Generating Radar Waveforms with an Arbitrary Waveform Generator

Many radar systems use very wide bandwidths and complex modulation which cannot be simulated by modulated analog RF signal generators. Numerous tests on radar systems require precise timing in the low nanosecond range which can only be generated using an Arbitrary Waveform Generator (AWG) with low jitter triggering and marker timing outputs. This application note shows how Tektronix software is used with an AWG to create a wide range of RF and baseband signals for the characterization and test of radar systems and subsystems.