RADAR APPARATUS

• US 20120262330A1
• Filed: 04/12/2012
• Published: 10/18/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 04/12/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
• Original Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
• Inventors: PARK, Pil Jae, Kim, Cheon Soo, Yu, Hyun Kyu, Park, Min, EO, Ik Soo
• Granted Patent: US 9,013,347 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 342/109
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/325 using transmission of coded signals, e.g. P.S.K. signals
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/584 adapted for simultaneous range and velocity measurements
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/003 Transmission of data between radar, sonar or lidar systems and remote stations

Abstract

An embodiment of the present invention relates to a radar apparatus, wherein a distance to a target and a velocity of the target are measured by transmitting a digitally modulated transmitting signal using a digital code and receiving and demodulating an echo signal returned due to reflection of the transmitting signal from the target.

Claims

1. A radar apparatus, wherein a distance to a target and a velocity of the target are measured by transmitting a digitally modulated transmitting signal using a digital code, receiving an echo signal returned due to reflection of the transmitting signal from the target and demodulating the echo signal.

2. The radar apparatus of claim 1, wherein the digitally modulated transmitting signal is configured to include a plurality of packets including at least one segment and the plurality of packets are sequentially transmitted.

3. The radar apparatus of claim 2, wherein each packet included in the digitally modulated transmitting signal includes at least one of a preamble for synchronization of signals and a distance code for measuring the distance, the distance codes included in each packet having correlation with one another.

4. The radar apparatus of claim 3, wherein the correlation indicates a degree of a code space between the distance codes included in each packet.

5. The radar apparatus of claim 3, wherein a lead time between a first time and a current time is calculated based on the correlation between distance codes included in the echo signal of the transmitting signal at the first time and the distance codes included in the transmitting signal at the current time, the transmitting signal at the first time having been transmitted to the target a round trip time before the current time,

and the distance to the target is calculated based on the calculated lead time.

6. The radar apparatus of claim 3, wherein each packet further includes a data segment for communicating data between different radar apparatuses.

7. The radar apparatus of claim 1, wherein the velocity of the target is calculated based on a change in a Doppler frequency of the echo signals reflected and returned by the target or is calculated based on a change in the distance to the target per a time interval by measuring the distance to the target at a predefined time interval.

8. The radar apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transmitting signal includes unique identification codes for identifying each radar apparatus and each radar apparatus identifies its own echo signal by the identification codes.

9. The radar apparatus of claim 1, wherein the radar apparatus includes:

a transmitter that converts a digital modulation signal generated by a digital signal processor into an analog signal and transmits the transmitting signal generated by converting the analog signal into a carrier frequency through a transmit antenna;

a receiver that receives and digitally converts the echo signals reflected and returned from the target; and

a digital signal processor that generates the digital modulation signal using a digital code and demodulates and digitally signal-processes the digitally converted echo signal.

10. The radar apparatus of claim 9, wherein the transmitter includes:

a digital-analog converter that converts the digital modulation signal into the analog signal in a baseband;

an oscillator that generates the carrier signal;

a transmit mixer that converts the analog signal in the baseband into an analog signal of which the central frequency is the carrier frequency by using the carrier signal; and

a power amplifier power-amplifying an output signal of the transmit mixer to generate the transmitting signal.

11. The radar apparatus of claim 9, wherein the receiver includes:

a low noise amplifier that amplifies the echo signals received through a receive antenna;

a mixer that converts the output signal of the low-noise amplifier into the analog signal in the baseband; and

an analog-digital converter that converts the output signal of the mixer into the digital signal.

12. The radar apparatus of claim 10, wherein the digitally modulated transmitting signal is configured to include a plurality of packets including at least one segment and the plurality of packets are sequentially transmitted.

13. The radar apparatus of claim 11, wherein each packet included in the digitally modulated transmitting signal includes at least one of a preamble for synchronization of signals and a distance code for measuring the distance, the distance codes included in each packet have correlation with one another, and the correlation indicates a degree of a code space between the distance codes included in each packet.

14. The radar apparatus of claim 13, wherein a lead time between a first time and a current time is calculated based on the correlation between distance codes included in the echo signal of the transmitting signal at the first time and the distance codes included in the transmitting signal at the current time, the transmitting signal at the first time having been transmitted to the target a round trip time before the current time,

and the distance to the target is calculated based on the calculated lead time.

15. The radar apparatus of claim 10, wherein the velocity of the target is calculated based on a change in a Doppler frequency of the echo signals reflected and returned by the target or is calculated based on a change in the distance to the target per a time interval by measuring the distance to the target at a predefined time interval.