SERDES-Based Reconfigurable Correlator for Radar Pulse Compression
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Solution Overview
Problem
Pulse compression techniques in range-finding systems, such as RADAR and LIDAR, face challenges in achieving high resolution while maintaining signal strength, often requiring complex and costly receiver and transmitter architectures, especially for applications like autonomous vehicles, where high-speed and efficient signal processing is necessary.
Innovation Solution
A reconfigurable correlator and beam former system utilizing multi-gigabit serial transceivers (SERDES) that operates at high sampling rates, converting analog signals to digital samples for correlation, and vice versa, enabling efficient pulse compression and transmission with improved signal-to-noise ratios and resolution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If high bandwidth short pulses are used to achieve fine range resolution, then range resolution is improved, but signal-to-noise ratio deteriorates and receiver complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies periodic modulation to the transmitted pulse, specifically using binary phase shift keying (BPSK) modulation where the pulse is modulated with a known binary sequence. This periodic modulation allows the received signal to be correlated with the transmitted sequence, achieving pulse compression that improves signal-to-noise ratio while maintaining fine range resolution through the modulation bandwidth
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the temporal and spectral parameters of the transmitted pulse by modulating it with a binary sequence. The modulation transforms a simple pulse into a coded pulse with extended duration but compressed autocorrelation width, effectively changing the time-bandwidth product to achieve both fine resolution and high signal-to-noise ratio
2Measurement precision
If high bandwidth short pulses are used to achieve fine range resolution, then range resolution is improved, but receiver architecture complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the functions of modulation, transmission, and correlation into a unified pulse compression receiver architecture. The receiver correlates the incoming signal with a locally generated replica of the transmitted binary sequence, combining multiple processing functions into a single correlation operation that simplifies the overall receiver design while achieving fine range resolution
3Reliability
If long pulse durations are used to improve signal-to-noise ratio and simplify design, then signal-to-noise ratio and ease of manufacture are improved, but range resolution deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses periodic binary phase modulation on long-duration pulses, where the pulse is divided into multiple segments with alternating phases according to a known binary sequence. This periodic modulation allows the long pulse to accumulate energy (improving signal-to-noise ratio) while the modulation structure enables fine resolution through correlation processing
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms the pulse parameters by applying binary phase modulation, which spreads the pulse energy over a wider bandwidth in the frequency domain while maintaining long duration in the time domain. This parameter transformation allows the pulse to have both long duration (for high signal-to-noise ratio) and wide effective bandwidth (for fine range resolution) simultaneously
Data Source
AI summary
Aspects of the invention provide improvements to electromagnetic and other wave-based ranging systems, e.g., RADAR or LIDAR systems, of the type having transmit logic that transmits a pulse based on an applied analog signal. The improvements are characterized, in part, by a SERDES having a serializer (a/k/a a “transmit side”) that is coupled to the transmit logic. The serializer has (i) an input to which a pattern on which the pulse is based is applied and (ii) an output from which a serialization of the pattern is applied to the transmit logic. The improvements are further characterized in that the SERDES has deserializer logic (a/k/a a “receive side”) that is coupled to receive logic and that deserialize a received “analog” signal containing possible reflections of the pulse. According to various aspects of the invention, the transmit and/or receive logic can include circuitry for directionally steering pulses transmitted into the environment and/or the directional sensitivity of the system to possible reflects of those pulses.