EP-4737936-A1 - DISTRIBUTED COHERENT RADAR

EP4737936A1EP 4737936 A1EP4737936 A1EP 4737936A1EP-4737936-A1

Abstract

An apparatus comprising: a controller configured to control transmission by a Distributed Coherent Radar, DCR, system and a processor configured to process radar signals received by the DCR system; wherein the controller is configured to provide for transmission of a first chirp from a plurality of transmit antennas of a first radar head of the DCR system, and from a first predetermined antenna in a first band and by a second predetermined antenna of a second head in a second band; and provide for transmission of a second chirp from a plurality of transmit antennas of the second radar head, the second predetermined antenna in a fourth band and by the first predetermined antenna in third band; and the processor is configured to, based on the received signals, determine a phase-noise estimation.

Inventors

Koppelaar,, Arie Geert Cornelis
GERAETS,, René
CIACCI,, Massimo
BEKOOIJ,, Marco Jan Gerrit

Assignees

NXP B.V.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260506
Application Date: 20241105

Claims (15)

An apparatus comprising: a controller configured to control transmission by a Distributed Coherent Radar, DCR, system a processor configured to process radar signals received by the DCR system; wherein the controller is configured to: generate first control signals configured to provide for transmission, by the DCR system, of a first chirp from a plurality of transmit antennas of a first radar head of the DCR system, and for transmission of the first chirp from a first predetermined antenna of the first radar head and, restrict transmission of said first chirp to a second predetermined antenna of a second radar head of the DCR system, wherein said first control signals are configured to provide for transmission of said first chirp by the first predetermined antenna in a first predetermined frequency band and the transmission of said first chirp by the second predetermined antenna in a second predetermined frequency band, wherein the first and second predetermined frequency bands are different to one or more frequency bands in which the transmit antennas of the first radar head are caused to transmit said first chirp; and generate second control signals configured to provide for transmission, by the DCR system, of a second chirp, subsequent to the first chirp, from a plurality of transmit antennas of the second radar head, and for transmission of the second chirp from the second predetermined antenna of the second radar head and, restrict transmission of said second chirp to the first predetermined antenna of the first radar head, wherein said second control signals are configured to provide for transmission of said second chirp by the first predetermined antenna of the first radar head in a third predetermined frequency band and the transmission of said second chirp by the second predetermined antenna in a fourth predetermined frequency band, wherein the third and fourth predetermined frequency bands are different to one or more frequency bands in which the transmit antennas of the second radar head are caused to transmit said second chirp; and wherein the processor is configured to: receive first radar signals from the first radar head of the DCR system in response to generation of the first control signals; receive second radar signals from the second radar head of the DCR system in response to generation of the first control signals; based on a component first radar signal comprising a part of the first radar signals in said second predetermined frequency band and a component second radar signal comprising a part of the second radar signals in said first predetermined frequency band, determine a first phase-noise estimation based on said component first radar signal and component second radar signal; and receive third radar signals from the first radar head of the DCR system in response to generation of the second control signals; receive fourth radar signals from the second radar head of the DCR system in response to generation of the second control signals; based on a component third radar signal comprising a part of the third radar signals in said fourth predetermined frequency band and a component fourth radar signal comprising a part of the fourth radar signals in said third predetermined frequency band, determine a second phase-noise estimation based on said component third radar signal and said component fourth radar signal.
The apparatus of claim 1, including said DCR system, the DCR system comprising: the first radar head having the plurality of transmit antennas and the first predetermined antenna, configured to provide for transmission of chirps, and a plurality of receive antennas configured to receive signals including one or more reflections of said chirps and to generate at least said first and third radar signals based on the received signals, wherein the first radar head provides for said transmission of the chirps and receipt of the signals based on a first time reference; and the second radar head having the plurality of transmit antennas and the second predetermined antenna, configured to provide for transmission of chirps, and a plurality of receive antennas configured to receive signals including one or more reflections of said chirps and to generate at least said second and fourth radar signals based on the received signals, wherein the second radar head provides for said transmission of the chirps and receipt of the signals based on a second, different, time reference.
The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said first predetermined antenna of the first radar head comprises a single transmit-receive antenna configured to both transmit the respective chirp and concurrently receive signals including said one or more reflections of said chirps for processing by the processor; and wherein said second predetermined antenna of the second radar head comprises a single transmit-receive antenna configured to both transmit the respective chirp and concurrently receive the signals including said one or more reflections of said chirps for processing by the processor.
