Development of Frequency Discriminated Simulative Target Generator Based on DRFM for Radar System Performance Evaluation

Simulative target generators are needed for testing and calibrating various radar systems. The generator in this study discriminates the transmitting frequency from a radar and simulates parameters like target range, range rate, and atmospheric attenuation using the digital RF memory technique. The simulative target echo is then sent to the radar for testing and evaluation. This paper proposes a novel architecture for controlling the digital RF memory so it continually writes ADC data to the memory and reads it for the DAC with increasing one step address in order to control the delay of target range in a simple way. The target echo is programmed according to various preprogrammed scenarios and is generated in real time using a wireless local area network (LAN). To analyze the detected and generated target information easily, the system times for the radar and simulative target generator are synchronized using a global positioning system (GPS).