Method and apparatus for live-object detection

• US 10,302,741 B2
• Filed: 04/04/2016
• Issued: 05/28/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/02/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Texas Instruments, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Texas Instruments, Inc.
• Inventors: Ahmad, Adeel, Wang, Dan, Ikram, Muhammad Zubair, Ali, Murtaza
• Primary Examiner(s): Gregory, Bernarr E
• Assistant Examiner(s): Pervin, Nuzhat
• Application Number:
  US15/089,956
• Publication Number:
  US 20160291142A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,149 Days
• Field of Search: 342 28
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/352 Receivers
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/356 involving particularities of FFT processing
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/414 Discriminating targets with respect to background clutter
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/415 Identification of targets based on measurements of movement associated with the target

Abstract

An FMCW radar is used to detect live objects by processing the matched, filtered radar return on a frame by frame basis. An FFT cross correlation coefficient is computed, followed by computing a modified geometric mean of the absolute value of the cross correlation coefficients. The modified geometric mean is then compared to a preset threshold to determine whether the object is moving or is stationary.

Claims

1. A method of moving object detection using a radar system comprising:

generating, by a processor of the radar system, a frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) signal;

transmitting the FMCW signal toward an object to be detected using an antenna;

receiving, by the antenna, a signal, the received signal including a reflection from the object of the transmitted FMCW signal;

executing instructions using the processor to perform the steps of;

forming a plurality of sequentially-ordered frames based on the received signal, wherein each frame includes a plurality of sequential chirps, wherein each sequential chirp within a frame is determined by filtering a chirp in the received signal with a corresponding chirp in the transmitted FMCW signal;

defining a plurality of windows, each window including at least a subset of the sequentially-ordered frames, the subset being contiguous and including a first frame that is the sequentially earlier than all other frames of the subset;

for each frame;

identifying, from the sequential chirps of the frame, an earliest-received chirp as a first chirp; and

computing a fast Fourier transform (FFT) of the first chirp; and

for each window;

computing a zeroth lag cross correlation of the FFT of the first chirp of the first frame in the window with the FFT of the first chirp of each other frame in the window to obtain W zeroth lag cross correlation coefficients, wherein W is the number of frames in the window;

computing a geometric mean using the W zeroth lag cross correlation coefficients;

comparing the geometric mean to a predetermined threshold; and

using a result of comparing the geometric mean to the predetermined threshold to determine whether the object is static or moving in the window.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

for each frame;

the first chirp of the frame is represented by x(n,k) where k is the frame index and n is the time index within the frame;

the FFT of the first chirp is represented by X(f,k); and

the computation of the zeroth lag cross correlation of the FFT of the first chirp with the FFT of the first chirp of each other frame in the window to obtain W zeroth lag cross correlation coefficients is determined as;

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the geometric mean is determined as:

4. The method of claim 1, wherein, for each frame, the first chirp is the only chirp in the frame on which a fast Fourier transform is applied.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitted FMCW signal is a 77 GHz FMCW signal.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the number of frames W for each window is equal.

7. An electronic system comprising:

a radio frequency transmitter to generate a frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) signal;

an antenna to transmit the FMCW signal toward an object located at a distance from the electronic system and to a receive a signal from the object, the received signal including a reflection from the object of the transmitted FMCW signal;

a processor; and

memory to store program instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the electronic system to;

form a plurality of sequentially-ordered frames based on the received signal, wherein each frame includes a plurality of sequential chirps, wherein each sequential chirp within a frame is determined by filtering a chirp the received signal with a corresponding chirp in the transmitted FMCW signal;

define a plurality of windows, each window including at least a subset of the sequentially-ordered frames, the subset being contiguous and including a first frame that is the sequentially earlier than all other frames of the subset;

for each frame;

identify, from the sequential chirps of the frame, an earliest-received chirp as a first chirp; and

compute a fast Fourier transform (FFT) of the first chirp; and

for each window;

compute a zeroth lag cross correlation of the FFT of the first chirp of the first frame in the window with the FFT of the first chirp of each other frame in the window to obtain W zeroth lag cross correlation coefficients, wherein W is the number of frames in the window;

compute a geometric mean using the W zeroth lag cross correlation coefficients;

compare the geometric mean to a predetermined threshold; and

use a result of comparing the geometric mean to the predetermined threshold to determine whether the object is static or moving in the window.

8. The electronic system of claim 7, wherein:

for each frame;

the first chirp of the frame is represented by x(n,k) where k is the frame index and n is the time index within the frame;

the FFT of the first chirp is represented by X(f,k); and

the computation of the zeroth lag cross correlation of the FFT of the first chirp with the FFT of the first chirp of each other frame in the window to obtain W zeroth lag cross correlation coefficients is determined as;

9. The electronic system of claim 8, wherein the geometric mean is determined as:

10. The electronic system of claim 7, wherein, for each frame, the first chirp is the only chirp in the frame on which a fast Fourier transform is applied.

11. The electronic system of claim 7, wherein the transmitted FMCW signal is a 77 GHz FMCW signal.

12. The electronic system of claim 7, wherein the number of frames W for each window is equal.