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Ultimate Accuracy Limit of Quantum Pulse-Compression Ranging
Quntao Zhuang1,2, Jeffrey H Shapiro3
1Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA.
Physical Review Letters
|January 21, 2022
Summary
Quantum radar achieves the ultimate ranging accuracy limit. Quantum illumination ranging, a quantum pulse-compression radar, offers significantly better accuracy than classical radar systems.
Area of Science:
- Quantum physics
- Radar technology
- Signal processing
Background:
- Radars determine target range using time-of-flight measurements.
- Classical pulse-compression radar achieves range resolution and accuracy under power constraints.
- The quantum limit for radar ranging accuracy has not been previously defined.
Purpose of the Study:
- To derive the ultimate quantum limit on radar ranging accuracy.
- To introduce quantum illumination ranging as a method to achieve this limit.
- To compare the ranging accuracy of quantum illumination ranging with classical radar.
Main Methods:
- Continuous-time quantum analysis to derive the quantum ranging limit.
- Quantum pulse-compression techniques utilizing entangled signal and idler pulses.
- Theoretical comparison of mean-squared range-delay accuracy between quantum and classical systems.
Main Results:
- The ultimate quantum limit on ranging accuracy was derived.
- Quantum illumination ranging was shown to achieve this quantum limit.
- Quantum illumination ranging demonstrated mean-squared range-delay accuracy tens of dB better than classical pulse-compression radar.
Conclusions:
- Quantum illumination ranging represents a significant advancement in radar ranging accuracy.
- Entanglement-enhanced radar systems can surpass classical performance limits.
- This work establishes a benchmark for future quantum radar development.
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