BIRA: A Spherical Bistatic Radar Reflectivity Measurement System

Abstract

The upcoming 6G mobile communication standard will offer a revolutionary new feature: Integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) reuses mobile communication signals to realize multi-static radar for various applications including localization. Consequently, applied ISAC propagation research necessitates to evolve from classical monostatic radar cross section (RCS) measurement of static targets on to bistatic radar reflectivity characterization of dynamic objects. Here, we introduce our Bistatic Radar (BIRA) measurement facility for independent spherical positioning of two probes with sub-millimeter accuracy on a diameter of up to 7 m and with almost continuous frequency coverage from 0.7 up to 260 GHz. Currently, BIRA is the only bistatic measurement facility capable of unrestricted ISAC research: In addition to vector network analysis, it employs advanced wideband transceiver technology with an instantaneous bandwidth of up to 4 GHz. These transceivers grant BIRA the unique capability to characterize dynamic targets in both Doppler and range, while also significantly accelerating measurements on static objects. Additionally, the installation is capable of spherical near-field antenna measurements over these wide frequency ranges.