Sectorized FMCW radar by modular system design and MIMO sub-arrays for automotive applications

Automotive radars have evolved in recent years, however, angular resolution and fast processing times demand constant improvements in performance. In this paper, a novel proof-of-concept radar sensor is presented. In particular, a realtime detection approach is proposed which uses a modular radar architecture to achieve a wide field-of-view (FOV). The radar also offers improved angular resolution due to a sparse non-uniform antenna receiver and results are compared to a more standard uniform linear array equivalent. The antennas achieve improved percentage bandwidths in comparison to a more standard microstrip patch antenna solution at the same carrier frequency. In addition, the sub-modular system resolves targets with lower radiation losses in comparison with an equivalent uniform linear array under the same conditions. The proposed radar system is able to achieve a half-power beamwidth of 2.2 degrees using 32 antenna elements arranged in a non-uniform sparse configuration and can detect multiple targets with a range resolution of 10 cm.