High-Resolution Wideband Waveform Design for Sonar Based on Multi-Parameter Modulation

The design of transmitting waveforms is an effective way to improve the detection performance of sonar systems. For the problem of high-range sidelobe when designing reverberation-resistant waveforms, this paper proposes a high-resolution wideband composite waveform design with reverberation suppression performance and a waveform parameter improvement method. Firstly, we propose a novel wideband waveform, which utilizes linear frequency modulation (LFM) as the fundamental pulse, referred to as multi-parameter coded modulation LFM pulse (MPCM-LFM). Additionally, we deduce the wideband ambiguity function for waveform design. Then, we deduce the constraint relations of the waveform parameters for different sub-band overlaps, and according to the mathematical expressions of the obtained range ambiguity function, we analyze in detail the effects of the waveform parameters on the range ambiguity function under different constraints. Secondly, on the basis of the analysis, we also propose a hopping carrier frequency constraint rule to optimize the spectral performance, and the range sidelobe is restrained effectively in significant measure by this parameter improvement method. Finally, we analyze the computer simulation results. It is obvious that our proposed waveform parameter improvement method leads to good results. The proposed improved MPCM-LFM signal shows a “near-thumbtack” ambiguity function, whose sidelobe suppression performance is superior to other classical waveforms in the desired region, and it can realize high-precision parameter estimation. In addition, the proposed improved MPCM-LFM signal possesses good performance in detecting stationary and low Doppler targets in the background of reverberation.