A Typical RADAR system that could be made with HERON products

We do not supply pre-configured RADAR (RAdio Detection And Ranging) systems - but many of our customers use HERON and HEART products for the signal processing in such systems.

There are many forms of RADAR - such as continuous, CW, doppler, ground penetrating or synthetic aperture; and they're used in many applications, from air traffic control to weather prediction. RADAR transmits radio signals at distant objects and analyses the reflections. Data gathered can include the position and movement of the object; it can also identify the object through its "signature" - the distinct reflection it generates.

In most RADAR systems DSP is used extensively. In the transmitter, it can generate and shape the transmission pulses, control the antenna and so forth; while in the receiver, DSP performs many complex tasks, including STAP (space time adaptive processing) - the intelligent removal of clutter, and beamforming (electronic guidance of direction).

The front end of the receiver for RADAR is still often analog due to the high frequencies involved (typically in the GHz region). After shifting the frequencies down to an Intermediate Frequency using analogue techniques you will probably need fast  ADC converters - often multiple channel, to allow complex IF signals to be digitised. Our HERON-IO2 and HERON-IO5 are particularly suited to this as they combine an FPGA capable of the high data rate processing with two fast ADCs.  They also offer fast DACs - and digital interfaces to detect antenna position, or control other hardware.

A HERON system for Radar will typically use a HERON-IO2 or HERON-IO5. It may only use one channel or may use 2 channels to digitise the I & Q signals from the IF stage. You will probably need to use an FPGA to perform high data rate signal processing such as Digital Down Conversion.

Once the data rate is reduced to baseband you will use DSPs and/or FPGAs to process your data. Another HERON-FPGA module could be used to extend the FPGA processing capabilities and may also offer extra I/O for antenna speed control/detection and other system controls.

The modules will be placed onto a HERON module carrier - like the HEPC9 PCI,  HECPCI9 cPCI or HERON-BASE2 USB cards.

The output of a RADAR is often an image display, but normally this is slow data rate "updating" of a track plot for example. In that case you can follow the Imaging demo/Framework that we provide as an example of how to pass the images to the Host PC and display them there.

You may also require additional interfaces to control other hardware.
You will also need software tools to develop the programs for your FPGAs and or DSPs

So a typical system would be :-
HEPC9 / HERON-BASE2, HERON2-C6203, HERON-IO5. But your needs might be different - tell us what they are.

Digital Down Conversion, Direct Digital Synthesis and High Speed Filters are all commonly used techniques, use these links for papers on implementing them using FPGA and/or DSP.