Reconfigurable MIMO Radar Antenna Switching for Automotive Systems
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current multi-input, multi-output (MIMO) radar systems for self-driving cars are cost-prohibitive due to the need for a sufficient number of transmitters and receivers for an adequately performing antenna array, lacking a satisfactory solution to reduce size and cost while maintaining performance.
Innovation Solution
A reconfigurable connection of antennas to radar transmitters and receivers, allowing switching between multiple antennas to provide digital signal processors with signals, enabling efficient signal processing and image formation with fewer transmitters and receivers, and improving spatial resolution and range detection capabilities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a sufficient number of transmitters and receivers are used for an adequately performing antenna array, then spatial resolution and range detection capabilities are improved, but system cost and size increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic reconfiguration of antenna connections to transmitters and receivers using switches. The antenna array can be dynamically reconfigured between different transmission and reception patterns, allowing the same physical hardware to achieve multiple spatial resolutions and detection capabilities without requiring additional fixed components.
Solution Approach 2:
Each antenna is designed to serve multiple functions - it can be connected to different transmitters and receivers through switching networks. The same antenna element can participate in different MIMO channel measurements at different times, making the antenna array universal and reducing the total number of components needed while maintaining measurement precision.
2Measurement precision
If a sufficient number of transmitters and receivers are used for an adequately performing antenna array, then range detection capabilities are improved, but system cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the functions of multiple transmitters and receivers by allowing shared access to the antenna array through switching networks. Instead of requiring separate dedicated transmitters and receivers for each measurement channel, the system combines them into a reconfigurable MIMO system where components are shared across multiple measurement channels, reducing total component count and manufacturing cost.
Solution Approach 2:
Dynamic switching allows the system to achieve multiple detection channels and measurement precision levels using the same physical hardware. The switching networks enable time-multiplexed access to antenna elements, creating virtual additional transmitters and receivers through software-controlled reconfiguration rather than physical duplication.
3Productivity
If multiple antennas are switched to provide signals from each combination of transmit and receive antenna, then signal processing efficiency is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces switching networks as intermediary components that manage the connections between antennas, transmitters, and receivers. These switches act as mediators that enable efficient signal routing and reconfiguration without requiring direct complex interconnections between all components, simplifying the overall system architecture while maintaining signal processing efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The antenna array is segmented into multiple independently controllable antenna elements that can be selectively connected to different transmitters and receivers. This segmentation allows the system to process signals from different antenna combinations efficiently through software control of the switches, achieving high productivity without proportionally increasing hardware complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Automotive radar systems may employ a reconfigurable connection of antennas to radar transmitters and/or receivers. An illustrative embodiment of an automotive radar system includes: a radar transmitter; a radar receiver; and a digital signal processor coupled to the radar receiver to detect reflections of a signal transmitted by the radar transmitter and to derive signal measurements therefrom. At least one of the radar transmitter and the radar receiver are switchable to provide the digital signal processor with signals from each of multiple combinations of transmit antenna and receive antenna.