KR20130115510A

KR20130115510A - Multibeam-type rear and side directional radar using mimo signaling method

Info

Publication number: KR20130115510A
Application number: KR1020120037862A
Authority: KR
Inventors: 김석; 백인찬
Original assignee: 삼성탈레스 주식회사
Priority date: 2012-04-12
Filing date: 2012-04-12
Publication date: 2013-10-22
Also published as: KR101643194B1

Abstract

PURPOSE: A multi beam type rear side radar using a multi-input multi-output (MIMO) signal processing method is provided to simultaneously and precisely detect all rear side areas of rear cross traffic alert (RCTA) areas, rear crash warning (RCW) areas, lane change assist (LCA) areas, and blind spot detection (BSD) areas. CONSTITUTION: Transmission antennas (110,111) transmit transmission signals for the detection of a target. Receiving antennas (120a-120d) receive signals reflected to the target. A multiplexer (210) respectively multiplexes the receiving signals of a quadrature-phase receiving channel and the receiving signals of an in-phase receiving channel in respect to the signals received through the receiving antenna. An analog/digital converter (220) converts an analog receiving signal, output from the multiplexer, into a digital receiving signal. A digital signal processor (230) configures a virtual array antenna pattern having MxN antenna elements through a multi-input multi-output (MIMO) signal processing method for the digital receiving signal. Through the virtual array antenna pattern, the digital signal processor forms a first receiving beam covering a rear-side blind spot detection (BSD) area, a second receiving beam covering a lane change assist (LCA) area, a third receiving beam covering a rear cross traffic alert (RCTA) area, and a fourth receiving beam covering a rear crash warning (RCW) area. [Reference numerals] (100) Superhigh frequency module; (130) Transmission signal processing unit; (140a,140b,140c,140d) Reception signal processing unit; (200) Signal processing module; (210) Multiplexer; (220) AD converter; (AA) Tx control; (BB) Rx control; (CC) Correction; (DD) CFAR detection; (EE) Angle calculation

Description

Multibeam-type rear and side directional RADAR using MIMO signaling method}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle radar, and in particular, a MIMO signal capable of detecting a plurality of rear regions (BSD, LCA, RCTA, and RCW) using multiple beams by a multi-input multi-output (MIMO) signal processing technique. The present invention relates to a rear beam radar of a multibeam method using a processing technique.

In general, radar (Radar Detection And Ranging) is a sensor that detects the presence of objects in the near and far range.

Radars come in a variety of forms, and are classified into continuous wave radars and pulse wave radars according to radio wave types.

Continuous wave radars include Doppler Radar and FMCW radar. Pulse wave radars include Pulse Doppler Radar and Pulse Compression Radar.

Recently, as the demand for high-resolution radar for detecting objects within tens of meters using millimeter wave band or sub-millimeter wave band has been increased, research on this continues. High-resolution radars that can determine or resolve distances between short-range objects are widely used for industrial and military purposes, and in real life as vehicles.

The vehicle radar is an essential technology for implementing an intelligent transportation system, and is designed to prevent accidents that may occur due to poor weather conditions or inattention of a driver by detecting the movement of another vehicle or object that is moving or stationary.

In particular, the vehicle rear radar used only two main lobes and two side lobes, so that only two rear regions (LCA and BSD) could be detected.

Accordingly, through more efficient beam formation, rear spot blind spot detection (BSD) region, lane change assist (LCA) region, rear cross traffic alert (hereinafter, There is a need for a radar system capable of detecting all rearward areas of the RCTA) area and the rear crash warning (RCW) area.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention was devised in view of the above, and in particular, an MxN element antenna in a structure having M transmit antennas and N receive antennas, that is, a MIMO type antenna structure The present invention provides a multi-beam rear-side radar using a MIMO signal processing technique capable of simultaneously detecting all rear-side regions of the BSD, LCA, RCTA, and RCW regions by constructing a virtual array antenna pattern.

