Multipath exploitation in through-the-wall radar imaging using sparse reconstruction

Abstract

Multipath exploitation and compressive sensing (CS) have both been applied independently to through-the-wall radar imaging (TWRI). Fast and efficient data acquisition is desired in scenarios where multipath effects cannot be neglected. Hence, we combine the two methods to achieve good image reconstruction in multipath environments from few spatial and frequency measurements. Ghost targets appear in the scene primarily due to specular reflections from interior walls and multiple reflections within the front wall. Assuming knowledge of the room geometry, we can invert the multipath model and eliminate ghosts by means of CS. We develop effective methods for the reconstruction of stationary scenes, which employ a group sparse CS approach. Additionally, we separate the target and wall contributions to the image by a sparse reconstruction approach joining wall and target models, which allows suppression of the ghosts and increased signal-to-clutter ratio (SCR) at the target locations. Effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated using both simulated and real data.