2017 11th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EUCAP)
Single-Frequency Near-Field MIMO Imaging
Thomas Fromenteze, Michael Boyarsky, Jonah Gollub,
Timothy Sleasman, Mohammadreza Imani, and David R. Smith
Center for Metamaterials and Integrated Plasmonics, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA
Abstract—A near-field radar imaging technique is presented
based on single-frequency measurements from a multiple-input
multiple-output (MIMO) array. Such arrays are able to fully sam-
ple the k-space of a region of interest. Advantageously, both range
and cross-range information can be reconstructed, in contrast to
conventional single-input multiple-output systems which require
wideband frequency illumination. A theory of single frequency
MIMO imaging is developed and studied through numerical
modeling and experimental validation.
Index Terms—MIMO, Microwave imaging
I. I NTRODUCTION
Near-field radar imaging has found application in many
fields, including medical diagnosis [1], through-wall imag-
ing [2] and concealed weapon detection [3]. The resolution
of these systems is usually facilitated by large and densely
sampled antenna arrays that radiate ultra-wideband signals—
ensuring good coverage of the target space’s spatial Fourier
domain (k-space). More recently, in an effort to develop more
efficient imaging systems, the radar community has deployed
antenna arrays consisting of multiple independent transmission
and reception elements to improve resolution, mitigate clutter,
and improve classification performance [4]. These multiple-
input multiple-output (MIMO) systems are built on exist-
ing single-input multiple-output (SIMO) and multiple-input
single-output (MISO) solutions [4], [5], [6]. A MIMO system
acquires measurements from independent transmission and
reception antenna arrays. The principle presented in this paper
exploits the enhanced coverage of the k-space permitted by the
use of these independent transmission and reception arrays.
Following [5], a stationary phase method is applied to show
that the Fourier space can be correlated with the interaction
of plane waves transmitted and received by the elements of
each array, allowing for direct identification of the Fourier
components measured by the imaging system [7]. We show
that if the target is in the near field of the array and a sufficient
number of transmitter and receiver positions are probed, these
measurement points can fully survey a target’s k-space—even
at a single frequency—obtaining both cross-range as well as
range information. The recovery of range information using
a MIMO array is in contrast with conventional radar systems
which must exploit a frequency bandwidth to fully sample the
k-space for depth resolution.
II. S INGLE - FREQUENCY MIMO RADAR PROCESSING
To illustrate the technique of single-frequency MIMO imag-
ing, we consider a generic antenna array consisting of nt
/17/$31.00 ©2017 IEEE
transmit elements and nr receive elements located at rt and rr ,
respectively. Here, the boldface symbols represent vector quan-
tities. Assuming the first Born approximation and isotropic
antennas, the signal measured by each pair of transmit/receive
elements can be expressed as:
Z
s0 (rt , rr ) = g0 (rt , r) σ(r) g0 (r, rr ) d3 r, (1)
r
where σ(r) is the target reflectivity and g0 (ra , rb ) is the
free space Green’s function accounting for the propagation
of waves from ra to rb , with wavenumber k0 = 2πf0 /c.
By exploiting the spatial diversity that exists between the
transmit and receive arrays and a frequency bandwidth, an
estimation of the target reflectivity can be computed on a
discrete spatial grid r by compensating for the impact of the
Green functions. However, in the context of single-frequency
processing, a comparison between a SIMO and a MIMO
system demonstrates the advantage of exploiting both the
spatial diversity in transmission and reception. To illustrate,
two identical one-dimensional arrays are studied (Fig. 1).
• •
• •
• g0 (r •
, rr g0 (r
) , rr
• • )
•
g0 (rt , r )
y • y
• θt •
, r)
• σ(r) • g 0 (r t σ(r)
• •
• •
x x
(a) SIMO array. (b) Monostatic MIMO array.
Fig. 1: Radar imaging using a SIMO and a MIMO array. The
red triangles represent the transmit elements and the green
circles, the receive elements.
In the depicted setup, the antenna locations are defined by
xt and xr on the x-axis, allowing for an indexing of the
measured signal as s0 (xt , xr ). A representation of the data
in the Fourier space is given by computing the following two-
dimensional discrete Fourier transform:
XX
s0 (kxt , kxr ) = s0 (xt , xr ) ej(kxt xt +kxr xr ) (2)
xt xr
Considering uniformly sampled transmit and receive arrays
of overall lengths ∆xt and ∆xr , of sampling δxt and δxr ,
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 2017 11th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EUCAP)

