An Unambiguous Super-Resolution Algorithm for TDM-MIMO-SAR 3D Imaging Applications on Fast-Moving Platforms

Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) radar enjoys the advantages of a high degree of freedom and relatively large virtual aperture, so it has various forms of applications in several aspects such as remote sensing, autonomous driving and radar imaging. Among all multiplexing schemes, Time-Division...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Sheng Guan, Mingming Wang, Xingdong Liang, Yunlong Liu, Yanlei Li
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-02-01
Series:Remote Sensing
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/4/639
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850230881691631616
author Sheng Guan
Mingming Wang
Xingdong Liang
Yunlong Liu
Yanlei Li
author_facet Sheng Guan
Mingming Wang
Xingdong Liang
Yunlong Liu
Yanlei Li
author_sort Sheng Guan
collection DOAJ
description Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) radar enjoys the advantages of a high degree of freedom and relatively large virtual aperture, so it has various forms of applications in several aspects such as remote sensing, autonomous driving and radar imaging. Among all multiplexing schemes, Time-Division Multiplexing (TDM)-MIMO radar gains a wide range of interests, as it has a simple and low-cost hardware system which is easy to implement. However, the time-division nature of TDM-MIMO leads to the dilemma between the lower Pulse Repetition Interval (PRI) and more transmitters, as the PRI of a TDM-MIMO system is proportional to the number of transmitters while the number of transmitters significantly affects the resolution of MIMO radar. Moreover, a high PRI is often needed to obtain unambiguous imaging results for MIMO-SAR 3D imaging applications on a fast-moving platform such as a car or an aircraft. Therefore, it is of vital importance to develop an algorithm which can achieve unambiguous TDM-MIMO-SAR 3D imaging even when the PRI is low. Inspired by the motion compensation problem associated with TDM-MIMO radar imaging, this paper proposes a novel imaging algorithm which can utilize the phase shift induced by the time-division nature of TDM-MIMO radar to achieve unambiguous MIMO-SAR 3D imaging. A 2D-Compressed Sensing (CS)-based method is employed and the proposed method, which is called HPC-2D-FISTA, is verified by simulation data. Finally, a real-world experiment is conducted to show the unambiguous imaging ability of the proposed method compared with the ordinary matched-filter-based method. The effect of velocity error is also analyzed with simulation results.
format Article
id doaj-art-377e08bfa1bf46dd961eb43088cfabbe
institution OA Journals
issn 2072-4292
language English
publishDate 2025-02-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Remote Sensing
spelling doaj-art-377e08bfa1bf46dd961eb43088cfabbe2025-08-20T02:03:42ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922025-02-0117463910.3390/rs17040639An Unambiguous Super-Resolution Algorithm for TDM-MIMO-SAR 3D Imaging Applications on Fast-Moving PlatformsSheng Guan0Mingming Wang1Xingdong Liang2Yunlong Liu3Yanlei Li4National Key Laboratory of Microwave Imaging Technology, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, ChinaNational Key Laboratory of Microwave Imaging Technology, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, ChinaNational Key Laboratory of Microwave Imaging Technology, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, ChinaNational Key Laboratory of Microwave Imaging Technology, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, ChinaNational Key Laboratory of Microwave Imaging Technology, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, ChinaMultiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) radar enjoys the advantages of a high degree of freedom and relatively large virtual aperture, so it has various forms of applications in several aspects such as remote sensing, autonomous driving and radar imaging. Among all multiplexing schemes, Time-Division Multiplexing (TDM)-MIMO radar gains a wide range of interests, as it has a simple and low-cost hardware system which is easy to implement. However, the time-division nature of TDM-MIMO leads to the dilemma between the lower Pulse Repetition Interval (PRI) and more transmitters, as the PRI of a TDM-MIMO system is proportional to the number of transmitters while the number of transmitters significantly affects the resolution of MIMO radar. Moreover, a high PRI is often needed to obtain unambiguous imaging results for MIMO-SAR 3D imaging applications on a fast-moving platform such as a car or an aircraft. Therefore, it is of vital importance to develop an algorithm which can achieve unambiguous TDM-MIMO-SAR 3D imaging even when the PRI is low. Inspired by the motion compensation problem associated with TDM-MIMO radar imaging, this paper proposes a novel imaging algorithm which can utilize the phase shift induced by the time-division nature of TDM-MIMO radar to achieve unambiguous MIMO-SAR 3D imaging. A 2D-Compressed Sensing (CS)-based method is employed and the proposed method, which is called HPC-2D-FISTA, is verified by simulation data. Finally, a real-world experiment is conducted to show the unambiguous imaging ability of the proposed method compared with the ordinary matched-filter-based method. The effect of velocity error is also analyzed with simulation results.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/4/639multiple-input multiple-outputMIMO-SAR imagingcompressed sensingsuper-resolution imagingunambiguous direction of arrival estimation
spellingShingle Sheng Guan
Mingming Wang
Xingdong Liang
Yunlong Liu
Yanlei Li
An Unambiguous Super-Resolution Algorithm for TDM-MIMO-SAR 3D Imaging Applications on Fast-Moving Platforms
Remote Sensing
multiple-input multiple-output
MIMO-SAR imaging
compressed sensing
super-resolution imaging
unambiguous direction of arrival estimation
title An Unambiguous Super-Resolution Algorithm for TDM-MIMO-SAR 3D Imaging Applications on Fast-Moving Platforms
title_full An Unambiguous Super-Resolution Algorithm for TDM-MIMO-SAR 3D Imaging Applications on Fast-Moving Platforms
title_fullStr An Unambiguous Super-Resolution Algorithm for TDM-MIMO-SAR 3D Imaging Applications on Fast-Moving Platforms
title_full_unstemmed An Unambiguous Super-Resolution Algorithm for TDM-MIMO-SAR 3D Imaging Applications on Fast-Moving Platforms
title_short An Unambiguous Super-Resolution Algorithm for TDM-MIMO-SAR 3D Imaging Applications on Fast-Moving Platforms
title_sort unambiguous super resolution algorithm for tdm mimo sar 3d imaging applications on fast moving platforms
topic multiple-input multiple-output
MIMO-SAR imaging
compressed sensing
super-resolution imaging
unambiguous direction of arrival estimation
url https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/17/4/639
work_keys_str_mv AT shengguan anunambiguoussuperresolutionalgorithmfortdmmimosar3dimagingapplicationsonfastmovingplatforms
AT mingmingwang anunambiguoussuperresolutionalgorithmfortdmmimosar3dimagingapplicationsonfastmovingplatforms
AT xingdongliang anunambiguoussuperresolutionalgorithmfortdmmimosar3dimagingapplicationsonfastmovingplatforms
AT yunlongliu anunambiguoussuperresolutionalgorithmfortdmmimosar3dimagingapplicationsonfastmovingplatforms
AT yanleili anunambiguoussuperresolutionalgorithmfortdmmimosar3dimagingapplicationsonfastmovingplatforms
AT shengguan unambiguoussuperresolutionalgorithmfortdmmimosar3dimagingapplicationsonfastmovingplatforms
AT mingmingwang unambiguoussuperresolutionalgorithmfortdmmimosar3dimagingapplicationsonfastmovingplatforms
AT xingdongliang unambiguoussuperresolutionalgorithmfortdmmimosar3dimagingapplicationsonfastmovingplatforms
AT yunlongliu unambiguoussuperresolutionalgorithmfortdmmimosar3dimagingapplicationsonfastmovingplatforms
AT yanleili unambiguoussuperresolutionalgorithmfortdmmimosar3dimagingapplicationsonfastmovingplatforms