Online

Fiske, Patrick

Electrical and Biomedical Engineering

2020

M.S.

Frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar allows for a wide range of research applications. One primary use of this technology and what is explored in this thesis, is imaging in the form of ground penetrating radar. To generate proper results, spectral wide-band reconstruction has been developed to overcome hardware limitations allowing for high resolution radar. Requiring complex reconstruction algorithms, the proposed method benefits greatly in terms of performance and implementation compared to other radar systems. This thesis develops a wideband linearly frequency modulated radar leveraging a software-defined radio (SDR). The modular system is capable of a tunable wideband bandwidth up to the maximum SDR ratings. This high-resolution system is further improved through implementation of grating side-lobe suppression filters that correct for the spectral discontinuities imposed by the reconstruction. These grating lobes are managed through multiple techniques to alleviate any ghost imaging or false positives associated with object detection. The solution provided allows for generally non-coherent devices to operate with synchronous phase giving accurate sample-level measurements. Various corrections are in place as mitigation of hardware transfer functions and system level noise. First the system was theorized and simulated, illuminating the performance of the radar. Following development of the radar, measurements were conducted to confirm proper and accurate object detection. Further experiments were performed ensuring Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) performance as designed. Applications of this work include Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imaging, innovative GPR, and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems.