a MTI (moving target indication) or a pulse Doppler radar.
The two are based on the same physical principle, but in practice there are differences between MTI and
Pulse Doppler radar.

 The MTI radar usually operates with ambiguous Doppler measurement (so-called blind speeds)
but with unambiguous range measurement (no second-time around echoes).
 A pulse Doppler radar operates with ambiguous range measurement but with unambiguous
Doppler measurement. Its pulse repetition frequency is usually high enough to operate with
unambiguous Doppler (no Blind speeds) but at the expense of range ambiguities.

Principle of Operation:

A simple CW radar studied earlier is shown in Fig.1 (a). In principle, the CW radar may be
converted into a pulse radar as shown in Fig.1 (b) by providing a power amplifier and a modulator to turn
the amplifier on and off for the purpose of generating pulses.

The CW oscillator acts as the coherent reference needed to detect the Doppler frequency shift. By
coherent it means that the phase of the transmitted signal is preserved in the reference signal. The
reference signal is the distinguishing feature of coherent MTI radar.
If the CW oscillator voltage is represented as A1sin 2πf1t where A1= amplitude and f1the carrier
frequency
 Then the reference signal is: Vref = A2sin 2πf1t ……….. (1)
 And the Doppler-shifted echo-signal voltage is
𝟒𝝅𝒇𝟏 𝑹𝟎
𝑽𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒐 = 𝑨𝟑 𝐬𝐢𝐧[ 𝟐𝝅(𝒇𝟏 ± 𝒇𝒅 ) 𝒕 − ……….. (2)
𝒄
Where A2= amplitude of reference signal
A3 = amplitude of signal received from a target at a range R0
fd = Doppler frequency shift
t = time
c = velocity of propagation

 The reference signal and the target echo signal are heterodyned in the mixer stage of the
receiver. Only the low-frequency (difference-frequency) component from the mixer is of
interest and is a voltage given by:

𝟒𝝅𝒇𝟏 𝑹𝟎
𝑽𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇 = 𝑨𝟒 𝐬𝐢𝐧[ 𝟐𝝅(𝒇𝒅 ) 𝒕 − ……….. (3)
𝒄
UNIT 3 RADAR SYSTEMS

(a)

(a)

(b)

(b)

Figure 1: (a) Simple CW Radar (b) Pulse Radar using Doppler Information

The difference frequency is equal to the Doppler frequency fd. For stationary targets the Doppler
frequency shift will be zero and hence Vdiffwill not vary with time and may take on any constant value.
However, when the target is in motion relative to the radar fdhas a value other than zero and the voltage
corresponding to the difference frequency from the mixer [Eq. (3)] will be a function of time.

Butterfly Effect
Moving targets may be distinguished from stationary targets by observing the video output on an A-
scope (amplitude vs. range). A single sweep on an A-scope might appear as in Fig. 3 (a) shown below. This
3 K . RAVICHANDRA, Assistant Professor Department Of ECE, VTA, KAVALI.
sweep shows several fixed targets and two moving targets indicated by the two arrows. On the basis of a
single sweep, moving targets cannot be distinguished from fixed targets.

Figure 3. (a-e) Successive sweeps of an MTI radar A-scope display (echo amplitude as a function of time); (f)
superposition of many sweeps; arrows indicate position of moving targets

 Successive A scope sweeps (pulse-repetition intervals) are shown in Fig. 3.3 (a) to (e). Echoes from
fixed targets remain constant throughout but echoes from moving targets vary in amplitude from
sweep to sweep at a rate corresponding to the doppler frequency.

 The superposition of the successive A-scope sweeps is shown in Fig. 3.3(f). The moving targets
produce, with time, a butterfly effect on the A-scope.

Delay-Line Cancellers
Although the butterfly effect is suitable for recognizing moving targets on an A-scope, it is not
appropriate for display on the PPI. One method commonly employed to extract Doppler information in
a form suitable for display on the PPI scope is with a delay-line canceller as shown in the Fig. 4 below.

