Effective Radar Cross Section in Close-Range Joint Communication and Sensing Applications

Published

July 14, 2025

Author(s)

Steve Blandino, Jelena Senic, Neeraj Varshney, Jihoon Bang, Jack Chuang, Samuel Berweger, Jian Wang, Camillo Gentile, Nada Golmie

Abstract

Radar Cross Section (RCS) is traditionally mea- sured under far-field conditions where targets are fully illumi- nated by the antenna beam. However, in close-range scenarios, such as those encountered in Joint Communication and Sensing (JCAS) systems, the assumptions of far-field RCS modeling break down due to partial target illumination, leading to discrepancies between the intrinsic RCS, the target's inherent scattering prop- erty, and the effective RCS, which accounts for the limitations of the antenna field of view. This paper develops a methodology and conducts a measurement campaign to establish the relationship between extrinsic RCS and effective RCS. Measurements are con- ducted with human and automated ground vehicle (AGV) targets to demonstrate the relationship between effective RCS and dis- tance, highlighting the transition from partial to full illumination. By accounting for the area defined by the beamwidth and the target retrieved from geometrical modeling, the intrinsic RCS is recovered. The results enable accurate prediction of effective RCS using intrinsic RCS values and vice versa, facilitating the design and analysis of sensing systems in close-range applications.

Conference Dates

July 13-18, 2025

Conference Location

Ottawa, CA

Conference Title

2025 IEEE International Symposium on Antennas & Propagation and North American Radio Science Meeting

Pub Type

Conferences

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Citation

Blandino, S. , Senic, J. , Varshney, N. , Bang, J. , Chuang, J. , Berweger, S. , Wang, J. , Gentile, C. and Golmie, N. (2025), Effective Radar Cross Section in Close-Range Joint Communication and Sensing Applications, 2025 IEEE International Symposium on Antennas & Propagation and North American Radio Science Meeting, Ottawa, CA, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=959347 (Accessed October 7, 2025)