Spatial imaging apparatus and method for imaging radar

1. A method for spatial imaging using an imaging radar, the method comprising:

generating a plurality of range/Doppler/channel images from a detected image and a four-dimensional image;

generating a transfer matrix for each of the plurality of range/Doppler/channel images;

generating a plurality of scatterer parameters using maximum likelihood (ML) processing on the plurality of range/Doppler/channel images;

generating a plurality of refined scatterer parameters from the plurality of scatterer parameters and the transfer matrix;

determining a minimal-order scatterer configuration using the plurality of refined scatterer parameters and the transfer matrix; and

generating a set of determined scatterer parameters from the minimal-order scatterer configuration and the transfer matrix.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the maximum likelihood (ML) processing uses the transfer matrix and a lattice of azimuth/elevation lattice locations.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising generating the four-dimensional image from a virtual receive channel digitized data obtained from a received reflected waveform.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising receiving the received reflected waveform from a plurality of receive antenna elements.

5. The method of claim 3 , further comprising generating the detected image with a plurality of detected elements detected using the four-dimensional image.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the virtual receive channel digitized data are obtained from a plurality of real receive channels.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the virtual receive channel digitized data are obtained from a plurality of virtual receive channels.

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the detected image is generated using thresholding, Constant False Alarm Rate (CFAR) detection or a machine learned detection algorithm.

9. The method of claim 5 , further comprising generating the plurality of range/Doppler/channel images by mitigating interference between scatterers that are in a same range/Doppler bin but are separated by more than an intrinsic radar resolution in azimuth or elevation.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the transfer matrix maps the range/Doppler/channel image into an azimuth/elevation domain.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the scatterer parameters include a quantity of scatterers, a plurality of scatterer azimuth/elevation lattice locations, or a plurality of scatterer amplitudes and phases.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising generating the refined scatterer parameters by moving each of the plurality of scatterer azimuth/elevation lattice locations within an initial scatterer configuration to a plurality of neighboring lattice locations to generate a perturbed scatterer configuration.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the perturbed scatterer configuration is generated while holding other scatterer lattice locations fixed.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the generation of the set of determined scatterer parameters includes generating an output lattice configuration.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the set of determined scatterer parameters may include a determined quantity of scatterers, a plurality of determined scatterer azimuth/elevation lattice locations, or a plurality of determined scatterer amplitudes and phases for the output lattice configuration.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the minimal-order scatterer configuration may be determined by generating a plurality of sensitivity values for scatterers in an intermediate scatterer configuration.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of sensitivity values is generated by separately removing the presence of each scatterer in a specific lattice location for the intermediate scatterer configuration through the transfer matrix.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of sensitivity values is generated by separately setting the amplitude to zero of each scatterer in a specific lattice location for the intermediate scatterer configuration.