Velocity estimation of moving targets with stepped-frequency radar based on Doppler frequency difference

By analyzing the signal model of stepped-frequency waveform, a novel method for velocity measurement is proposed. The method is based on Doppler frequency difference which is achieved by using Hough transform. As the estimated velocity is inversely proportional to the frequency step size instead of the carrier frequency of the transmitted signal as the pulse-Doppler (PD) processing, the new algorithm can achieve much wider unambiguous velocity range. Furthermore, non-coherent integration of the sub-pulses with different carrier frequencies can be implemented by Hough transform to improve the anti-noise performance. Besides, field experimental results show that the high range resolution profile (HRRP) of a bullet with high speed can be reconstructed correctly without distortion.