An Improved Performance Radar Sensor for K-Band Automotive Radars

Anwer S Abd El-Hameed; Eman G Ouf; Ayman Elboushi; Asmaa G Seliem; Yuta Izumi

doi:10.3390/s23167070

An Improved Performance Radar Sensor for K-Band Automotive Radars

Sensors (Basel). 2023 Aug 10;23(16):7070. doi: 10.3390/s23167070.

Authors

Anwer S Abd El-Hameed^{1

2}, Eman G Ouf¹, Ayman Elboushi¹, Asmaa G Seliem², Yuta Izumi³

Affiliations

¹ Electronics Research Institute, Cairo 4473221, Egypt.
² Communication and Computer Department, Faculty of Engineering, Nahda University, Beni Suef 62746, Egypt.
³ Muroran Institute of Technology, Hankkaido 0500071, Japan.

Abstract

This paper presents a new radar sensor configuration of a planar grid antenna array (PGAA) for automotive ultra-wideband (UWB) radar applications. For system realisation, the MIMO concept is adopted. The proposed antenna is designed to operate over the 24 GHz frequency band. It is based on split-ring resonator (SRR) elements to enhance the operating bandwidth and increase the antenna gain, leading to a better-performing radar system. The PGAA consists of thirty-one radiating elements, in which each element excitation is obtained using a common transmission line centre fed by a 50 Ω coaxial probe. By introducing a superstrate dielectric layer at a distance of λ/2 from the top of the antenna array, the PGAA gain and impedance bandwidth are further improved. The gain is improved by 2.7 dB to reach 16.5 dBi at 24 GHz, and the impedance bandwidth is enhanced to 9.3 GHz (37.7%). The measured impedance bandwidth of the proposed antenna array ranges from 20 GHz to 29.3 GHz for a reflection coefficient (S11) of less than -10 dB. The proposed antenna is validated for automotive applications.

Keywords: MIMO; PGAA; SRR; UWB; automotive radar; superstrate.

Grants and funding

This research was supported by a full waiver granted by Sensors. The waiver provided by the journal covered all publication fees associated with this article.