Low-cost High-Resolution Radar System Using Stretch Processing

We propose a receiver circuit for radar systems operating at microwave frequency that consists of a quadrature hybrid coupler connected to two power detectors. The device employs stretch processing to obtain high range resolution with low ADC requirements. We derive and validate a theoretical model of the proposed architecture using a prototype simulation designed for a 5.2 GHz center frequency. The simulation results match the theoretical behaviour and demonstrate that this approach achieves a typical range resolution, up to 37.5 cm, with low cost and low power consumption.