Ground Radar Pulse Energy Reduction for Clutter Filtering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current radar systems for vehicles, especially aircraft and marine vessels, are hindered by cluttered radar returns from environment infrastructures when on the ground, leading to irrelevant information overload, which often results in the system being turned off, failing to provide crucial hazard detection.
Innovation Solution
A ground radar system that reduces the energy of emitted radar pulses and adjusts the antenna sweep range to focus on a specific surface area of interest, filtering out non-relevant radar returns and presenting only essential information to the vehicle's crew, using modules like surface selection, sweep range control, object filtering, and radial depth analysis.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the radar system operates at high power to detect hazards, then detection capability is improved, but ground clutter and irrelevant radar returns increase, overwhelming the display
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by transitioning from a uniform high-power radar operation to a differentiated power structure where the radar operates at high power only for specific detection functions while using low power for other functions. The system selectively applies power levels to different operational modes, allowing high detection capability for hazards while minimizing ground clutter through low-power operation for mapping and identification functions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the radar system into multiple operational modes with distinct power levels. The radar is divided into high-power mode for hazard detection and low-power mode for mapping and identification. This segmentation allows the system to optimize for different functions simultaneously, improving hazard detection while reducing ground clutter through selective low-power operation for non-hazard detection functions.
2Object-generated harmful factors
If the radar system is turned off to avoid clutter, then ground clutter is reduced, but hazard detection capability is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments radar operation into distinct high-power and low-power modes, allowing the system to maintain hazard detection capability through high-power mode while reducing ground clutter through low-power mode for mapping functions. This segmentation prevents the need to turn off the radar entirely, as each mode serves its specific purpose effectively.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic power adjustment where the radar system can switch between high-power and low-power operational states based on the detection task. This dynamic capability allows the system to adapt to different operational requirements, maintaining hazard detection when needed while minimizing ground clutter during mapping operations, thereby avoiding the need to turn off the radar completely.
3Loss of information
If the radar displays all radar returns, then complete information is provided, but the display becomes overwhelmed with irrelevant information
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and separates relevant hazard detection information from irrelevant ground clutter information by operating the radar at different power levels for different functions. The high-power mode extracts hazard detection signals while the low-power mode handles mapping and identification, effectively taking out the harmful ground clutter from the display while preserving complete and useful information for navigation and hazard detection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by providing different levels of information quality for different spatial and functional regions. The system provides high-quality, detailed information for hazard detection areas while providing summarized or filtered information for ground clutter areas. This localized information quality optimization maintains complete information where needed while improving display usability by filtering out irrelevant information from the overall display.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution effectively reduces clutter, allowing the radar system to provide clear, relevant information about the immediate surroundings, enhancing safety by presenting only critical radar returns, such as the presence of the vehicle on the runway, thereby reducing the likelihood of collisions and improving situational awareness.
Implementation Method 1
receives a plurality of radar returns from a plurality of objects that reflect the reduced energy output pulses emitted from the radar system
Data Source
AI summary
Radar return processing systems and methods are operable to process radar information when an installation vehicle (122) is operating in proximity to a surface area of interest. An exemplary embodiment reduces energy of an output pulse emitted from a radar system (410); receives a plurality of radar returns from a plurality of objects that reflect the reduced energy output pulses emitted from the radar system (410); determines a surface area of interest based upon at least a current location of the installation vehicle (122); and filters the radar returns generated by objects that are located outside of the surface area of interest. Optionally, some systems and methods may reduce a sweep range of an antenna from which the reduced energy output pulses are emitted.