A MIMO-SAR Fast Arc-Track Scanning Imaging Technique

This article presents a novel fast multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO)-synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging approach. It employs a metal reflector mounted on a rotating stage to redirect the antenna beam towards the target in different angles. The synthetic aperture is achieved through the arc-track scanning without requiring movement of the bulky MIMO array; furthermore, a compensation method is provided to convert the arc-track scanning into linear scanning, and a rapid 3-D imaging algorithm is given for image reconstruction without array-FFT. By leveraging the benefits of high-speed scanning, the proposed technique holds the potential for achieving noncooperative imaging. Simulation and experiments demonstrate its capability for larger imaging depth and faster speed compared to other state-of-art methods.