Grid Hopping: Accelerating Direct Estimation Algorithms for Multistatic FMCW Radar

TL;DR

This paper introduces grid hopping, a new interpolation-based technique for multistatic FMCW radar that significantly reduces computation time while maintaining the accuracy of direct estimation methods.

Contribution

The paper proposes grid hopping, a novel signal processing approach that accelerates direct estimation algorithms in multistatic FMCW radar systems.

Findings

Grid hopping reduces computation time compared to direct methods.

Performance of grid hopping matches that of the direct estimation approach.

Validated on real FMCW radar measurements with favorable results.

Abstract

This paper presents a novel signal processing technique, coined grid hopping, as well as an active multistatic Frequency-Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) radar system designed to evaluate its performance. The design of grid hopping is motivated by two existing estimation algorithms. The first one is the indirect algorithm estimating ranges and speeds separately for each received signal, before combining them to obtain location and velocity estimates. The second one is the direct method jointly processing the received signals to directly estimate target location and velocity. While the direct method is known to provide better performance, it is seldom used because of its high computation time. Our grid hopping approach, which relies on interpolation strategies, offers a reduced computation time while its performance stays on par with the direct method. We validate the efficiency of this technique on actual FMCW radar measurements and compare it with other methods.