SDR radar demonstrator using OFDM-modulation

Abstract: Today radars are used to measure the distance to almost anything. It is used to determine the position of airplanes as well as the level of an oiltank. To achieve high precision in level gauging radars high quality components are demanded. This makes them expensive. In this project we evaluate the possibility to use relatively cheap components, used in radio communication, to measure distances with an OFDM-modulated signal. The components are cheap due to large production volumes rather than low performance. To do this we started with working out the theory needed for length estimation. At our disposal we had the SDR SFF Development Platform from Lyrtech. A simulation model of the platform was built in MatLab. This model was used to verify the theory developed. Finally our algorithms was implemented on the development platform. Both simulations and real life measurements show that OFDM can be used to measure distances. Even though the hardware used in this project is not dedicated for this application we managed to perform measurements with good accuracy at short range. We believe that with more suitable hardware OFDM-radars will be able to compete with todays high end level gauging radars at all ranges.