In order to achieve the above object, a feature of the multi-beam rear side radar using the MIMO signal processing technique according to the present invention includes M transmission antennas for transmitting a transmission signal for detection of a target, and reception reflected on the target. A multiplexer for multiplexing the N reception antennas for receiving signals, the reception signals of the in-phase reception channel and the reception signals of the quadrature reception channel with respect to the reception signals received through the reception antenna, respectively, and in the multiplexer An AD converter for converting the outputted analog received signal into a digital received signal and a virtual array antenna pattern of MxN element antennas through signal processing for the digital received signal, and through the virtual array antenna pattern A first receiving beam covering the rear blind spot detection (BSD) area, a second receiving beam covering the lane change assist (LCA) area, rear And a digital signal processing processor for forming a third reception beam covering the parking assistance (RCTA) area and a fourth reception beam covering the rear collision warning (RCW) area.

Preferably, the digital signal processing processor,

Computing the first to fourth receiving beams through, wherein u _b is the receiving antenna spatial coordinates for the first to fourth receiving beams, u _t is the receiving antenna spatial coordinates for the target, λ is the wavelength, M is the number of transmission antennas for identifying the transmission antenna, M is the number of transmission antennas, n is the number of reception antennas for identifying the reception antenna, N is the number of the reception antennas, the A _Tx (u _t , m) is the transmit antenna pattern among the virtual array antenna patterns, and A _Rx (u _t , m) is the receive antenna pattern among the virtual array antenna patterns, and x _Tx (m) is the mth transmit antenna position ( Here, x _Tx (0) = 0), x _Rx (n) may be the nth reception antenna position (where x _Rx (0) = 0), and W (m, n) may be a weight function. Here, M is 2, N is 4, m is any one of 1 and 2, and n may be any one of 1, 2, 3 and 4. The digital signal processor may form the first to fourth reception beams by applying different weights as the weight function to each of the antenna elements constituting the virtual array antenna pattern.

Preferably, the first transmission antenna and the second transmission antenna constituting the M transmission antennas may alternately transmit the transmission signals in time.

Preferably, the first transmission antenna and the second transmission antenna constituting the M transmission antennas may simultaneously transmit the transmission signals.

Another feature of the multi-beam rear-side radar using the MIMO signal processing technique according to the present invention for achieving the above object is, M transmission antennas for transmitting a transmission signal for detection of the target, and reflected on the target N reception antennas for receiving the reception signal, a multiplexer for multiplexing the reception signals of the in-phase reception channel from the reception signals received through the reception antenna, and an analog reception signal output from the multiplexer as a digital reception signal. A virtual array antenna pattern of MxN element antennas is formed through an AD converter for converting and signal processing of a multi-input multi-output (MIMO) technique for the digital received signal, and the virtual array antenna pattern is formed. First receiving beam covering rear blind spot detection (BSD) area, second receiving beam covering lane changing assistance (LCA) area, and rear parking assistance And a third received beam covering the RCTA region and a fourth received beam covering the rear collision warning (RCW) region.

Another feature of the multi-beam rear-side radar using the MIMO signal processing technique according to the present invention for achieving the above object is, M transmission antennas for transmitting a transmission signal for the detection of the target, and reflection on the target N reception antennas for receiving the received reception signal, a plurality of AD converters for converting in-phase reception channel reception signals from the reception signals received through the reception antenna into digital reception signals for each reception channel, and the digital reception signal. A virtual array antenna pattern of MxN element antennas is configured through signal processing of a multi-input multi-output (MIMO) technique, and a rear blind spot detection (BSD) region is formed through the virtual array antenna pattern. A first receiving beam covering, a second receiving beam covering the lane change assist (LCA) area, a third receiving beam covering the rear parking assist (RCTA) area, and a rear collision warning (RCW) And a digital signal processing processor for forming a fourth receiving beam covering the area.

According to the present invention, a virtual array antenna pattern having MxN element antennas in a structure having M transmit antennas and N receive antennas, that is, a MIMO type antenna structure, and forming a receive beam according to the BSD All the posterior regions of the LCA, RCTW and RCW regions can be precisely detected simultaneously.

