A System Level FMCW RADAR Optimization For Automotive Powertrain Control Application Requirements

• Main Author: Beg, Christopher
• Language: en
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: RADAR; automotive; optimization; Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10012/7317

A full system level analysis, design, and ealization of frequency-modulation / continuous-wave (FMCW) RADAR is presented in this thesis. RADAR technology has been around for over half a century, and has found itself in a wide range of applications effecting every day life. As such, there are many possible system level tradeoffs that can be made when designing a sensor for a specific application. This paper will focus on designing a sensor for a hybrid electric vehicle powertrain control unit, as part of a new application in fuel economy improvement. The system level analysis will derive a full baseband signal analysis model, and examine some of the commonly used modulation schemes. Next, a method for tuning the modulation waveform properties to optimize the sensor specifically for the application requirements is presented. Finally a system level realization is proposed to produce synchronous and streamlined processing of the signals, while providing flexibility to tune the implementation as suggested during the modulation waveform optimization. As a proof of concept, a hardware prototyping platform was designed and built to allow acquisition of real signals which are to be fed into a signal processing algorithm. The signal processing algorithm to decode the measurement results can then be developed effectively using real data. Some of the measurement results obtained with the prototyping platform and system optimizations suggested within this thesis are presented to verify the analysis and modeling performed.