Coherent Integration With Range Migration Using Keystone Formatting

Coherent integration has been used in matched filter radar signal processing to increase target signal to noise ratios. Currently radar designers apply a rule of thumb that a target must remain in the same range resolution cell during the coherent integration time. Thus Doppler processing depends mainly on the change in phase from pulse to pulse. This results in limiting either the range resolution or Doppler resolution of the radar enabling very high range resolution or very high Doppler resolution but not both. We present here an approach to radar matched filtering which does not have these limitations and can produce simultaneous high range and high Doppler resolution matched filter outputs. The new matched filter coherently integrates the radar data even though the target scatterers move through many range resolution cells during the coherent integration time.