Doppler Division Multiplexed Multiple-Input–Multiple-Output Imaging Using Cascaded Millimeter-Wave Radars

Radar-based near-field 3-D imaging technology has recently attracted increasing attention in the field of security systems. This article presents a novel multiple-input–multiple-output (MIMO) synthetic aperture radar imaging algorithm for security checkpoints attached to a moving walkway. The proposed algorithm is characterized by transmitting-signal multiplexing on the Doppler frequency domain, which allows for a reduced data acquisition time compared with that of conventional time-division multiplexed MIMO systems and therefore achieves the image reconstruction of dangerous objects with smaller motion errors. This algorithm can be applied to 1-D antenna array systems, and image reconstruction is based on a back-projection algorithm with some modifications. The mathematical derivation of the algorithm and its advantages and disadvantages in comparison with those of a conventional system are detailed in this article. Details of numerical simulation of a point target as well as the experimental results of image reconstruction of a pinball and toy gun, using cascaded millimeter-wave sensors, are also presented for verifying the performance of the algorithm.