Coexistence of Communications and Cognitive MIMO Radar: Waveform Design and Prototype

TL;DR

This paper presents the design, implementation, and evaluation of waveform sequences for cognitive MIMO radar that coexist with LTE communications, optimizing spectrum use and minimizing interference through real-time prototype testing.

Contribution

It introduces a novel waveform design approach for cognitive MIMO radar that avoids interference and is validated with a real-time prototype system.

Findings

Optimized waveforms effectively avoid interference with LTE signals.

Prototype implementation demonstrates real-time spectrum sharing.

Waveform sequences improve radar detection and communication throughput.

Abstract

New generation of radar systems will need to coexist with other radio frequency (RF) systems, anticipating their behavior and reacting appropriately to avoid interference. In light of this requirement, this paper designs, implements, and evaluates the performance of phase-only sequences (with constant power) for intelligent spectrum utilization using the custom built cognitive Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) radar prototype. The proposed transmit waveforms avoid the frequency bands occupied by narrowband interferers or communication links, while simultaneously have a small cross-correlation among each other to enable their separability at the MIMO radar receiver. The performance of the optimized set of sequences obtained through solving a non-convex bi-objective optimization problem, is compared with the state-of-the-art counterparts, and its applicability is illustrated by the developed prototype. A realistic Long Term Evolution (LTE) downlink is used for the communications, and the real-time system implementation is validated and evaluated through the throughput calculations for communications and the detection performance measurement for the radar system.