Design of Generalized Sinusoidal Frequency Modulated Pulse Train Waveform to Improve Tracking Performance of High Duty Cycle Sonar Systems

High duty cycle sonar (HDCS) systems have a high potential for improving tracking performance compared to conventional pulsed active sonar systems, but their implementation has been challenging to achieve. This is because conventional waveform design studies for HDCS systems had focused primarily on solving direct blast interference problems caused by continuous transmission and reception of pulse train waveforms. So far, there are no studies for waveform design to improve HDCS tracking performance. In this paper, we proposed a generalized sinusoidal frequency modulated (GSFM) pulse train waveform design scheme to improve HDCS tracking performance. The proposed design scheme utilizes the trade-off relationship between detection performance in a reverberation environment and measurement uncertainty according to the parameter ρ of the GSFM waveform. To accomplish the goal, we developed a framework for pulse train waveform design considering HDCS tracking performance. In the framework, the detection probability and measurement noise covariance matrix of the Kalman filter are calculated based on the designed GSFM pulse train waveform. Therefore, the pulse train waveform design and HDCS tracking performance can be associated. The simulation using the HDCS tracking framework demonstrated that optimal tracking performance was obtained when the parameter ρ was 1.07.