 It act as a filter to eliminate the DC component of fixed target and pass the ac components of
moving target.
UNIT 3 RADAR SYSTEMS

Figure 4. Block diagram of delay line cancellers

 The video portion of the receiver is divided into two channels. One is a normal video channel. In the
other, the video signal experiences a time delay equal to one pulse repetition period (equal to the
reciprocal of the pulse repetition frequency).

 The outputs from the two channels are subtracted from one another. The fixed targets with
unchanging amplitudes from pulse to pulse are canceled on subtraction. However, the amplitudes of
the moving-target echoes are not constant from pulse to pulse and subtraction results in an
un canceled residue.

 The output of the subtraction circuit is a bipolar video just as was the input. Before bipolar video
can intensity-modulate a PPI display it is converted into unipotential voltages (unipolar video) by a
full-wave rectifier.

Figure 5. Two successive, (a) and (b), of an MTI radar. When (b) is subtracted from (a), the result is
( c)

Two types of delay line cancellers;

1. Time domain filter / cancellers.

2. Freq. domain filter / cancellers.

 The simple MTI delay-line canceller shown in Fig. 4 is an example of a time-domain filter.

 One of the advantages of a time-domain delay-line canceller is that a single network operates at all
ranges and does not require a separate filter for each range resolution cell.
5 K . RAVICHANDRA, Assistant Professor Department Of ECE, VTA, KAVALI.
MTI Radar with Power Amplifier Transmitter

The simple MTI radar shown in Fig. 1(b) is not the most typical. The block diagram of a more common
MTI radar employing a power amplifier is shown in the Fig. 6 below. The significant difference between
this MTI configuration and that of Fig. 1(b) is the manner in which the reference signal is generated. In
Fig. 6.The radar which uses concept of Doppler frequency shift for distinguishing desired moving targets
from stationary objects i.e. clutter is called MTI

 The coherent reference is supplied by an oscillator called the coho, which stands for coherent oscillator.
The coho is a stable oscillator whose frequency is the same as the intermediate frequency used in the
receiver.
 In addition to providing the reference signal, the output of the coho is also mixed with the local-
oscillator frequency fl.The local oscillator also must be a stable oscillator and is called stalo, for stable
local oscillator.

Fig 6.Block diagram of MTI radar with power-amplifier transmitter.

 The RF echo signal is heterodyned with the stalo signal to produce the IF signal, just as in the
conventional super heterodyne receiver.

 The characteristic feature of coherent MTI radar is that the transmitted signal must be coherent (in
phase) with the reference signal in the receiver. The function of the stalo is to provide the necessary
frequency translation from the IF to the transmitted (RF) frequency.

 Although the phase of the stalo influences the phase of the transmitted signal, any stalo phase shift is
canceled on reception because the stalo that generates the transmitted signal also acts as the local
oscillator in the receiver.

 The reference signal from the coho and the IF echo signal are both fed into a mixer called the phase
detector.
UNIT 3 RADAR SYSTEMS

 Any one of a number of transmitting-tube types might be used as the power amplifier. These include
the triode, tetrode, klystron, traveling-wave tube, and the crossed-field amplifier.

MTI Radar with Power Oscillator Transmitter

 A block diagram of MTI radar using a power oscillator is shown in Fig. 7. A portion of the transmitted
signal mixed with the STALO output to produce an IF beat signal whose phase is directly related to the
phase of the phase of the transmitter.

 A coherent reference signal may be readily obtained with the power oscillator by readjusting the phase
of the coho at the beginning of each sweep according to the phase of the transmitted pulse. The phase
of the coho is locked to the phase of the transmitted pulse each time a pulse is generated.

 This IF pulse is applied to the coherent (COHO) and cause the phase of the COHO CW oscillation to
“lock” in step with the phase of the IF reference pulse.

 The phase of the COHO is then related to the phase of the transmitted pulse

 Upon the next transmission another IF locking pulse is generated relocks the phase of CW COHO until
the next locking pulse comes along

Fig.7. Block diagram of MTI radar with power-oscillator transmitter.

