Antenna test method and antenna test system for millimeter-wave radar of vehicle

Abstract

An antenna test method and antenna test system for a millimeter-wave radar of a vehicle. The antenna test method for a millimeter-wave radar of a vehicle comprises the steps of: S1, disposing a first radar on a first station, and configuring a transmitted waveform of the first radar; S2, disposing on a second station a radar to be tested, setting a spacing distance between the first station and the second station, configuring transmitting channels of the radar to be tested, and traversing the transmitting channels to transmit a spot frequency signal; S3, the first radar sampling, on a peak smoothing segment of the transmitted waveform and by means of a signal receiving channel, the spot frequency signal transmitted by the radar to be tested, so as to obtain a sampling signal, processing the sampling signal to obtain a thermodynamic diagram, and obtaining reference antenna power on the basis of the thermodynamic diagram; and S4, on the basis of the reference antenna power, determining whether the antenna performance of the radar to be tested reaches the standard. By means of the test method and the antenna test system, a millimeter-wave radar can be tested in terms of a radio-frequency indicator, and the test precision and the test efficiency are improved.

Description

Automobile millimeter wave radar antenna testing method and antenna testing system Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of automobile millimeter-wave radar testing, and in particular to an automobile millimeter-wave radar antenna testing method and an antenna testing system. Background Art

[0002] With the development and popularization of autonomous vehicles, autonomous vehicles are becoming increasingly intelligent and widely used. Whether it is assisted driving or autonomous driving, various on-board radars are required for detection and perception to achieve each function.

[0003] To ensure the performance and quality of automotive electronics, millimeter-wave radar testing is necessary. The performance of millimeter-wave radars is closely related to the antenna array, PCBA process, software algorithms, and RF chip performance. Optimal performance requires methodological approaches to evaluate the performance of each module at every stage of product manufacturing.

[0004] Due to errors in the PCBA manufacturing process and the yield rate of patch soldering, antenna performance may vary, resulting in insufficient radar transmission power and detection range that cannot meet the target. After the PCBA is returned, the antenna must be fully tested to eliminate defective products.

[0005] Summary of the Invention

[0006] In response to the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, the present invention proposes a vehicle millimeter-wave radar antenna testing method and antenna testing system, which can realize the testing of the radio frequency indicators of the millimeter-wave radar and improve the testing accuracy and efficiency.

[0007] Specifically, the present invention proposes a method for testing an automotive millimeter-wave radar antenna, comprising the steps of:

[0008] S1, placing a first radar at a first workstation, using the first radar as a standard test source, and configuring a transmission waveform of the first radar;

[0009] S2, placing the radar under test at the second station, setting the distance L between the first station and the second station, configuring the transmission channels of the radar under test, and traversing each transmission channel to transmit a point frequency signal;

[0010] S3: the first radar samples the point frequency signal transmitted by the radar under test through a signal receiving channel in a peak smoothing section of the transmission waveform to obtain a sampling signal, processes the sampling signal to obtain a heat map, and obtains an antenna reference power based on the heat map;

[0011] S4: Based on the antenna reference power, determine whether the antenna performance of the radar to be tested meets the standard.

[0012] According to one embodiment of the present invention, after executing step S1 and before executing step S2, a second radar is set at the second station, the second radar is used as a standard test source, a transmission channel of the second radar is configured, the second radar is calibrated by the first radar, a calibrated offset value is obtained, the offset value is saved, and the second radar is removed;

[0013] Continue to execute steps S2 to S4. In step S3, obtain the antenna reference power based on the thermal map and the offset value.

[0014] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the signal transmission channel of the first radar has an independent switch for prohibiting the transmitting antenna from transmitting waves.

[0015] According to one embodiment of the present invention, in step S3, the first radar opens a signal receiving channel and closes a signal transmitting channel, and the first radar receives the dot frequency signal transmitted by the second radar and mixes it with its own transmitting waveform.

[0016] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the transmitting waveform of the first radar is mixed with the receiving signal after frequency multiplication, and then subjected to filtering and analog-to-digital conversion to generate a sampling signal.

[0017] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the distance L between the first workstation and the second workstation is less than 3m.

[0018] The present invention also provides an automotive millimeter-wave radar antenna testing system, which is suitable for the aforementioned automotive millimeter-wave radar antenna testing method. The antenna testing system includes the first radar, a first workstation, a second workstation and a control unit. The first radar is set at the first workstation, and the radar to be tested is set at the second workstation; the first radar and the radar to be tested are connected to the control unit, and the control unit is used to configure the transmission waveform of the first radar and control the actions of the first radar and the radar to be tested.

