CW and FM-CW Radar

Doppler Effect:
• The radar transmitter may be operated continuously rather than
pulsed if the stray transmitted signal can be separated from the
weak echo signal
– A feasible technique for separating the received signal from the transmitted
signal, when there is a relative motion between radar and target, is based on
recognizing the change in the echo signal frequency

• If either the source or the target is in motion

– An apparent shift in frequency will result known as Doppler effect
• This is the basis of CW radar

• If R is the distance from the radar to the target, the total number
of wavelength contained in the two-way path is 2R/λ
• Since one wavelength correspond to an angular revolution of 2π
radian
– The total angular revolution made by the EM wave during its round trip is
φ = 4πR/λ radian

• If φ is continuously changing with time, then we define the

Doppler frequency shift as fd
– mathematical expression
p

• The CW radar serves as a means for better understanding the

nature and use of doppler information contained in the echo
signal
– Also provides a measurement of relative velocity which may be used to
di i i h a moving
distinguish i target from
f the
h stationary
i one
CW Radar
CW Radar:
• The Transmitter generates a continuous (unmodulated) oscillation
of frequency fo which is radiated by the antenna
• If the target is in motion with a velocity vr relative to the radar
– The received signal will be shifted in frequency from the transmitted
frequency by an amount ±fd
• The ‘+’ve sign applies if the distance between target and radar is decreasing (approaching
t
target)
t)
– i.e., then the received signal frequency is greater than the transmitted one
• The ‘-’ve sign applies if the distance is increasing (receding target)

• This received echo signal is heterodyned in the mixer and remove

the portion fo
– and produce a doppler beat note of frequency fd
– The sign of fd is lost in this process
• The purpose of beat frequency amplifier (doppler amplifier) is to
eliminate the echo from stationary target
– and to amplify the doppler echo signal to a level where it can operate an
indicating device
Isolation between Tx and Rx:
• A single antenna serves the purpose of the transmission and
reception in the simple CW radar described above
– The necessary isolation is achieved via separation in frequency as a result of
the doppler effect

• In
I practice,
ti it is
i nott possible
ibl to
t eliminate
li i t completely
l t l the
th Tx
T leakage
l k
– Hence, the amount of isolation required depends on the Tx power and the
accompanying Tx as well as the ruggedness & the sensitivity of the Rx

• The largest isolation are obtained with two antenna

– One for the transmission and other for reception
• Having high gain and are physically separated
– The more directive the antenna beam and the greater the spacing between
antenna
• Greater will be the isolation
Intermediate Frequency Receiver:
• The receiver of simple CW radar is similar to a superheterodyne Rx
– The function of LO is replaced by the leakage signal from the Tx
– This makes the Rx simpler
• However the simple Rx is not as much sensitive because of
increased noise at the lower IF caused by flicker effect
Flicker Effect noise:
• It occurs in semiconductor devices such as diode detectors and
cathode of vacuum tubes
• The noise power produced by the flicker effect varies as 1/fα,
where α ≈ 1
– Not same as shot or thermal noise,
noise because they are independent of frequency
• Thus at lower range of frequency (audio or video), which are also
the range of doppler frequency
– The CW Rx can introduce a considerable amount of flicker noise
• Results in reduced Rx sensitivity
– The effect of flicker noise are overcome in the normal superheterodyne Rx
by using an IF high enough

• figure
g
Receiver Bandwidth:
• One of the requirement of doppler frequency amplifier or the IF
amplifier is that it would be wide enough to pass the expected
range of doppler frequency
– Generally, the expected range will be much wider than the frequency
spectrum occupied
i d by
b signal
i l energy
• This use of wideband amplifier will result in an increase in noise and a lowering of the
Receiver sensitivity

• If the frequency of doppler shifted echo were known beforehand

– a narrowband filter – just wide enough to reduce the excess noise without
eliminating
li i ti theth signal
i l energy – mighti ht be
b usedd
Sign of Radial Velocity:
• In order to determine whether the target is approaching or
receding, separate filters are located on either side of the IF
– If the echo signal frequency lies below the carrier
• Target
T t is
i receding
di
– If the echo signal frequency greater than the carrier
• Target is approaching

• If the Tx signal is given by

Et = E0Cosω0t
• and the echo signal, from a moving target, by
Er = k1E0Cos[(ω0±ωd)t+φ]
where
h
• kt = constant, determined from radar equation
• ω0 & ωd = angular frequency and doppler shift
• φ = constant phase shift, depend upon range of initial detection
• Mathematical expressions
Application of CW Radar:
• Measurement of relative velocity of moving target
– Control of traffic light, vehicle counting & collision avoidance

