MINIATURE MICROWAVE RANGE AND VELOCITY SELECTIVE SENSOR SYSTEM FOR VEHICLE/OBJECT DETECTION

SAFE MANEUVERABILITY OF HEAVY VEHICLES IS HAMPERED BY THE SIZE OF THE VEHICLE AND THE DRIVER'S LIMITED FIELD OF VIEW. OFTEN THE DRIVER IS BLIND TO IMPORTANT AREAS AROUND THE VEHICLE. A RESONABLY PRICED SENSING DEVICE IS NEEDED TO RELIABLY WARN THE DRIVER THAT A VEHICLE OR HUMAN EXISTS IN HIS OR HER BLIND SPOT. EMERGING MMIC TECHNOLOGY WILL MAKE HIGH-PERFORMANCE ULTRA-MINIATURE MICROWAVE FM-CW RADAR SENSORS AFFORDABLE FOR COST SENSITIVE COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS SUCH AS VEHICLE WARNING SYSTEMS. HITTITE MICROWAVE HAS DEVELOPED A SINGLE CHIP FM-CW RADAR FOR PROXIMITY SENSOR APPLICATION. THIS PROPOSAL DESCRIBES A STUDY TO DETERMINE THE OPTIMUM SYSTEM PARAMETERS AND INITIALCIRCUIT DESIGNS FOR A VEHICLE/OBJECT DETECTION AND WARNING SYSTEM FOR HEAVY VEHICLE APPLICATION. STUDY TOPICS INCLUDE SENSOR ENVIRONMENTAL SUCCEPTABILITY, ELECTROMAGNETIC COMPATABILITY, OPTIMUM DETECTION ZONES, OPTIMUM DETECTION CRITEREA USING VELOCITY AND DISTANCE INFORMATION, DRIVER ALERTING STRATEGIES, SENSOR PLACEMENT, SIGNAL PROCESSOR DESIGN, AND COST ANALYSIS.