High-Density Implementation Techniques for Long-Range Radar Using Horn and Lens Antennas

Akira KITAYAMA; Akira KURIYAMA; Hideyuki NAGAISHI; Hiroshi KURODA

doi:10.1587/transele.2021MMP0006

Open Access
High-Density Implementation Techniques for Long-Range Radar Using Horn and Lens Antennas

Akira KITAYAMA, Akira KURIYAMA, Hideyuki NAGAISHI, Hiroshi KURODA

Full Text Views

251

Share
Cite this

Free PDF (3.4MB)

Summary :

Long-range radars (LRRs) for higher level autonomous driving (AD) will require more antennas than simple driving assistance. The point at issue here is 50-60% of the LRR module area is used for antennas. To miniaturize LRR modules, we use horn and lens antenna with highly efficient gain. In this paper, we propose two high-density implementation techniques for radio-frequency (RF) front-end using horn and lens antennas. In the first technique, the gap between antennas was eliminated by taking advantage of the high isolation performance of horn and lens antennas. In the second technique, the RF front-end including micro-strip-lines, monolithic microwave integrated circuits, and peripheral parts is placed in the valley area of each horn. We fabricated a prototype LRR operating at 77 GHz with only one printed circuit board (PCB). To detect vehicles horizontally and vertically, this LRR has a minimum antenna configuration of one Tx antenna and four Rx antennas placed in 2×2 array, and 30 mm thickness. Evaluation results revealed that vehicles could be detected up to 320 m away and that the horizontal and vertical angle error was less than +/- 0.2 degrees, which is equivalent to the vehicle width over 280 m. Thus, horn and lens antennas implemented using the proposed techniques are very suitable for higher level AD LRRs.

Publication: IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Electronics Vol.E104-C No.10 pp.596-604

Publication Date: 2021/10/01

Publicized: 2021/03/12

Online ISSN: 1745-1353

DOI: 10.1587/transele.2021MMP0006

Type of Manuscript: Special Section PAPER (Special Section on Microwave and Millimeter-Wave Technologies)

Category

Authors

Akira KITAYAMA
  Hitachi, Ltd.
Akira KURIYAMA
  Hitachi, Ltd.
Hideyuki NAGAISHI
  Hitachi, Ltd.
Hiroshi KURODA
  Hitachi Astemo, Ltd.

Keyword

77 GHz long-range radar, horn and lens antenna, antenna isolation, direction of arrival estimation, compact implementation

Cite this

Copy

Akira KITAYAMA, Akira KURIYAMA, Hideyuki NAGAISHI, Hiroshi KURODA, "High-Density Implementation Techniques for Long-Range Radar Using Horn and Lens Antennas" in IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Electronics, vol. E104-C, no. 10, pp. 596-604, October 2021, doi: 10.1587/transele.2021MMP0006.
Abstract: Long-range radars (LRRs) for higher level autonomous driving (AD) will require more antennas than simple driving assistance. The point at issue here is 50-60% of the LRR module area is used for antennas. To miniaturize LRR modules, we use horn and lens antenna with highly efficient gain. In this paper, we propose two high-density implementation techniques for radio-frequency (RF) front-end using horn and lens antennas. In the first technique, the gap between antennas was eliminated by taking advantage of the high isolation performance of horn and lens antennas. In the second technique, the RF front-end including micro-strip-lines, monolithic microwave integrated circuits, and peripheral parts is placed in the valley area of each horn. We fabricated a prototype LRR operating at 77 GHz with only one printed circuit board (PCB). To detect vehicles horizontally and vertically, this LRR has a minimum antenna configuration of one Tx antenna and four Rx antennas placed in 2×2 array, and 30 mm thickness. Evaluation results revealed that vehicles could be detected up to 320 m away and that the horizontal and vertical angle error was less than +/- 0.2 degrees, which is equivalent to the vehicle width over 280 m. Thus, horn and lens antennas implemented using the proposed techniques are very suitable for higher level AD LRRs.
URL: https://globals.ieice.org/en_transactions/electronics/10.1587/transele.2021MMP0006/_p

Copy

@ARTICLE{e104-c_10_596,
author={Akira KITAYAMA, Akira KURIYAMA, Hideyuki NAGAISHI, Hiroshi KURODA, },
journal={IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Electronics},
title={High-Density Implementation Techniques for Long-Range Radar Using Horn and Lens Antennas},
year={2021},
volume={E104-C},
number={10},
pages={596-604},
abstract={Long-range radars (LRRs) for higher level autonomous driving (AD) will require more antennas than simple driving assistance. The point at issue here is 50-60% of the LRR module area is used for antennas. To miniaturize LRR modules, we use horn and lens antenna with highly efficient gain. In this paper, we propose two high-density implementation techniques for radio-frequency (RF) front-end using horn and lens antennas. In the first technique, the gap between antennas was eliminated by taking advantage of the high isolation performance of horn and lens antennas. In the second technique, the RF front-end including micro-strip-lines, monolithic microwave integrated circuits, and peripheral parts is placed in the valley area of each horn. We fabricated a prototype LRR operating at 77 GHz with only one printed circuit board (PCB). To detect vehicles horizontally and vertically, this LRR has a minimum antenna configuration of one Tx antenna and four Rx antennas placed in 2×2 array, and 30 mm thickness. Evaluation results revealed that vehicles could be detected up to 320 m away and that the horizontal and vertical angle error was less than +/- 0.2 degrees, which is equivalent to the vehicle width over 280 m. Thus, horn and lens antennas implemented using the proposed techniques are very suitable for higher level AD LRRs.},
keywords={},
doi={10.1587/transele.2021MMP0006},
ISSN={1745-1353},
month={October},}

Copy

TY - JOUR
TI - High-Density Implementation Techniques for Long-Range Radar Using Horn and Lens Antennas
T2 - IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Electronics
SP - 596
EP - 604
AU - Akira KITAYAMA
AU - Akira KURIYAMA
AU - Hideyuki NAGAISHI
AU - Hiroshi KURODA
PY - 2021
DO - 10.1587/transele.2021MMP0006
JO - IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Electronics
SN - 1745-1353
VL - E104-C
IS - 10
JA - IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Electronics
Y1 - October 2021
AB - Long-range radars (LRRs) for higher level autonomous driving (AD) will require more antennas than simple driving assistance. The point at issue here is 50-60% of the LRR module area is used for antennas. To miniaturize LRR modules, we use horn and lens antenna with highly efficient gain. In this paper, we propose two high-density implementation techniques for radio-frequency (RF) front-end using horn and lens antennas. In the first technique, the gap between antennas was eliminated by taking advantage of the high isolation performance of horn and lens antennas. In the second technique, the RF front-end including micro-strip-lines, monolithic microwave integrated circuits, and peripheral parts is placed in the valley area of each horn. We fabricated a prototype LRR operating at 77 GHz with only one printed circuit board (PCB). To detect vehicles horizontally and vertically, this LRR has a minimum antenna configuration of one Tx antenna and four Rx antennas placed in 2×2 array, and 30 mm thickness. Evaluation results revealed that vehicles could be detected up to 320 m away and that the horizontal and vertical angle error was less than +/- 0.2 degrees, which is equivalent to the vehicle width over 280 m. Thus, horn and lens antennas implemented using the proposed techniques are very suitable for higher level AD LRRs.
ER -