RIS-Aided Radar Imaging Utilizing the Virtual Source Principle

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new perspective on RIS-aided radar imaging by modeling phase shifts as a virtual source, enabling the adaptation of SAR imaging techniques for improved image formation in such systems.

Contribution

It presents a novel modeling approach in the wavenumber domain, connecting RIS-aided radar imaging with synthetic aperture radar principles, and formulates new image formation algorithms.

Findings

New SAR-inspired image formation algorithms for RIS systems

Effective modeling of RIS phase shifts as virtual sources

Enhanced imaging capabilities in near and far fields

Abstract

This paper investigates signle-antenna radar imaging with a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS). Configuring phase shifts in a RIS-aided radar system can be thought as synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging with a moving virtual source. With this perspective, the problem is modeled in the wavenumber domain and image forming algorithms are formulated for near and far field regions. Thus, a novel and intuitive perspective has been introduced to the RIS-aided radar imaging formation problem, opening a new avenue for adapting well-known SAR methods in the literature to these systems.