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IWR6843ISK-ODS: Feasibility of TX Beamforming and Null Steering for Hand Movement Detection (IWR6843ISK-ODS / MMWCAS-RF-EVM)

Andre M
Prodigy 20 points
Part Number: IWR6843ISK-ODS
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: MMWCAS-RF-EVM

Tool/software:

Hello TI Team,

We are working on a research project focused on hand movement detection using mmWave radar technology. We have successfully implemented hand gesture detection using the IWR6843ISK-ODS, where we are able to detect one user's hand movements within a distance of 50 cm to 1 meter, with very good accuracy. Now, we are looking to apply TX beamforming and null steering techniques to improve the security of the system, rather than for the purpose of strengthening the signal or improving detection accuracy since the distance is close range anyway. Specifically, our goal is to use beamforming to direct energy toward the user, and null steering to suppress energy toward other directions.

My questions are:

1) Is it feasible to implement TX beamforming and null steering on either the IWR6843ISK-ODS or the MMWCAS-RF-EVM for a single user within 1 meter of the radar?

2) Will applying these techniques negatively impact the detection accuracy of hand movements compared to running the system without beamforming or null steering? We understand that using beamforming will limit the angular field of detection and require the user to be in a specific position, which is acceptable in our experimental scenario

3) If we use the MMWCAS-RF-EVM instead(due to the other device is being used by another team for other projects), is it possible to implement beamforming and null steering while using only 3 TX antennas, in order to keep the configuration consistent with our existing experiments on the IWR6843ISK-ODS?

4) If we apply beamforming and null steering on the MMWCAS-RF-EVM, can we expect to achieve detection results that are comparable to those obtained with the IWR6843ISK-ODS without beamforming?

We are relatively new to beamforming and null steering techniques and would appreciate your advice on whether this is feasible on the devices mentioned, and if there are best practices we should follow to maintain detection accuracy while adding these techniques, or any material or sources that will help us achieve this.

Thank you in advance for your support!

  • 0
    TI__Genius 11900 points

    Hi

    Thanks for your query. Please allow us a couple of days to respond

    Regards

  • +1
    TI__Mastermind 37805 points
    Andre M said:
    1) Is it feasible to implement TX beamforming and null steering on either the IWR6843ISK-ODS or the MMWCAS-RF-EVM for a single user within 1 meter of the radar?

    Beam steering is not feasible on the 6843ODS because the TX antennas are not aligned in the same direction. Since you onyl have 2 TX antennas in azimuth/elevation, you cannot effectively do beamsteering.

    Best,

    Nate

  • 0 in reply to Nathan Block
    Prodigy 20 points

    thank you for the response, does that mean beamforming is feasible in 6843ODS? 

    what about MMWCAS-RF-EVM? is it possible to do steering if we use 3 Tx aligned antennas since the device has 16 Tx antennas? 

    if yes,  can we expect to achieve detection results that are comparable to those obtained with the IWR6843ISK-ODS without beamforming?

  • +1 in reply to Andre M
    TI__Mastermind 37805 points

    on the MMWCAS-RF-EVM you can do more complicated beamsteering

    Andre M said:

    2) Will applying these techniques negatively impact the detection accuracy of hand movements compared to running the system without beamforming or null steering? We understand that using beamforming will limit the angular field of detection and require the user to be in a specific position, which is acceptable in our experimental scenario

    I don't know if beamsteering will help here, but I am confident that you can develop a finer-resolution algorithm with the MMWCAS-RF-EVM than with the 6843ODS. I would not recommend beamsteering for short ranges like this.

    Andre M said:

    3) If we use the MMWCAS-RF-EVM instead(due to the other device is being used by another team for other projects), is it possible to implement beamforming and null steering while using only 3 TX antennas, in order to keep the configuration consistent with our existing experiments on the IWR6843ISK-ODS?

    No, you will need to use more antennas to use beamsteering.

    Andre M said:

    4) If we apply beamforming and null steering on the MMWCAS-RF-EVM, can we expect to achieve detection results that are comparable to those obtained with the IWR6843ISK-ODS without beamforming?

    If you use the MMWCASRFEVM, your detection results should be significantly improved because you have more antennas. Your entire processing chain will be different though, so I wouldn't think about trying to port results from one device to another. These are completely different systems with very different expected processing chains.