Virtual Antenna Radar Layout for Multipath Fault Diagnosis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing radar devices struggle to distinguish between multipath and failure, which can lead to inaccurate object detection and abnormality determination.
Innovation Solution
A radar device with a plurality of transmission and reception antennas, circuits, and a control unit that utilizes unique sets of virtual antennas with varying wiring lengths and phase differences to diagnose circuit failures by analyzing phase and amplitude errors within allowable error ranges.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional radar devices use standard antenna and circuit configurations, then the device structure is simple, but the ability to distinguish between multipath and circuit failures is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The radar device segments the antenna system into multiple transmission antennas and reception antennas with different wiring lengths. This segmentation creates multiple unique sets of virtual antennas, allowing the system to analyze phase and amplitude errors from different signal paths to distinguish between multipath and circuit failures.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the wiring length parameter of the antennas to create different electrical path lengths. By configuring antennas with specific wiring length differences, the system generates distinct phase shifts that enable differentiation between multipath reflections and actual circuit failures through error analysis.
2Reliability
If the radar device uses multiple transmission and reception circuits with unique virtual antenna sets, then the ability to diagnose circuit failures improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The multiple transmission and reception circuits are designed to serve dual purposes: normal radar operation and failure diagnosis. The same circuits generate virtual antenna sets that are used both for enhanced target detection and for analyzing phase/amplitude errors to diagnose circuit failures, eliminating the need for separate diagnostic hardware.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback by analyzing the phase and amplitude errors from multiple virtual antenna sets and using this information to diagnose circuit failures. The error acquisition unit continuously monitors these parameters and provides feedback to determine whether abnormalities are caused by multipath or circuit failures.
3Measurement precision
If the radar device analyzes phase and amplitude errors from multiple virtual antennas, then the distinction between multipath and failures becomes accurate, but the processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by pre-configuring multiple unique sets of virtual antennas with specific wiring length differences before operation. This pre-arranged structure allows the error acquisition unit to directly compare phase and amplitude errors from predetermined antenna sets, simplifying the analysis process while maintaining high measurement precision.
Data Source
AI summary
A radar device includes: a plurality of transmission antennas; a plurality of reception antennas; a number Ns of transmission circuits connected to the transmission antennas and outputting a transmission signal; a number Nr of reception circuits connected to the reception antennas and acquiring a reception signal; a control unit configured to process the reception signal; and a housing unit configured to house the transmission antennas, the reception antennas, the transmission circuits, the reception circuits, and the control unit. Ns and Nr are each integers of 2 or more. The plurality of transmission antennas and the plurality of reception antennas are arranged such that there are included at least Ns+Nr−2 unique sets of virtual antennas, each being a set in which a combination of a transmission circuit and a reception circuit does not overlap with other sets.