Discrete frequency and phase coding waveform for MIMO radar

In multi-input multi-output (MIMO) radar system, good orthogonality between transmitting waveforms will fairly simplify the signal processing, along with improve the targets detection as well as the parameters estimation performance of the system. In this paper, a discrete frequency and phase coding waveform (DFPCW), which attains good orthogonality by varying the carrier frequency and initial phase of each pulse in the pulse train, is designed. The theoretical derivations of ambiguity function and cross ambiguity function of the DFPCW are also given. After then, a generic algorithm is applied by optimizing the carrier frequency code sequence and initial phase code sequence to minimize both the auto-correlation sidelobe peaks and cross-correlation peaks of the waveforms. The simulation results demonstrate that DFPCW has better orthogonality and sidelobe property compared with the traditional discrete frequency coding waveform and widely employed frequency modulated continuous wave, henceforth this new waveform may become to an alternative option for MIMO radar.