Method and device for evaluating radar signals

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11835641-B2
Application number	US-201917042564-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 12, 2019
Priority date	Jun 21, 2018
Publication date	Dec 5, 2023
Grant date	Dec 5, 2023

Abstract

An improved evaluation of radar signals, in particular radar signals received by a Uniform Linear Array (ULA) antenna. Through the application of a plurality of different beamformings to the radar signals, drops in the gain can be compensated by the beamforming.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for evaluating a plurality of radar signals received by an antenna array, the method comprising:
receiving, by antenna elements of the antenna array, the plurality of radar signals;
applying, via a first processing device, a first beamforming to a radar signal of the plurality of radar signals;
applying, via a second processing device, a second beamforming to a radar signal of the plurality of radar signals, the second beamforming being different from the first beamforming; and
evaluating, via an evaluation device, the received plurality of radar signals using results of the first beamforming and the second beamforming;
wherein by transmitting, by a transmitting antenna, multiple radio-frequency signals and receiving corresponding radar responses, the plurality of radar signals are received in a temporal sequence one after the other and are then evaluated, wherein a plurality of beams can be formed by the beamformings, and wherein a separate beamforming is performed for each antenna of the antenna array, so that for N antennas there are N beams or N radar signals, and
wherein one of the beamformings is performed using a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), wherein another of the beamformings is performed using a window function, wherein the beamforming, which is performed using the window function, has a maxima situated in a minima of the first beamforming, and wherein the window function has a complex part that causes the maxima to be shifted, and
wherein a radar signal corresponds to a totality of receive channels of all antenna elements corresponding to a transmitted radar signal, and wherein by the transmitting of the multiple radio-frequency signals by the transmitting antenna, the temporal sequence of the plurality of radar signals is received by the antenna elements.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the first beamforming and the second beamforming are each applied to the same radar signal.

3. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the first beamforming and the second beamforming are each applied to different radar signals of the received plurality of radar signals.

4. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the applying of the first beamforming and/or the applying of the second beamforming includes applying a complex window function.

5. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein a maximum of the second beamforming is shifted by half a bin relative to a maximum of the first beamforming.

6. The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:
applying at least one further beamforming to a radar signal of the plurality of radar signals.

7. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein each radar signal of the plurality of radar signals respectively includes receive signals of a plurality of antenna elements of the antenna array.

8. A device for evaluating a plurality of radar signals received by an antenna array, comprising:
a first processing device to apply a first beamforming to a radar signal of the plurality of radar signals;
a second processing device to apply a second beamforming to a radar signal of the plurality of radar signals, the second beamforming being different from the first beamforming; and
an evaluation device to evaluate the received radar signals using results of the first beamforming and the second beamforming;
wherein by transmitting, by a transmitting antenna, multiple radio-frequency signals and receiving corresponding radar responses, the plurality of radar signals are received in a temporal sequence one after the other and are then evaluated, wherein a plurality of beams can be formed by the beamformings, and wherein a separate beamforming is performed for each antenna of the antenna array, so that for N antennas there are N beams or N radar signals,
wherein one of the beamformings is performed using a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), wherein another of the beamformings is performed using a window function, wherein the beamforming, which is performed using the window function, has a maxima situated in a minima of the first beamforming, and wherein the window function has a complex part that causes the maxima to be shifted, and
wherein a radar signal corresponds to a totality of receive channels of all antenna elements corresponding to a transmitted radar signal, and wherein by the transmitting of the multiple radio-frequency signals by the transmitting antenna, the temporal sequence of the plurality of radar signals is received by the antenna elements.

9. The device as recited in claim 8 , wherein the plurality of antenna elements of the antenna array are situated in equidistant fashion relative to one another along a virtual axis.

Assignees

• Bosch Gmbh Robert

Inventors

• Loesch Benedikt
• Schoor Michael

Classifications

• G01S7/354 Primary

  Extracting wanted echo-signals (Doppler systems G01S13/50) · CPC title

• G01S13/02

  Systems using reflection of radio waves, e.g. primary radar systems; Analogous systems · CPC title

• G01S7/356

  involving particularities of FFT processing · CPC title

• G01S13/003 Primary

  Bistatic radar systems; Multistatic radar systems · CPC title

• G01S7/40 Primary

  Means for monitoring or calibrating · CPC title