Automotive testing method, system and computer program product
An automotive testing method includes acquiring radar sensor data responsive to a radar excitation signal generated by a radar transmitting unit, forwarding the acquired radar sensor data to an electronic system of a radar receiving unit, generating radar data from the forwarded radar sensor data, and processing the radar data, wherein the step of acquiring radar sensor data includes generating synthetic radar data, the synthetic radar data being forwarded as radar sensor data to the electronic system of the radar receiving unit, where the synthetic radar data includes reflection signals, preferably all reflection signals, in a complex time series, that succeed each other and have the same temporal behavior within a synthetic period that lasts at least an order longer than a time period of the radar excitation signal.
1. An automotive testing method, comprising:
acquiring radar sensor data responsive to a radar excitation signal transmitted by a radar receiver;
forwarding the acquired radar sensor data to an electronic system of a radar receiver;
generating, by the electronic system, radar data from the radar sensor data;
forwarding the generated radar data to a data processor; and
processing, by the processor, said forwarded radar data;
wherein said acquiring radar sensor data includes generating synthetic radar data which is forwarded as radar sensor data to the electronic system of the radar receiver, the synthetic radar data including reflection signals which succeed each other and have the same temporal behavior within a synthetic period which lasts at least an order longer than a time period of the radar excitation signal, the method further comprising:
computing a first synthetic reflection signal corresponding to a time instant within a first synthetic period;
computing a second synthetic reflection signal corresponding to a time instant within a second synthetic period consecutive to the first synthetic period; and
interpolating the reflection signals over time between the first and second synthetic reflection signals.
2. The automotive method according to claim 1 , wherein the reflection signals succeed each other in consecutive radar sample periods.
3. The automotive method according to claim 1 , wherein the succeeding reflection signals have a similar time dependent shape.
4. The automotive method according to claim 2 , wherein the succeeding reflection signals have a similar time dependent shape.
5. The automotive method according to claim 1 , wherein the first and second synthetic reflection signals are computed by numerically evaluating a radar model applying a ray tracing module; and wherein each synthetic period corresponds to a step during which rays are evaluated in the ray tracing module.
6. The automotive method according to claim 5 , further comprising:
matching a first set of evaluated rays at a first ray tracing step to a second set of evaluated rays at a second, subsequent ray tracing step.
7. The automotive testing method according claim 1 , wherein the synthetic radar data include all reflection signals, in a complex time series, which succeed each other and which have the same temporal behavior within a synthetic period that lasts at least an order longer than a time period of the radar excitation signal.
8. The automotive testing method according to claim 1 , wherein the synthetic period corresponds to a sampling rate ranging between circa 1 Hz and circa 1 kHz.
9. The automotive testing method according to claim 1 , wherein said transmitting the synthetic radar data to the electronic system of the radar receiving unit includes bypassing a radar sensing element that is arranged for converting an incoming radar signal into raw radar data.
10. The automotive testing method according to claim 1 , wherein the synthetic radar data are generated from a spectral domain radar model.
11. The automotive testing method according to claim 1 , wherein the synthetic radar data includes a first set of radar data with temporal reflection signals.
12. The automotive testing method according to claim 1 , wherein the synthetic radar data includes a second set of radar data with range-doppler domain data.
13. The automotive testing method according to claim 12 , wherein the second set of radar data includes clustered radar data representing an ensemble of reflecting objects.
14. The automotive testing method according to claim 13 , wherein the clustered radar data includes clutter signals.
15. The automotive testing method according to claim 1 , wherein synthetic radar data simulating radar reflections of a car are generated including the steps of:
meshing the exterior surface of the car coarsely; and
applying a ray tracing method while interpolating the surface normal and the radii of curvature between vertices of the meshes.
16. An automotive testing system, comprising:
a radar transmitter which transmits a radar excitation signal;
a radar receiver having an electronic system which generates radar data from radar sensor data acquired in response to said radar excitation signal; and
a data processor having a data input port for receiving radar data from the electronic system of the radar receiver and a data output port for transmitting processed data;
a synthetic radar data generator which generates synthetic radar data and forwards said synthetic radar data as radar sensor data to the electronic system of the radar receiver, the synthetic radar data including reflection signals which succeed each other and which have the same temporal behavior within a synthetic period that lasts at least an order longer than a time period of the radar excitation signal;
wherein said synthetic radar generator additionally:
computes a first synthetic reflection signal corresponding to a time instant within a first synthetic period;
computes a second synthetic reflection signal corresponding to a time instant within a second synthetic period consecutive to the first synthetic period; and
interpolates the reflection signals over time between the first and second synthetic reflection signals.
17. The automotive testing system according to claim 16 , further comprising:
a data transmission channel interconnecting the synthetic radar data generator to the electronic system of the radar receiver;
wherein the electronic system is arranged so as to generate the radar data based on radar sensor data representing raw radar data received from a radar sensing element converting an incoming radar signal into an electronic signal.
18. The automotive testing system according to claim 17 , wherein the electronic system of the radar receiver comprises a pre-processing processor which pre-processes the radar sensor data, and a digital signal processor which generates, based on the pre-processed radar sensor data, the radar data to be forwarded to the data processor; and wherein the data transmission channel includes a first branch connected to the pre-processing processor of the electronic system.
19. An automotive testing system according to claim 18 , wherein the data transmission channel includes a second branch connected to the digital signal processor of the electronic system.
20. A non-transitory computer program product for automotive testing, the computer program product comprising computer readable code for causing a processor to:
generate synthetic radar data and forward said synthetic radar data as radar sensor data to the electronic system of the radar receiver of the automotive testing system according to claim 16 .