Power control for improved near-far performance of radar systems

A radar sensing system for a vehicle, the radar sensing system comprising:

• a transmitter configured for installation and use on a vehicle, and configured to transmit a radio signal, wherein the transmitter is configured to power shape the transmitted radio signal;
• a receiver configured for installation and use on the vehicle, and configured to receive radio signals, wherein the received radio signals include the transmitted radio signal reflected from targets in the environment, and wherein the targets in the environment comprise first and second targets, and wherein the first targets are closer than a first threshold distance from the vehicle, and wherein the second targets are farther than the first threshold distance from the vehicle;
• wherein the received radio signals are provided to a processor;
• wherein the processor is configured to sample the received radio signals to produce a stream of samples from the received radio signals;
• wherein the processor is configured to process the stream of samples during a plurality of time intervals, and wherein different time intervals of the plurality of time intervals will contain different signal levels of radio signals reflected from the targets in the environment;
• and
• wherein the processor is configured to select a particular time interval of the plurality of time intervals that is free of samples of radio signals reflected off of the first targets.

A radar sensing system for a vehicle, the radar sensing system comprising:

• a transmitter configured for installation and use on a vehicle, and configured to transmit a radio signal during a plurality of time intervals;
• a receiver configured for installation and use on the vehicle, and configured to receive radio signals, wherein the received radio signals include the transmitted radio signal reflected from first and second targets in the environment, and wherein the first targets are closer than a first threshold distance from the vehicle, and wherein the second targets are farther than the first threshold distance from the vehicle;
• wherein the transmitter is configured to at least one of (i) transmit the radio signal on a selected frequency during a selected time interval of the plurality of time intervals, and (ii) power shape the transmitted radio signal such that the transmitted radio signal decreases in power over the plurality of time intervals;
• wherein the received radio signals are provided to a processor;
• wherein the processor is configured to sample the received radio signals to produce a stream of samples from the received radio signals;
• wherein the processor is configured to process the stream of samples during a plurality of time intervals, and wherein different time intervals of the plurality of time intervals will contain different signal levels of radio signals reflected from the targets in the environment;
• and
• wherein the processor is configured to select a particular time interval of the plurality of time intervals that is free of samples of radio signals reflected off of the first targets.