Matched Filter Receiver
Bassem R. Mahafza · 2021
The topics of matched filtering and pulse compression are introduced in this chapter. Pulse compression is a signal processing application made possible through the use of a linear time invariant (LTI) filter known as the matched filter. The most unique characteristic of the matched filter is that it produces the maximum achievable instantaneous signal to noise ratio (SNR) at its output when a signal plus additive white noise is present at the input. Maximizing the SNR means increasing the radar sensitivity which significantly improves the extraction of target specific attributes from the radar echoes or returned signal. Accordingly, it is important to use a radar receiver which can be modeled as an LTI system that maximizes the signal&s;s SNR at its output. For this purpose, the basic radar receiver of interest is often referred to as the matched filter receiver. The matched filter is an optimum filter in the sense of SNR because the SNR at its output is maximized at some delay that corresponds to the true target range.