Energy-Efficiency Strategy for Soft Synchronization FMCW Radar

Abstract

Soft synchronization frequency-modulated continuous-wave (SS-FMCW) radars not only have the advantage of transmit signal diversity but also greatly reduce the complexity of hardware structure design. Interestingly, the SS-FMCW radar is implemented based on intermittent ramp signals and soft synchronization algorithms. This article proposes a new energy-efficiency strategy, i.e., the soft synchronization constrained energy-efficiency (SSC-EE) strategy. First, based on the principle behind the SS-FMCW radar, we analyze its energy consumption model. Second, an optimization problem is built with transmit signal parameters as the independent variables, soft synchronization performance and radar performances as the constraints, and radar energy consumption as the optimization objective. Furthermore, by formulating the Karush–Kuhn–Tuckers (KKT) conditions, we obtain a closed-form solution. The study on minimizing the theoretical energy consumption sheds light on the design of radar transmit signal parameters in practice. Finally, experimental results show that the SSC-EE strategy can reduce the energy consumption of the SS-FMCW radar without reducing the soft synchronization performance and the radar performances. Specifically, compared to the deterministic strategy, the SSC-EE strategy can reduce the radar energy consumption by 28.3%.