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A master's thesis from Aalborg University
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An Investigation Of Angle-of-Arrival Radar Target Simulation for Automotive Radar

Author

Term

4. Semester

Publication year

2023

Submitted on

Pages

20

Abstract

Automotive mmWave-radar bliver mere udbredt, og stigende krav til sikkerhed og kompleksitet øger behovet for over-the-air test via radarmålsimulatorer (RTS). Dette speciale undersøger, hvordan vinkel-ved-ankomst (AoA) kan simuleres effektivt for MIMO-bilradarer, både ved at gennemgå kommercielle løsninger og den nyeste akademiske litteratur (forsinkelseslinjer, digitale løsninger og direkte modulation) og ved at udvikle en ny fleksibel metode. Den foreslåede metode kombinerer superposition af to målemulatorer (TE) med direkte modulation for at syntetisere ønskede vinkler med færre TEs. En signalmodel danner grundlag for simuleringer, hvor metoden demonstreres, og hvor to hovedstrategier til vinkel-simulering – arbitrary angle of arrival (AAOA) og flexible direction of arrival (FDOA) – sammenlignes med en reference-TE placeret i den ønskede vinkel. Resultaterne viser, at den nye metode kan generere forskellige mål og vinkler med flere TEs, men at manglende kontrol over sidelobes kan give spøgelsesmål. FDOA muliggør præcis rekonstruktion i enkle kanalscenarier, men fejler for MIMO-radarer, fordi kanalen mellem sender (Tx) og TE ikke er konstant. AAOA kan simulere vinklen, men den utilstrækkelige sidelobe-kontrol kan føre til uønskede artefakter. Studiet fremhæver de centrale afvejninger og peger på behovet for bedre sidelobe-styring og håndtering af MIMO-kanalvariationer i fremtidige RTS-design.

Automotive mmWave radar is becoming widespread, raising the need for over-the-air testing with radar target simulators (RTS) as safety and system complexity increase. This thesis investigates how to simulate angle of arrival (AoA) efficiently for MIMO automotive radars by reviewing commercial solutions and recent academic work (delay-line, digital, and direct-modulation principles) and by proposing a new flexible method. The method synthesizes desired angles using the superposition of two target emulators (TE) with direct modulation, aiming to reduce the number of TEs required. A signal model underpins simulations that demonstrate the method’s capabilities and compare two main angular simulation strategies—arbitrary angle of arrival (AAOA) and flexible direction of arrival (FDOA)—against a reference TE placed at the desired angle. Results show the new approach can generate multiple targets and angles but lacks control of angular side-lobes, which can create ghost targets. FDOA enables precise reconstruction in simple channel conditions but fails for MIMO radars because the transmitter-to-TE channel is not constant. AAOA can reproduce angles but, due to poor side-lobe control, may yield unwanted artifacts. The study highlights key trade-offs and the need for improved side-lobe suppression and MIMO channel handling in future RTS designs.

[This summary has been generated with the help of AI directly from the project (PDF)]