Simulation framework for compressive sensing-based through-wall detection of moving targets

Detection of moving targets in cluttered environments is important in numerous applications, such as disaster search-and-rescue, law enforcement, urban warfare and so on. One of the popular techniques employed for this purpose is the use of stepped-frequency continuous-wave radar due to its low cost and reduced complexity. However, the stepped-frequency radar suffers from long data acquisition time. This study focuses on the detection of moving targets in cluttered medium; such as behind walls, using stepped-frequency radar enhanced by compressive sensing (CS). The application of CS enables the reconstruction of the target space using fewer frequencies, which decreases the acquisition time. This study presents simulation results that demonstrate the applicability of CS to stepped-frequency radar measurements in accurately locating and tracking targets behind walls. The plane-wave spectrum approach is employed in conjunction with through-wall transmission coefficients for calculating the scattered fields of targets behind the wall. The received voltage at the antenna terminals is then computed by adopting the concept of complex antenna factor frequently used in Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) community, which fully takes into account the antenna effects, enabling an accurate simulation.