MIMO radar device and vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10942268-B2
Application number	US-201716078772-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 7, 2017
Priority date	Apr 14, 2016
Publication date	Mar 9, 2021
Grant date	Mar 9, 2021

Abstract

There is provided a MIMO radar device including: a first array antenna configured to have L (L≥2) antenna elements disposed in one direction under a first rule; and a second array antenna configured to have M (M≥2) antenna elements disposed in a same direction as the one direction of the first array antenna under a second rule, and to have at least two of the M antenna elements provided across the first array antenna.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A MIMO radar device comprising:
a first array antenna, wherein the first array antenna includes L (L≥2) antenna elements disposed in one direction under a first rule; and
a second array antenna, wherein the second array antenna includes M (M≥2) antenna elements disposed in a same direction as the one direction of the first array antenna under a second rule, and wherein at least two of the M antenna elements of the second array antenna are outside of the first array antenna,
wherein the first array antenna includes at least first, second, and third antenna elements, wherein the first antenna element of the first array antenna is separated from the second antenna element of the first array antenna by a distance d, wherein the second antenna element of the first array antenna is separated from the third antenna element of the first array antenna by a distance 2 d , and wherein the first array antenna element of the first array antenna is separated from the third array antenna element by a distance 3 d,
wherein the second array antenna includes at least first, second, and third antenna elements, wherein the first and second antenna elements of the second array antenna are on a first side of the elements of the first array antenna, and wherein the third antenna element of the second array antenna is on a second side of the elements of the first array antenna.

2. The MIMO radar device according to claim 1 , wherein the first rule is to dispose the L antenna elements of the first array antenna in accordance with positions of a perfect Golomb ruler.

3. The MIMO radar device according to claim 1 , wherein the first rule is to dispose the L antenna elements of the first array antenna in accordance with a 2-level nested array.

4. The MIMO radar device according to claim 1 , wherein the second rule is to provide an upper limit to a distance between the at least two antenna elements of the second array antenna.

5. The MIMO radar device according to claim 4 , wherein the upper limit is an upper limit for making a case of arrangement under the first rule or the second rule equivalent to a case in which the first array antenna or the second array antenna is provided with equidistant antenna elements.

6. The MIMO radar device according to claim 1 , wherein one of the first array antenna and the second array antenna transmits a radar signal, and the other receives a radar echo signal.

7. The MIMO radar device according to claim 6 , further comprising:
a signal processing unit configured to perform signal processing on the received radar echo signal.

8. The MIMO radar device according to claim 7 , wherein the signal processing unit includes:
a deployment unit configured to generate L×M received signal vectors subjected to MIMO deployment, from the radar echo signal;
a correlation matrix generating unit configured to generate a correlation matrix having L×M rows and L×M columns from the received signal vectors generated by the deployment unit; and
an extended data generating unit configured to map an element of the correlation matrix to an extended data vector.

9. The MIMO radar device according to claim 1 , wherein the first and second arrays are linear arrays.

10. A vehicle comprising:
a radar device, including:
a plurality of receiving antenna elements, wherein the receiving antenna elements are arranged in a first linear array, wherein the plurality of receiving antenna elements includes at least a first receiving antenna element, a second receiving antenna element, and a third receiving antenna element, wherein the first receiving antenna element is spaced apart from the second receiving antenna element by a distance d, wherein the second receiving antenna element is separated from the third receiving antenna element by a distance 2 d , and wherein the first receiving antenna element is separated from the third receiving antenna element by a distance 3 d ; and
a plurality of transmitting antenna elements, wherein the transmitting antenna elements are arranged in a second linear array, wherein the plurality of transmitting antenna elements includes at least a first transmitting antenna element, a second transmitting antenna element, and a third transmitting antenna element, wherein the first and second transmitting antenna elements are on a first side of the elements of the receiving antenna elements, and wherein the third transmitting antenna element is on a second side of the receiving antenna elements.

11. An antenna system, comprising:
a plurality of receiving antenna elements, wherein the receiving antenna elements are arranged in a first linear array, wherein the plurality of receiving antenna elements includes at least a first receiving antenna element, a second receiving antenna element, and a third receiving antenna element, wherein the first receiving antenna element is spaced apart from the second receiving antenna element by a distance d, wherein the second receiving antenna element is separated from the third receiving antenna element by a distance 2 d , and wherein the first receiving antenna element is separated from the third receiving antenna element by a distance 3 d ; and
a plurality of transmitting antenna elements, wherein the transmitting antenna elements are arranged in a second linear array, wherein the plurality of transmitting antenna elements includes at least a first transmitting antenna element, a second transmitting antenna element, and a third transmitting antenna element, wherein the first transmitting antenna element is spaced apart from the second transmitting antenna element by a distance kd,
wherein the first transmitting antenna element and the second transmitting antenna element are on a first side of the receiving antenna elements, and wherein the third transmitting antenna element is on a second side of the receiving antenna elements.

12. The antenna system of claim 11 , wherein the receiving antenna elements are arranged at intervals corresponding to the intervals of a Golomb ruler.

13. The antenna system of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of receiving antenna elements additionally includes a fourth receiving antenna element, and wherein the receiving antenna elements are arranged at intervals corresponding to the intervals of a Golomb ruler.

Assignees

• Sony Corp

Inventors

• Iida Sachio
• Kawasaki Kenichi
• Fujimaki Kenichi

Classifications

• H01Q21/28

  Combinations of substantially independent non-interacting antenna units or systems {(multiple beam H01Q25/00)} · CPC title

• H01Q21/08

  the units being spaced along or adjacent to a rectilinear path {(waveguide fed H01Q21/0037)} · CPC title

• H01Q21/0025

  Modular arrays · CPC title

• H01Q1/3233

  particular used as part of a sensor or in a security system, e.g. for automotive radar, navigation systems · CPC title

• G01S2013/93274

  on the side of the vehicles · CPC title