A high performance AICC radar sensor-concept and results with an experimental vehicle

The paper presents a high performance FMCW radar sensor operating at 77 GHz and its implementation in an experimental vehicle. The car is fully equipped for automatic intelligent cruise control (AICC) and collision warning/avoidance (CW/CA) operation. Beginning with the waveform design and the necessary hardware, the radar frontend as well as the applied signal processing are described in detail. In addition to these, typical questions which come up in conjunction with the use of radar sensors for intelligent cruise control systems are discussed. The concept of the radar system was developed by the radar team at the Institute for Communications Engineering of the Technical University of Braunschweig. A vast amount of experience was gathered in more than five years of research in the field of automotive radar and other sensors. Together with industrial partners, the sensors and fully operational AICC systems were built and thoroughly tested.