RADAR SIGNAL PROCESSING APPARATUS, RADAR SIGNAL PROCESSING METHOD, AND RADAR SIGNAL PROCESSING PROGRAM

• US 20150198710A1
• Filed: 05/30/2013
• Published: 07/16/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/16/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Tokuhiro, Takafumi, Nishimura, Hirofumi, Kishigami, Takaaki
• Granted Patent: US 9,459,341 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/36 with phase comparison between the received signal and the contemporaneously transmitted signal
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/505 using Doppler effect for determining closest range to a target or corresponding time, e.g. miss-distance indicator
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/58 Velocity or trajectory determination systems; Sense-of-movement determination systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/64 Velocity measuring systems using range gates
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/4013 involving adjustment of the transmitted power

Abstract

A radar signal processing apparatus is disclosed which includes: time-series phase data generating section 3 generating time-series phase data in a range bin of interest based on a range profile indicating, for each range bin, a phase of a reflected wave of a radio wave from a target; phase-rotation-amount time-series data generating section 4 that divides the time-series phase data into segments of a predetermined time length, calculates an amount of phase rotation that occurs in the segments, and generates time-series data on the amount of phase rotation; pattern matching section 6 that performs pattern matching between the generated time-series data on the amount of phase rotation and a template of time-series data on the amount of phase rotation that is defined by a distance and a moving speed; and speed detection section 7 that detects the moving speed of the target based on a result of the pattern matching.

Claims

1. A radar signal processing apparatus comprising:

a time-series phase data generating section that generates time-series phase data based on a range profile indicating, for each range bin, a phase of a reflected wave of a radio wave transmitted to a target moving on a certain path, the time-series phase data indicating through time a phase of the reflected wave in a particular range bin;

a phase-rotation-amount time-series data generating section that divides the time-series phase data into segments of a predetermined time length, calculates an amount of phase rotation that occurs in the segments, and generates time-series data on the amount of phase rotation indicative of the amount of phase rotation;

a pattern matching section that performs pattern matching between the time-series data on the amount of phase rotation and a template of time-series data on the amount of phase rotation that is defined by a distance from a radar to the path and by a moving speed of the target; and

a speed detection section that detects the moving speed of the target based on a result of the pattern matching.

2. The radar signal processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a maximum value of the predetermined time length is a time length of a segment in which a discontinuous phase change occurs due a change in position at which the radio wave is reflected on the target.

3. The radar signal processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pattern matching section uses all templates of the time-series data on the amount of phase rotation to perform the pattern matching on time-series data on the amount of phase rotation generated by the phase-rotation-amount time-series data generating section.

4. The radar signal processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein generation of the time-series phase data, generation of the time-series data on the amount of phase rotation, and the pattern matching are performed for all range bins.

5. The radar signal processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the template of the time-series data on the amount of phase rotation is predefined based on a detection range of the radar.

6. The radar signal processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the time-series phase data generating section receives the range profile from the radar that transmits the radio wave in a direction orthogonal to the path.

7. The radar signal processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a target detection section that detects a presence of the target in the detection range of the radar based on the range profile and identifies the range bin in which the target is positioned, wherein:

the time-series phase data generating section generates time-series phase data in the range bin identified by the target detection section and outputs the time-series phase data to the phase-rotation-amount time-series data generating section; and

the pattern matching section performs pattern matching between the time-series data on the amount of phase rotation generated by the phase-rotation-amount time-series data generating section and a prepared template of time-series data on the amount of phase rotation that is defined by a distance corresponding to the range bin identified by the target detection section and the moving speed of the target.

8. A radar signal processing method comprising:

generating time-series phase data based on a range profile indicating, for each range bin, a phase of a reflected wave of a radio wave transmitted to a target moving on a certain path, the time-series phase data indicating through time a phase of the reflected wave in a particular range bin;

dividing the time-series phase data into segments of a predetermined time length, calculating an amount of phase rotation that occurs in the segments, and generating time-series data on the amount of phase rotation indicative of the amount of phase rotation;

performing pattern matching between the time-series data on the amount of phase rotation and a template of time-series data on the amount of phase rotation that is defined by a distance from a radar to the path and by a moving speed of the target; and

detecting the moving speed of the target based on a result of the pattern matching.

9. A radar signal processing program for causing a computer to execute processing comprising:

generating time-series phase data based on a range profile indicating, for each range bin, a phase of a reflected wave of a radio wave transmitted to a target moving on a certain path, the time-series phase data indicating through time a phase of the reflected wave in a particular range bin;

dividing the time-series phase data into segments of a predetermined time length, calculating an amount of phase rotation that occurs in the segments, and generating time-series data on the amount of phase rotation indicative of the amount of phase rotation;

performing pattern matching between the time-series data on the amount of phase rotation and a template of time-series data on the amount of phase rotation that is defined by a distance from a radar to the path and by a moving speed of the target; and

detecting the moving speed of the target based on a result of the pattern matching.