Characterisation and synchronisation of a netted software defined radio radar

Abstract The present work intends to characterise the combination of two netted software defined radios (SDR) and different radio frequency (RF) front‐ends installed in them, together with a two‐stratum time dissemination and synchronisation system. A modified implementation of the Network Time Protocol is used as coarse event synchronisation for either SDR back‐end. The White rabbit light embedded node implementation of the commonly known white rabbit synchronisation system (IEEE 1588 PTP‐2019) or arbitrary wave form generators are used as fine time dissemination system for either SDR. The resulting netted transceiver system is intended to compose a demonstrator for proof‐of‐concept experiments. The findings presented in this article show that the chosen combination of hardware and software is suitable for radar applications operating within L‐, S‐ and C‐bands. A channel coherency throughout the network with a relative modified Allan deviation of less than 80 fs for averaging intervals of 1 s, a phase noise better than −118 dBc/Hz at 10 Hz frequency offset and a fractional frequency lower than was measured. Within a single transceiver node, a fractional frequency lower than and phase noise of −124 dBc/Hz at 10 Hz frequency offset were measured as well. Multistatic radar systems exploit wide spatial diversity to enhance target detection and tracking, albeit with increased complexity when compared to a monostatic configuration. To exploit these benefits, all participating transceiver nodes within the netted radar need to synchronise to a common time base . The achieved synchronisation level increases the accuracy with which the chain of timed events at the transmitter and at the receiver side occur, intending to maximise the signal‐to‐noise ratio available at the receiver. The Universal software radio peripheral model X310 with two different daughterboard models as RF front‐end was used as SDR on either radar node. A network combining data and synchronisation purposes allowed the radar nodes under test to operate synchronously. The two‐stratum synchronisation system used glass fibres between 2 m and 5 km of length or coaxial cables with 2 m in length for network traffic, time and frequency dissemination purposes. The multiple RF front‐ends were stimulated by means of arbitrary waveform generators with calibrated traceability. Up‐chirp and sinusoid waveforms were used as stimuli for measuring the offset of either channel with regards of to ultimately estimate the achievable coherency limits of the system under test. Both analogue and digital evaluation methods were considered.