Reconfigurable MIMO radar
Automotive radar systems may employ a reconfigurable connection of antennas to radar transmitters and/or receivers. An illustrative embodiment of an automotive radar system includes: a radar transmitter; a radar receiver; and a digital signal processor coupled to the radar receiver to detect reflections of a signal transmitted by the radar transmitter and to derive signal measurements therefrom. At least one of the radar transmitter and the radar receiver are switchable to provide the digital signal processor with signals from each of multiple combinations of transmit antenna and receive antenna.
1. An automotive radar system that comprises:
a radar transmitter;
a radar receiver; and
a digital signal processor coupled to the radar receiver to detect reflections of a signal transmitted by the radar transmitter and to derive signal measurements therefrom,
wherein at least one of the radar transmitter and the radar receiver are switchable to provide the digital signal processor with signals from each of multiple selectable antennas, and
wherein at least one of the multiple selectable antennas has a narrower beam width than another of the multiple selectable antennas.
2. The automotive radar system of claim 1 ,
wherein at least some switching of the radar transmitter or radar receiver is performed during signal transmission by the radar transmitter to split transmission or reception of a transmit pulse across multiple antennas.
3. The automotive radar system of claim 1 , wherein the radar transmitter is switchable via a switch that couples an output of the radar transmitter to a selectable one of at least two transmit antennas.
4. The automotive radar system of claim 1 , wherein the radar receiver is switchable via a switch that couples an input of a low noise amplifier to a selectable one of at least two receive antennas.
5. The automotive radar system of claim 1 ,
wherein the radar receiver is switchable via a switch that couples an input of a downconverter to a selectable one of at least two low noise amplifiers, each low noise amplifier being coupled to a respective receive antenna.
6. The automotive radar system of claim 1 ,
wherein the radar receiver is switchable via a switch that couples an input of an analog-to-digital converter to a selectable one of at least two downconverters, each downconverter being coupled to a respective receive antenna.
7. An automotive radar system that comprises:
a radar transmitter;
a radar receiver; and
a digital signal processor coupled to the radar receiver to detect reflections of a signal transmitted by the radar transmitter and to derive signal measurements therefrom,
wherein at least one of the radar transmitter and the radar receiver are switchable to provide the digital signal processor with signals from each of multiple antennas,
wherein at least one of the multiple antennas has a narrower beam width than another of the multiple antennas,
wherein the radar transmitter is switchable via a switch that couples an output of the radar transmitter to a selectable one of at least two transmit antennas, and
wherein the radar receiver includes a downconverter for each receive antenna, the downconverters each having an output coupled to a given input of an analog to digital converter, wherein the radar receiver is switchable via gates that each block or pass a signal from a respective receive antenna to an input of a respective one of the downconverters.
8. The automotive radar system of claim 3 , wherein the digital signal processor determines signal measurements for each available combination of transmit antenna and receive antenna.
9. The automotive radar system of claim 3 , wherein the digital signal processor applies phased array processing to derive an image from the signal measurements.
10. A radar measurement method that comprises:
transmitting a radar signal with a radar transmitter;
operating a radar receiver to provide a digital signal processor with a receive signal;
processing the receive signal to detect reflections of the radar signal and to derive signal measurements therefrom; and
switching at least one of the radar transmitter and radar receiver to provide the digital signal processor a receive signal from each of multiple combinations of transmit antenna and receive antenna,
wherein a receive antenna in at least one of the multiple combinations has a narrower beam width than a receive antenna in another of the multiple combinations.
11. The radar measurement method of claim 10 ,
wherein at least some switching of the radar transmitter or radar receiver is performed during signal transmission by the radar transmitter to split transmission or reception of a transmit pulse across multiple antennas.
12. The radar measurement method of claim 10 , wherein the radar transmitter is switchable via a switch that couples an output of the radar transmitter to a selectable one of at least two transmit antennas.
13. The radar measurement method of claim 10 , wherein the radar receiver is switchable via a switch that couples an input of a low noise amplifier to a selectable one of at least two receive antennas.
14. The radar measurement method of claim 10 :
wherein the radar receiver is switchable via a switch that couples an input of a downconverter to a selectable one of at least two low noise amplifiers, each low noise amplifier being coupled to a respective receive antenna.
15. The radar measurement method of claim 10 ,
wherein the radar receiver is switchable via a switch that couples an input of an analog-to-digital converter to a selectable one of at least two downconverters, each downconverter being coupled to a respective receive antenna.
16. A radar measurement method that comprises:
transmitting a radar signal with a radar transmitter;
operating a radar receiver to provide a digital signal processor with a receive signal;
processing the receive signal to detect reflections of the radar signal and to derive signal measurements therefrom; and
switching at least one of the radar transmitter and radar receiver to provide the digital signal processor a receive signal from each of multiple combinations of transmit antenna and receive antenna,
wherein at least one of the multiple antennas has a narrower beam width than another of the multiple antennas,
wherein the radar transmitter is switchable via a switch that couples an output of the radar transmitter to a selectable one of at least two transmit antennas, and
wherein the radar receiver includes a downconverter for each receive antenna, the downconverters each having an output coupled to a given input of an analog to digital converter, wherein the radar receiver is switchable via gates that each block or pass a signal from a respective receive antenna to an input of a respective one of the downconverters.
17. The radar measurement method of claim 10 , wherein the digital signal processor determines signal measurements for each available combination of transmit antenna and receive antenna.
18. The radar measurement method of claim 10 , wherein the digital signal processor applies phased array processing to derive an image from the signal measurements.