Ambiguity Function - Square Pulse

Square Pulse

Consider a simple square pulse of duration and amplitude :

where is the Heaviside step function. The matched filter output is given by the autocorrelation of the pulse, which is a triangular pulse of height and duration (the zero-Doppler cut). However, if the measured pulse has a frequency offset due to Doppler shift, the matched filter output is distorted into a sinc function. The greater the Doppler shift, the smaller the peak of the resulting sinc, and the more difficult it is to detect the target.

In general, the square pulse is not a desirable waveform from a pulse compression standpoint, because the autocorrelation function is too short in amplitude, making it difficult to detect targets in noise, and too wide in time, making it difficult to discern multiple overlapping targets.

Read more about this topic:  Ambiguity Function

Famous quotes containing the words square and/or pulse:

    After the planet becomes theirs, many millions of years will have to pass before a beetle particularly loved by God, at the end of its calculations will find written on a sheet of paper in letters of fire that energy is equal to the mass multiplied by the square of the velocity of light. The new kings of the world will live tranquilly for a long time, confining themselves to devouring each other and being parasites among each other on a cottage industry scale.
    Primo Levi (1919–1987)

    I know you not, this room never,
    the swollen dress I wear,
    nor the anonymous spoons that free me,
    nor this calendar nor the pulse we pare and cover.
    Anne Sexton (1928–1974)