Tutorial 4: FMCW Radar
Modern Radio Systems Engineering
[Link]. Akanksha Bhutani
[Link]. Joerg Eisenbeis
INSTITUTE OF RADIO FREQUENCY ENGINEERING AND ELECTRONICS
KIT – The Research University in the Helmholtz Association [Link]
Tutorial 4: FMCW radar
Basic radar theory and with focus on FMCW radar
Visualizing chirp signal in frequency and time domain. Changing the chirp
direction.
Estimation of range and velocity in a simulation of an Automotive Cruise
Control (ACC) in MATLAB
Simplified control of velocity in the simulation of an ACC in MATLAB
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Basic radar principle
1
Range: 𝑅 = · 𝑇 · 𝑐𝑜
2
𝑃𝑇𝑥 ·𝐺𝑇𝑥 ·𝐺𝑅𝑥 ·𝜆2 ·𝜎
Radar equation: 𝑃𝑅𝑥 =
4𝜋 3 ·𝑅 4
, ,
with transmit antenna gain 𝐺𝑇𝑋 receive antenna gain 𝐺𝑅𝑋 transmit power 𝑃𝑇𝑋 receive power 𝑃𝑅𝑋 , ,
radar cross section σ
3 27.06.2016 For further information see KIT lecture: Radar System Engineering, Prof. Wiesbeck, Institute of Radio Frequency Engineering
IHE. and Electronics
Radar modulation schemes
Continuous Signal Pulsed Signal
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FMCW Radar
FMCW radar with saw-tooth modulation
beat frequency:
fR = 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒 · 𝜏
2𝑅
with 𝜏 = and
𝑐𝑜
𝑓𝑚𝑎𝑥 −𝑓𝑚𝑖𝑛
𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒 = 𝑇𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑝
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Chirp Signal
A chirp is a signal in which the frequency increases or decreases with
time
Linear chirp: 𝑓 𝑡 = 𝑓𝑜 + 𝑛𝑡
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FMCW-Radar
Advantages compared to pulsed Drawback compared to pulsed
radars radars
Much smaller by size Maximum detectable distance is
Lower power consumption much smaller
Lower costs
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Automotive Cruise Control (ACC)
Definition:
ISO: 15622
Adaptive Cruise Control is fundamentally intended to provide longitudinal
control of equipped vehicles while travelling on highways (roads where non-
motorized vehicles and pedestrians are prohibited) under free-flowing traffic
conditions. ACC can be augmented with other capabilities, such as forward
obstacle warning.
Time gap 𝜏: The time gap between two cars depends on velocity difference
v and distance d.
8 27.06.2016 For further information see KIT lecture: Prädiktive Fahrerassistenzsysteme, Prof. Institute of Radio Frequency Engineering
Knoll, ITE. and Electronics
Simulated Scenario
d = 43 m
t = 0:
1 2
v1 = 100 km/h v2 = 96 km/h
In the following simulation two cars drive behind one another with a certain
velocity and a fixed distance at the beginning (t=0). Due to the difference in
velocity the distance between the cars will change over the simulation duration.
The situation is seen form the view of a radar in car 1 (ego car), the vehicle
ahead car 2 represents the radar target.
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Goal 1
Understanding ACC System in MATLAB
Load the m-File fmcw_example and try to understand the MATLAB code until
the part of the simulation in comments.
Tasks:
Complete the expressions for sweep time and sweep frequency in Matlab.
Complete the expression for the maximum possible doppler shift.
Questions:
What are the main properties of FMCW radar? Why do we use it in connection
with ACC?
What is an advantage/disadvantage of a long sweep time?
Where can you see the Doppler frequency in the frequency/time diagram for
FMCW radar? Make a sketch for a saw-tooth modulated signal.
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Goal 2
Visualize the chirp signal for the ACC System
in MATLAB
Task:
Plot the Chirp Signal in time and frequency domain. To get the samples of the
chirp signal use the step() function of the Phased Array System Toolbox. For
the plots use plot() and spectrogram().
Optimize the Spectrogram function with the following parameters (window
=32, noverlap = 16, f = 32, fs and ‘yaxis‘).
Complete the plots with title, xlabel and ylabel
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Goal 3
Estimation of range and velocity
Comment out the simulation part and try to understand it.
Tasks:
Make a plot of the buffered dechirped signal xr in frequency domain.
Hint: Use the function fft().
Estimate range and velocity out of the speed/range pattern
Hint: The Matlab plot should pop up automatically.
Complete the range estimation in the Matlab code.
Hint: For the range estimation use the beat frequency fb_rng and the usual radar
equations.
Questions:
At which position is the maximum value of the FFT in the buffered dechirped
signal?
What is the estimated value for range and velocity?
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Goal 4
Triangular chirp signal
Tasks:
Change sweep direction to Triangle.
Run the simulation and read out the value for the Doppler error.
Change the sweep time at the beginning to t_sweep=2e-3.
Read out the value for the Doppler error and compare it with the first one.
Questions:
Why does the Doppler error change?
Where can you see the Doppler frequency in the frequency/time diagram for
triangular modulated FMCW radar? Draw an example.
What is the advantage of using triangular modulated FMCW?
What is the formula for calculating the Doppler frequency with triangular
modulated FMCW? Shortly explain it.
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Simplified control of the velocity
d = 43 m
t = 0:
1 2
v1 = 100 km/h v2 = 96 km/h
Until now the simulation determines the distance between the vehicles and the
difference in the relative speed. In the next step the velocity of car 1 should be
controlled so that the distance between the cars stays constant. That means
that the velocity of car 1 should be lowered to the speed of car 2.
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Goal 5
Simplified control of the velocity
Tasks:
Write some Matlab code for a control of the velocity
Hint: Use a while loop and the estimated velocity for the control
Questions:
What is the intention of ACC in relation to the relative velocity
What features would you add for a full functional ACC?
Source: AUDI AG, [Link]
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