Joint Evaluation of Distributed Sparse Antenna Arrays to Achieve High Angular Resolution in Automotive Radar Networks

This paper presents an approach that enables direction-of-arrival estimation on a combined aperture of radar nodes in a radar network, even if large gaps exist between the individual node positions. To facilitate the formation of a combined virtual aperture, a coherent network is required. A method for achieving phase synchronization between the individual sensors is also outlined in this paper. The simulations and measurements presented here demonstrate the feasibility and advantages of such a system. By creating a combined aperture, future requirements for automotive radar sensing, such as higher angular resolution with reduced processing complexity compared to a uniform linear array with the same size and a spacing of λ/2, can be met.