Frequency-diverse microwave imaging using planar Mills-Cross cavity apertures

Area of Science:

• Electromagnetics and Microwave Engineering
• Computational Imaging
• Antenna Theory

Background:

• Multistatic microwave imaging systems offer advantages in scene coverage and flexibility.
• Traditional aperture designs can lead to redundant data collection, impacting imaging efficiency.
• Frequency diversity is a key technique for enhancing imaging capabilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate a frequency-diverse, multistatic microwave imaging system.
• To introduce and analyze a novel Mills-Cross aperture design for optimized k-space coverage.
• To validate the system's performance through simulations and experimental results.

Main Methods:

• Design and fabrication of planar cavity apertures with radiating irises.
• Utilizing a frequency-diverse, multistatic configuration.
• Implementing a computational imaging approach with Mills-Cross aperture patterns.
• Performing numerical simulations and reconstructing images from fabricated apertures.

Main Results:

• The Mills-Cross aperture arrangement creates diverse measurement modes with minimized information redundancy.
• Numerical simulations predicted the effective performance of the designed apertures.
• Reconstructed images from fabricated apertures confirmed the system's anticipated capabilities.

Conclusions:

• The developed frequency-diverse, multistatic microwave imaging system with Mills-Cross apertures provides efficient and optimized scene coverage.
• The Mills-Cross aperture design is effective in enhancing spatial Fourier domain coverage while reducing data redundancy.
• This approach represents a significant advancement in microwave imaging system design and performance.