On the Use of Glint-Doppler-Azimuth Correlation for Speed Estimation of Nearby Tangential Targets

This article introduces a new radar architecture, which implements a new signal processing scheme, with applications to the Intelligent Transportation Systems. The proposed solution exploits a well-known problem regarding low range radar systems, the Glint Effect, in order to improve previous results. For that purpose, the presented system is required to measure azimuth and Doppler of targets, for which it opts for a 2-channel Digital Array Receiver scheme working with a frequency-modulated continuous wave. This involves more complex hardware and signal processing software, comparing to the common mono-channel non coherent systems, nevertheless latest devices (radio frequency subsystems, field-programmable gate arrays, digitizers, etc) make it simple and affordable. The proposed system, with an easy-and-fast side-looking installation, exploits several advantages of its 2-channel synchronous architecture (e.g. clutter cancellation, Doppler history availability, etc) to achieve a better estimation of two key measurements: traffic flow (instantaneous and average) and vehicles speed.