Single-Channel FMCW-Radar-Based Multi-Passenger Occupancy Detection Inside Vehicle

Entropy (Basel). 2021 Nov 8;23(11):1472. doi: 10.3390/e23111472.

Abstract

In this paper, we provide the results of multi-passenger occupancy detection inside a vehicle obtained using a single-channel frequency-modulated continuous-wave radar. The physiological characteristics of the radar signal are analyzed in a time-frequency spectrum, and features are proposed based on these characteristics for multi-passenger occupancy detection. After clutter removal is applied, the spectral power and Wiener entropy are proposed as features to quantify physiological movements arising from breathing and heartbeat. Using the average means of both the power and Wiener entropy at seats 1 and 2, the feature distributions are expressed, and classification is performed. The multi-passenger occupancy detection performance is evaluated using linear discriminant analysis and maximum likelihood estimation. The results indicate that the proposed power and Wiener entropy are effective features for multi-passenger occupancy detection.

Keywords: FMCW radar; automotive applications; occupancy detection; passenger detection; radar signal processing.