Systems and methods are provided for adapting automotive mmW radar technology to meet the requirements of autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems. Embodiments of the present disclosure provide solutions for several design challenges from this adaptation, such as utilizing a limited number of antenna channels to scan in both azimuth and elevation.

The present disclosure is a system comprising at least three electronically steered antennas arranged so that there is a baseline difference of a predetermined amount of wavelength between the centers of the antennas, typically configured as an obtuse or scalene triangle, where the distance between each antenna on an array is selected to provide the required accuracy and precision, the array having a timing circuit to ensure that the beam of each antenna is steered to the same azimuthal and elevation coordinates in space simultaneously. This enables the three electronically steered antennas to operate as an interferometer to determine a bearing to a target to ultimately determine the location thereof. The electronically steered antennas enable the system to be mounted on a platform in a small package that was previously difficult for traditional interferometers.

A method and a device for measuring altitude of an aircraft relative to a point on the ground, said aircraft carrying a radar system comprising a directional antenna to transmit a radio frequency signal along a aiming axis, including. controlling the transmission of a radiofrequency signal along the axis, calculating received powers as a function of radial distance on a sum channel and an elevation deviation channel, calculating tilt angular deviation values, determining an estimator of the radial distance of the aircraft relative to the point on the ground intercepted by the aiming axis as a function of at least one zero crossing of the angular deviation measurement in a selected area of the angular deviation measurement curve, calculating an aircraft altitude relative to said point on the ground as a function of the estimator of the radial distance and the elevation angle of the aiming axis.

In an embodiment, a radar level gauge system can include an antenna system comprising an imaging phased array in an isolated antenna arrangement that supports monopulse processing for radar image resolution and mapping of a surface of a material. The imaging phased array can provide a narrow-beam with beam scanning/steering and can emit a transmit beam that scans the surface of the material and forms the mapping of the surface. The mapping can comprise a 3D volumetric model that can include an image of a surface profile of the surface based on signals returned from the surface. The imaging phase array and the antenna system are protected from condensation and contamination from chemicals and viscous materials.

A method of processing radar responses of a radar system characterized by a plurality of beam patterns, to determine if a given response corresponds to a reflective object. The method including, for a first beam pattern, identifying a response at an identified angle relative to a center of the first beam pattern. Then, for a second beam pattern overlapping the first beam pattern, determining if a measured response in the second beam pattern at an angle relative to the center of the second beam pattern that corresponds to the identified angle relative to the center of the first beam pattern is within a predetermined error threshold of an anticipated response calculated using the second beam pattern and the first beam pattern. If the measured response in the second beam pattern is not within the predetermined error threshold, the first response is eliminated from display and/or further tracking.

One embodiment of the present disclosure relates to a vehicle radar apparatus and a method of controlling the same. The radar apparatus according to the present embodiment may include an antenna unit including Nt transmitting antennas and Nr receiving antennas, wherein one of the Nt transmitting antennas is vertically offset from the other transmitting antennas, or one of the Nr receiving antennas is vertically offset from the other receiving antennas, a transceiver configured to control the Nt transmitting antennas to transmit a phase shift transmission signal having N different phase shift values (an) and control the Nr receiving antennas to receive a reflected signal reflected from a target, and a signal processor configured to determine a height (h) of the target based on a discrete phase shift value (a.sub.max) that is a phase shift value having the greatest reception power among N phase shift values.

A radar imaging method using an active antenna comprising N transmission channels and M reception channels, transmitting in bursts of pointing cycles, is disclosed. The antenna covers a given angular range during a detection time unit of duration T, said time unit corresponds to a burst in which the N transmission channels are focused successively in a number D.sub.e of pointing directions (di) such that: the pointing direction on transmission (di) is modified from recurrence to recurrence; each time unit of duration T comprising a periodic repetition of a number C of identical pointing cycles, each of these cycles comprising a number P of recurrences, the set of these P recurrences covers the D.sub.e pointing directions (di); at least one beam is formed in reception on each recurrence in a direction included in the angular range focused on transmission in the pointing direction corresponding to said recurrence.

A radar apparatus with a transmission antenna array that outputs a high aspect ratio frequency modulation continuous wave (FMCW) transmission beam that illuminates a large field of regard in elevation and may be both electronically and mechanically scanned in azimuth. The weather radar apparatus includes a receive array and receive electronics that may receive the reflected return radar signals and digitally form a plurality of receive beams that may be used to determine characteristics of the area in the field of regard. The receive beams may be used to determine reflectivity of weather systems and provide a coherent weather picture. The weather radar apparatus may simultaneously process the receive signals into monopulse beams that may be used for accurate navigation as well as collision avoidance.

A system for virtual aperture array radar tracking includes a transmitter that transmits first and second probe signals; a receiver array including a first plurality of radar elements positioned along a first radar axis; and a signal processor that calculates a target range from first and second reflected probe signals, corresponds signal instances of the first reflected probe signal to physical receiver elements of the radar array, corresponds signal instances of the second reflected probe signal to virtual elements of the radar array, calculates a first target angle between a first reference vector and a first projected target vector from the first reflected probe signal, and calculates a position of the tracking target relative to the radar array from the target range and first target angle.

Examples disclosed herein relate to a Meta-Structure (“MTS”) antenna system with adaptive frequency-based power compensation. The MTS antenna system includes a radiating array structure having a plurality of radiating elements, and a transmission array structure coupled to the radiating array structure and feeding a transmission signal through to the radiating array structure. The transmission array structure has a plurality of super element transmission paths, each having a plurality of vias to form transmission paths and a plurality of slots for feeding the transmission signal to the radiating array structure, and a plurality of power amplifiers coupled to an adaptive feedback module, each power amplifier coupled to a super element transmission path, the adaptive feedback module to adjust a power gain at a center frequency.