Mutual interference in automotive radar is expected to become a major issue owing to the rapid increase in the number of vehicles on the road equipped with radar. The phenomenology of interference in frequency modulated continuous wave radar is presented. Interference is empirically analysed at every signal processing stage in the victim radar by means of experimentally verified simulation modelling. Knowledge of how interference manifests in different domains provides a useful tool to develop algorithms for interference detection, mitigation and/or avoidance. The receiver's filter response is analysed to minimise the interference duration and increase the effectiveness of time‐domain mitigation techniques. A innovative method of interference parameter extraction by using spectrograms is also introduced.

High-resolution radar sensing is essential to provide situational awareness to small- and medium-sized marine platforms. However, detecting small targets on the sea surface is a challenging task for marine surveillance radars because of the weak echoes and relatively low velocity. While there is a similarity and significant body of research on high-resolution radar sensing in the automotive environment, the direct translation of such techniques to marine sensing is difficult due to the fundamentally dynamic underlaying sea surface. This article addresses the need of developing novel radar sensing capabilities to image and, potentially, classify small marine targets, such as paddlers, buoys, flotsam and jetsam, or the incoming large waves. Our proposed approach combines multiple-input–multiple-output (MIMO) and Doppler beam sharpening (DBS) beamforming techniques with the ordered statistics cell averaging constant false alarm rate (OSCA-CFAR) for robust target detection, density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise (DBSCAN) for clustering, and an adaptive focusing technique. With the developed methodology, multiple small “dynamic” targets within the marine scene have been imaged and detected against substantially suppressed sea background.

With the rapid increase in the number of automotive radars on the road, interference becomes unavoidable. This paper analyses the effectiveness of dithering or randomization of FMCW modulation (applying random idle time jitter) on reducing interference. This analysis is undertaken for various interference scenarios and modelling-based results are compared. The results show that the efficiency of interference reduction by employing random idle time jitter strongly depend on the radar waveform parameters and the achievable reduction in interference level is in the range of 0 to 27 dB.

Millimetre‐wave frequency‐modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radars are at present widely deployed in the autonomous vehicles. The growing usage of such sensors, as a vital part of a robust future autonomous sensing system, sees the potential for significant increase in mutual interference and adverse effects on sensor operation. Effective target detection in the background of interference requires knowledge of the interference statistics. In the case that such statistics are found to be similar to that of additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN), then classical well‐established detection techniques can be applied. Conversely, if statistics are found to be different, traditional techniques (matched filtering) will not be optimal. Here, a statistical analysis of mutual interference within an FMCW victim radar is presented. The majority of cases show a low correlation between the interference pulses received at the victim radar, with close to a Gaussian distribution. Some specific cases show a high correlation between the interference pulses in the victim radar chirps with a sinusoidal‐like distribution, which degrades the victim radar’s detection performance. The presented analysis is validated by experimental data for various interference cases.

Advancement towards fully autonomous systems requires enhanced sensing and perception, particularly a 360° vision for safe manoeuvring. One approach to achieving this is through a distributed network of radar sensors, operating in homogeneous or heterogeneous configurations, strategically positioned to provide increased coverage and visibility in otherwise blind regions. Such a multi-perspective sensing network, complemented with multi-modal signal processing, can significantly improve the angular resolution of the radar, delivering high-fidelity scene imagery essential for region classification and path planning. This study presents a methodology for multi-modal and multi-perspective sensing using heterogeneous radar sensors, utilising Doppler beam sharpening (DBS) within Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) radars to enhance resolution and coverage. Traditional frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW)-MIMO radars, currently the most widely used configuration, are prone to Doppler aliasing, limiting the Field of View (FoV) in DBS and MIMO-DBS processing. To address this limitation, the effective FoV in multi-perspective image is extended to that provided by the radar’s physical aperture. The proposed framework is validated using 77 GHz radar chipsets in both automotive and maritime conditions, with sensors mounted in front-looking, corner-looking, and side-looking orientations.

In this paper, the extrapolation of a 2D multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) array is proposed using the Burg algorithm to achieve higher angular resolution beyond that of the corresponding 2D MIMO virtual array. The main advantage of such an approach is that it allows us to dramatically decrease both the physical size and the number of antenna elements of the MIMO array. The performance and limitations of the Burg algorithm are examined through both simulation and experimentation at 77 GHz. The experimental methodology used to acquire 3D data of range, azimuth and elevation information with the 1D MIMO off-the-shelf radar is described. Using this method, the performance of the proposed array can be tested experimentally, especially at frequencies where it is desired to assess the antenna response prior to fabricating the antenna.