Optical Processing of Radar Signals with Fresnel Diffraction Masks

1 December 1971

journal article
Published by Optica Publishing Group in Applied Optics

Vol. 10 (12) , 2728-2733
https://doi.org/10.1364/ao.10.002728

Abstract

A simple real-time coherent optical processor is investigated. The processor uses a filter mask upon which is recorded the Fresnel field of the signal replica. Target range-Doppler information is obtained by observing the time and position of the output. A distinguishing feature of the processor is that for the ordinary PCW pulse, these output quantities are correlated, albeit weakly, in much the same fashion as the range-Doppler estimates associated with the output of the linear FM correlator. This interesting property is shown to depend on a single optical parameter. A modified optical configuration that enables a greater practical exploitation of this property is suggested. To obtain unbiased target range estimates, two output terms must be observed, but the range estimate thus obtained has a lower variance than the estimate obtained from either output.

Keywords

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