Fmcw Based Mimo Imaging Radar

There are a number of potential applications for low cost short range phased array radar sensors: ship bumpers, large vehicle sensors and level crossing obstacle detection for example. Phased arrays have the benefit of reduced size and the elimination of moving parts compared with more traditional rotating antenna systems. Another potential benefit is that the image update rate can be orders of magnitude faster than that for mechanically steered radars. Phased array radars have been developed for many years but the high cost has traditionally limited their use to high performance military radars. Co-located Multiple-In Multiple-Out (MIMO) systems have the potential to mimic the performance of more expensive traditional systems but with substantially lower cost. Such an example system is presented here using 4 transmit elements and 16 receivers to synthesize a 64 virtual element phased array. An integrated 24GHz sensor has been made and field trials performed which confirm the range and angle resolution performance.