FMCW Radar Receiver Clutter Filtering via Range Bin Weights
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional radar systems face challenges in accurately determining object parameters like range, velocity, and angle, especially when a target with small Radar Cross Section is close to large reflecting surfaces, as strong spurious reflections from the environment, known as clutter, reduce the signal-to-noise ratio and obscure the desired target signal.
Innovation Solution
The method involves receiving FMCW radar signals on multiple antennas, processing them to extract range bins and reference angles and velocities, generating weights based on these parameters, and applying these weights to filter out clutter, thereby enhancing the accuracy of object detection and parameter determination.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional radar signal processing is used, then the system structure is simple, but clutter interference reduces the signal-to-noise ratio and obscures the desired target signal
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the received radar signal into multiple range bins corresponding to different spatial locations. By processing each range bin separately with reference weights, the system isolates clutter from different directions and velocities, improving signal-to-noise ratio while maintaining manageable processing complexity through structured segmentation of the signal space.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different reference weights to different range bins based on their specific angular and velocity characteristics. Each range bin receives tailored filtering weights determined by its local clutter environment, allowing optimal clutter suppression for each spatial location rather than applying a uniform processing approach across all signals.
2Measurement precision
If multiple antennas are used for MIMO configuration, then beamforming and angle determination improve, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines signals from multiple antennas in the MIMO configuration and processes them together through the range bin extraction and reference weight filtering. By merging the antenna signals early in the processing chain and applying unified reference weights derived from the combined spatial information, the system achieves improved angle determination accuracy while avoiding the complexity of separate processing paths for each antenna.
Solution Approach 2:
The reference weight filtering mechanism serves multiple functions simultaneously: it suppresses clutter, enables beamforming, and determines target angles. This multi-functional approach allows the system to achieve high measurement precision for angle determination without proportionally increasing device complexity, as a single processing mechanism accomplishes multiple objectives.
3Measurement precision
If reference weight filtering is applied to reduce clutter, then measurement precision improves, but processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent calculates reference weights based on reference angles and reference velocities before applying them to filter the received signal. By preparing the filtering parameters in advance and then applying them systematically to each range bin, the system achieves high measurement precision for object parameters while reducing processing time through pre-computed reference data that guides the filtering operation.
Data Source
AI summary
According to an aspect, method in a radar receiver system comprising, receiving a radar signal reflected from a target on a plurality of antennas, wherein the radar signal is a frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) signal comprising plurality of chirps, extracting a plurality of range bins from the radar signal, generating a plurality of reference angles and a plurality of reference velocities from a plurality of reference parameters, determining a plurality of reference weights from the plurality of reference angles and plurality of reference velocities, filtering the radar signal with the filter weights set to equal to the plurality of reference weights.