Range sidelobe suppression

1. A system for processing a signal, the system comprising:

a receiver for receiving the signal;

a correlator for compressing the signal with a reference signal, thereby resulting in a compressed signal; and

a range sidelobe envelope generator for generating, using a maximum convolution function, a range sidelobe envelope function based on the compressed signal.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the reference signal comprises a chirp signal.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the signal is compressed using auto-correlation.

4. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:

an envelope pattern table for storing a plurality of range sidelobe envelope patterns; and

wherein the range sidelobe envelope generator selects one of the range sidelobe envelope patterns, resulting in a selected range sidelobe envelope pattern.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the selected range sidelobe envelope pattern comprises a first plurality of samples and wherein the compressed signal comprises a second plurality of samples, and wherein the range sidelobe envelope generator further comprises:

a first multiplier for multiplying a first one of the first plurality of samples of the selected range sidelobe envelope pattern and a first one of the second plurality of samples of the compressed signal, resulting in a first product;

a second multiplier for multiplying a second one of the first plurality of samples of the selected range sidelobe envelope pattern and a second one of the second plurality of samples of the compressed signal, resulting in a second product; and

wherein the range sidelobe envelope generator selects a larger product of the first product and the second product.

6. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a range shifter for aligning the range sidelobe envelope function with the compressed signal.

7. The system of claim 6 , further comprising:

a clipper for clipping values of the range sidelobe envelope function that are below a predetermined value to the predetermined value.

8. An apparatus for processing a signal, the apparatus comprising:

receiver operable to receive the signal; and

a non-transitory computer-readable medium connected to the receiver, the non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

compress the signal with a reference signal, thereby resulting in a compressed signal; and

generate, using a maximum convolution function, a range sidelobe envelope function from the compressed signal.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein compressing the signal further comprises auto-correlating the signal.

10. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium further comprising computer-executable instructions that cause the computer to:

select a particular one of a plurality of range sidelobe envelope patterns, resulting in a selected range sidelobe envelope pattern.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the selected range sidelobe envelope pattern comprises a first plurality of samples and wherein the compressed signal comprises a second plurality of samples, and wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium further comprising computer-executable instructions that cause the computer to:

multiply a first one of the first plurality of samples of the selected range sidelobe envelope pattern and a first one of the second plurality of samples of the compressed signal, resulting in a first product;

multiply a second one of the first plurality of samples of the selected range sidelobe envelope pattern and a second one of the second plurality of samples of the compressed signal, resulting in a second product; and

select a larger product of the first product and the second product.

12. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium further comprising computer-executable instructions that cause the computer to:

align the range sidelobe envelope function with the compressed signal.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium further comprising computer-executable instructions that cause the computer to:

clip the range sidelobe envelop function from values that are below a predetermined value to the predetermined value, thereby resulting in a clipped range sidelobe envelope.

14. A method for processing a radar signal, comprising:

receiving the radar signal with a receiver;

correlating the radar signal with a reference signal, thereby resulting in a compressed signal; and

generating, using a maximum convolution function, a range sidelobe envelope function based on the compressed radar signal.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the radar signal comprises a radar chirp signal.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein compressing the radar signal comprises auto-correlating the radar signal.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein generating the range sidelobe envelope function comprises:

selecting a particular one of a plurality range sidelobe envelope patterns, resulting in a selected range sidelobe envelope pattern.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the selected range sidelobe envelope pattern further comprises a first plurality of samples and wherein the compressed signal comprises a second plurality of samples, wherein the method further comprises:

multiplying a first one of the first plurality of samples of the selected range sidelobe envelope pattern and a first one of the second plurality of samples of the compressed signal, resulting in a first product;

multiplying a second one of the first plurality of samples of the range sidelobe envelope function and a second one of the second plurality of samples of the compressed signal, resulting in a second product; and

selecting a larger product of the first product and the second product.

19. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

aligning the range sidelobe envelope function with the compressed signal.

20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising:

clipping the range sidelobe envelop function from values that are below a first predetermined value to a second predetermined value, thereby resulting in a clipped range sidelobe envelope; and

reducing the compressed signal by the amount of the clipped range sidelobe envelope.

21. A system for processing, a signal, the system comprising:

a receiver for receiving the signal;

a correlator for compressing the signal with a reference signal, thereby resulting in a compressed signal;

a range sidelobe envelope generator for generating a range sidelobe envelope function based on the compressed signal;

a range shifter for aligning the range sidelobe envelope function with the compressed signal; and

a clipper for clipping values of the range sidelobe envelope function that are below a predetermined value to the predetermined value.

22. An apparatus for processing a signal, the apparatus comprising:

receiver operable to receive the signal; and

a non-transitory computer-readable medium connected to the receiver, the non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

compress the signal with a reference signal, thereby resulting in a compressed signal;

generate a range sidelobe envelope function from the compressed signal;

align the range sidelobe envelope function with the compressed signal; and

clip the range sidelobe envelop function from values that are below a predetermined value to the predetermined value, thereby resulting in a clipped range sidelobe envelope.

23. A method for processing a radar signal, comprising:

receiving the radar signal with a receiver;

correlating the radar signal with a reference signal, thereby resulting in a compressed signal;

generating a range sidelobe envelope function based on the compressed radar signal;

aligning the range sidelobe envelope function with the compressed signal;

clipping the range sidelobe envelop function from values that are below a first predetermined value to a second predetermined value, thereby resulting in a clipped range sidelobe envelope; and

reducing the compressed signal by the amount of the clipped range sidelobe envelope.