7 K . RAVICHANDRA, Assistant Professor Department Of ECE, VTA, KAVALI.

Filter Characteristics of a Delay Line Canceller:
 The delay-line canceler acts as a filter which rejects the d-c component of clutter. Because of its
periodic nature, the filter also rejects energy in the vicinity (the area near or surrounding a particular
place) of the pulse repetition frequency and its harmonics.

 The video signal received from a particular target at a range R0is

V1 = k sin(2πfdt –ϕ0) ---------- (4)

 The signal which is delayed by time T is

V2 = k sin[2πfd(t-Tp) –ϕ0] ---------- (5)

 The output from the subtractor is

[
V1 - V2 = 2k sin(πfdTp) cos 2πfd(t-Tp/2) - ϕ0 ] ---------- (6)
The magnitude of the relative frequency-response of the delay-line canceller [ratio of the amplitude of the
output from the delay-line canceller, 2k sin (πfd T) to the amplitude of the normal radar video k] is

H(f) = 2 sin (πfd Tp) ----------- (7)

Frequency response of delay line canceller is

Figure (7): Frequency response of the single delay-line canceller: Tp = delay time =1/fP.

Blind Speeds
The relative target velocities which result in zero MTI response are called blind speeds.
The response of the single-delay-line canceler will be zero whenever the argument πfdTp in the amplitude
factor of Eq. (7) is 0, π, 2π, . .., etc.

πfdTp = nπ
𝑛
fd = where n= 0,1,2,3.......
𝑇𝑝
The delay-line canceler not only eliminates the d-c component caused by clutter (n = 0), but unfortunately it
also rejects any moving target whose Doppler frequency happens to be the same as the prf or a multiple
thereof. Those relative target velocities which result in zero MTI response are called Blind speeds and are
given by
UNIT 3 RADAR SYSTEMS
2 Vn 𝑛
𝑓𝑑 = =
λ 𝑇𝑝
𝒏𝝀 𝒏 𝝀𝒇𝒑
𝑽𝒏 = = n = 1, 2, 3…..
𝟐𝑻𝒑 𝟐

where Vn is the nth blind speed. If λis measured in meters,fp in Hz.

The blind speeds are one of the limitations of pulse MTI radar

Double Cancellation
The frequency response of a single-delay-line canceler does not always have as broad a clutter-
rejection null as might be desired in the vicinity of d-c.The clutter-rejection notches may be widened by
passing the output of the delay-line cancelerthrough a second delay-line canceller.

The output of the two single-delay line cancelers in cascade is the square of that from a single
canceler. Thus the frequency response is 4 sin2πfdt.The configuration of Fig. 8 is called a double-delay-line
canceller, or simply a double canceller. The relative response of the double canceller compared with that of
a single-delay-line canceller is shown in Fig. 9.

The two-delay-line configuration of Fig.8 (b) has the same frequency-response characteristic as the
double-delay-line canceller. The operation of the device is as follows. A signal f (t) is inserted into the
adder along with the signal from the preceding pulse period, with its amplitude weighted by the factor - 2,
plus the signal from the previous two pulse periods. The output of the adder is therefore

f(t) -2f(t+T) +f(t+2T)

Which is the same as the output from the double-delay-line canceller

{f(t) – f(t+T)} – {f(t+T) – f(t+2T)} = f(t) -2f(t+T) +f(t+2T)

Fig 8: (a) Double-delay-line canceller (b) three-pulse canceller

9 K . RAVICHANDRA, Assistant Professor Department Of ECE, VTA, KAVALI.

Frequency response of double delay line canceller is given by

Fig 9: Relative frequency response of the single-delay-line canceler (solid curve) and the double
delay-line canceler (dashed curve). Shaded area represents clutter spectrum.

Staggered Pulse Repetition Frequencies

The use of more than one pulse repetition frequency offers additional flexibility in the design of
MTI Doppler filters. It not only reduces the effect of the blind speeds,but it also allows a sharper low-
frequency cutoff in the frequency response than might be obtained with a cascade of single-delay-line
cancelers with sinnπfdT response.