1 is a block diagram showing a rear beam radar configuration of a multi-beam method using a MIMO signal processing technique according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a diagram showing a virtual array antenna pattern implemented in the rear side radar having two transmit antennas and four receive antennas in the present invention.
3 is a diagram showing an arrangement structure of a virtual array antenna pattern of the rear side radar according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a diagram illustrating a pattern of reception beams for detecting BSD, LCA, RCTA, and RCW regions in a rear beam radar of a multibeam method using a MIMO signal processing technique according to the present invention;
5 is a block diagram showing a rear beam radar configuration of a multi-beam method using a MIMO signal processing technique according to another embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a block diagram showing a rear beam radar configuration of a multi-beam method using a MIMO signal processing technique according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a configuration and an operation of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, and the configuration and operation of the present invention shown in and described by the drawings will be described as at least one embodiment, The technical idea of the present invention and its essential structure and action are not limited.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail a preferred embodiment of the multi-beam rear-view radar using the MIMO signal processing technique according to the present invention.

In the present invention, the rear side radar simultaneously detects a plurality of detection regions including the BSD region, the LCA region, the RCTA region, and the RCW region. To this end, M transmit antennas and N receive antennas are provided, and a virtual array antenna pattern of M × N element antennas is configured through signal processing. Then, multiple reception beams are formed through the virtual array antenna pattern to perform target detection and tracking on each required detection area. In the following description, when two transmission antennas and four reception antennas are provided, a BSD region, an LCA region, an RCTA region, and an RCW region are included using a virtual array antenna pattern constituting eight element antennas. An example of detecting four detection areas simultaneously is described, but is not limited thereto.

1 is a block diagram showing a rear beam radar configuration of a multi-beam method using a MIMO signal processing technique according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In particular, FIG. 1 configures a virtual array antenna pattern having MxN antenna elements in a structure having M transmit antennas and N receive antennas, that is, a MIMO type antenna structure, and then forms a reception beam accordingly. As an example of the lateral radar, an example of forming a virtual array antenna pattern having two 4 antenna elements in a structure having two transmission antennas and four reception antennas.

Referring to FIG. 1, the rear beam radar of the multi-beam method includes an ultrahigh frequency module 100 and a signal processing module 200.

The ultra-high frequency module 100 includes two transmission antennas 110 and 111, four reception antennas 120a to 120d, a transmission signal processing unit 130, and a reception signal processing unit 140a to 140d.

The first to second transmission antennas 110 and 111 transmit a transmission signal for detecting a target. In particular, the first transmission antenna 110 and the second transmission antenna 111 transmits the transmission signal alternately in time. According to the present invention, an RF switch is provided, and the first to second transmission antennas 110 and 111 alternately transmit a transmission signal in time according to the switching of the RF switch. As another example, in the present invention, the first to second transmission antennas 110 and 111 may simultaneously transmit a transmission signal without providing an RF switch. Here, the transmission signal is preferably a frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) signal.

The reception antennas 120a to 120d receive a reception signal reflected on the target.

The transmission signal processor 130 generates a transmission signal to be transmitted through the transmission antenna 110 through modulation and frequency synthesis.

The reception signal processing units 140a to 140d perform amplification, frequency synthesis, and filtering on the reception signals received through the reception antennas 120a to 120d. That is, the received signals go through amplification, frequency synthesis, and filtering in the respective reception paths forming the reception channel corresponding to the reception antennas 120a to 120d, respectively. As an example, amplification is the amplification at a power level corresponding to the analog-to-digital (AD) conversion being processed later, and frequency synthesis is the conversion to a lower frequency.

In particular, the reception signal processing units 140a to 140b receive signals I and quadrature-phase of the in-phase reception channel by multiplying the signals having orthogonal phases with each other in frequency synthesis. Output the received signal Q of the channel.