ky
and centered on xt0 and xr0 , the antenna array locations are
defined as follows on the plane y = 0:
2k0
xt = {−∆xt /2 : δxt : ∆xt /2} + xt0 (3) ....................
...... ...
xr = {−∆xr /2 : δxr : ∆xr /2} + xr0 (4) .. ..
.. ..
. .

kr
allowing for the determination of the equivalent plane wave
components kxt and kxr : . .
kxt = {−π/δxt : 2π/∆xt : π/δxt } (5)
kxr = {−π/δxr : 2π/∆xr : π/δxr } (6) kt

The method of stationary phase applied in [8] allows for θt

kx
an identification of the Fourier components probed by the −k0 k0
imaging system. The approximation for a MIMO system given
in [5] is modified to be compatible with arrays that are not Fig. 2: k-space coverage of a single-frequency SIMO imaging
centered on the same location: system.
Z ky
s0 (kxt , kxr ) ∝ σ(r) e−jkxt (x−xt0 ) e−jkxr (x−xr0 )
r
√ 2 2 √ 2 2 (7) 2k0
......
..
.......... ..........
.........
........
..........
.. .. ........
..........
.... ........
........
......... .........
.........
......... .........
e−j( k0 −kxt + k0 −kxr )y d2 r .
....
. . .
.... ....
........
.
........ . ..
... ..
..........
.........
........
........
. . . . . .....
....
....
.... .....
.........
.. ........... ...........
.......... ...............
...........
........
..........
. .... .....
..... .
.
....
.. ......................................................................
........
.........
........
.
........
. .
. .........
...... ...................
.........
........
..
.
.
..
.
...
..
..
.
.. .. .
. .
...
.........
. .
........
. .
..
. .
. ... . . . .
. . .
. .
. . .
. . .. . .
. . ..
.. . . . . .. . .. ............
..... .........................
.........
The Fourier space is thus approximated by the multiplica- . . . .. ..
.............
.. . . .
............
........ . . . .. . . .
. .
. . . .. .
. . .. . . ...
.
. . .. . .
. .. . . .
.
.
. . . .. .......................
..........
. .. . . . .
...... ............... ...... . . . ........ . .
.........
tion of plane waves excited by the arrays, with components .............
. ... .. . . .. ... . k r ...............
. . . ............ ......

kr
.. . ..
........... . ....... .. . . .. ................. . . . .
.... ........
++++++++++

... . . . ... ++

... .
. .....
++
++

corresponding to the addition of the transmit and receive

+
+ +

... . . ... ... .

