GPS disciplined RFSoC synchronization, timing, and performance characterization in bistatic radar systems

Abstract

Distributed radar geometries offer multiple advantages over monostatic pulse-Doppler radar, but synchronizing frequency and timing for transmitting and receiving nodes in a distributed system is required to more accurately detect range and Doppler frequency. A GPS-disciplined bistatic radar synchronization system design running on an RF System-on-Chip (RFSoC) transceiver and GPS-disciplined precision timing reference is detailed, and the features and limitations of these two individual systems are examined. To better understand error tolerances of relevant signals produced by the timing reference used in the synchronization system, in-depth analyses of frequency drift, timing drift, and jitter are conducted and described both with and without GPS disciplining. Custom-designed FPGA IP designed to implement transmit and receive pulse Doppler radar functionality in the RFSoC-based system is introduced.