A Nonmathematical Approach To Radar: How A Phasor Represents A Signal
A Nonmathematical Approach To Radar: How A Phasor Represents A Signal
A Nonmathematical Approach To Radar: How A Phasor Represents A Signal
A Nonmathematical
Approach to Radar NIMROD cockpit
M
odern radar systems are coherent, meaning they
measure both amplitude and phase of echo sig-
nals. As will shortly be seen, the phase is measured
relative to a reference, usually the transmitted sig-
nal. Measuring the amplitude and phase provides a powerful
basis on which almost all advanced (and some not quite as
advanced) techniques are built. A powerful tool often used by
the radar engineer to represent the amplitude and phase of a
received echo is a graphic device called the phasor. Though no
more than an arrow, the phasor is key to nonmathematically
understanding many seemingly esoteric concepts encountered
in radar work such as the spectrum of a pulsed signal, the
time-bandwidth product, digital filtering, the formation of real
and synthetic antenna beams, and sidelobe reduction.
Unless you are already skilled in the use of phasors, don’t yield
to the temptation to skip ahead to chapters “about radar.” Having
mastered the phasor, you will be able to unlock the secrets
of many intrinsically simple physical concepts that otherwise
you may find yourself struggling to understand. This is because
phasors represent the relationships between signals and can be
used to combine signals and describe the resultant. As well as Y
being easy to visualize, they have a rigorous mathematical basis
so results can be trusted both quantitatively and qualitatively.
This chapter begins by briefly describing the phasor. To dem- A
onstrate its application, phasors are then used to explain several
basic concepts that are essential to understanding material pre- Phase
X
sented in later chapters. In addition, the decibel (dB) is intro-
duced. It is necessary to become familiar with the dB because
it is such a universal measure of many quantities used in radar.
A sin kt A
A sin kt
kt Time
x
kt
Figure 5-2. For a sine wave, projection of the phasor onto the y axis gives the signal’s instantaneous amplitude.
A
arrow is scaled in length to the signal’s peak amplitude. It
A rotates like the hand of a clock. Phase progression is rep-
A A resented as rotation and is positive in the counterclockwise
A
y direction, making one complete revolution for every cycle of
+
the signal. The number of revolutions per second thus equals
A
the signal’s frequency.
– –A
The length of the projection of the arrow onto a vertical line
Time
through the pivot point equals the amplitude times the sine of
Figure 5-3. As a phasor rotates, projection onto the y axis the angle between the arrow and the horizontal axis (Fig. 5-2).
lengthens to a maximum positive value, returns to zero, lengthens Consequently, if the signal is a sine wave, this projection cor-
to maximum negative value, and then returns to zero again.
responds to the signal’s instantaneous amplitude.
up with the x axis (Fig. 5-5). If the signal is 90° out of phase (Leading)
(i.e., in quadrature) with the reference, i.e., is in quadrature
with it, the phasor will line up with the y axis. For a signal that
which leads the reference by 90°, the phasor will point up; for
a signal that lags behind the reference by 90°, the phasor will
point down.
(Lagging)
Generally, the rate of rotation of a phasor is represented by
In phase In quadrature
the Greek omega, ω. While the value of ω can be expressed with reference with reference
in many different units (e.g., in revolutions per second or
Figure 5-5. If the signal a phasor represents is in phase with the
degrees per second), it is most commonly expressed in
reference (strobe light), the phasor will line up with the x axis. If
radians per second. A radian is an angle that, if drawn from signal is in quadrature, the phasor will line up with the y axis.
the center of a circle, is subtended by an arc the length of
the radius. Since the circumference of a circle is 2π times the
radius, the rate of rotation of a phasor in radians per second
is 2π times the number of revolutions per second, or the fre-
quency (Fig. 5-6). Thus,
ω = 2 πf
= 2f
B
5.2 Combining Signals of Different Phase
A A A
To see how radio waves of the same frequency but different
phases combine, consider drawing two phasors from the same
Figure 5-7. To add phasors A and B, simply slide Β to the tip
pivot point. Sliding one laterally, one is added to the tip of of A. The sum is a phasor drawn from the origin to the tip of B.
the other. A third phasor from the pivot point to the tip of the
second arrow can then be drawn. This phasor, which rotates
counterclockwise in unison with the others, represents their
sum (Fig. 5-7).
