Differentiable clear region representation with boundary control for multi-PRF selection in pulse Doppler radar

TY - JOUR

T1 - Differentiable clear region representation with boundary control for multi-PRF selection in pulse Doppler radar

AU - Guan, Wenxin

AU - Fan, Huayu

AU - Chen, Xinliang

AU - Chang, Shaoqiang

AU - Liu, Quanhua

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2026 Elsevier B.V. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.

PY - 2026/8

Y1 - 2026/8

N2 - Multiple pulse repetition frequency (PRF) techniques can help mitigate the issues of blind zones and ambiguities caused by the periodicity of a single PRF. However, existing multi-PRF design methods, such as the blind zone map (BZM) method, lack a clear mathematical expression (or a closed-form function) for the size of the clear region. Furthermore, achieving high calculation accuracy requires a fine cell size, which significantly increases computational load. To address the aforementioned issues, a multi-PRF set selection method based on the clear region estimation function (CREF) is proposed for fixed radar systems. The clear region area is expressed as a continuous and differentiable function, and the adaptive moment estimation (Adam) algorithm is employed to maximize it. A transition region shape parameter is employed to establish a numerical relationship with the cell size, which significantly reduces the influence of cell size on the calculated clear region area, ensuring accurate results even with coarse partitioning. Simulation experiments were conducted to compare the proposed method with the clear area evaluation matrix (CAEM) method and BZM method. The results show that the proposed method achieves a larger clear region area and exhibits greater stability in the clear region area across different cell sizes.

AB - Multiple pulse repetition frequency (PRF) techniques can help mitigate the issues of blind zones and ambiguities caused by the periodicity of a single PRF. However, existing multi-PRF design methods, such as the blind zone map (BZM) method, lack a clear mathematical expression (or a closed-form function) for the size of the clear region. Furthermore, achieving high calculation accuracy requires a fine cell size, which significantly increases computational load. To address the aforementioned issues, a multi-PRF set selection method based on the clear region estimation function (CREF) is proposed for fixed radar systems. The clear region area is expressed as a continuous and differentiable function, and the adaptive moment estimation (Adam) algorithm is employed to maximize it. A transition region shape parameter is employed to establish a numerical relationship with the cell size, which significantly reduces the influence of cell size on the calculated clear region area, ensuring accurate results even with coarse partitioning. Simulation experiments were conducted to compare the proposed method with the clear area evaluation matrix (CAEM) method and BZM method. The results show that the proposed method achieves a larger clear region area and exhibits greater stability in the clear region area across different cell sizes.

KW - Adam algorithm

KW - Medium multiple PRF radar

KW - Pulse Doppler radar

KW - Sigmoid function

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105034079969

U2 - 10.1016/j.sigpro.2026.110557

DO - 10.1016/j.sigpro.2026.110557

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105034079969

SN - 0165-1684

VL - 245

JO - Signal Processing

JF - Signal Processing

M1 - 110557

ER -