In this paper, an automatic radar waveform recognition system in a high noise environment is proposed. Signal waveform recognition techniques are widely applied in the field of cognitive radio, spectrum management and radar applications, etc. We devise a system to classify the modulating signals widely used in low probability of intercept (LPI) radar detection systems. The radar signals are divided into eight types of classifications, including linear frequency modulation (LFM), BPSK (Barker code modulation), Costas codes and polyphase codes (comprising Frank, P1, P2, P3 and P4). The classifier is Elman neural network (ENN), and it is a supervised classification based on features extracted from the system. Through the techniques of image filtering, image opening operation, skeleton extraction, principal component analysis (PCA), image binarization algorithm and Pseudo–Zernike moments, etc., the features are extracted from the Choi–Williams time-frequency distribution (CWD) image of the received data. In order to reduce the redundant features and simplify calculation, the features selection algorithm based on mutual information between classes and features vectors are applied. The superiority of the proposed classification system is demonstrated by the simulations and analysis. Simulation results show that the overall ratio of successful recognition (RSR) is 94.7% at signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of −2 dB.

For passive radar detection system, radar waveform recognition is an important research area. In this paper, we explore an automatic radar waveform recognition system to detect, track and locate the low probability of intercept (LPI) radars. The system can classify (but not identify) 12 kinds of signals, including binary phase shift keying (BPSK) (barker codes modulated), linear frequency modulation (LFM), Costas codes, Frank code, P1-P4 codesand T1-T4 codeswith a low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). It is one of the most extensive classification systems in the open articles. A hybrid classifier is proposed, which includes two relatively independent subsidiary networks, convolutional neural network (CNN) and Elman neural network (ENN). We determine the parameters of the architecture to make networks more effectively. Specifically, we focus on how the networks are designed, what the best set of features for classification is and what the best classified strategy is. Especially, we propose several key features for the classifier based on Choi–Williams time-frequency distribution (CWD). Finally, the recognition system is simulated by experimental data. The experiments show the overall successful recognition ratio of 94.5% at an SNR of −2 dB.

In this paper, a system for identifying eight kinds of radar waveforms is explored. The waveforms are the binary phase shift keying (BPSK), Costas codes, linear frequency modulation (LFM) and polyphase codes (including P1, P2, P3, P4 and Frank codes). The features of power spectral density (PSD), moments and cumulants, instantaneous properties and time-frequency analysis are extracted from the waveforms and three new features are proposed. The classifier is support vector machine (SVM), which is optimized by artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm. The system shows well robustness, excellent computational complexity and high recognition rate under low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) situation. The simulation results indicate that the overall recognition rate is 92% when SNR is −4 dB.

Each element in the conformal array has a different pattern, which leads to the performance deterioration of the conventional high resolution direction‐of‐arrival (DOA) algorithms. In this paper, a joint frequency and two‐dimension DOA (2D‐DOA) estimation algorithm for conformal array are proposed. The delay correlation function is used to suppress noise. Both spatial and time sampling are utilized to construct the spatial‐time matrix. The frequency and 2D‐DOA estimation are accomplished based on parallel factor (PARAFAC) analysis without spectral peak searching and parameter pairing. The proposed algorithm needs only four guiding elements with precise positions to estimate frequency and 2D‐DOA. Other instrumental elements can be arranged flexibly on the surface of the carrier. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

In this paper, we propose a new direction of arrival (DOA) estimation algorithm, in which DOA estimation is achieved by finding the sparsest support set of multiple measurement vectors (MMV) in an over-complete dictionary. The proposed algorithm is based on ${\ell }_p$ norm minimization, which belongs to non-convex optimization. Therefore, the quasi-Newton method is used to converge the iterative process. There are two advantages of this algorithm: one is the higher possibility and resolution of distinguishing closely spaced sources, and the other is the adaptive regularization parameter adjustment. Moreover, an accelerating strategy is applied in the computation, and a weighted method of the proposed algorithm is also introduced to improve the accuracy. We conducted experiments to validate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. The performance was compared with several popular DOA estimation algorithms and the Cramer–Rao bound (CRB).