Antenna Array Ambiguity Function Based Study of Integration Effect on a 2D Automotive MIMO RADAR Antenna Placed Behind a Painted Bumper

In this paper, we study the integration effects of a 2D MIMO RADAR antenna for automotive applications, placed behind a painted bumper. First, a 3Tx-4Rx 2D-MIMO RADAR antenna system is designed, where the individual Tx/Rx antenna is a seven-element series-fed modified binomial array configuration having side-lobe level less than 16 dB and 80° azimuth field-of-view (FoV). Then the 2D MIMO RADAR antenna is placed behind a simplified curved bumper having two paint layers, and the antenna-painted bumper integration effects are studied via the S-parameter response and antenna array ambiguity function (AAAF) model. Both the AAAF and S-parameter analysis provide key insights into the comparative performance of 1D and 2D MIMO RADARs integrated with bumpers, which can help determine possible corrective measures in real-time applications.