EBiRa: Experimental bistatic radar for air surveillance

This paper describes the concept and reports the status of the FGAN Experimental Bistatic Radar (EBiRa). The main field of this bistatic radar investigation is air surveillance operation with host off ground-based cooperative illuminators. Also possible is the use of noncooperative illuminators like FM radio stations, TV stations, or monostatic radars which are located in the observation area. The receiver and transmitter are build up with commercial-off-the-shelf components to reduce cost and shorten the development time. New digital signal generation and processing technologies came into operation for both units.