The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the first control signals are configured to provide for transmission, by the DCR system, of the first chirp from the first predetermined antenna of the first radar head and the second predetermined antenna of the second radar head with a lower power than that used for transmission for each of the plurality of transmit antennas of the first radar head; and wherein the second control signals are configured to provide for transmission, by the DCR system, of the second chirp from the first predetermined antenna of the first radar head and the second predetermined antenna of the second radar head with a lower power than that used for transmission for each of the plurality of transmit antennas of the second radar head.
The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the first predetermined frequency band is the same as the fourth predetermined frequency band, and the second predetermined frequency band is the same as the third predetermined frequency band.
The apparatus of any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein the controller is configured to apply a frequency shift to one of the first time reference and the second time reference to cause a frequency offset between the first time reference and the second time reference.
The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the controller is configured to generate transmit control signals, including said first control signals and said second control signals, configured such that the transmission of chirps from said plurality of transmit antennas of the first head and the plurality of transmit antennas of the second head is based on a doppler division multiple access waveform.
The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the processor is configured to provide a downconversion to an intermediate frequency range of the first radar signals and the third radar signals from the first radar head and a downconversion to the intermediate frequency range of the second radar signals and the fourth radar signals from the second radar head.
The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the apparatus includes one or more phase rotators configured such that the component second radar signal and the component third radar signal are located in a middle and/or at upper and lower ends of the intermediate frequency range.
The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the transmit control signals are configured such that each transmit antenna of the plurality of transmit antennas of the first radar head and each transmit antenna of the plurality of transmit antennas of the second radar head are configured to transmit each chirp with a predetermined change in phase; and wherein the processor is configured to provide a phase shift that reverses said predetermined change in phase for each chirp.
The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the predetermined change in phase is pseudo-random.
The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the processor and the controller is provided by a single DCR control device.
The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the apparatus comprises a vehicle and wherein the DCR system comprises an automotive radar for said vehicle.
A method of operation of a Distributed Coherent Radar, DCR, system comprising: generating first control signals configured to provide for transmission, by the DCR system, of a first chirp from a plurality of transmit antennas of a first radar head of the DCR system, and for transmission of the first chirp from a first predetermined antenna of the first radar head and, restrict transmission of said first chirp to a second predetermined antenna of a second radar head of the DCR system, wherein said first control signals are configured to provide for transmission of said first chirp by the first predetermined antenna in a first predetermined frequency band and the transmission of said first chirp by the second predetermined antenna in a second predetermined frequency band, wherein the first and second predetermined frequency bands are different to one or more frequency bands in which the transmit antennas of the first radar head are caused to transmit said first chirp; receiving first radar signals from the first radar head of the DCR system in response to generation of the first control signals; receiving second radar signals from the second radar head of the DCR system in response to generation of the first control signals; determining a first phase-noise estimation based on a component first radar signal comprising a part of the first radar signals in said second predetermined frequency band and a component of the second radar signals comprising a part of the second radar signals in said first predetermined frequency band; generating second control signals configured to provide for transmission, by the DCR system, of a second chirp, subsequent to the first chirp, from a plurality of transmit antennas of the second radar head, and for transmission of the second chirp from the second predetermined antenna of the second radar head and, restrict transmission of said second chirp to the first predetermined antenna of the first radar head, wherein said second control signals are configured to provide for transmission of said second chirp by the first predetermined antenna of the first radar head in a third predetermined frequency band and the transmission of said second chirp by the second predetermined antenna in a fourth predetermined frequency band, wherein the third and fourth predetermined frequency bands are different to one or more frequency bands in which the transmit antennas of the second radar head are caused to transmit said second chirp; receiving third radar signals from the first radar head of the DCR system in response to generation of the second control signals; receiving fourth radar signals from the second radar head of the DCR system in response to generation of the second control signals; and determining a second phase-noise estimation based on based on a component of the third radar signals comprising a part of the third radar signals in said fourth predetermined frequency band and a component fourth radar signal comprising a part of the fourth radar signals in said third predetermined frequency band.
The method of claim 14, wherein the method includes: receiving the first and third radar signals from the first radar head of the DCR system including from the first predetermined antenna; receiving the second and fourth radar signals from the second radar head of the DCR system including from the second predetermined antenna.

