A generalized switching CFAR processor based on test cell statistics

In this paper, a new constant false alarm rate (CFAR) thresholding algorithm which is a generalisation of the switching CFAR (S-CFAR) that takes into account the statistics of the sample in the test cell for reference sample selection is proposed. It employs a composite approach based on the switching CFAR and the order statistic CFAR (OS-CFAR). A mathematical analysis in a homogeneous environment is provided for this detector. The results obtained show that the detection performance of the generalised S-CFAR (GS-CFAR) is improved both in homogenous background and non-homogenous environment caused by interfering targets and clutter edge.