Super-resolution techniques and waveform design for radar and dual-function radar and communication systems

Bekar, Muge ORCID: 0000-0002-1592-7920 (2024). Super-resolution techniques and waveform design for radar and dual-function radar and communication systems. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

Modern vehicles are densely equipped with sensors, and the space available for these sensors is restricted. In this thesis, firstly, novel waveforms that enable simultaneous radar sensing and communication using a single chipset are designed with the aim of not only reducing the quantity of sensor components and the amount of sensor space on the vehicles but also enhancing the spectrum efficiency by utilising the same frequency for both systems. Such waveforms are subsequently utilised for radar sensing with multiple input multiple output (MIMO) beamforming, resulting in better angular resolutions and higher data rates. The validation of the proposed waveforms for both radar and communication is carried out through simulations and experimentation.
Second focus of this thesis is on the antenna design and autoregressive methods. It is known that high angular resolutions are required in automotive radars to extract detailed information about the scene, which can be fulfilled by using large antennas/arrays but may restrict its suitability for applications in vehicle infrastructure. With the purpose of achieving high angular resolutions yet with reduced number of total antenna elements, sparse MIMO antennas are designed using optimisation techniques. Although sparse MIMO arrays are a solution to reduce the cost and weight of the antenna, it requires the same physical size of the antenna as conventional MIMO arrays. With the aim of attaining high angular resolution while keeping the size of the physical antenna compact as well as reducing the number of total antenna elements, the extrapolation and interpolation approach using autoregressive Burg algorithm is developed here to design virtual array elements towards both azimuth and elevation directions. Finally, to achieve further improvement in angular resolutions, motion of the MIMO radar platform is exploited through Doppler beam sharpening (DBS) technique. This thesis proposes a technique that applies the Burg algorithm to MIMO radar data collected by motion of the radar platform to enhance the cross-range resolution in both on- and off-boresight directions. The performance of the proposed methods is evaluated through both simulations and experiments at 77 GHz.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):