• Employed for monitoring the docking speed of large ships

• Also used for intruder alarms, and measurement of velocity of
missiles
Shortcoming:
• One of the greatest shortcoming of the simple CW radar is its
inability to measure the range
– Can be overcome by modulating the CW carrier
– Known
ow as FM-CWCW radar
ada
FM CW Radar:
FM-CW
• Some sort of timing mark must be applied to a CW carrier if
range is to be measured
– This mark permits the time of transmission and the time of return to be
recognized
– The sharper or more distinct the marks
• The more accurate the measurement of transit time
– But this require broader transmitted spectrum

• The spectrum of a CW transmission can be broadened by the

application of modulation (amplitude, frequency or phase)
– An example of amplitude modulation is Pulse radar
– The narrower the pulse, the more accurate the measurement of range, and
the broader spectrum
• A widely used technique to broaden the spectrum of CW radar is
to frequency modulate the carrier
– The timing mark is the changing frequency

Range & Doppler measurement:

• The transmitted frequency is changed as a function of time in
known manner
– Figure
In case of fig (a):
• The transmitter freq increases linearly with time
• If there is a reflecting object at a distance R
– The echo signal will return after a time T = 2R/c, the dashed line represent
the echo signal

– If the echo signal is heterodyne with a portion of transmitted signal

signal, a beat
note fb (difference in frequency) will be produced
• If there is no doppler frequency shift, the beat note is a measure of the target’s
range
g and fb = fr

– If the rate of change of carrier frequency is f0, the beat frequency is

fr = f0T = (2R/c)f0
In case of fig (b):
• In any practical CW radar, the frequency can’t be continuously
change in one direction only
– i.e.,, periodicity
p y in the modulation is necessary
y ((e.g.
g triangular
g FM waveform))
– The modulation need not necessarily be triangular
• i.e., it can be sawtooth, sinusoidal or some other type

In case of fig (c):

• The resulting beat frequency is shown for triangular modulation
– The beat note is of constant frequency except at the turn-around
turn around region

• If the frequency is modulated at a rate fm over a range Δf, the beat

frequency is
fr = (2R/c)2fmΔf = 4RfmΔf/c
– Thus the measurement of beat frequency determine the range ‘R’

• The block diagram of FM-CW radar is given here

• A portion
ti off Transmitted
T itt d signal
i l acts
t the
th reference
f signal
i l
required to produce the beat frequency
– The isolation between Tx and Rx antenna is made sufficiently large

• The beat freq is amplified and limited to remove any

amplitude fluctuations
– It is measured with a cycle-counting frequency meter calibrated in
distance.
• In the above discussions, the target was assumed to be stationary
• If the target is moving
– A doppler shift will be superimposed on the FM range beat note, and an
erroneous range measurement results
– The doppler
pp frequency
q y shift causes the frequency-time
q y plot of the echo
p
signal to be shifted up or down
• e.g., if the target is approaching, the beat frequency produced during the
increasing side
thus,
fb(up) = fr - fd
fb(down)
(d ) = fr + fd
• When more than one target are present, the mixer output will
contain more than one difference frequency
– If the system is linear, there will be a frequency component corresponding
to each target
– The rangeg to each target
g mayy be determined byy measuringg the individual
frequency component and applying the above formulas to each.
FM CW Altimeter:
FM-CW
• FM-CW radar principle is used in the aircraft radio altimeter to
measure height above the surface of earth
• It employs the superheterodyne Receiver for better sensitivity and
stability
• Block diagram
• The selection of LO frequency is different from that in the usual
superheterodyne receiver
– The LO frequency should be same as the IF used in the receiver
• Whereas in the conventional superheterodyne,
p y , the LO frequency
q y is of the same
order of RF signal

• Also the filtered sideband serves the function of LO

Measurement Errors:
• The absolute accuracy of radar altimeter is usually of more
importance at low altitude than at high
• The discreteness of the frequency measuring devices give rise to
an error called the fixed error or step error
– Also called the qquantization error

• Errors are also caused due to the uncontrolled variation in the

transmitter/modulated frequency
q y
• At short range, the residual path error can also result in a
significant error unless compensated
– The residual path error is the error caused by delays in the circuitry and the
transmission line
• Multipath signals also produce errors
errors. The unwanted signal are:
Multiple Frequency CW Radar:
• The CW radar can also measure range (for stationary targets),
BUT under some circumstances
– By measuring the phase of the echo signal relative to the phase of the
transmitted signal

• Mathematical expressions

• Thus the range can be given as c/2(Δf)