Experimental results of a K-band SAR system for automotive applications

This paper presents the concept and preliminary results of SAR imaging using a small and compact K-band radar for automotive applications. Nowadays, rapid growth of highly automated and autonomous self-driving cars can be observed. This raises the requirements for new systems that support manoeuvring, parking assistance, trajectory planning, monitoring close field areas, and many more. This has also provided the inspiration for the authors to develop and test SAR imaging for automotive applications. The paper presents a radar system equipped with a real-time processing platform based on a portable graphics processing unit which provides immediate imaging results from a radar sensor. The presented solution may be used to control objects on route to a destination, or in parking zones. To prove the concept, the measurements of real SAR data collected by the radar mounted on a car platform are presented.