[0019] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the first radar includes a wave transmission module, a plurality of signal transmission channels, a plurality of signal receiving channels and an analog-to-digital converter;

[0020] The wave transmission module is connected to each of the signal transmission channels and signal receiving channels, and the control unit is connected to the wave transmission module to configure the analog-to-digital converter of the wave transmission module to perform analog-to-digital conversion on the received sampling signal;

[0021] Each of the signal transmission channels includes a switch and a delay control unit connected in series, and each of the signal receiving channels includes a mixer and a filter connected in series, the output end of the filter is connected to the analog-to-digital converter, and the wave transmission module is connected to multiple mixers through multiple frequency multipliers, and the frequency multipliers correspond to the mixers one by one;

[0022] The first radar samples the point frequency signal emitted by the radar under test through a signal receiving channel during a peak smoothing section of the emission waveform, mixes the signal with the frequency-multiplied emission waveform through a mixer, and then filters the signal through the filter before entering the analog-to-digital converter to obtain a sampled signal. During the sampling process of the first radar, the switch on each of the signal transmission channels is turned off.

[0023] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the first radar further includes an MCU, the MCU is connected to the output end of the analog-to-digital converter, the MCU processes the sampled signal to obtain a thermal map, and obtains the antenna reference power based on the thermal map.

[0024] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the automotive millimeter-wave radar antenna test system further includes a second radar, which is a standard test source. The second radar is connected to the control unit, and the control unit is used to configure the transmission waveform of the second radar;

[0025] The second radar is placed at the second workstation, and the second radar is calibrated by the first radar to obtain a calibrated offset value, and the MCU stores the offset value;

[0026] The second radar is removed, the radar to be tested is set at the second workstation, and an antenna test of the radar to be tested is performed. The MCU obtains the antenna reference power based on the thermal map and the offset value.

[0027] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the radar to be tested is a 3-transmitter-4-receiver radar, a 2-transmitter-2-receiver radar, a 4-transmitter-4-receiver radar, or a multi-chip cascade radar. The multi-chip cascade radar is a 2-chip cascaded 6-transmitter-8-receiver radar / 8-transmitter-8-receiver radar, or a 4-chip cascaded 12-transmitter-16-receiver radar / 16-transmitter-16-receiver radar.

[0028] The present invention provides an automotive millimeter-wave radar antenna testing method and antenna testing system. In the peak smoothing section of the transmitted waveform, a point-frequency signal is sampled to obtain a sampling signal. The antenna performance of the test radar is judged based on the sampling signal, thereby enabling testing of the millimeter-wave radar's radio frequency indicators and improving test accuracy and efficiency.

[0029] It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description of the present invention are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030] The accompanying drawings are included to provide further explanation of the present invention, are incorporated into and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiments of the present invention, and together with this specification serve to explain the principles of the present invention. In the drawings:

[0031] FIG1 shows a flowchart of a method for testing an automotive millimeter-wave radar antenna according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0032] FIG2 is a schematic diagram showing a test of an automotive millimeter-wave radar antenna according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0033] FIG3 shows a schematic structural diagram of a vehicle millimeter-wave radar antenna testing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0034] FIG4A shows the FMCW waveform transmission mode of an automotive millimeter-wave radar.

[0035] FIG4B is a schematic diagram of waveform configuration parameters of a single chirp in FIG4A .

[0036] FIG. 5A shows a first radar waveform transmission mode according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0037] FIG5B is a schematic diagram of waveform configuration parameters of a single chirp in FIG5A .

[0038] FIG6 shows a schematic structural diagram of a first radar according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0039] It should be noted that, unless there is any conflict, the embodiments and features in the embodiments of this application can be combined with each other.

[0040] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present application, rather than all embodiments. The following description of at least one exemplary embodiment is actually only illustrative and is in no way intended to limit the present application and its application or use. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative work are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0041] It should be noted that the terms used herein are only for describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the exemplary embodiments according to the present application. As used herein, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the singular form is also intended to include the plural form. In addition, it should be understood that when the terms "comprise" and / or "include" are used in this specification, they indicate the presence of features, steps, operations, devices, components and / or combinations thereof.

[0042] Unless otherwise specified, the relative arrangement of the parts and steps, numerical expressions and numerical values ​​set forth in these embodiments do not limit the scope of the present application. Meanwhile, it should be understood that, for ease of description, the sizes of the various parts shown in the accompanying drawings are not drawn according to actual proportional relationships. Technology, methods and equipment known to those of ordinary skill in the relevant art may not be discussed in detail, but in appropriate cases, the technology, methods and equipment should be considered as a part of the specification. In all examples shown and discussed here, any specific value should be interpreted as being merely exemplary, rather than as a limitation. Therefore, other examples of exemplary embodiments can have different values. It should be noted that similar numbers and letters represent similar items in the following drawings, and therefore, once an item is defined in an accompanying drawing, it does not need to be further discussed in subsequent drawings.

