Next Generation Small-SWaP SAR

May 21, 2024

SBIR N202-095 “Next Generation SAR Processing” was created to reduce the size, weight, and cost of full performance full polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) processing technology. The existing On-Board Processor (OBP) represented the current state-of-the-art when it was delivered in 2019 with 4 GPU’s (Graphic Processing Units) within a 19” rack mount unit used within the NAVAIR SAR Image Formation Processing (IFP) Laboratory. This system is used within a lab environment but can also be installed to SAR collection aircraft. The estimated processing speed for the system is over 10 TFLOPS, with significant size, weight, power, and cost (SWaPC). In Phase I Perceptive Innovations and Centauri validated the ability of GPU system-on-chip (SoC) technology to achieve real time performance on equivalent SAR problems using multiple GPU modules that exist today. The primary goal of this Phase II SBIR is the development and test of a prototype GPU SAR processing unit that pairs with a common commercial laptop computer as host and together matches the performance of the existing OBP, with at least a 75% reduction compared to the SWaPC of the current system.