The signal processing module 200 digitally receives the multiplexer 210 outputting multiplexed multiplexed signals that have undergone amplification, frequency synthesis and filtering through multiple reception paths, and the analog received signal output from the multiplexer 210. It has an AD converter 220 for converting into a signal, and has a digital signal processor (DSP) 230 for calculating the distance and angle with respect to the detected target. The multiplexer 210 multiplexes and outputs the reception signals I of the in-phase reception channel and the reception signals Q of the quadrature reception channel, respectively, and the AD converter 220 processes a digital beamforming (DBF) which is processed at a later stage. A dynamic range of 231, i.e., a configuration required to determine a range of signal strengths for indicating the performance required for the radar of the present invention.

For example, the AD converter 220 converts the received signals I of the in-phase reception channel output from the multiplexer 210 into digital reception signals, and quadrature phases output from the multiplexer 210 at different timings. The reception signals Q of the reception channel are converted into a digital reception signal.

The digital signal processor 230 performs Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and Calibration processes, and performs Digital Beamforming (DBF) to form multiple beams for the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and calibration results. And perform constant false alarm rate detection, angle calculation, target number selection, etc. In particular, the digital signal processor 230 receives the received signals I of the in-phase receiving channel. And / or a virtual array antenna pattern of MxN element antennas through signal processing of the received signals Q of the quadrature reception channel, and the rear blind spots through the configured virtual array antenna pattern. A first receive beam covering the detection (BSD) area, a second receive beam covering the lane change assistance (LCA) area, a third receive beam covering the rear parking assist (RCTA) area, and a rear collision alert (RCW) Covering the area 4 to form a receive beam.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a virtual array antenna pattern implemented in a rear rear radar having two transmission antennas and four reception antennas in the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a virtual array of rear rear radars according to an embodiment of the present invention. Diagram showing the arrangement of antenna patterns.

The digital signal processor 230 calculates the first to fourth reception beams through the virtual array antenna patterns shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 as shown in Equation 1 below.

[Equation 1]

In Equation 1, u _b is the receiving antenna spatial coordinates for the first to fourth reception beams, u _t is the receiving antenna spatial coordinates for the target, λ is the wavelength, m is the number of the transmitting antenna for identifying the transmitting antenna, M Is the number of transmitting antennas, n is the number of receiving antennas for identifying the receiving antenna, N is the number of receiving antennas, A _Tx (u _t , m) is the transmitting antenna pattern, A _Rx (u _t , m) is the reception antenna pattern among the virtual array antenna patterns, x _Tx (m) is the mth transmission antenna position (where x _Tx (0) = 0), and x _Rx (n) is the nth reception antenna position (where x _Rx (0) = 0) and W (m, n) are weight functions.

1 is an example having two transmitting antennas and four receiving antennas, M is 2, N is 4, m is any one of 1 and 2, and n is 1, 2, 3, and 4 in Equation 1 Is either one.

In addition, the digital signal processor 230 forms first to fourth receive beams by applying different weights as weighted functions to the respective antenna elements constituting the virtual array antenna pattern.

The microcontrol unit (MCU) controls the logical functions processed and performed by the digital signal processing processor 230, and with respect to the DBF 231, the microcontrol unit (MCU) is digitally configured for each element antenna constituting the virtual array antenna pattern. Control to set the weight to be multiplied by the received signal.

4 is a diagram illustrating a pattern of reception beams for detecting BSD, LCA, RCTA, and RCW regions in a rear beam radar of a multibeam method using the MIMO signal processing technique according to the present invention. In particular, Figure 4 shows each area in meters based on the position of the radar, for example, shows a case where one radar is mounted on the right side of the rear of the vehicle. In the following description, the radar position is referred to as a reference point.

