Radar apparatus

A radar apparatus comprising:

• a transmitting portion including a plurality of transmitter elements that emits a transmitting signal as a radar wave toward an object;
• a receiving portion including a plurality of receiver elements receiving a reflection signal that is a reflection of the transmitting signal by the object;
• and
• an estimation portion,
• wherein:
• the estimation portion generates a virtual receiving array including virtual receiver elements whose number corresponds to a total number of receiver elements multiplied by a total number of transmitter elements;
• the estimation portion divides the virtual receiving array into a plurality of identical sub-arrays;
• the estimation portion generates covariance matrix data for each of the sub-arrays based on the reflection signal;
• the estimation portion averages the covariance matrix data for each of the sub-arrays to decorrelate a direct reflection signal from the object and multipath reflection signal among the reflection signal and spatially smooths the reflection signal;
• the estimation portion resolves the direct reflection signal from the object and the multipath reflection signal based on the result of spatial smoothing of the reflection signal;
• and
• the estimation portion determines the direction of the object based on the direct reflection signal.