Frequency diverse (FD) radar waveforms are attractive in radar research and practice. By combining two typical FD waveforms, the frequency diverse array (FDA) and the stepped-frequency (SF) pulse train, we propose a general FD waveform model, termed the random frequency diverse multi-input-multi-output (RFD-MIMO) in this paper. The new model can be applied to specific FD waveforms by adapting parameters. Furthermore, by exploring the characteristics of the clutter covariance matrix, we provide an approach to evaluate the clutter rank of the RFD-MIMO radar, which can be adopted as a quantitive metric for the clutter suppression potentials of FD waveforms. Numerical simulations show the effectiveness of the clutter rank estimation method, and reveal helpful results for comparing the clutter suppression performance of different FD waveforms.
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