Guard band antenna in a beam steering radar for resolution refinement
AssigneeBdcm A2 LLC
InventorsKenneth Ray Carroll, Maha Achour
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Examples disclosed herein relate to a beam steering vehicle radar for object identification. The beam steering vehicle radar includes a beam steering receive antenna having a plurality of antenna elements to generate a radiation beam comprising a main lobe and a plurality of side lobes, at least one guard band antenna to generate a guard band radiation beam, and a perception module coupled to the beam steering receive antenna to detect and identify a first object reflection in the radiation beam. The perception module has a monopulse module to determine a range and angle of arrival for the first object reflection and detect multiple objects upon determining an absence of a second object reflection in the guard band radiation beam.
Claims20
A beam steering vehicle radar for object identification, comprising:
- a beam steering receive antenna having a plurality of antenna elements to generate a radiation beam comprising a main lobe and a plurality of side lobes;
- at least one guard band antenna to generate a guard band radiation beam;
- and
- a perception module coupled to the beam steering receive antenna to detect and identify a first object reflection in the radiation beam,
- wherein the perception module comprises a monopulse module to determine a range and angle of arrival for the first object reflection and detect multiple objects upon determining an absence of a second object reflection in the guard band radiation beam, and
- wherein, in response to detecting an object based on the radiation beam and absence of detecting the object in the guard band radiation beam, the perception module is configured to reduce the scan step size of the main lobe or guard band radiation beam within a localized angular region to identify multiple objects,
- wherein the guard band radiation beam has a 3 dB beamwidth less than that of the main lobe.
A method for identifying an object with a beam steering radar, comprising:
- receiving a first object reflection in a main lobe from a receive antenna in the beam steering radar;
- generating a guard band radiation beam from at least one guard band antenna;
- determining a range and angle of arrival for the first object reflection;
- capturing object data for the first object reflection upon determining a second object reflection in the guard band radiation beam at the angle of arrival;
- and
- initiating a refined scan to identify multiple objects upon determining an absence of other object reflections in the guard band radiation beam,
- wherein, in response to detecting an object based on the radiation beam and absence of detecting the object in the guard band radiation beam, the refined scan comprises reducing the scan step size of the main lobe or the guard band radiation beam within a localized angular region to identify multiple objects,
- wherein the guard band radiation beam has a 3 dB beamwidth less than that of the main lobe.
A receive antenna system coupled to a processing engine in a beam steering radar, comprising:
- a beam steering receive antenna having a plurality of antenna elements to receive a millimeter wave RF signal and generate a radiation beam comprising a main lobe and a plurality of side lobes;
- and
- at least one guard band antenna to generate a guard band radiation beam from the millimeter wave RF signal,
- wherein the processing engine is configured to detect multiple objects upon determining a first object reflection in the main lobe and an absence of a second object reflection in the guard band radiation beam, and
- wherein, in response to detecting an object based on the radiation beam and absence of detecting the object in the guard band radiation beam, the processing engine is configured to apply a different steering angle or reduce the scan step size of the main lobe or the guard band radiation beam within a localized angular region to identify multiple objects,
- wherein the guard band radiation beam has a 3 dB beamwidth less than that of the main lobe.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.