[0043] In the description of this application, it should be understood that the directions or positional relationships indicated by directional words such as "front, back, up, down, left, right", "horizontal, vertical, vertical, horizontal" and "top, bottom" are usually based on the directions or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings. They are only for the convenience of describing this application and simplifying the description. Unless otherwise specified, these directional words do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific direction or be constructed and operated in a specific direction. Therefore, they cannot be understood as limiting the scope of protection of this application; the directional words "inside and outside" refer to the inside and outside relative to the outline of each component itself.

[0044] Furthermore, it should be noted that the use of terms such as "first" and "second" to define components is solely for the purpose of distinguishing the corresponding components. Unless otherwise stated, these terms have no special meaning and therefore should not be construed as limiting the scope of protection of this application. Furthermore, while the terms used in this application are selected from commonly known and commonly used terms, some terms mentioned in this specification may have been selected by the applicant at his or her discretion, and their detailed meanings are explained in the relevant sections of this description. Furthermore, this application should be understood not only by the actual terms used, but also by the meaning implied by each term.

[0045] Figure 1 shows a flowchart of a method for testing an automotive millimeter-wave radar antenna according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of a method for testing an automotive millimeter-wave radar antenna according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, a method for testing an automotive millimeter-wave radar antenna includes the following steps:

[0046] S1, setting the first radar 201 at the first workstation 202, the first radar 201 is a standard test source, and configuring the transmission waveform of the first radar 201.

[0047] S2: Place the radar under test 203 at the second station 204 and set the distance L between the first station 202 and the second station 204. The first station 202 and the second station 204 are tripods or other devices suitable for clamping and fixing the positions of the first radar 201 and the second radar 216. Configure the transmit channels of the radar under test 203 and transmit a point frequency signal through each transmit channel.

[0048] S3, the first radar 201 samples the point frequency signal transmitted by the radar under test 203 through the signal receiving channel 208 in the peak smooth section of the transmission waveform to obtain a sampling signal, processes the sampling signal to obtain a heat map, and obtains the antenna reference power based on the heat map.

[0049] S4: Based on the antenna reference power, determine whether the antenna performance of the radar under test 203 meets the standard. The antenna of each transmit channel of the radar under test 203 is tested in sequence. If the antenna reference power of each channel antenna meets the standard, the antenna performance test of the radar under test 203 meets the standard.

[0050] Preferably, after executing step S1 and before executing step S2, a second radar 216 is placed at the second station 204. Second radar 216 serves as a standard test source. A transmission channel for second radar 216 is configured, and second radar 216 is calibrated using first radar 201 to obtain a calibrated offset value. This offset value is saved and removed from the second radar 216. To ensure more accurate test results, calibration is performed using second radar 216 as a standard test source to obtain an offset value.

[0051] Continuing to execute steps S2 to S4, in step S3, the antenna reference power is obtained based on the thermal map and the offset value. The second radar 216 is calibrated to further improve the test accuracy and ensure the accuracy of the test results.

[0052] Preferably, the signal transmission channel of the first radar 201 has an independent switch for prohibiting the transmitting antenna from transmitting waves.

[0053] Preferably, in step S3, the first radar 201 opens the signal receiving channel and closes the signal transmitting channel. The first radar 201 receives the point frequency signal transmitted by the second radar 216 and mixes it with its own transmitting waveform.

[0054] Preferably, the transmitting waveform of the first radar 201 is frequency-multiplied and then mixed with the receiving signal, and then filtered and analog-to-digital converted to generate a sampling signal.

[0055] Preferably, the distance L between the first workstation 202 and the second workstation 204 is less than 3 m, preferably 1 m.

[0056] Figure 3 shows a schematic diagram of the structure of an automotive millimeter-wave radar antenna testing system according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown, an automotive millimeter-wave radar antenna testing system 200 is applicable to the aforementioned automotive millimeter-wave radar antenna testing method. Antenna testing system 200 includes a first radar 201, a first workstation 202, a second workstation 204, and a control unit 205. First radar 201 is located at first workstation 202, and radar under test 203 is located at second workstation 204. First radar 201 and radar under test 203 are connected to control unit 205. Control unit 205 configures the transmit waveform of first radar 201 and controls the operation of first radar 201 and radar under test 203.

