Abstract:

Aim at selection of time-frequency distribution (TFD) in the analysis of radar micro-Doppler
signature, we carry out theoretical analysis of the characteristics of micro-Doppler signal’s TFD. For multicomponent
micro-Doppler signal, specifications of TFD are given by criteria of objective assessment of the
TFD performance. Furthermore, a procedure of selecting optimal TFD for a given multi-component micro-
Doppler signal is provided. Simulation shows that the smoothed pseudo Wigner-Ville distribution has optimal
performance among the tested TFDs. The result provides guidance for TFD selection in the extraction of
micro-Doppler signatures and estimation of high-precision instantaneous frequency.

Key words:  micro-Doppler, time-frequency distribution, assessment criterion, optimal selection, smoothed pseudo Wigner-Ville distribution