The sum can also be obtained without moving the second A+B
phasor by constructing a parallelogram with two adjacent sides
made up of the phasors to be added. The sum is a phasor B
drawn from the pivot point to the opposite corner of the paral-
lelogram (Fig. 5-8). The value of such a seemingly simple rep- A
resentation of the sum of two signals can be used to explain
target scintillation.
Figure 5-8. Phasors can also be added by constructing a
Scintillation. Consider a situation where the reflections of parallelogram and drawing an arrow from the pivot to the opposite
a radar’s transmitted waves are received primarily from two corner.
66 PART II: Essential Groundwork
Mixer
B B
A A
Received Extract Received
Signal, fs + Amplitude Signal, fIF
Fluctuation*
(fIF = fs – fLO)
fLO
first (Fig. 5-12). If the difference is negative and the second fre- Fluctuation in amplitude of sum
quency is now lower, the second phasor will rotate clockwise fs
relative to the first.
Time
As the phasors slip into and out of phase, the amplitude of fLO
SL SU
SU SL
SL SU
SU SL
C C C C
Figure 5-17. If two counterrotating phasors, SL and SU, are added to a third phasor, C, and their phases and frequencies are such that all pass through
the same axis together, their sum will be a pure amplitude modulated signal.
Carrier (C)
Amplitude
SL Su
fC Frequency
fm fm
By sensing the progressive phase shift, the radar can pro- Positive Shift
3 2 1 I 8
duce a video signal whose amplitude fluctuates at the target’s
2 7
Doppler frequency. The signal is illustrated for positive and 4 1
negative Doppler shifts in Figure 5-23. As the figure clearly
I2 I1
shows, however, the fluctuations in the amplitude of this Time
5 8 6
signal are the same for both positive and negative Doppler 3
6 7 4 5
shifts.
Negative Shift
If both the I and Q components of the phase shift are sensed 6 7 1 8
I
the difference between positive and negative Doppler fre- 2 7
8
quencies may be readily determined. The fluctuation of the 5 I2 I1
Q component will lag behind the fluctuation of the I compo- Time
4 1 6
nent if the Doppler shift is positive (Fig. 5-24). Whereas the 3
Q component will lead the fluctuation of the I component if 3 2 4 5
the Doppler shift is negative (Fig. 5-25).
Figure 5-23. Video signal proportional to in-phase component
Differentiating between Signals and Images: Image of target echoes fluctuates at the target’s Doppler frequency, but
Rejection. Just as it is possible to distinguish between posi- fluctuation is the same for both positive and negative Doppler shifts.
tive and negative Doppler frequencies by resolving the
received signals into I and Q components when they are
converted from IF to video frequencies, image frequencies
can be differentiated from signals when the radar return is I 8
1
translated from the radar’s operating frequency to IF. As the 2 7
Positive Shift
phasor diagram of Figure 5-26 illustrates, if a signal’s fre-
quency is higher than the LO frequency the Q component of Time
3Q 2
the mixer’s output will lag 90° behind the I component. Yet if 2 3 6
the signal’s frequency is lower than the LO frequency the Q 4 Q1 1 4 5
component will lead the I component by 90°. This difference Q 90°
I2 I1
can be exploited in the design of a receiver’s mixer stage to 5 8 2 3
reject images. 1 4
6 7 Time
5 8
LO
6 7
fLO
fIF fIF
Frequency
1 8
I
Negative Shift (+) 2 7
0
L H 6 7
(–) 3 6
Q Q 5 8 5
I2 I1 4
I I 90°
Q1 6 7
4 1
Q2 (+) 5 8
Q
3 2
0
2 3
Figure 5-26. The mixer output’s Q component will lead the in-phase
component if the frequency of the received signal is lower than fLO and Figure 5-25. If the Doppler frequency shift is negative, Q will lead
will lag behind it if the frequency of the received signal is higher than fLO. I by 90°.
