A Novel Angle Estimation for mmWave FMCW Radars Using Machine Learning

In this article, we present a novel machine learning based angle estimation and field of view (FoV) enhancement techniques for mmWave FMCW radars operating in the frequency range of 77 - 81 GHz. Field of view is enhanced in both azimuth and elevation. The Elevation FoV enhancement is achieved by keeping the orientation of antenna elements in elevation. In this orientation, radar focuses the beam in vertical direction there by enhancing the elevation FoV. An Azimuth FoV enhancement is achieved by mechanically rotating the radar horizontally, which has antenna elements in the elevation. With the proposed angle estimation technique for such rotating radars, root mean square error (RMSE) of 2.56 degrees is achieved. These proposed techniques will be highly useful for several applications in cost-effective and reliable autonomous systems such as ground station traffic monitoring and control systems for both on ground and aerial vehicles.

Automated summary

This article presents a novel machine learning based angle estimation and field of view enhancement techniques for mmWave FMCW radars operating in the frequency range of 77 - 81 GHz. The orientation of antenna elements is utilized to enhance both azimuth and elevation FoV. With the proposed angle estimation technique, a RMSE of 2.56 degrees is achieved for rotating radars, making these techniques highly useful for applications such as ground station traffic monitoring and control systems.