2022 IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation and USNC-URSI Radio Science Meeting (AP-S/USNC-URSI) | 978-1-6654-9658-2/22/$31.
00 ©2022 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/AP-S/USNC-URSI47032.2022.9886243
SFCW Software-Defined Radar using LabVIEW and
USRP for Subsurface Sensing
N.H Ardzemi(1), F.N Mohd Isa (2), N.F.A Malek(3), S.Y Mohamad(4), Rosdiadee Nordin (5)
Microwave Communication & Information System Engineering (MCISE), Department of Electrical & Computer
Engineering, International Islamic University Malaysia, 53100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Department of Electrical, Electronic & Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor
([Link]@[Link], {2farahn, 3norun, 4smohamad}@[Link], 5adee@[Link]
Abstract—In this paper, we describe the experiment of a dual- processed to obtain target information. Fig. 1 illustrates the SFCW
channel stepped-frequency continuous wave (SFCW) radar system signals with their characteristics.
using LabVIEW and NI USRP N210. The step-by-step of the radar
design is discussed, including the SFCW signal generation, the USRP-
LabVIEW connection, and the transmit/receive process of the system.
I. INTRODUCTION
High-resolution radar sensors have recently become popular in
Fig. 1. Transmitted signals and frequencies of SFCW radar in: (a) SFCW
remote sensing applications that require very small displacements waveforms; (b) frequencies components
because radar technology can interrogate and measure all weather
conditions, day or night. The advance in technology has brought This paper presents three stages in the design of the SFCW
the existence of software-defined radar (SD Radar). It is a versatile radar system. Stage 1 is a dual-channel SFCW signal generator [9].
radar system designed to overcome the limitations of fixed-purpose The second stage is the SFCW radar transmitter design, and the last
radar systems. stage is the SFCW radar transceiver design. The purpose of this
SD Radar is built on the idea of replacing hardware-based paper is to demonstrate the generation of SFCW signals using
components and processing with software-based components and LabVIEW 2018 software, as well as their transmission and
processing. Filters, mixers, and waveform generation are all reception via two USRP N210 units equipped with a WBX
simulated on a PC or another processing device like a field- daughterboard and monopole antennas (VERT2450).
programmable gate array (FPGA). As a result, SD Radar hardware
can be reused for multiple parameter configurations, making it a III. SFCW SD RADAR SYSTEM DESIGN SET UP AND RESULT
more versatile system with lower development costs. The SFCW SD Radar is implemented in hardware using the
Stepped-Frequency Continuous Wave (SFCW) radar is being National Instruments (NI) USRP N210 platform. Fig. 2 depicts the
used in a wide range of applications, from measuring the micro- experimental setup for the SFCW SD Radar. Two USRP N210
displacement of high-speed rail bridges in [1], to agricultural units are connected to the laptop via a LAN cable and are
remote sensing in [2], and measuring snow depth in [3]. This is due synchronized via a MIMO cable. The USRP's IP addresses are
to the SFCW system's high-range resolutions and ability to transmit [Link] and [Link], respectively. Each USRP unit
high average power, both of which result in long-range/deep represents the SFCW channel to which the two VERT2450
penetrations [4].
antennas are connected for concurrent transmission and reception.
From the research that has been carried out by [5], [6], [7], [8],
they have successfully developed SD Radar by using the SFCW
system. However, in some of the research, the SFCW signal was
generated by a hardware platform such as the direct digital
synthesizer (DDS) board in [7] and [8], which requires extra care
and extra cost for the system. Therefore, this paper will present a
simulation of the dual-channel SFCW Radar system in order to
alleviate the usage of the hardware platform of the SD Radar
design.
II. CONCEPT OF DUAL CHANNEL SFCW RADAR
In an SFCW radar system, a consecutive train of sinusoidal
signals (𝑓0 , 𝑓1 , … , 𝑓𝑁−1 ) with fixed frequency steps ( ∆𝑓 ) is
transmitted towards the target, and the radar sensor will receive the
reflected signals from the target. The received signals will then be
Fig. 2. Experimental setup for SFCW software-defined radar
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The testbed implementation includes the following steps:
• Dual channels of SFCW signals are generated using the
LabVIEW platform.
• The first USRP N210 transmits the SFCW signal at antenna
TX1 and receives the SFCW signal at RX1.
• The second USRP N210 transmits the SFCW signal at
antenna TX1 and receives the SFCW signal at RX1.
The SFCW SD Radar proposed in this research was tested in Fig. 6. Second frequency component in Channels 1 and 2
the frequency ranges of 10kHz to 50kHz for Channel 1 and 50kHz
to 90kHz for Channel 2, ∆𝑓 = 10kHz and N = 4. From the front IV. CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION
panel of the transmitter shown in Fig. 3, the real and imaginary
parts of SFCW signals from Channel 1 are represented by the The simulation results by NI LabVIEW software show the
white and red graphs, while the real and imaginary parts of SFCW different curves for transmitters and receivers with different
signals from Channel 2 are represented by the green and blue frequency tones for the signals. Therefore, the frequency spectrum
graphs. measurement performed on both channels is used to evaluate the
design of the SFCW radar system. From the frequency spectrum
measured, the frequency components in the received signals were
found to match the frequency components in the sending signals.
Thus, it shows that the SFCW SD Radar presented in this paper
has passed the loop test and will be tested outdoors for target
detection in subsurface sensing with the appropriate frequency
range.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The author would like to acknowledge the Ministry of Higher
Education (MOHE) Malaysia on their support of this project
through grant FRGS19-018-0626 and Prof. Saffieddin Safavi-
Naeini from CIARS, University of Waterloo.
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