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IWR1843AOP: Antenna Switching for a 360º field of view

Juan José Asensio García
Prodigy 10 points
Part Number: IWR1843AOP
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: IWR2944

Tool/software:

Hi there!

I'm quite new to radar imaging but I would like to know if is possible to add a "switch" for changing the pair of antennas, then if the device has a 120 degree of FOP, by using 3 antennas I would get a 360º.

The integrated MCU could be used for that purpose.

I have noted that the sampling rate is divided by 3 then, but I suppose it could be enough for my application, that is UAVs.

I don't care about the specific chip used, I just put IWR1843AOP for filling purposes.

Thanks in advance,

Juanjo

  • 0
    TI__Mastermind 20921 points

    Hi Juanjo, 

    An expert will respond on this thread in the next 24 hours. 

    Thanks and regards,

    Josh

  • 0 in reply to Josh Dye
    TI__Genius 9670 points

    Hi Juanjo,

    Currently we do not have any mmWave device or technologies to switch between pair of antennas.

    Regards

    Ankit

  • 0 in reply to Ankit Mohanty
    Prodigy 10 points

    Hi Ankit,

    I would like to know if the limitation resides in the area of processing the image, the RF or is just a limitation of refresh rate (that in some of your products is 20Hz which means that if it had a 120º FoV, you get 7Hz which is enough).

    If that is simply a bad idea, which is the best way of getting a 360º FoV? Which mmWave radar has the greatest FoV?

    Thanks a lot,

    Juanjo

  • 0 in reply to Juan José Asensio García
    TI__Genius 9670 points

    Hi Juanjo,

    The primary limitation will be designing of the antenna and the antenna performance to have 360deg. FOV. Also, we will only be able to have presence detection data and not the angle of arrival as the current TI devices will have single RX-TX pairs instead of multiple RXs-TX pairs to cover across 360deg. FOV. As an example, considering a single TI device IWR2944, the device will be able to transmit across four TX antennas but to cover a FOV of 360deg. each TX antenna has to be placed to cover a FOV of at least 90deg. Similarly, considering 4 RXs, we will only have four single RX and single TX pairs. To detect angle of arrival, we will need multiple RXs for the same FOV the TX antenna would be transmitting.

    The limitation would also be in processing the image, but it would not impact the detection however the accuracy will be impacted.

    Hence, the best way to achieve a 360º FOV is to use multiple mmWave devices and synchronize them to have no phase mismatch while transmitting. Also, we have to stitch the data from all the three devices to have a single point cloud detection across the FOV.

    Currently, the TI mmWave device EVMs and antenna design supports a FOV of 120deg. (+- 60 deg. across azimuth and elevation planes). The FOV will be dependent of the antenna design and not the device unless it is an AOP (Antenna on Package) design. TI's AOP devices have FOV of 140deg. (+- 70 deg. across azimuth and elevation planes).

    Regards

    Ankit

  • 0 in reply to Ankit Mohanty
    Prodigy 10 points

    No, I didn't meant to use the TX and RX of the device and placing them in 90º.

    What I wanted to do is to have kind of a set of 4RX and 4TX (or whatever the device require) in each place of the UAV covering the full FoV, thus having a set of 12RX and 12TX antennas in total, then I would use an RF switcher for selecting between each set, so the device measure in each frame the nominal FoV but thanks to my MPU I would rejoin the images.

    The only counterpart that I can figure is the maximum refresh rate of the device (not the accuracy of the measurements since I'm using all the required antennas per frame) That I have read that is around 25fps, and I would like you to confirm it.

    Thanks a lot for your time and I beg your pardon if I didn't explain myself correctly,

    Juanjo

  • 0 in reply to Juan José Asensio García
    TI__Genius 9670 points

    Hi Juanjo,

    This should be possible in future planned TI devices, but currently we do not support use of an RF switcher.

    Also, could you clarify if you intend use single mmWave device and multiple TX-RX pairs with help of RF switcher? Instead, it would be recommended to use three devices and there corresponding antennas which would eliminate the need of using a RF switcher.

    Regards

    Ankit

    Regards

    Ankit

  • 0 in reply to Ankit Mohanty
    Prodigy 10 points

    Hi Ankit,

    I wanted to use a single mmWave radar, some RF switches and the required antennas (in each 4RX and 4TX or whatever). That was because of price constrains.

    Thanks for your time,

    Juanjo

  • +1 in reply to Juan José Asensio García
    TI__Genius 9670 points

    Hi Juanjo,

    Currently we do not have any mmWave device which supports RF switching. But we would soon see some future products.

    Regards

    Ankit