Radar Resolution Enhancement Based on Burg-Aided MIMO-DBS and Burg-Aided MIMO-SAR

Autonomous systems require sensors that provide high-resolution imagery in adverse lighting and weather conditions for advanced situational awareness. In this regard, radars are a mandatory component of autonomous systems. Although Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) radars provide high angular resolution beyond that of their actual physical dimension, much higher cross-range resolutions are required, especially in traffic congested areas, to differentiate and recognize closely positioned targets. The motion of the MIMO radar platform can be exploited to obtain higher cross-range resolution in the off-boresight direction, using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Doppler Beam Sharpening (DBS) techniques, but improvements in the boresight direction, the most crucial direction for path planning, require the use of super-resolution techniques. This paper proposes a technique that combines the Burg algorithm with MIMO-SAR and MIMO-DBS radar data to enhance the cross-range resolution in the boresight direction and to achieve further enhanced cross-range resolution in off-boresight directions. The proposed technique is applied to both frequency domain and time domain data in back-projection (BP) and DBS image formation processing. A comprehensive comparison is made, with evaluation of corresponding performance and operational complexity. The performance of the technique is validated through simulation, lab-based and real-world experiments at a frequency of 77 GHz.