A Simple and Versatile Concept to Improve Dynamic Range and Enable Target Angle Adaptability in Radar Target Simulators

Abstract

Radar target simulators are not only a critical tool for verifying and testing radar systems but also play an important role in supporting the development of self-driving cars. Advances in radar sensors and techniques raise the required specifications for these units, increasing their complexity and cost. This article presents a novel and universal concept for radar target simulators that addresses these issues by responding only to the transmitted signal of a radar sensor during a fraction of the time, therefore modulating the average of the signal. This offers advantages for three independent use cases, which may be combined. First, the dynamic range and resolution of simulated target echo power can be improved even for existing systems. Second, the simulation of multiangle scenarios with a single backend is possible with this approach. Finally, hardware complexity and power consumption can be reduced. The proposed concept is examined extensively for frequency-modulated continuous wave radar, and design decisions are made. The theoretical considerations are validated with measurements with a real radar target simulator showing an improvement of up to $30 \,\mathrm{dB}$ in the dynamic range with no observable negative side effects.