[0057] The control unit 205 communicates with the first radar 201 and the radar under test 203 via a bus interface. The control unit 205 is used to configure the transmit waveform of the first radar 201. Figure 4A shows the FMCW waveform transmission mode of an automotive millimeter-wave radar. Figure 4B is a schematic diagram of the waveform configuration parameters for a single chirp in Figure 4A. As shown in the figure, the specific transmission mode of millimeter-wave radars is FMCW, a sawtooth waveform. The first radar 201, serving as the test source, needs to change its FMCW waveform transmission mode to maintain sampling in FMCW mode. Figure 5A shows the waveform transmission mode of the first radar according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 5B is a schematic diagram of the waveform configuration parameters for a single chirp in Figure 5A. As shown in the figure, the control unit 205 configures the transmit waveform of the first radar 201 (edits the transmission parameters) to create a waveform pattern with a peak-smooth segment. This allows sampling of the point-frequency signal of the radar under test 203 during the peak-smooth segment (sampling segment), without having to consider signal synchronization issues between the first radar 201 and the radar under test 203.

[0058] 6 shows a schematic structural diagram of a first radar according to an embodiment of the present invention. Preferably, the first radar 201 includes a wave transmission module 206 , a plurality of signal transmission channels 207 , a plurality of signal receiving channels 208 and an analog-to-digital converter 209 .

[0059] The wave transmission module 206 is connected to each signal transmission channel 207 and signal reception channel 208. The control unit 205 is connected to the wave transmission module 206 to configure the transmission waveform of the wave transmission module 206. The analog-to-digital converter 209 is used to perform analog-to-digital conversion on the received sampled signal.

[0060] Each signal transmission channel 207 includes a switch 210 and a delay control unit 211205 connected in series. Each signal reception channel 208 includes a mixer 212 and a filter 213 connected in series. The output of the filter 213 is connected to an analog-to-digital converter 209. The wave transmission module 206 is connected to multiple mixers 212 via multiple frequency multipliers 214, each corresponding to a mixer 212. The frequency multipliers 214 are used to improve the frequency stability of the transmitted waveform.

[0061] During the peak smoothing phase of the transmitted waveform, first radar 201 samples the dot-frequency signal transmitted by radar under test 203 via signal receiving channel 208. This signal is mixed with the frequency-multiplied transmitted waveform by mixer 212, filtered by filter 213, and then fed into analog-to-digital converter 209 to obtain a sampled signal. During the sampling process, switch 210 on each signal transmitting channel 207 is closed.

[0062] Preferably, first radar 201 further includes an MCU 215. MCU 215 is connected to the output of analog-to-digital converter 209. MCU 215 processes the sampled signal to obtain a heat map, and based on the heat map, obtains an antenna reference power. Based on the antenna reference power obtained by first radar 201, control unit 205 determines whether the antenna performance of radar under test 203 meets the required performance standards.

[0063] Preferably, the automotive millimeter-wave radar antenna test system 200 further includes a second radar 216. The second radar 216 is a standard test source. The second radar 216 is connected to the control unit 205. The control unit 205 is used to configure the transmission waveform of the second radar 216.

[0064] The second radar 216 is set at the second workstation 204 , and the second radar 216 is calibrated by the first radar 201 to obtain a calibrated offset value, which the MCU 215 can save.

[0065] The second radar 216 is removed, and the radar to be tested 203 is set at the second station 204. An antenna test is performed on the radar to be tested 203, and the MCU 215 obtains the antenna reference power based on the thermal map and the offset value.

[0066] Preferably, the radar under test 203 is a 3-t / 4-r radar, a 2-t / 2-r radar, a 4-t / 4-r radar, or a multi-chip cascade radar. The multi-chip cascade radar is a 2-chip cascaded 6-t / 8-r radar or an 8-chip cascaded 8-r radar, or a 4-chip cascaded 12-t / 16-r radar or a 16-t / 16-r radar. The automotive millimeter-wave radar antenna testing method and antenna testing system 200 provided by the present invention are suitable for rapid evaluation and testing of the aforementioned radars.

[0067] The present invention provides a method and system for testing automotive millimeter-wave radar antennas. These methods enable rapid performance evaluation and testing of millimeter-wave radar antennas at a single workstation, achieving high testing efficiency. This method helps eliminate antenna performance defects caused by PCBA (Printed Circuit Board Assembly) issues and eliminate defective radars. This automated millimeter-wave radar antenna testing system requires minimal testing equipment, offers high cost-effectiveness, and facilitates simple testing.

[0068] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations may be made to the above exemplary embodiments of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of the present invention that fall within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalent technical solutions.

