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IWR1443: The material of the reflector

Hitoshi Sugawara
Mastermind 19260 points
Part Number: IWR1443

Hi Experts,

Could you please let us know the manufacture and what kind of the material of the reflectors which are used in the application note below.

"System Performance Measurement With the mmWave Sensor"

Thank you for your kind check.
Best regards,
Hitoshi

.

  • 0
    TI__Mastermind 23655 points

    Hello Hitoshi,

    The reflector used in such measurement is a typical  "trihedral corner reflector ".

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corner_reflector

    These are available in various Radar Cross Section (RCS) values and used to represent an object with equivalent reflection for measurement purposes.

    Radar cross-section - Wikipedia

    It the "RCS" value of the reflector that matters in the measurement.

    Please try a searching "trihedral corner reflector manufacturers"  or " Suppliers" for finding such reflectors.

    Thank you,

    Vaibhav

  • 0 in reply to Vaibhav Mahimkar
    TI__Mastermind 19260 points

    Hi Vaibhav,
    Let me clarify the answer with you.
    Unfortunately, TI will not disclose the material nor suppliers for the trihedral corner reflector which is utilzed in the appicliation note.
    However, a typical "trihedral corner reflector " would work for the same result if a customer measures.
    Am I correct?
    Best regards,
    Hitoshi

  • 0 in reply to Hitoshi Sugawara
    TI__Genius 17820 points

    Hi Hitoshi,

    That is correct. They are usually just constructed of aluminum. See Millitech (now Smiths Interconnect) trihedral corner reflectors here: www.millitech.com/.../IS000095-TCC.pdf.

    The idea with these reflectors is that the RCS should ideally be relatively constant across a fairly wide field of view (something like +/-60 degrees), which is why these are used in test. But in actual practice, even small variations in the angles of the three pieces used to construct the trihedral shape will result in noticeable, non-constant directivity and the reduced field of view.

    These reflectors are useful for initial sensor bring-up and for phase and gain calibration of the sensor. But the testing should move on to actual application targets as soon as possible during development. Whether that is fluid level range measurements or power-lines, vehicles, people...etc. This is really the only way to start developing the signal processing and narrowing down on chirp configs that provide the best possible performance.

    Thanks,
    Randy

  • 0 in reply to Randy Rosales
    TI__Mastermind 19260 points
    Hi Randy,
    Thank you very much for your kind explanation.
    We understood well and will inform this to the customer.

    Thank you again.
    Best regards,
    Hitoshi