Cooperative Target Detection in a Network of Single-Channel Radar Sensors

In automotive sensor networks the spatial distribution of the radar sensors allows to unveil additional information about the target objects. For example, the different angles to a target provide an increased robustness, and the wide sensor distances allow for a single snapshot motion estimation. This is even possible with single-channel radar sensors, but the reliability of the output highly depends on the condition that single scattering points are jointly detected. This paper presents an algorithm which associates single detections of a target over multiple sensors by utilizing the ego-motion of the vehicle. Further, it is shown how all target detections can be assessed and how reliable detections can be identified to improve subsequent processing steps like target localization. The proposed processing is validated by radar measurements at 77 GHz.