Extraction of Scattering Centers Using a 77 GHz FMCW Radar

This paper investigates monostatic RCS measurement results of a typical car as a complex object using an FMCW automotive radar to determine the backscattering behavior of the target. The backscattering behavior can be modeled by identifying the scattering centers of the target. In a subsequent step, the extracted scattering centers can be used for the simulation of the millimeter wave automotive radar channel in realistic scenarios. These scenarios can be simulated by a comprehensive system simulation environment according to asymptotic ray-based methods. The used ray-tracing tool showed a good estimation of communication channels, however for radar channels, that relies primarily on backscattering effects, its accuracy is strongly dependent on the scattering behavior of the targets. The integration of highly resolved CAD models into the ray-tracing software results in a high computational effort. In many cases, the exact CAD model of a car or other traffic participants is not even available. So, one solution for minimizing the computational effort is to determine the scattering centers of complex objects and to identify the most significant ones. Based on these relevant scattering centers a simplified model can be created. For this purpose, some measurement campaigns have been performed in a realistic stationary environment to investigate the spatially resolved scattering behavior of a car.