Simplified radar architecture based on information metasurface

Si Ran Wang, Zhan Ye Chen (), Shao Nan Chen, Jun Yan Dai, Jun Wei Zhang, Zhen Jie Qi, Li Jie Wu, Meng Ke Sun, Qun Yan Zhou, Hui Dong Li, Zhang Jie Luo (), Qiang Cheng () and Tie Jun Cui ()
Additional contact information
Si Ran Wang: Southeast University
Zhan Ye Chen: Southeast University
Shao Nan Chen: Southeast University
Jun Yan Dai: Southeast University
Jun Wei Zhang: Southeast University
Zhen Jie Qi: Southeast University
Li Jie Wu: Southeast University
Meng Ke Sun: Southeast University
Qun Yan Zhou: Southeast University
Hui Dong Li: Southeast University
Zhang Jie Luo: Southeast University
Qiang Cheng: Southeast University
Tie Jun Cui: Southeast University

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Modern radar typically employs a chain radio-frequency (RF)-digital architecture, imposing high costs, substantial hardware burdens, and integration challenges. Here, we propose a simplified radar architecture based on space-time-coding (STC) information metasurfaces. With the capabilities to generate multiple frequencies and customize their phases, the STC metasurfaces play crucial roles in both transmission and reception: they enable chirp signal generation and radiation at the transmitter while facilitating echo reception and dechirp processing at the receiver. Remarkably, dechirp processing is performed at the RF level, removing the need for high-speed digitization and potentially enabling more efficient signal processing than conventional digital methods. As a proof of concept, experiments demonstrate that the proposed metasurface radar achieves target detection and range/speed measurement performance comparable to that of conventional systems. This study presents an innovative radar system paradigm that integrates RF front ends and signal processors onto an information metasurface platform, achieving essential sensing functions with reduced system complexity and cost.

Date: 2025
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-61934-4 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-61934-4

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-61934-4

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().