Analysis of MIMO-DBS Performance for Wide FOV Automotive Imaging

There is an increasing demand for detailed sensing of the region surrounding a vehicle in order to develop advanced autonomous driving technology that remains robust even under challenging weather conditions. Radar is capable of meeting propagation requirements but is traditionally limited by poor resolution and high sidelobes compared to optical techniques. In this paper we build on our previous work, which pairs traditional multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processing with Doppler beam sharpening (DBS). This combined MIMO-DBS approach significantly improves cross-range resolution while also reducing sidelobe levels. We provide detailed analysis of expected performance based on system parameters. We also propose an alternative approach to provide a wide field-of-view (FOV) even in the presence of Doppler ambiguities, where our previously published work suffered a reduced field-of-view below that of the underlying array at higher vehicle speeds. We provide experimental verification of the technique presented.