Real time indoor presence detection with a novel radar on a chip

A novel FMCW radar on a chip operating in the 24 GHz band has been used for presence detection in an office environment. Real time detection of small movements (i.e. typing) has been demonstrated. A comparison of the performances of the radar sensor and of the traditional intelligent lighting PIR sensor has been carried out. While the radar is able to detect a movement of 1 cm along the radial direction, the PIR sensor can detect mainly larger movements along the tangential direction, showing the complementarity of these two sensors. Both sensors have a reaction time of less than 200 ms.