Making Vulnerable Road Users More Visible to Radar: A Communications Inspired Approach

Intelligent reflecting surfaces (IRS) are a novel technology envisaged to significantly improve the performance of next generation wireless communication networks, utilizing passive reflecting elements arranged in planar arrays to reconfigure the wireless propagation environment. This study investigates the use of Intelligent Reflecting Surfaces for Vulnerable Road Users (VRU) such as pedestrians, bicycles, and wheelchair users. This can be made possible by recent advances in IRS technology and can significantly improve the radar visibility of VRUs. In this work we propose a potential use case for IRS aimed at improving the detection of traffic users by automotive radar irrespective of the user's orientation which may severely impact its observable radar cross section. Furthermore, numerical results are provided to show the proposed approach can enhance the radar detection capability of VRUs and make the orientation-dependent radar cross section of targets a less significant challenge.