Combining Radar and Communication at 77 GHz Using a CDMA Technique

In this paper, a system that combines radar sensing and a new communication approach, using Direct-Sequence-Spread-Spectrum-signals, is presented. Those signals benefit from their attributes, regarding the reduced interference between multiple transmitters. This interference is caused by the fact that in modern vehicles more and more radar sensors are integrated to reach an 360 degree view of the vehicles’ surroundings. To gain more knowledge of the surrounding, the idea is to get further information by connecting vehicles and establishing a communication between them. Therefore, radar signals at 77 GHz are modulated to exchange i. e. safety information of the incoming surroundings between cars. In consequence, both parts are integrated into one platform, which reduces both costs as well as occupied place. A system, which is capable of this design approach, is presented in MATLAB/Simulink environment. The propagation parameters are simulated by an electromagnetic field simulator WinProp and are fed back into the Simulink simulation. This workflow provides a promising simulation tool for joint sensing-communications. The final proof of concept of the sensing and communication part is presented for a typical traffic situation.