The blind speeds of two independent radars operating at the same frequency will be different if their
pulse repetition frequencies are different.Therefore, if one radar were “blind "to moving targets, it is
unlikely that the other radar would be” blind" also. Instead of using two separate radars, the same result
can be obtained with one radar which time-shares its pulse repetition frequency between two or more
different values (multiple PRF’s).

The pulse repetition frequency might be switched every other scan or every time the antenna is
scanned a half beam width, or the period might be alternated on every other pulse. When the switching is
pulse to pulse, it is known as a staggered PRF
An example of the composite (average) response of an MTI radar operating with two separate pulse
repetition frequencies on a time-shared basis is shown in Fig below

Fig 10: (a) frequency response of a single delay-line canceller for fp = 1/T1, (b) same for fp = 1/T2 ,(c)
UNIT 3 RADAR SYSTEMS
Composite response with T1/T2 =4/5
Pulse repetition frequenciesare in the ratio of 5 : 4.

Zero response occurs only when the blind speeds of each prf coincide.
T 4
The blind speeds are coincident for 1  => 4 f1 = 5 f2
T2 5
The closer the ratio T1 : T2 approaches unity, the greater will be the value of the first blindspeed.

Where the n PRFs have the following relationship n1f1 = n2f2 = nnfn, where n1, n2, …nn are relatively prime
integers. The ratio of the first blind speed V1 with a staggered PRF waveform to the first blind speed VB of
a waveform with constant PRF equal to the average period is

𝑽𝟏 𝒏𝟏 + 𝒏𝟐 + ⋯ 𝒏𝒏 [𝒏𝟏 + 𝒏𝟐 + ⋯ 𝒏𝒏 ]𝑽𝑩
= 𝑽𝟏 =
𝑽𝑩 𝒏 𝒏
Range-gated Doppler Filters
The delay-line canceler, which can be considered as a time-domain filter, has been widely used in
MTI radar as the means for separating moving targets from stationary clutter. It is also possible to employ
the more common frequency-domain band pass filters of conventional design in MTI radar to separate the
Dopplerfrequencyshifted targets. Range gated Doppler filters is a frequency domain method.

The loss of the range information and the collapsing loss may be eliminated by firstquantizing the
range into small intervals. This process is called range gating.

Fig 11: Block diagram of MTI radar using range gated Doppler filters

11 K . RAVICHANDRA, Assistant Professor Department Of ECE, VTA, KAVALI.

 Fig 12: Frequency-response characteristic of an MTI using range gates and filters

A block diagram of the video of an MTI radar with multiple range gates followed by clutter-
rejection filters is shown in Fig. 11below. The output of the phase detector is sampled sequentially by the
range gates.
Each range gate opens in sequence just long enough to sample the voltage of the video waveform
corresponding to a different range interval in space. The range gate acts as a switch or a gate which opens
and closes at the proper time. The range gates are activated once each pulse-repetition interval

The output for a stationary target is a series of pulses of constant amplitude. An echo from a moving
target produces a series of pulses which vary in amplitude according to the Doppler frequency.

The output of the range gates is stretched in a circuit called the boxcar generator, or sample-and-
hold circuit, whose purpose is to aid in the filtering and detection process by emphasizing the fundamental
of the modulation frequency and eliminating harmonics of the pulse repetition frequency.

Following the Doppler filter is a full-wave linear detector and an integrator (a low-pass filter). The
purpose of the detector is to convert the bipolar video to unipolar video. The output of the integrator is
applied to a threshold-detection circuit. Only those signals which cross the threshold are reported as targets.
MTI radar using range gates and filters is usually more complex than an MTI with a single-delay-line
canceler.

MTI Radar Parameters

MTI radar parameters are
1) MTI improvement factor
2) subclutter visibility
3) Clutter visibility factor
4) Clutter attenuation
5) Cancelation ratio

1) MTI improvement factor

The signal-to-clutter ratio at the output of the MTI system divided by the signal-to-clutter ratio at the
input, averaged uniformly over all target radial velocities of interest.

