Towards optimizing PMCW Radar: Low Complexity Correlation and Enhanced Frame Design

Abstract

The rapid development of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) necessitates enhanced performance in automotive radar systems, with Phase Modulated ContinuousWave (PMCW) radar emerging as a key technology due to its high resolution, interference resistance, and robust performance. Despite these advantages, PMCW radar faces challenges such as high computational complexity and Doppler-induced range sidelobes. This thesis addresses these challenges by proposing an adaptive block FFT correlation method to reduce computational complexity and enhance processing efficiency, ensuring reliable target detection. Additionally, we tackle Dopplerinduced range sidelobes by introducing code diversity and novel frame designs for MIMO systems, leveraging cyclic shifts and Hadamard matrices to balance sidelobe attenuation and sequence set size requirements. Through extensive analysis and simulations, the proposed methods demonstrate significant improvements in radar performance, especially in detecting weak targets behind strong reflectors. The findings contribute to developing more efficient, reliable, and scalable PMCW radar systems for advanced automotive applications.