+ +
+ +
+ +
+ +

... +
+

.. . ..
+
+
...
wave vectors. In a SIMO configuration, the use of a unique . +
+

kt . .
+
+

.
. .. .
+ +

kt
transmitter prevents the spatial control of the radiated field.
+ +

. . . kx
Following [9], the field radiated by a single transmit antenna −2k0
+ +

2k0
can thus be approximated around the target center location by
a plane wave kt defined by: Fig. 3: k-space coverage of a single-frequency MIMO imaging
system and two examples of transmit and receive plane wave
interaction.
kxt = k0 cos(θt ), kyt = k0 sin(θt ) (8)
with θt the angle of incidence defined relative to the x-axis
by the location of the transmit element and the center of the III. E FFICIENT NUMERICAL RECONSTRUCTION
target space (Fig. 1a). Thus, for single-frequency illumination,
A Stolt f - k migration is implemented to efficiently esti-
the dispersion relation is approximated as:
mate a target reflectivity from the measurement of a single-
frequency MIMO matrix, adapting the reconstruction tech-
q
ky (kxr ) = k0 sin(θt ) + k02 − kx2 r (9)
nique introduced in [5] to a single-frequency measurement.
The spatial frequency components in a single-frequency According to Eq. (2), the target reflectivity can then be
SIMO configuration thus lie on a curve, since the system has estimated by compensating for the phase of the plane waves:
no control over the direction of the transmitted plane waves
and the norm of the wave vectors is a constant (Fig. 2). XX
This limitation can be circumvented by implementing a σ̂(x, y) = s0 (kxt , kxr )
kxt kxr
MIMO setup. Given a particular size and sampling of the ar-
(10)
rays, defined by xt and xr as in Eqs. 3 and 4, the independent ejkxt (x−xt0 ) ejkxr (x−xr0 )
control over the transmit and receive plane waves allows for a √ 2 2 √ 2 2
ej ( k0 −kxt + k0 −kxr )y
wide-coverage of the k-space, defined by Eq. 7 and depicted
in Fig. (3). The spatial diversity is significantly enhanced This operation can be performed efficiently by interpolating
compared with the SIMO and MISO cases because of this the phased matched signal sM 0 (kxt , kxr ) on the mean target
supplementary degree of freedom. In the SIMO approach, location (xC , yC ):
the inter-element spacing, δxt and δxr , is c/(2f0 ) to avoid
jkxt (xC −xt0 ) jkxr (xC −xr0 )
aliasing effects and ensure maximum coverage of the k-space sM
0 (kxt , kxr ) =s0 (kxt kxr )e e
√ 2 2 √ 2 2
sampling, according to the dimensions of the radiating arrays. ej ( k0 −kxt + k0 −kxr )yC
Having identified the elements relative to the spatial diver- (11)
sity measured by a single-frequency MIMO radar system, we
next suggest an efficient reconstruction method and validate onto a uniform grid sI (kx , ky ) and finally estimating the
its performance with numerical simulations. target reflectivity with a two-dimensional inverse fast Fourier