Description

Field The present disclosure relates to an apparatus for use with a distributed coherent radar system. Background Distributed coherent radar systems are configured to transmit signals from two or more radar heads and any reflected signals, as well as signals that pass between the antennas of the same head and the antennas of different heads are received simultaneously. Effectively processing the received signal remains a challenge. Summary According to a first aspect of the present disclosure there is provided an apparatus comprising: a controller configured to control transmission by a Distributed Coherent Radar, DCR, systema processor configured to process radar signals received by the DCR system;wherein the controller is configured to: generate first control signals configured to provide for transmission, by the DCR system, of a first chirp from a plurality of transmit antennas of a first radar head of the DCR system, and for transmission of the first chirp from a first predetermined antenna of the first radar head and, restrict transmission of said first chirp to a second predetermined antenna of a second radar head of the DCR system, wherein said first control signals are configured to provide for transmission of said first chirp by the first predetermined antenna in a first predetermined frequency band and the transmission of said first chirp by the second predetermined antenna in a second predetermined frequency band, wherein the first and second predetermined frequency bands are different to one or more frequency bands in which the transmit antennas of the first radar head are caused to transmit said first chirp; andgenerate second control signals configured to provide for transmission, by the DCR system, of a second chirp, subsequent to the first chirp, from a plurality of transmit antennas of the second radar head, and for transmission of the second chirp from the second predetermined antenna of the second radar head and, restrict transmission of said second chirp to the first predetermined antenna of the first radar head, wherein said second control signals are configured to provide for transmission of said second chirp by the first predetermined antenna of the first radar head in a third predetermined frequency band and the transmission of said second chirp by the second predetermined antenna in a fourth predetermined frequency band, wherein the third and fourth predetermined frequency bands are different to one or more frequency bands in which the transmit antennas of the second radar head are caused to transmit said second chirp; andwherein the processor is configured to: receive first radar signals from the first radar head of the DCR system in response to generation of the first control signals;receive second radar signals from the second radar head of the DCR system in response to generation of the first control signals;based on a component first radar signal comprising a part of the first radar signals in said second predetermined frequency band and a component second radar signal comprising a part of the second radar signals in said first predetermined frequency band, determine a first phase-noise estimation based on said component first radar signal and component second radar signal; andreceive third radar signals from the first radar head of the DCR system in response to generation of the second control signals;receive fourth radar signals from the second radar head of the DCR system in response to generation of the second control signals;based on a component third radar signal comprising a part of the third radar signals in said fourth predetermined frequency band and a component fourth radar signal comprising a part of the fourth radar signals in said third predetermined frequency band, determine a second phase-noise estimation based on said component third radar signal and said component fourth radar signal. In one or more embodiments, the apparatus includes said DCR system, the DCR system comprising: the first radar head having the plurality of transmit antennas and the first predetermined antenna, configured to provide for transmission of chirps, and a plurality of receive antennas configured to receive signals including one or more reflections of said chirps and to generate at least said first and third radar signals based on the received signals, wherein the first radar head provides for said transmission of the chirps and receipt of the signals based on a first time reference; andthe second radar head having the plurality of transmit antennas and the second predetermined antenna, configured to provide for transmission of chirps, and a plurality of receive antennas configured to receive signals including one or more reflections of said chirps and to generate at least said second and fourth radar signals based on the received signals, wherein the second radar head provides for said transmission of the chirps and receipt of the signals based on a second, different, time reference.