Analysis of channel capacity for MIMO SAR model

MIMO radar can be considered as a particular communication system, which enjoys similar profits to the MIMO communication theory. Based on the information theory, the concept of channel capacity was introduced into the MIMO radar system. In this paper, the capacity expressions for MIMO SAR system were derived. As is shown in the simulation results, the channel capacity of the MIMO SAR depends on the number of the antennas, channel character and radar system parameters. The capacity of MIMO SAR increases with pulse repetition frequency and decreases with range and velocity. Furthermore, the larger the antenna number is, the more information can be obtained from the echoes. Meanwhile, the MIMO SAR capacity is larger than phase array SAR in high SNR.