Pulsed RF radar signals must be accurately characterized to evaluate a radar system's performance,therefore using the right test tools is vital. Modern radar test instruments,with advances in DSP measurement technology, are able to provide even greater insight than their analog counterparts.The increased performance, flexibility, and functionality of modern instruments are especially useful when evaluating radars that use advanced pulse compression techniques and pulse shaping.This paper will examine the measurements and capabilities that are available for radar using modern spectrum analyzers, vector signal analyzers,and power meters.

In operation, a radar system sweeps a beam through a region of interest known as the target space. The beam traces a path called the search scan pattern, and the region covered by the scan is called the scan volume or frame. A target is detected if it is within the line of sight of the transmit antenna and if the signal echoes from the target are strong enough to rise above the system noise floor. The strength of these target echoes is inversely proportional to the range (R) of the target to the fourth power (R⁴). Because of the proportionality, a target's echoes grow rapidly stronger as the target approaches the radar system.

A radar's range depends on a number of different factors, including the wavelength of operation, the transmitter power, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and sensitivity of the receiver, the level of background noise and clutter, the size (and gain) of the radar antenna(s), the reflection characteristics of the target, and the radar's pulse compression, integration, and processing capabilities. Radar system designers apply the well-known radar range equation to calculate the effects of different variables on

but can be essentially represented by:

Received signal energy = (P_avgG σ A_e t_int)/[(4π)²R⁴] where:
P_avg is the average transmitted power;
G is the antenna gain;
σis the radar cross section of the target;
A_e is the effective antenna area;
t_int is the integration time (the time the radar beam is on the target); and
R is the range to the target.

While the range to the target is beyond a designer's control, adjustment of some parameters, such as transmitted power and pulse characteristics, can significantly affect radar system performance. Accurately characterizing the radar signal can tell a designer a great deal about a radar's capability and limitations. Measurements require the right tools and, often, the right combination of tools, such as a peak power meter and a high-performance spectrum analyzer with enough digital-signal-processing (DSP) power for complete signal analysis.

Characterizing Pulses
Accurate pulsed RF radar characterizations require measurements of a variety of different signal pulse characteristics, including pulse width, rise time, fall time, pulse repetition frequency (PRF), pulse repetition time (PRT), duty cycle, peak power, and average power. (Fig. 1).

While an average-reading power meter can derive values for peak and pulse power based on measurements of average power, it cannot directly determine peak power or other pulse characteristics. A peak power meter, on the other hand, can measure pulse and peak power directly and provide informative time-domain views with flexible triggering and gating functions (much like an oscilloscope) to simplify analysis of pulsed RF radar signals. A well-designed peak power meter is based on a high-speed, continuously sampling front end that can capture transient events. This gives a peak power meter the ability to calculate results on a single pulse, or average over multiple pulses, and enables flexible time gating functions.

A peak power meter can provide a great deal of insight into a radar system's transmitted power, but it does not provide information about the transmitter's spectral behavior. A spectrum analyzer's display shows signal amplitude as a function of frequency. Built-in functions and programmable markers can simplify key spectral measurements, such as sidelobe levels, spectral symmetry, occupied bandwidth, and average power. A spectrum analyzer's zero-span mode can be used to verify pulse characteristics such as rise time, fall time, pulse width, PRF, and peak power.

Traditional spectrum analyzers have relied on a super-heterodyne receiver architecture using mixers and local oscillators (LOs) for frequency translation, and analog resolution-bandwidth filters to isolate signals of interest. Unfortunately, the group delay and accuracy of these filters can limit the time-domain performance of a spectrum analyzer, notably for pulsed RF radar signal measurements. To overcome these limitations, digital resolution-bandwidth (RBW) filters allow pulse filtering and processing in the digital domain, providing mathematically defined near-ideal filter shapes. The digital IF architecture greatly improves spectrum analyzer performance accuracy and speed over traditional analog designs. The digital IF approach maintains the advantages in sensitivity and dynamic range of a traditional swept architecture while including the flexibility to process the measured signals using DSP processing including FFT analysis.

Many of the power and spectrum tests needed for characterizing pulsed RF radar signals can be performed with a peak power meter and a spectrum analyzer with digital IF filters. But additional measurement power is needed to evaluate modulation, phase, or transient characteristics of radar. For such tasks, a vector signal analyzer (VSA) offers many measurement capabilities not available in a traditional analog or digital spectrum analyzer.

Unlike a spectrum analyzer a vector signal analyzer captures the phase and magnitude information of the measured signal and can use this information to perform more advanced analysis. VSAs are typically very flexible and can display results in the time, frequency, and the modulation domain. See Agilent Application note 15015, vector signal analyzer basics, for detailed information on how a VSA operates.

A VSA does not sweep across a wide frequency range like a spectrum analyzer. Most VSAs operate by tuning to a specific frequency, conditioning the signal, block down converting, digitizing, and processing the signal.