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IWRL6432BOOST: Possibility of Obtaining These Data from IWRL6432 Radar

Mestiyage Don Inuka Gunathilaka
Prodigy 30 points
Part Number: IWRL6432BOOST
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: IWRL6432, MMWAVE-L-SDK

Tool/software:

Hi TI Experts

I'm currently evaluating the IWRL6432 radar sensor, and I need some help on the following questions.

  • Extract the round-trip time data of the each of the signals sent and received by the transceiver of the IWRL6432.
  • How is the transmitted signal power calculated for this radar and how the signal strength shown in the range profile is derived?
  • Can we determine the received signal power for each of the signals transmitted by radar using point cloud data?

Any help or guidance on this would be appreciated.

Thank you.

  • 0
    TI__Expert 4150 points

    Hi,

    We are looking into your query. Please allow us a couple of days to respond.

    Regards

  • 0
    TI__Expert 3630 points

    Hi,

    The FMCW radar works in the following principle:

    A signal with its frequency linearly modulated is transmitted as a single chirp and the received signal is reflected signal from any object at the detection space.

    Hence, a chirp getting transmitted can be reflected from multiple objects at the detection space. When you say, "round-trip time data", we do not concern about the time offset but the frequency offset of the received signal. Hence, we do not store the timing information of the received signal.

    Transmitted power can be monitored using the loopback monitors. Actual transmitted power can be calculated using power meters externally. IWRL6432 typically transmits 11dBm per transmitter. The signal strength in the range profile is not the absolute signal power but a comparative number to determine the SNR of the detected points. It goes through several post processing to get to the range profile.

    The absolute power cannot be determined from the point cloud data. It shows the comparative SNR of the detected points.

    Thanks,

    Swarnendu

  • 0 in reply to Swarnendu Chattopadhyay
    Prodigy 30 points

    Hi,

    Thanks for your reply. I intend to capture raw ADC data from the sensor, would I be able to generate the following.

    • Range-Doppler Heatmap.
    • Range-Azimuth Heatmap.
    • Range-Elevation Heatmap.
    • How could I process the raw ADC data to manually generate range profile by calculating SNR for detected points and how do you determine the range to an object and identify whether it is an object.
    • How could I process the raw ADC data to generate a 3D point cloud map.
    • How could I determine how frequency shift varies over time for reflected signals.

    Is there any sort of data which could be obtained from the radar that I have missed.

    Thank you.

  • 0 in reply to Mestiyage Don Inuka Gunathilaka
    TI__Expert 3630 points

    Hi,

    The on-chip Cortex M4F 160MHz processor and hardware accelerator generates the point cloud data. The detection algorithm is maintained by the binary. For example, the SDK demo motion and presence detection binary would allow to detect points based on spikes available for presence or minor/major motions further determined by CLIs in the configuration. 

    You can use the point cloud data generated within the device itself. Could you please state the application you are looking for?

    If you want to get the raw ADC data and process it offline, please refer to the MMWAVE-STUDIO-3G available in the product page (IWRL6432 data sheet, product information and support | TI.com), to access the matlab scripts.

    Thanks,

    Swarnendu

  • 0 in reply to Swarnendu Chattopadhyay
    Prodigy 30 points

    Hi,

    I'm checking to see if the radar would be able to classify types of materials, I'm looking for features which could be extracted based on data which is made available by the IWRL6432 radar module. The Matlab scripts you mentioned are the ones which are available after installing mmwave_studio_04_01_00_01, in the Scripts folder right?

    Thanks

  • 0 in reply to Mestiyage Don Inuka Gunathilaka
    TI__Expert 3630 points

    Hi,

    Software can be developed with classifications on the data received through the device.

    Yes, the matlab scripts are available in the below location in the studio download folder:

    \\..\\mmwave_studio_0X_0X_0X_0X\mmWaveStudio\Scripts\MatlabExamples\matlabParsingScript

    Thanks,

    Swarnendu

  • 0 in reply to Swarnendu Chattopadhyay
    Prodigy 30 points

    Hi,

    Would I be able to extract phase shift data of reflected signals from the Raw ADC data, the raw ADC data provides the sampled IF signal right?

    Thank you.

  • 0 in reply to Mestiyage Don Inuka Gunathilaka
    TI__Expert 3630 points

    Hi,

    You can write matlab codes for range fft, doppler fft and also, angle fft to get the angle of arrival estimation by observing the phase shift across receivers. However, the on-chip HWA performs these mathematical processing and provides the angle information through point cloud. You can read the point cloud data and get the necessary plots using the MMWAVE-L-SDK: 

    MMWAVE-L-SDK Software development kit (SDK) | TI.com

    That is correct. The raw ADC is the sampled IF signal.

    Thanks,

    Swarnendu