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 2017 11th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EUCAP)
transform:
σ̂(x, y)f −k = F−1
2D {sI (kx , ky )} (12)
The discrete vectors kx and ky should be uniformly sampled
on the total coverage of the k-space spectrum, spacing the
points by δkx and δky to reconstruct an image of overall
dimensions ∆x = π/δkx and ∆y = π/δky , avoiding the
aliasing from scattering targets located outside of the imaged
domain. By way of comparison, a backpropagation algorithm
is also implemented, following:
XX √ range and cross-range. The cross-range resolution is consistent
(xT −x)2 +y 2
σ̂(x, y)BP = s0 (xT , xR ) ejk0 (13)
xT xR
The f - k migration and the backpropagation are compared
in the context of single-frequency MIMO imaging in a two-
dimensional numerical simulation. This principle is validated
for an operating frequency of 26.5 GHz, using two identical
arrays made of 101 radiating isotropic antennas spaced by
λ0 /2, leading to a total length of 57.1 cm for both axes. The
arrays are shifted at two different locations xt0 = −0.42 m
and xr0 = 0.42 m to demonstrate the compatibility of this
technique with a non self-centered bi-static system and to
increase the k-space support of the target under test [9]. An
array of 5 × 5 point scatterers is set in front of the imaging
system, spaced by 8 cm in both axis, and centered on xC = 0
and yC = 0.5 m (Fig. 4).
Fig. 4: Numerical results from the simulation of a bistatic
single-frequency MIMO imaging system.
The reconstruction techniques reveal comparable perfor-
mances, enabling the localization of all the point scatterers
from the single-frequency acquisition. The images are con-
structed on a uniform grid made of 606 points on the x-axis
and 202 points on the y-axis, sampled at δx = 2π/∆kx =
λ0 /4 ≈ 2.83 mm and δy = 2π/∆ky = λ0 /2 ≈ 5.65 mm,
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where ∆kx = 4k0 and ∆ky = 2k0 corresponds to the
maximum extension of the sampled k-space, as depicted in
Fig. (3). The computation time is 0.15 s for the f - k migration
and 25.5 s for the backpropagation on a computer equipped
with a 10-core 3.10 GHz CPU, making the Fourier domain
technique approximately 164 times faster due to the efficiency
of fast Fourier transforms. Cross section plots of the estimated
target reflectivity along the cross range and range directions,
respectively, are shown in Fig. (5). Good agreement between
the actual locations of the targets and the reconstructed signals
exists for both techniques, demonstrating similar resolutions in
for all the targets and is on average ≈ 1.17λ0 , while the
range resolution increase linearly for both technique between
1.7λ0 and 3.1λ0 with the distance. MIMO analytical resolution
models such as given in [10] can be adapted to this study be
considering a single frequency problem.
0
f-k migration
-10 Backpropagation
-20
-30
-40
-0.4 -0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4
x (m)
0
f-k migration
-10 Backpropagation
-20
-30
-40
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9
y (m)
Fig. 5: Signals extracted from the first line (top) and central
column (bottom) of the target array. The dashed black lines
correspond to the actual locations of the targets.
One can note that the lack of magnitude compensation
in each case involves a decay of the responses in range,
allowing nevertheless for a correct estimation of the locations
of the targets. This principle is then experimentally validated
through a proof-of-concept experiment reproducing the numer-
ical model, retaining the same parameters and antenna array
characteristics as in simulation.
IV. E XPERIMENTAL VALIDATION
A simplified measurement of the single-frequency MIMO
matrix is proposed through the use of two translation stages,
allowing for a sequential acquisition of the signal between the
transmit and receive antennas at different locations (Fig. 6).
Reproducing the experiment presented in the previous sec-
tion, an array of 5×5 metal marbles with a diameter of 1.25 cm
spaced by 8 cm set in a microwave-transparent foam plate is
set above the synthetic aperture radar system, and tilted by 27◦
along the optical axis to prevent the shadowing effect of each
line of marbles on the other ones, and allowing a pseudo two
dimensional image to be reconstructed. The f - k migration is
 2017 11th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EUCAP)

Fig. 6: Experimental setup made of two translation stages
allowing for the sequential acquisition of a single-frequency
MIMO matrix to image an array of 5× 5 metal marbles.
applied to the measurements, allowing for the reconstruction
of the scene’s reflectivity (Fig. 7).
0.6
0.4
y (m)
V. C ONCLUSION
A single-frequency MIMO imaging technique has been
presented that can resolve near-field objects in range and
cross-range. It exploits the independent control of the trans-
mitted and received plane waves available in MIMO antenna
array systems. The technique implemented in this paper is
compatible with real-time applications and might be applied
to antenna arrays connected to fast transmission and recep-
tion systems. By operating at a single frequency, hardware
and signal processing requirements are substantially reduced
as compared to conventional systems. The extrapolation of
such a technique to three-dimensional imaging is possible
by using two-dimensional radiating apertures and modifying
the dispersion relation accordingly. Such an approach might
be of interest when applied to hyperspectral imaging, where
frequency selective and/or dispersive targets prevent the use of
wideband coherent illumination. The idea of single frequency
near-field imaging can also be implemented using dynamic
0
metasurface antennas [11], [12], significantly simplifying the
Tx Antennas hardware used in this work. Such a device that is simple and
Rx Antennas fast in both hardware and software is the subject of our current
-5
work.

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by 8 cm, and in cross-range, where the effective distance, as
seen by the arrays, is 8 cos(27◦ ) cm ≈ 7.1 cm considering
that the plate is tilted.

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