Microwave and Millimeter-wave Radar Imaging Applications with Multiple-Input Multiple-output Arrays

Radar imaging applications such as observation of hazardous environments and concealed weapon detection require high-resolution, fast, and cost-efficient radar sensor systems. High-resolution radar imaging demands large aperture radar systems, thereby leading to the usage of a higher number of antennas. The utilization of MIMO array is of interest to overcome this difficulty. The combination of quasi-random distribution of antennas and MIMO array offers an innovative and practical solution for radar sensor systems.
Novel array topologies providing non-uniform distribution of transmitter/receiver antennas have been suggested. Topologies do not only form sparse antenna distributions, but also significantly reduce design complexity on the front-end design of MIMO array. Aside from this, another novel approach for two-dimensional MIMO array design has been introduced for concealed object detection. The suggested design technique for MIMO arrays with large apertures enables to improve the lateral resolution while significantly reducing the number of antenna elements. Besides, the technique provides comparable beam pattern to those in the planar MIMO array.