Tracking moving radar targets with parallel, velocity-tuned filters

A radar system for monitoring motion of a movable target, comprising:

• a front end portion for capturing radar data associated with radar illumination of the target;
• a plurality of processing filters coupled to said front end portion for receiving and processing the radar data in parallel, each said processing filter configured to produce target image information in response to the received radar data, said processing filters having associated therewith respectively corresponding velocity ranges that differ from one another such that the target image information produced by one of said processing filters represents the target more accurately than the target image information produced by the remainder of said processing filters when a current velocity of the target is within the velocity range associated with said one processing filter;
• and
• a tracker configured to track motion of the target based on target image information, said tracker coupled to said processing filters and further configured to track said target motion based on the target image information produced by said one processing filter when the current velocity of the target is within the velocity range associated with said one processing filter.

A method of processing radar data to monitor motion of a movable target, comprising:

• providing radar data associated with radar illumination of the target;
• performing a plurality of filter operations on the radar data in parallel so that each said filter operation produces target image information;
• defining said filter operations to have respectively corresponding velocity ranges that differ from one another such that the target image information produced by one of said filter operations represents the target more accurately than the target image information produced by the remainder of said filter operations when a current velocity of the target is within the velocity range associated with said one filter operation;
• and
• in response to a condition that the current velocity of the target is within the velocity range associated with said one filter operation, tracking motion of the target based on the target image information produced by said one filter operation.