Radar apparatus and method of operating radar apparatus

A radar apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of transmitting channels to generate transmission chirp signals;
• a plurality of receiving channels to receive reflected waves of the transmission chirp signals radiated from the transmitting channels and reflected at an object, and mix received signals using a reference signal on which the transmission chirp signals are based;
• and signal processing circuitry to detect object information, based on beat signals mixed by the receiving channels,
• the signal processing circuitry including
• first processing circuitry to detect a position and a velocity of the object, based on the beat signals,
• second processing circuitry to detect an azimuth angle of the object, based on the beat signals and results of processing by the first processing circuitry,
• transmission phase control circuitry to modulate transmission phases of the transmission chirp signals with different degrees of modulation for the individual transmitting channels,
• a memory to hold transmission amplitude reference values that are amplification information of transmission signals,
• transmission amplitude correction circuitry to calculate amounts of change in transmission amplitudes, based on transmission amplitudes in a spectrum obtained by the first processing circuitry and the transmission amplitude reference values held in the memory, and
• transmission amplitude control circuitry to perform control to change amplitudes of the transmission chirp signals, based on the amounts of change in the transmission amplitudes calculated by the transmission amplitude correction circuitry.

A radar apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of transmitting channels to generate transmission chirp signals;
• a plurality of receiving channels to receive reflected waves of the transmission chirp signals radiated from the transmitting channels and reflected at an object, and mix received signals using a reference signal on which the transmission chirp signals are based;
• and signal processing circuitry to detect object information, based on beat signals mixed by the receiving channels,
• the signal processing circuitry including
• first processing circuitry to detect a position and a velocity of the object, based on the beat signals,
• second processing circuitry to detect an azimuth angle of the object, based on the beat signals and results of processing by the first processing circuitry,
• transmission phase control circuitry to modulate transmission phases of the transmission chirp signals with different degrees of modulation for the individual transmitting channels,
• a memory to hold transmission phase reference values that are phase information of transmission signals, and
• transmission phase correction circuitry to calculate amounts of change in the transmission phases, based on transmission phases in a spectrum obtained by the first processing circuitry and the transmission phase reference values held in the memory, wherein
• the transmission phase control circuitry performs control to change the phases of the transmission chirp signals, based on the amounts of change in the transmission phases calculated by the transmission phase correction circuitry.

A method of operating a radar apparatus performed using a radar apparatus including a plurality of transmitting channels to generate transmission chirp signals, and a plurality of receiving channels to receive reflected waves of the transmission chirp signals radiated from the transmitting channels and reflected at an object, and mix received signals using a reference signal on which the transmission chirp signals are based, to detect object information based on beat signals mixed by the receiving channels, the method comprising:

• modulating transmission phases of the transmission chirp signals with different degrees of modulation for the individual transmitting channels;
• simultaneously radiating the transmission chirp signals generated in the modulation from the plurality of transmitting channels into space;
• receiving direct waves of the transmission chirp signals radiated in the radiation and detecting amplitudes of transmission direct wave components of all the transmitting channels in all the receiving channels;
• and
• determining failure of the radar apparatus, based on results of comparisons between the amplitudes of the transmission direct wave components detected in the amplitude detection and a preset threshold.