72 PART II: Essential Groundwork
feel at ease when the experts start throwing them about, then 20
skip this panel. Otherwise, you will find the few minutes it
takes you to read it well worthwhile.
dB
What Decibels Are. The decibel is a logarithmic unit origi- 10
P2 20 40 60 80 100
Power ratio in dB = 10 log10 Power Ratio
P1
where P2 and P1 are the two power levels being compared. For Another advantage also stems from the decibel’s logarith-
example, if P2/P1 is 1000 then the power ratio in decibels is 30. mic nature: two numbers expressed as logarithms can be
multiplied by simply adding the logarithms. Expressing
Origin. Named after Alexander Graham Bell, the unit originated ratios in decibels therefore makes compound power ratios
as a measure of attenuation in telephone cable, the ratio of the easier to work with. Multiplying 2500/1 by 63/1 in your
power of the signal emerging from a cable to the power of the head, for example, isn’t particularly easy. Yet when these
signal fed in at the other end. It so happened that 1 decibel same ratios are expressed in decibels, there is nothing to it:
almost exactly equaled the attenuation of 1 mile of standard 34 + 18 = 52 dB.
telephone cable, the unit used until the decibel came along.
Also, one decibel relative to the threshold of hearing turned 2,500 63
× =157,500
out to be very nearly the smallest ratio of audio-power levels 1 1
that could be discerned by the human ear, so the dB was soon 34 dB+18 dB=52 dB
also adopted in acoustics. From telephone communications,
the dB was quite naturally passed on to radio communications Similarly, with logarithms the reciprocal of a number (one
and thence to radar. divided by the number) can be obtained by giving the loga-
rithm a negative sign. By merely changing the sign of a ratio
expressed in decibels, the ratio can instantly be turned upside
down. If 157,500 is 52 dB, then 1/157,500 is –52 dB.
157,500
52 dB= = 157,500
1 Mile
1
1
−52 dB = = 0.000006349
157,500
Nevertheless, for the accuracy you will normally want, it’s not Returning to our example, if we look up the decibel equiva-
necessary to have a calculator. With the following method, lent of the basic power ratio, 2.5, (or better yet our memory)
you can do it all in your head—provided you have memorized we find that it is 4 dB. So, expressed in decibels, the complete
a few simple numbers. power ratio, 2.5 × 103, is 34 dB.
Incidentally, as you may already have observed, if the power But you can make the conversion just as easily in your head
ratio P2/P1 is rounded off to the nearest power of 10 (e.g., using the procedure outlined in the preceding paragraphs in
2.5 × 103 ≈ 103), converting it to decibels is a trivial operation. reverse.
The basic power ratio then is zero (log101 = 0), so the decibel Suppose, for example, you want to convert 36 dB to the cor-
equivalent of P2/P1 is simply 10 times the power of 10—in this responding power ratio. The digit in the ones place, 6, is the
case 30. Thus, dB equivalent of a power ratio of 4. The digit to the left of
the ones place, 3, is the power of 10. The power ratio, then, is
Power Ratio Power of 10 dB 4 × 103 = 4,000.
1 0 0
10 1 10 One’s
Place
100 2 20
1000 3 30
36 dB = 4 × 103 = 4,000
10,000,000 7 70
Basic Power
The basic power ratio, of course, may have any value from 1 to Ratio
(but not including) 10. So the digit in the ones place can be any Power of 10
number from 0 through 9.999.
The following table gives the basic power ratios for 0 to 9 dB. As outlined here, the process may seem a bit laborious, but
To simplify the table, all but the ratio for 1 dB have been once you’ve tried it a few times there is really nothing to it
rounded off to two digits. If you want to become adroit in the as long as you remember the power ratios corresponding to
use of decibels, you should memorize these ratios. decibels 1 through 9.
74 PART II: Essential Groundwork
5.5 Summary
This chapter introduced the phasor as a powerful tool for
visualizing phase and frequency relationships. Its length
corresponds to amplitude; its rate of rotation to frequency;
and its angle to phase. The phasor can be drawn in a fixed
position by thinking of it as being illuminated by a strobe
light that flashes on at the same point in every cycle. If the
signal is in phase with the reference, it is drawn horizontally.
If signals of the same frequency are combined, the amplitude
of the sum will depend on the relative phases of the signals.
Because of this dependence, even a very slight change in
target aspect can cause a target’s echoes to scintillate.
If signals of different frequency are combined, their sum can
be visualized by assuming that the strobe is synchronized
with the rotation of one of the phasors, causing it to appear
fixed. The other then rotates at the difference frequency.
The amplitude and phase of the sum will be modulated at
a rate equal to the difference between the frequencies. The
phase modulation can be minimized by making the second
CHAPTER 5: A Nonmathematical Approach to Radar 75
Further Reading
J. W. Nilsson and S. Reidel, “Sinusoidal Steady-State Analysis,”
chapter 9 in Electric Circuits, Prentice-Hall, 2011.