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Advances in Microwave and Millimeter Wave Radar Sensors

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A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Physical Sensors".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 September 2020) | Viewed by 20252

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Serioja Ovidiu Tatu

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Guest Editor

Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS), Montréal, QC H2X 1E3, Canada
Interests: microwave and millimeter wave circuits and systems; six-port transceivers; high-speed wireless communications; radar and imaging sensors
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Recent advances in fabrication techniques allow increased performance, cost reduction and miniaturisation of microwave and millimeter wave transceivers for high-speed wireless communications and radar sensors.

In the radar sensors domain, the function of targeted measurements (speed, range, high resolution displacement, gesture sensing, frequency of mechanical vibrations, imagery, etc.) of the system architecture, measurement, calibration and signal processing techniques must be properly considered by the designer.

Today there is rapidly growing progress in the performance of high-end as well as low-cost microwave and millimeter wave radar sensors. A wide area of potential applications emerges, from more conventional to new areas, such as:

automotive sensors (range and relative speed measurements, imagery for autonomous vehicles)
imaging sensors for security and surveillance
radar sensors for precision industrial measurements in harsh environments,
radar sensors for non-contact measurements of vital functions and imaging sensors for cancer detection in medicine,
radar sensors for the rapid development of IoT,
radar sensors and multi-sensor systems for human gesture recognition, human–computer interaction, smart homes and games.
combined radar/communication systems allowing detection and data-rate transmission between vehicles, devices, etc.

This Special Issue aims to highlight advances in the development, testing, and modeling of microwave and millimeter wave radar sensors, on both the component and system levels, for dedicated applications, as presented previously. Original research and reviews articles are welcome. Reviews should provide an up-to-date and critical overview of state-of-the-art technologies.

Topics include, but are not limited to:

Novel radar sensor architectures
Hardware integration of radar sensor front-ends (including antennas and antenna arrays)
Efficient RF signal generation and down-conversion techniques
Fabrication technologies and integration techniques
Sensor characterization and signal processing techniques
Sensor error modelling and calibration

We look forward to and welcome your participation in this Special Issue

Prof. Dr. Serioja Ovidiu Tatu
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sensors is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Radar and imaging sensors
Front-ends
Microwave and millimeter wave signal generation
Efficient down-conversion techniques
Six-port sensors
Advanced fabrication technologies
Signal processing techniques
Calibration
Error modelling

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 9189 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Radar Cross Section Near-Field to Far-Field Prediction for Isotropic-Point Scattering Target Based on Regression Estimation

by Yang Liu, Weidong Hu, Wenlong Zhang, Jianhang Sun, Baige Xing and Leo Ligthart

Sensors 2020, 20(21), 6023; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20216023 - 23 Oct 2020

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3382

Abstract

Radar cross section near-field to far-field transformation (NFFFT) is a well-established methodology. Due to the testing range constraints, the measured data are mostly near-field. Existing methods employ electromagnetic theory to transform near-field data into the far-field radar cross section, which is time-consuming in data processing. This paper proposes a flexible framework, named Neural Networks Near-Field to Far-Filed Transformation (NN-NFFFT). Unlike the conventional fixed-parameter model, the near-field RCS to far-field RCS transformation process is viewed as a nonlinear regression problem that can be solved by our fast and flexible neural network. The framework includes three stages: Near-Field and Far-field dataset generation, regression estimator training, and far-field data prediction. In our framework, the Radar cross section prior information is incorporated in the Near-Field and Far-field dataset generated by a group of point-scattering targets. A lightweight neural network is then used as a regression estimator to predict the far-field RCS from the near-field RCS observation. For the target with a small RCS, the proposed method also has less data acquisition time. Numerical examples and extensive experiments demonstrate that the proposed method can take less processing time to achieve comparable accuracy. Besides, the proposed framework can employ prior information about the real scenario to improve performance further. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Microwave and Millimeter Wave Radar Sensors)

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14 pages, 6768 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Continuous In-Bed Monitoring of Vital Signs Using a Multi Radar Setup for Freely Moving Patients

by Sven Schellenberger, Kilin Shi, Fabian Michler, Fabian Lurz, Robert Weigel and Alexander Koelpin

