Flexible Direction-of-Arrival Simulation for Automotive Radar Target Simulators

In order to simulate realistic traffic scenarios, a radar target simulator must be able to generate multiple radar targets with different directions of arrival. The presented concept is able to generate an arbitrary amount of targets with individual directions of arrival for the radar under test. By measuring the radar channel, the novel approach enables target simulators to simulate arbitrary directions of arrival, while minimizing the required hardware. The optimum setup is derived for radars with a uniform linear receive antenna array. The compensation of placement errors for automotive chirp-sequence frequency modulated continuous wave radars is demonstrated. Finally, the calibration for the setup is provided, and the performance of the presented approach is validated.