As shown in FIG. 4, the BSD region represents a posterior square area from the reference point to a distance of about 5 meters on the Y axis and about 5 meters on the X axis. The LCA region represents the posterior region up to a distance of about 75 meters on the X axis and about 5 meters on the Y axis from the reference point. The RCTA area represents the rear parking assist area from the reference point about 55 meters to the Y axis and from -5 meters to +10 meters on the X axis. The RCW area represents the rear collision warning area about 70 meters from the reference point on the X axis, and the area close to the reference point on the Y axis. The four detection areas including the BSD area, the LCA area, the RCTA area, and the RCW area may be changed according to the performance and mounting position of the radar, but are based on the general definitions in the technical field.

In the rearward radar for simultaneously detecting four detection areas including the BSD area, the LCA area, the RCTA area, and the RCW area, the first receiving antenna 120a has a spatial orientation for detecting the BSD area, and the second receiving antenna 120a. The receiving antenna 120b has a spatial orientation for detecting the LCA region, the third receiving antenna 120c has a spatial orientation for detecting the RCTA region, and the fourth receiving antenna 120d detects the RCW region. It may have a spatial orientation to. Accordingly, the first to fourth reception antennas 120a to 120d may have different beam angles of different reception beams.

Accordingly, the first receiving beam covers the BSD region, and the first receiving antenna 120a emits the first receiving beam at the first receiving beam directing angle to receive a signal in the BSD region. The second receiving beam covers the LCA region, and the second receiving antenna 120b receives the signal in the LCA region by radiating the second receiving beam at the second receiving beam directivity angle. The third receiving beam covers the RCTA area, and the third receiving antenna 120c receives the signal in the RCTA area by emitting the third receiving beam at the third receiving beam directing angle. The fourth receiving beam covers the RCW region, and the fourth receiving antenna 120d emits the fourth receiving beam at the fourth receiving beam directing angle to receive a signal in the RCW region.

Meanwhile, in the example shown in FIG. 1, when the first to second transmission antennas 110 and 111 alternately transmit a transmission signal in time, the reception signals reflected from the transmission signal transmitted through the first transmission antenna 110 are applied to the reception signals reflected from the first transmission antenna 110. Formation of the reception beam for the reception beam or the reception signal reflected from the transmission signal transmitted through the second transmission antenna 111 is calculated through the following equation (2).

&Quot; (2) "

Here, S (t, m, n) is data after fast Fourier transform (FFT) processing and gain / phase correction processing between receiving channels. Other than that is the same as the above equation (1).

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a rear beam radar configuration of a multi-beam method using a MIMO signal processing technique according to another embodiment of the present invention, which is similar to that of FIG. 1 but is output from the reception signal processing units 140a to 140b This example uses only the received signal I of an in-phase receiving channel.

Accordingly, the multiplexer 210 in the signal processing module 200 multiplexes and outputs the received signals I of the in-phase receiving channel, and the AD converter 220 digitally outputs the analog received signal output from the multiplexer 210. Convert to a received signal.

Other configurations are the same as in FIG. 1, and thus details thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a rear beam radar configuration of a multi-beam method using a MIMO signal processing technique, similar to the configuration of FIG. 5, except that the multiplexer is included in the path of each receiving channel. An example is provided with AD converters 220 to 223.

Accordingly, the AD converters 220, 221, 222, and 223 disposed in each reception channel in the signal processing module 200 respectively receive in-phase reception channel reception signals I output from the reception signal processing units 140a to 140b. Convert to digital receive signal. That is, the AD converters 220, 221, 222, and 223 convert in-phase received signals I for respective receive channels into digital received signals.

Other configurations are the same as those of Figs. 1 and 5, so the details thereof are omitted.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the invention.

It is therefore to be understood that the embodiments of the invention described herein are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and the scope of the invention is indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, Should be interpreted as being included in.