Claims

1. A testing method for an automotive millimeter-wave radar antenna, comprising the steps of: S1, setting a first radar at a first station, where the first radar is a standard test source, and configuring the transmission waveform of the first radar; S2, setting a radar under test at a second station, setting the interval distance L between the first station and the second station, configuring the transmission channels of the radar under test, and traversing each transmission channel to transmit a point frequency signal; S3, when the first radar is in the peak smoothing section of the transmission waveform, sampling the point frequency signal transmitted by the radar under test through the signal receiving channel to obtain a sampling signal, processing the sampling signal to obtain a heat map, and obtaining the antenna reference power based on the heat map; S4, judging whether the antenna performance of the radar under test meets the standard based on the antenna reference power.

2. The automotive millimeter-wave radar antenna testing method according to claim 1, wherein After performing step S1 and before performing step S2, setting a second radar at the second station, where the second radar is a standard test source, configuring the transmission channels of the second radar, calibrating the second radar by the first radar to obtain a calibrated offset value, saving the offset value and removing the second radar; Continuing to perform steps S2 to S4, and in step S3, obtaining the antenna reference power based on the heat map and the offset value.

3. The automotive millimeter-wave radar antenna testing method according to claim 2, wherein, The signal transmission channel of the first radar has an independent switch for prohibiting the transmitting antenna from transmitting waves.

4. The automotive millimeter-wave radar antenna testing method according to claim 3, characterized in that In step S3, the first radar turns on the signal receiving channel and turns off the signal transmission channel, and the first radar receives the point frequency signal transmitted by the second radar and mixes it with its own transmission waveform.

5. The automotive millimeter-wave radar antenna testing method according to claim 4, wherein, The transmission waveform of the first radar is frequency-multiplied and then mixed with the received signal, and then after filtering and analog-to-digital conversion, a sampling signal is generated.

6. The automotive millimeter-wave radar antenna testing method according to claim 1, characterized in that The interval distance L between the first station and the second station is less than 3 m.

7. An automotive millimeter-wave radar antenna test system, applicable to the automotive millimeter-wave radar antenna test method as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The antenna testing system includes the first radar, the first station, the second station and a control unit. The first radar is set at the first station, and the radar under test is set at the second station; the first radar and the radar under test are connected to the control unit, and the control unit is used to configure the transmission waveform of the first radar and control the actions of the first radar and the radar under test.

8. The automotive millimeter-wave radar antenna test system according to claim 7, wherein, The first radar includes a wave transmitting module, a plurality of signal transmission channels, a plurality of signal receiving channels and an analog-to-digital converter; The wave transmitting module is connected to each of the signal transmission channels and signal receiving channels. The control unit is connected to the wave transmitting module for configuring the transmission waveform of the wave transmitting module, and the analog-to-digital converter is used to perform analog-to-digital conversion on the received sampling signal; Each signal transmission channel includes a series-connected switch and a delay control unit, and each signal receiving channel includes a series-connected mixer and a filter. The output end of the filter is connected to the analog-to-digital converter, and the wave transmitting module is connected to a plurality of the mixers through a plurality of frequency multipliers respectively, and the frequency multipliers and the mixers are in one-to-one correspondence; During the peak smoothing section of the transmitted waveform, the first radar samples the point frequency signal transmitted by the radar under test through the signal reception channel. After mixing with the multiplied transmitted waveform by the mixer, it enters the analog-to-digital converter through the filter to obtain the sampled signal. During the sampling process of the first radar, the switches on each signal transmission channel are turned off.

9. The automotive millimeter-wave radar antenna test system according to claim 8, characterized in that, The first radar further includes an MCU. The MCU is connected to the output terminal of the analog-to-digital converter. The MCU processes the sampled signal to obtain a heat map and obtains the antenna reference power based on the heat map.

10. The automotive millimeter-wave radar antenna test system according to claim 9, wherein, It further includes a second radar. The second radar is a standard test source. The second radar is connected to the control unit, and the control unit is used to configure the transmitted waveform of the second radar. The second radar is set at the second station. The first radar calibrates the second radar to obtain the calibrated offset value, and the MCU stores the offset value. The second radar is removed, and the radar under test is set at the second station. The antenna test of the radar under test is performed. The MCU obtains the antenna reference power based on the heat map and the offset value.

11. The automotive millimeter-wave radar antenna test system according to claim 10, characterized in that, The radar under test is a 3-transmit 4-receive radar, a 2-transmit 2-receive radar, a 4-transmit 4-receive radar, or a multi-chip cascaded radar. The multi-chip cascaded radar is a 2-chip cascaded 6-transmit 8-receive radar / 8-transmit 8-receive radar, or a 4-chip cascaded 12-transmit 16-receive radar / 16-transmit 16-receive radar.

Images