Exploring Jamming Resilience: DDMA MIMO Radar Detectors Against Smart Denial Jamming

Multiple input multiple output (MIMO) radars have been intensively studied for their superior performance merits compared to conventional radars including improved spatial resolution and parameter estimation. To achieve these merits, the transmitted waveforms from the MIMO transmitting antennas should be mutually orthogonal. Herein, the orthogonality is attained in the Doppler domain, namely Doppler division multiple access (DDMA), as it enjoys the simplest structure among other orthogonality schemes. Heretofore, the research in MIMO radars has focused on optimizing MIMO radar performance from different aspects including efficient waveform design, antenna beam-forming, and adaptive processing techniques. However, MIMO radars have been also a target of deliberate jamming scenarios. In this paper, the focus is turned to the evaluation of the detection performance of DDMA MIMO radars in jamming environments by creating a two-sided engagement scenario. On the jammer side, a jamming technique is proposed, Doppler-range block jamming (DRBJ), to deny the detection of a DDMA MIMO radar equipped with a moving target detector (MTD). On the radar side, a comparative detection performance analysis of two different MIMO radar detectors, normalized adaptive matched filter (NAMF) and fast 3D constant false alarm rate (CFAR), is conducted using Monte Carlo simulations. This analysis unveils divergent design philosophies of the two detectors, with each prioritizing distinct performance objectives.