Sperry Corporation

George M Vachula

Richard M Barnes

Clarence L Bennett, Jr

An apparatus and method for detecting the polarization of signals reflected from targets immersed in clutter. Signals reflected from targets illuminated with quasimonochromatic electromagnetic signals such as FMCW radar are received by antennas responsive to orthogonally polarized components of the reflected signals. These received orthogonal signal components are then modified such that one component is phase shifted with respect to the other signal components, and the amplitudes of the signal components are varied according to predetermined angles of polarization. The resulting signals are further analyzed in a processor which detects the polarization of the reflected signals by estimating the Stokes parameters for the reflected signal. The Stokes parameters may then be used to generate detection criteria that are compared to a predetermined threshold level.

Polarization detector

An apparatus and method for detecting the polarization of signals reflected from targets immersed in clutter. Signals reflected from targets illuminated with quasimonochromatic electromagnetic signals such as FMCW radar are received by antennas responsive to orthogonally polarized components of the reflected signals. These received orthogonal signal components are then analyzed in a processor which detects the polarization of the reflected signal by estimating the Stokes parameters for the reflected signal. The estimated Stokes parameters may then be used to generate detection criteria that are compared to a predetermined threshold level. The presence of the target is indicated when the detection criteria level exceeds the level of the predetermined threshold.

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Harvard, MA, United States of America

George M Vachula