Recent Advances in Photonics Radar: A Review

International Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering

© 2025 by SSRG - IJECE Journal

Volume 12 Issue 5

Year of Publication : 2025

Authors : A. Amalorpava Selvi, SPK Babu, Arockia Bazil Raj A

10.14445/23488549/IJECE-V12I5P122

How to Cite?

A. Amalorpava Selvi, SPK Babu, Arockia Bazil Raj A, "Recent Advances in Photonics Radar: A Review," SSRG International Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering, vol. 12,  no. 5, pp. 249-270, 2025. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.14445/23488549/IJECE-V12I5P122

Abstract:

Modern radar systems developed mainly for military applications during the 1940s use radio waves to detect a target, its distance, radial velocity and size. Today radar has been applied successfully to numerous applications for civilian purposes as well. Smaller target detection in real-time with high resolution by radar needs high frequency and large bandwidth. Today's electronics systems are limited by the smaller bandwidth, Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) noise, low speed, low resolution and reduced sampling precision. Present-day targets such as Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) flying at low altitudes with low speeds and smaller sizes need radar signals to have ultra-stable phase and ability to operate at a wide range of frequencies. These requirements need electronics and photonics-based radar integration to detect small UAVs with high resolution and speed. Even though demonstrable photonics radar was only presented in the year 2014, subsequently, numerous research studies have been done on this promising field. Photonics technology for radar is a well-discussed topic in reviews, and photonics radar as a system is minimally reviewed. Radars for small targets have been developed and offered in different types and bands of operations. It is, therefore, the need of the hour to dwell in the radars developed by photonics technologies for small targets. This paper discusses the photonic radar technology and surveys all the available literature leading to inferences helping in future directions in this field of research. The main contribution of the review is a summary of photonics radar, which is tabulated showing the bands used, type of target, range and radar type. The work directs the use of photonics-based radar for their large time-bandwidth product and operation at wideband, even at gigahertz, where no change in performance related to frequency is seen. It is also concluded that photonics radar operating in the X band is the best choice for targets such as UAVs, leading to higher Radio Cross Section (RCS), thereby increasing range.

Keywords:

LSS targets, Microwave photonics technology, Photonics radar, Uncrewed aerial vehicle, Target detection.

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