This study proposes 1 a method for synthesizing

2 3-D microwave images using a multiple-input–multiple-output

3 (MIMO) radar. Recent studies on MIMO radar technology

4 have reported promising hardware that can be used in radar

5 imaging. In particular, the increased amount of data acquired

6 from MIMO radar is effective for 3-D radar imaging. Despite

7 the demand for using 3-D radar imaging, the underlying technical

8 challenges have not been addressed. Although the array synthetic

9 aperture radar method is promising, realizing a multichannel

10 radar with numerous channels requires significant effort in

11 terms of hardware. Therefore, an MIMO radar can be used

12 to effectively increase the number of channels with reduced

13 hardware. Studies on beat frequency division (BFD) frequency14

modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radars show that the

15 simultaneously transmitted MIMO signal is suitable for radar

16 imaging applications without hindering the along-track imaging

17 performances. In this study, the signal of a BFD FMCW radar

18 mounted on a movable platform is modeled according to the

19 imaging geometry, and a fast Fourier transform-based imaging

20 algorithm is derived to efficiently process the multichannel

21 data. This algorithm is applied to the simulated radar data to

22 verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. The method is

23 further assessed by applying the imaging algorithm to the radar

24 data acquired from a functional W-band BFD FMCW radar

25 hardware. The radar transceiver was mounted on a movable

26 table, and the data are measured at an outdoor experiment site.

27 The results verify that the proposed method can be used for

28 various 3-D radar imaging applications.