100: ultra-high frequency module 110, 111: first to second transmission antenna
120a to 120d: first to fourth receiving antennas
200: signal processing module 210: multiplexer
220: AD converter 230: digital signal processor
231: Digital Beamforming (DBF)

Claims

M transmit antennas for transmitting a transmission signal for detecting a target;
N reception antennas for receiving the reception signal reflected by the target;
A multiplexer for multiplexing the received signals of the in-phase receiving channel and the received signals of the quadrature receiving channel with respect to the received signals received through the receiving antenna;
An AD converter for converting an analog received signal output from the multiplexer into a digital received signal;
A virtual array antenna pattern of MxN element antennas is configured through signal processing of a multi-input multi-output (MIMO) technique for the digital received signal, and rearward blind spot detection is performed through the virtual array antenna pattern. (BSD) first receiving beam covering area, second receiving beam covering lane changing assistance (LCA) area, third receiving beam covering rear parking assist (RCTA) area, and rear collision warning (RCW) area And a digital signal processing processor for forming a fourth receiving beam covering the plurality of rear beam radars.

The method of claim 1, wherein the digital signal processor,

Computing the first to fourth receiving beams through, wherein u _b is the receiving antenna spatial coordinates for the first to fourth receiving beams, u _t is the receiving antenna spatial coordinates for the target, λ is the wavelength, M is the number of transmission antennas for identifying the transmission antenna, M is the number of transmission antennas, n is the number of reception antennas for identifying the reception antenna, N is the number of the reception antennas, the A _Tx (u _t , m) is the transmit antenna pattern among the virtual array antenna patterns, and A _Rx (u _t , m) is the receive antenna pattern among the virtual array antenna patterns, and x _Tx (m) is the mth transmit antenna position ( Here, x _Tx (0) = 0), x _Rx (n) is the n-th reception antenna position (where x _Rx (0) = 0), W (m, n) is a weight function Multi-beam Rear-Rear Radar Using MIMO Signal Processing Technique.

The MIMO signal processing technique of claim 2, wherein M is 2, N is 4, m is any one of 1 and 2, and n is any one of 1, 2, 3, and 4. Rear Beam Radar with Multi Beam Method.

The method of claim 2, wherein the digital signal processor,
The multi-beam method using the MIMO signal processing technique, wherein the first to fourth receive beams are formed by applying different weights as the weight function to each of the antenna elements constituting the virtual array antenna pattern. Rear radar.

The rear side of the multi-beam method using the MIMO signal processing method according to claim 1, wherein the first transmission antenna and the second transmission antenna constituting the M transmission antennas alternately transmit the transmission signals in time. Radar.

2. The rear beam radar of claim 1, wherein the first transmitting antenna and the second transmitting antenna constituting the M transmitting antennas simultaneously transmit the transmitting signals.

M transmit antennas for transmitting a transmission signal for detecting a target;
N reception antennas for receiving the reception signal reflected by the target;
A multiplexer for multiplexing the received signals of the in-phase receive channel from the received signals received through the receiving antenna;
An AD converter for converting an analog received signal output from the multiplexer into a digital received signal;
A virtual array antenna pattern of MxN element antennas is configured through signal processing of a multi-input multi-output (MIMO) technique for the digital received signal, and rearward blind spot detection is performed through the virtual array antenna pattern. (BSD) first receiving beam covering area, second receiving beam covering lane changing assistance (LCA) area, third receiving beam covering rear parking assist (RCTA) area, and rear collision warning (RCW) area The rear beam radar of the multi-beam method using a MIMO signal processing method, characterized in that the digital signal processing processor to form a fourth receiving beam covering the.

M transmit antennas for transmitting a transmission signal for detecting a target;
N reception antennas for receiving the reception signal reflected by the target;
A plurality of AD converters for converting in-phase reception channel reception signals from the reception signals received through the reception antenna into digital reception signals for each reception channel;
A virtual array antenna pattern of MxN element antennas is configured through signal processing of a multi-input multi-output (MIMO) technique for the digital received signal, and rearward blind spot detection is performed through the virtual array antenna pattern. (BSD) first receiving beam covering area, second receiving beam covering lane changing assistance (LCA) area, third receiving beam covering rear parking assist (RCTA) area, and rear collision warning (RCW) area The rear beam radar of the multi-beam method using a MIMO signal processing method, characterized in that the digital signal processing processor to form a fourth receiving beam covering the.