Radar processing method and system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12181573-B2
Application number	US-202217570208-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 6, 2022
Priority date	Jan 6, 2022
Publication date	Dec 31, 2024
Grant date	Dec 31, 2024

Abstract

A computer-implemented method for processing radar information comprises receiving synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data that specifics a sequence of radar acquisitions of a target area taken over a particular acquisition time. The method comprises forming a plurality of sub-aperture images, wherein each sub-aperture image is associated with radar acquisitions of the target area taken over a particular interval of the acquisition time. The method further comprises determining, based on the plurality of sub-aperture images, velocities associated with one or more target objects moving within the target area; and generating an image associated with the SAR data that depicts the one or more target objects and the velocities associated with one or more target objects.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method for processing radar information, the method comprising:
receiving synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data that specifics a sequence of radar acquisitions of a target area taken over a particular acquisition time, wherein the SAR data comprises a SAR matrix that specifies the SAR data;
forming a plurality of sub-aperture images, wherein each sub-aperture image is associated with radar acquisitions of the target area taken over a particular interval of the acquisition time;
determining, based on the plurality of sub-aperture images, velocities associated with one or more target objects moving within the target area; and
generating an image associated with the SAR data that depicts the one or more target objects and the velocities associated with one or more target objects, wherein generating the image associated with the SAR data comprises:
decomposing the SAR matrix into one or more target object matrices and a background clutter matrix;
generating one or more target images based on the one or more target object matrices, respectively;
generating a background clutter image based on the background clutter matrix; and
generating the image associated with the SAR as a composite image of the one or more target images and the background clutter image.

2. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein determining the velocities associated with the one or more target objects moving within the target area comprises:
identifying, from the plurality of sub-aperture images, one or more pixel groups associated with the one or more target objects, respectively; and
determining the velocities of the pixel groups.

3. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein decomposing the SAR matrix into the one or more target object matrices comprises:
iteratively adjusting complex reflectance values specified in the one or more target object matrices that are associated with the one or more target objects and background clutter to minimize differences between the one or more images and an image generated based on the SAR matrix.

4. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein decomposing the SAR matrix into the background clutter matrix comprises:
determining the background clutter matrix as a difference between the SAR matrix and the one or more target object matrices.

5. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein forming a plurality of sub-aperture images comprises:
successively increasing a size of the interval over which the plurality of sub-aperture images are formed, thereby decreasing a number of sub-aperture images, until a focus error associated with the one or more target images is at or below a threshold focus error.

6. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein the image is one of a plurality of images comprised within a sequence of images, wherein each image of the sequence of images is associated with a different interval of the acquisition time, wherein the method further comprises:
generating a video that comprises the sequence of images.

7. The computer-implemented method according to claim 2 , further comprising:
labeling pixels from the plurality of sub-aperture images as belonging to the one or more target objects moving within the target area, respectively.

8. A computing device that facilitates processing radar information, the computing device comprises:
one or more processors; and
a memory in communication with the one or more processors, wherein the memory stores instruction code that, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the computing device to perform operations comprising:
receiving synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data that specifics a sequence of radar acquisitions of a target area taken over a particular acquisition time, wherein the SAR data comprises a SAR matrix that specifies the SAR data;
forming a plurality of sub-aperture images, wherein each sub-aperture image is associated with radar acquisitions of the target area taken over a particular interval of the acquisition time;
determining, based on the plurality of sub-aperture images, velocities associated with one or more target objects moving within the target area; and
generating an image associated with the SAR data that depicts the one or more target objects and the velocities associated with one or more target objects, wherein the operations that involve generating the image associated with the SAR data comprise:
decomposing the SAR matrix into one or more target object matrices and a background clutter matrix;
generating one or more target images based on the one or more target object matrices, respectively;
generating a background clutter image based on the background clutter matrix; and
generating the image associated with the SAR as a composite image of the one or more target images and the background clutter image.

9. The computing device according to claim 8 , wherein the operations that involve determining the velocities associated with the one or more target objects moving within the target area comprise:
identifying, from the plurality of sub-aperture images, one or more pixel groups associated with the one or more target objects, respectively; and
determining the velocities of the pixel groups.

10. The computing device according to claim 8 , wherein the operations that involve decomposing the SAR matrix into the one or more target object matrices comprise:
iteratively adjusting complex reflectance values specified in the one or more target object matrices that are associated with the one or more target objects and background clutter to minimize differences between the one or more images and an image generated based on the SAR matrix.

11. The computing device according to claim 8 , wherein the operations that involve decomposing the SAR matrix into the background clutter matrix comprise:
determining the background clutter matrix as a difference between the SAR matrix and the one or more target object matrices.

12. The computing device according to claim 8 , wherein the operations that involve forming a plurality of sub-aperture images comprise:
successively increasing a size of the interval over which the plurality of sub-aperture images are formed, thereby decreasing a number of sub-aperture images, until a focus error associated with the one or more target images is at or below a threshold focus error.

13. The computing device according to claim 8 , wherein the image is one of a plurality of images comprised within a sequence of images, wherein each image of the sequence of images is associated with a different interval of the acquisition time, wherein the operations further comprise:
generating a video that comprises the sequence of images.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instruction code, wherein when executed by one or more processors of a computing device, the instruction code causes the computing device to perform operations comprising:
receiving synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data that specifics a sequence of radar acquisitions of a target area taken over a particular acquisition time, wherein the SAR data comprises a SAR matrix that specifies the SAR data;
forming a plurality of sub-aperture images, wherein each sub-aperture image is associated with radar acquisitions of the target area taken over a particular interval of the acquisition time;
determining, based on the plurality of sub-aperture images, velocities associated with one or more target objects moving within the target area; and
generating an image

Assignees

• Boeing Co

Inventors

• Ray Gary A

Classifications

• G01S13/9027

  Pattern recognition for feature extraction · CPC title

• G01S13/9004

  SAR image acquisition techniques · CPC title

• G01S13/9029 Primary

  specially adapted for moving target detection within a single SAR image or within multiple SAR images taken at the same time · CPC title