Date of Award

3-9-2009

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Electrical Engineering

Department

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

First Advisor

Peter J. Collins, PhD

Abstract

Today's battlefield consists of a blend of humans and machines working together to locate and monitor the enemy. Due to the threat of terrorism, today's enemy can be anyone and they can exist anywhere even in populated cities. Monitoring human activities in an urban environment is a difficult problem due to walls, clutter, and other obstructions. This thesis focused on developing a network of digital noise radar sensors that could operate simultaneously to track humans and non-human targets inside rooms and through walls. The theory, application, and results are discussed throughout this thesis. A noise radar works by cross correlating the received signal with a time delayed replica of the transmit signal. A high correlation indicates a target. A digital noise radar digitizes the transmit and receive signals and accomplishes the correlation in software. A network of three digital noise radars was constructed to triangulate the (x, y) position of a target within a room. The results were presented in two-dimensional graphs. In nine out of ten cases the stationary targets were clearly identified. In eight out of ten cases the stationary targets were located within the range solution of the system, 0.375 m. In the one miss case, the results image indicated the presence of the human target, but the detection was faint and possible to miss. Tests were also accomplished with moving human targets. In these tests the network of radar systems tracked the human target in an empty and cluttered room until the target was out of range. The test results prove that a network of simultaneously operating noise radars can locate and track human and non-human targets within rooms.

AFIT Designator

AFIT-GE-ENG-09-39

DTIC Accession Number

ADA498641

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