2) Subclutter visibility
The ratio by which the target echo power may be weaker than the coincident clutter echo power and
still be detected with specified detection and false alarm probabilities. All target radial velocities are
assumed equally likely.
UNIT 3 RADAR SYSTEMS

3) Clutter visibility factor

The signal-to-clutter ratio, after cancellation or doppler filtering, that provides stated probabilities of
detection and false alarm.

4) Clutter attenuation.
the ratio of clutter power at the canceler input to the clutter residue at the output, normalized to the
attenuation of a single pulse passing through the unprocessed
channel of the canceler.
5) Cancellation ratio
The ratio of canceler voltage amplification for the fixed-target echoes received with a fixed antenna, to
the gain for a single pulse passing through the unprocessed channel of the canceler.

Limitations to MTI Performance

Instabilities of the transmitter and receiver, physical motions of the clutter, the finite time on target (or
scanning modulation), and limiting in the receiver can all limit the performance of an MTI radar.

1) Equipment instabilities

 If sufficient care is not taken in design, construction and maintenance, the performance of an MTI
radar will be limited.

 Pulse-to-pulse changes in the amplitude, frequency, or phase of the transmitter signal will limit the
performance of MTI radar.

 The changes in the stalo or coho oscillators in the receiver, jitter in the timing of the pulse
transmission, variations in the time delay through the delay lines, and changes in the pulse width
can limit the MTI performance.

 phase variations in an oscillator will limit MTI performance.

2) Internal fluctuation of clutter

 Echoes from trees, vegetation, sea, rain, and chaff fluctuate with time, and these fluctuations can
limit the performance of MTI radar.
 because of its varied nature, it is difficult to describe precisely the clutter echo signal
 The experimentally measured power spectra of clutter signals may be approximated by

13 K . RAVICHANDRA, Assistant Professor Department Of ECE, VTA, KAVALI.

 3) Antenna scanning modulation

As the antenna scans by a target, it observes the target for a finite time equal to

nB  B
t0  
f p  s.
Where nB = no.of hits received

fp = pulse repetition frequency, θ’S = antenna scanning rate

 The received pulse train of finite duration to has a frequency spectrum whose width is proportional
1
to .
t0
 If the clutter spectrum is too wide because the observation time is too short, it will affect the
improvement factor.

4) Limiting in MTI radar

 A limiter is usually employed in the IF amplifier just before the MTI processor to prevent the
residue from large clutter echoes from saturating the display.
 Ideally an MTI radar should reduce the clutter to a level comparable to receiver noise.
 When the MTI improvement factor is not great enough to reduce the clutter sufficiently, The clutter
residue will appear on the display and prevent the detection of aircraft targets whose cross sections
are larger than the clutter residue.

MTI versus Pulse Doppler Radar

MTI RADAR PULSE DOPPLER RADAR
It refers to a radar in which the PRF is chosen low It has a high PRF that avoids blind speds, but it
enough to avoid ambiguities in range, but has blind experiences ambiguities in range.
speed issues
It uses delay-line canceller. It uses range-gated doppler filter banks.
A power oscillator like the magnetron is used. Apower amplifier such as klystron is used.
The detection performance is limited by transmitter The detection performance isnot affected by any
leakage or by signals reflected from nearby clutter. type of disturbance because, the reciver is turned
off.

Example 1: An MTI radar system operating at 10 GHz and PRF = 100 Hz receives echoes from an aircraft
thatis approaching the radar with redial velocity component of 1 km/sec. Determine the Doppler frequency
and first blind speed?.
Ans: given data f = 10 GHzPRF = 100 Hz Vr = 1 km/sec. = 1000 m/sec
c 3  108
λ= = = 0.03 m
f 10  10 9
fd =2Vr / λ = 66 KHz
𝒏 𝝀𝒇𝒑 𝟏 𝑿 𝟎.𝟎𝟑 𝑿 𝟏𝟎𝟎
𝑽𝒏 = = = 1.5 m/s
𝟐 𝟐