Effectiveness of Moving Signal‐Average Method in K Band FMCW Radar for Short‐Range Vehicle Detection Using Antennas With Narrow Beam Widths

Abstract

This paper presents the implementation and examination of moving signal‐average methods (MSAMs) to improve the defects of frequency‐modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar in detecting short‐range vehicles which may cause false target detection. The MSAM may smooth out the short‐term signal fluctuations in the system responses of received data in time series. These signal fluctuations may appear when the antenna radiation has a narrow beam width to illuminate only a part of sophisticated vehicle structures. In this examination, the defect phenomena were first investigated by employing the electromagnetic backscattering simulation. Afterward, experimental measurements were performed by implementing MSAM in a radar system for side‐looking vehicle detection. The experimental FMCW radar operates at 24.125 GHz with 250 MHz bandwidth and implements a linear frequency modulation for transmitter/receiver with 2 mW for transmitter power. The output responses to determine the detection are based on the peak value distribution of signals after being processed by the fast Fourier transform and MSAM. Both numerical simulations and experiments have demonstrated the validity of MSAM in the signal treatment to detect the vehicles within the coverage range.