Electromagnetic time-reversal imaging of a target in a cluttered environment

Abstract

Electromagnetic time-reversal imaging is addressed for a target situated in a cluttered background. We first investigate the theory of electromagnetic time-reversal imaging, followed by an experimental demonstration. A transmitter-receiver antenna array is connected to a network analyzer and applied to transmit wideband waveforms for detecting a target within a cluttered environment. We assume the cluttered background is fixed, thus the target signature is extracted by observing changes manifested by the introduction of a target. A numerical algorithm is required for computation of the Green's function employed within the time-reversal imager, with this implemented here via ray tracing. Example time-reversal images of different cluttered backgrounds and different targets are presented using measured data, with comparisons to a traditional radar imaging technique. Results show that the time-reversal imagery yields good focusing at the target, significantly better than when the background is not accounted for.