System and parametric tradeoffs of forward looking automotive radar systems

The introduction of radar systems on commercial automobiles has finally arrived in a cost and form factor which is feasible for widespread deployment. However, the unique detection environment in which these radars must operate is strikingly different than that of traditional fire control/surveillance/tracking/imaging radar systems deployed by the military and aerospace industry. In this paper we describe some of the system and parametric tradeoffs involved in designing a forward looking automotive radar system. These parameters include, but are not limited to, the field of view, scan rate, beamwidth, and dwell times which affect the ability of the sensor to detect and discriminate objects in range, azimuth angle, and velocity. The paper concentrates on the radar sensor tradeoffs.