Sensors 2020, 20(20), 5827; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20205827 - 15 Oct 2020

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 5391

Abstract

In hospitals, continuous monitoring of vital parameters can provide valuable information about the course of a patient’s illness and allows early warning of emergencies. To enable such monitoring without restricting the patient’s freedom of movement and comfort, a radar system is attached under the mattress which consists of four individual radar modules to cover the entire width of the bed. Using radar, heartbeat and respiration can be measured without contact and through clothing. By processing the raw radar data, the presence of a patient can be determined and movements are categorized into the classes “bed exit”, “bed entry”, and “on bed movement”. Using this information, the vital parameters can be assessed in sections where the patient lies calmly in bed. In the first step, the presence and movement classification is demonstrated using recorded training and test data. Next, the radar was modified to perform vital sign measurements synchronized to a gold standard device. The evaluation of the individual radar modules shows that, regardless of the lying position of the test person, at least one of the radar modules delivers accurate results for continuous monitoring. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Microwave and Millimeter Wave Radar Sensors)

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26 pages, 3628 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Speed Calibration and Traceability for Train-Borne 24 GHz Continuous-Wave Doppler Radar Sensor

by Lei Du, Qiao Sun, Jie Bai, Xiaolei Wang and Tianqi Xu

Sensors 2020, 20(4), 1230; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20041230 - 24 Feb 2020

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 6367

Abstract

The 24 GHz continuous-wave (CW) Doppler radar sensor (DRS) is widely used for measuring the instantaneous speed of moving objects by using a non-contact approach, and has begun to be used in train-borne movable speed measurements in recent years in China because of its advanced performance. The architecture and working principle of train-borne DRSs with different structures including single-channel DRSs used for freight train speed measurements in railway freight dedicated lines and dual-channel DRSs used for speed measurements of high-speed and urban rail trains in railway passenger dedicated lines, are first introduced. Then, the disadvantages of two traditional speed calibration methods for train-borne DRS are described, and a new speed calibration method based on the Doppler shift signal simulation by imposing a signal modulation on the incident CW microwave signal is proposed. A 24 GHz CW radar target simulation system for a train-borne DRS was specifically realized to verify the proposed speed calibration method for a train-borne DRS, and traceability and performance evaluation on simulated speed were taken into account. The simulated speed range of the simulation system was up to (5~500) km/h when the simulated incident angle range was within the range of (45 ± 8)°, and the maximum permissible error (MPE) of the simulated speed was ±0.05 km/h. Finally, the calibration and uncertainty evaluation results of two typical train-borne dual-channel DRS samples validated the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed speed calibration approach for a train-borne DRS with full range in the laboratory as well as in the field. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Microwave and Millimeter Wave Radar Sensors)

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Review

Jump to: Research

44 pages, 39963 KiB

Open AccessReview

Millimeter Wave Multi-Port Interferometric Radar Sensors: Evolution of Fabrication and Characterization Technologies

by Serioja Ovidiu Tatu and Emilia Moldovan

Sensors 2020, 20(19), 5477; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20195477 - 24 Sep 2020

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 4387

Abstract

Recent advances in millimeter wave technologies, both in component and system design, in line with important size and cost reductions, have opened up new applications in ultra-high-speed wireless communications, radar and imaging sensors. The paper presents the evolution of millimeter wave circuit and modules fabrication and characterization technologies in the past decades. Novel planar low-cost fabrication technologies have been successfully developed in this period. In combination with the standard rectangular wave-guide technology, these offer great opportunities for prototyping and testing of future millimeter wave transceivers or front-ends, which integrate antenna arrays, down-converters, modulators, amplifiers, etc., in a compact fixture. The paper uses, as a suggestive example, the evolution of the multi-port interferometric front-ends implementation from millimeter wave bulky components and systems to miniaturized and high-efficient ones. Circuit and system designs are carefully done to avoid (as much as possible) complicated calibration methods or difficult post-processing of baseband data. This requires an increased effort in design and fabrication, but it allows miniaturization, low-power consumption, while keeping very good overall performances. Useful and straightforward laboratory characterization techniques of circuits and systems are described in detail. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Microwave and Millimeter Wave Radar Sensors)

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