The displaced phase center antenna (DPCA) technique is able to suppress the strong clutter for airborne radar by compensating the phase difference between consecutive two pulses which is induced by the clutter Doppler frequency. Physical DPCA and electronic DPCA are two traditional DPCA methods. Their scope of application is different, but they have deep internal relations. For the purpose of perfecting the theoretical framework of DPCA, and clearing up the relationship between two main DPCA methods, a general DPCA model is developed in this paper. The process of DPCA is summarized into 4 steps, which includes the sub coherent processing interval selection, beamforming, clutter cancellation and Doppler filtering. With this model, the mechanisms and effectiveness of the traditional two main DPCA methods are compared. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed general DPCA model and the relevant theoretical analysis are verified by computer simulation.
