Quality-Of-Service Based Radar Resource Management for Concurrent SAR Imaging Modes

Future advanced phased-array radar systems allow broadband digital signal sampling and digital beam forming (DBF). The DBF concept enhances system flexibility by providing fast and precise beam steering. This flexibility can be further enhanced by spatially distributing different tasks over the subarrays: the split-aperture phased-array (SAPA) concept. In this study, the use of the SAPA concept for efficient resource allocation for multiple, simultaneous synthetic aperture radar (SAR) modes is investigated. The resource allocation is optimized using the quality-of-service based resource allocation model (Q-RAM). For the SAR images, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is assumed to be the main quality factor. Therefore, the Q-RAM is based on a model for the SNR, as function of the operational requirements and radar system settings that can be adjusted to optimize the performance, in particular the number of subarrays. An example is provided considering a ground-surveillance radar mounted on a tactical unmanned aerial vehicle.