Unambiguous Forward-Looking SAR Imaging on HSV-R Using Frequency Diverse Array

It is a challenge to realize wide swath imaging due to the conflict between Doppler ambiguity and range ambiguity for hypersonic vehicle (HSV) radar. In addition, there are many conditions requiring the forward-looking imaging. In a forward-looking synthetic aperture radar (SAR) system, left–right ambiguity arises, since two symmetrical targets have the same Doppler frequency magnitude. After selecting an appropriate pulse repetition frequency (PRF) to avoid Doppler ambiguity, we only need to solve the range ambiguity and left–right ambiguity. To handle these issues, this paper proposes an approach to resolve the range ambiguity and left–right ambiguity using the frequency diverse array (FDA). With the range-angle-dependent property of the transmit steering vector, FDA can distinguish the range ambiguous echoes in the spatial frequency domain. By performing transmit beamforming after range compensation, the echo from the desired range region can be extracted from ambiguous echoes. Then, the back projection (BP) algorithm is used to achieve imaging. Next, the echoes of all channels are processed by two receive beamformers, which are designed for the right and left sides, respectively. With the aforementioned procedures, an unambiguous image can be obtained. Simulation results have verified the effectiveness of the proposed approach.