Dynamic Data-Driven SAR Image Reconstruction Using Multiple GPUs

Abstract

The reconstruction of nxn-pixel synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery using a backprojection algorithm incurs O(n <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> · m) cost, where m is the number of pulses. This paper presents dynamic data-driven multiresolution algorithms to speed up SAR backprojection on multiple graphics processing units (GPUs). A critical part of this spatially variant reconstruction process is load balancing, which circumvents asymmetric work assignment. Fine-tuned algorithms for GPUs are presented as a part of improving running time. Communication between processors is overlapped with GPU calculation to reduce communication time.