Mode Selection and Target Classification in Cognitive Radar Networks

Cognitive Radar Networks were proposed by Simon Haykin in 2006 to address problems with large legacy radar implementations - primarily, single-point vulnerabilities and lack of adaptability. This work proposes to leverage the adaptability of cognitive radar networks to trade between active radar observation, which uses high power and risks interception, and passive signal parameter estimation, which uses target emissions to gain side information and lower the power necessary to accurately track multiple targets. The goal of the network is to learn over many target tracks both the characteristics of the targets as well as the optimal action choices for each type of target. In order to select between the available actions, we utilize a multi-armed bandit model, using current class information as prior information. When the active radar action is selected, the node estimates the physical behavior of targets through the radar emissions. When the passive action is selected, the node estimates the radio behavior of targets through passive sensing. Over many target tracks, the network collects the observed behavior of targets and forms clusters of similarly-behaved targets. In this way, the network meta-learns the target class distributions while learning the optimal mode selections for each target class.

Open Set Wireless Signal Classification: Augmenting Deep Learning with Expert Feature Classifiers

In shared spectrum with multiple radio access technologies, wireless standard classification is vital for applications such as dynamic spectrum access (DSA) and wideband spectrum monitoring. However, interfering signals and the presence of unknown classes of signals can diminish classification accuracy. To reduce interference, signals can be isolated in time, frequency, and space, but the isolation process adds distortion that reduces the accuracy of deep learning classifiers. We find that the distortion can be partially mitigated by augmenting the classifier training data with the signal isolation steps. To address unknown signals, we propose an open set hybrid classifier, which combines deep learning and expert feature classifiers to leverage the reliability and explainability of expert feature classifiers and the lower computational complexity of deep learning classifiers. The hybrid classifier reduces the computational complexity by 2 to 7 times on average compared to the expert feature classifiers, while achieving an accuracy of 95% at 15 dB SNR for known signal classes. The hybrid classifier manages to detect unknown classes at nearly 100% accuracy, due to the robustness of the expert feature classifiers.

Open Set Wireless Standard Classification Using Convolutional Neural Networks

In congested electromagnetic environments, cognitive radios require knowledge about other emitters in order to optimize their dynamic spectrum access strategy. Deep learning classification algorithms have been used to recognize the wireless signal standards of emitters with high accuracy, but are limited to classifying signal classes that appear in their training set. This diminishes the performance of deep learning classifiers deployed in the field because they cannot accurately identify signals from classes outside of the training set. In this paper, a convolution neural network based open set classifier is proposed with the ability to detect if signals are not from known classes by thresholding the output sigmoid activation. The open set classifier was trained on 4G LTE, 5G NR, IEEE 802.11ax, Bluetooth Low Energy 5.0, and Narrowband Internet-of-Things signals impaired with Rayleigh or Rician fading, AWGN, frequency offsets, and in-phase/quadrature imbalances. Then, the classifier was tested on OFDM, SC-FDMA, SC, AM, and FM signals, which did not appear in the training set classes. The closed set classifier achieves an average accuracy of 94.5% for known signals with SNR's greater than 0 dB, but by design, has a 0% accuracy detecting signals from unknown classes. On the other hand, the open set classifier retains an 86% accuracy for known signal classes, but can detect 95.5% of signals from unknown classes with SNR's greater than 0 dB.