The Journal of Engineering

IET International Radar Conference (IRC 2018)

Moving target detection based on OFDM radar eISSN 2051-3305

Received on 19th February 2019
Accepted on 2nd May 2019
E-First on 30th July 2019
doi: 10.1049/joe.2019.0153
www.ietdl.org

Houyuan Zhang1 , Yun Zhang1, Xin Qi1, Chengge Zong1

1HarbinInstitute of Technology, Institute of Electronic Engineering Technology, Harbin, People's Republic of China
E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: The study combines the general hardware platform of the radar system and wireless communication system, as well
as applies it in a real detecting scenario. To detect target, the periodogram-based estimation algorithms based on the signal of
orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) is introduced. According to range-Doppler (R-D) spectrum, as an enhanced
detection algorithm of constant false alarm rate (CFAR), a radar-target detection method, also referred to as binary successive
target cancellation, is presented. This research has important theoretical significance for the communication radar-integrated
detection technology, and the research results have essential application value for the technology of radar target detection as
well as the fusion and development of wireless communication technology.

1 Introduction To utilise the Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT) and to quantise

the frequency in usual intervals is the common means to calculate
The technology of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing this in the digital system.
(OFDM) has been widely applied in the communicational field. It
is the core technology of fourth-generation (4G) mobile N−1 2
communication and further develops a new generation of 5G 1 − j2π
kn

technology based on OFDM. The OFDM technology has good

Pers(k)( f ) =
N ∑ s(k)e NPer

k=0 (2)
performance in the implementation of spectrum resource control
1
and high-speed transmission in a wireless environment. Therefore, = FFTNPer[s(k)]
2

it is first applied to the communication field. In 1998, Jankiraman N

et al. [1] introduced the OFDM technology into the radar system.
They designed a radar called ‘PANDORA’, whose signals are The periodogram with a number of modifications can be utilised
composed of several narrow LFM channels, and the output signals here, as proposed by Sturm et al. in [2] and [3] and has been fully
of a channel are synthesised in the receiver to obtain high described in [4] as the radar algorithms of OFDM are sinusoidal
resolution. identification.
In recent years, OFDM technology has developed continuously The matrix F is the periodogram's input data. The periodogram
and has been used in the design of radar system. The high needs to be extended to two dimensions as this is two dimensional
bandwidth characteristic of this signal has improved the anti- and the solution put forward is below:
jamming performance of radar system, and it has high target 2
NPer MPer
resolution, which has become the mainstream direction of modern 1 − j2π
lm
j2π Nkn
radar research and development. It can be seen that the OFDM PerF(n, m) =
NM ∑ ∑ (F)k le ,
MPer
e Per

signal used for communication can be applied to the present radar k=0 l=0 (3)
system and becomes an essential aspect of the integrated research =
1
CPerF(n, m) 2
of communication-radar. NM
In this paper, the work is mainly divided into two aspects. On
the one hand, the radar test system based on the single channel and where (F)k, l = (FRx)k, l /(FTx)k, l, FTx is transmitted OFDM signal,
general equipment is built for detecting. On the other hand, the FRx is received OFDM signal. Sinusoids in F will lead to a peak in
OFDM signal is applied to this system for the real object detection. PerF(n^ , m^ ). Thus, the peaks must be first detected by the
Furthermore, an improved CFAR detection algorithm is used in algorithms based on the periodogram. Thus, F has a row-wise
this system for target detection. ^
oscillation of frequency Ωv = 2πm ^
/MPer and a column-wise
^
2 Methodology oscillation of frequency Ωd = 2πn^ /NPer if PerF(n^ , m^ ) corresponds
to a peak value. This corresponds to a target estimate of relative
2.1 Periodogram-based estimation algorithms velocity and distance by
Periodogram-based estimation algorithms are advanced for OFDM ^
signal to get R-D Spectrum of the targets. If the sinusoids can be ^ 1^ Ωd n^ c0
(4)
d= τc0 = =
addressed well, as a well-comprehended tool, periodogram is 2 2(2π)Δ f 2ΔfNPer
actually an optimal solution for the single case to identify sinusoids
in a discrete-time signal. The periodogram can be defined as below ^
Ωvc0
^
^
f Dc0 m c0 (5)
based on the length N samples' discrete-time signal s(k): v^ = = =
2fC 2(2π) f CT o 2 f CT oMPer
N−1 2
1 where c0 is the speed of light, Δ f is sub-carrier spacing, f C is
Pers(k)( f ) =
N ∑ s(k) e j πfk
2
(1)
k=0 carrier frequency, T o is OFDM symbol duration, NPer is the number
of rows per two-dimensional periodogram, MPer is the number of
columns per two-dimensional periodogram.

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Fig. 1 Periodogram-based OFDM radar system's block diagram

Fig. 1 indicates the OFDM radar system's block diagram. ∞

pFA, bin = Pr Z > η = ∫
η
f Z (z H0)dz
(7)
2.2 Target detection 2
− η / σN
= 1 − FZ (η H0) = e
A majority of radar systems are configured for a constant false
alarm rate (CFAR), which is chosen for the OFDM radar system where FZ (z H0) and FZ (η H0) are the PDF and CDF, respectively.
(refer to [5, 6]). The CFAR's accurate definition is different in the
The result of Z as the magnitude-squared of AWGN with power σN2
literature (e.g. the comparison between [7, 8]), which is the reason
why the below definitions are put forward: is the exponential term (7).
A false alarm refers to the event in which target detector It should solve (16) for η to reach a certain per-bin ratio of false
determines that there exists at a target at a related speed and at a alarm:
range, which cannot make contribution to the received matrix FRx.
A false alarm PFA's probability refers to the one that, no less than η = − σN2 ln pFA, bin (8)
one false alarms take place during the single frame processing
while there was only noise (FRx = Z, Z refers to the matrix of Skolnik [10, Chap. 15] introduces the optimality of the detecting
approach. The probability of false alarm is as below to realise a
AWGN). Last but not least, the FAR refers to the expected amount
particular probability false alarm for a non-zero-padded
of detection per processing of one frame, when there was only
periodogram,
noise.
This definition is different from the false alarm probability's
other definitions (and FAR) in many aspects: pFA = 1 − (1 − pFA, bin)NM (9)
Clutter is explicitly which is not discussed in the context. As
detecting an object which backscatters the energy yet is not of Addressing this for pFA, bin and then inserting into (8) yields
interest for the usage, this does not count as the false alarm.
Other systems, like the algorithms of target tracking [9], may η = − σN2 ln(1 − (1 − pFA)1/ NM) (10)
further process the output of the target detector. Thus, FAR may be
further reduced. Usually, σN2 , as the noise power, remains unknown at the receiver.
The time base for the ratio of false alarm refers to one frame's
The noise power might be estimated from the periodogram through
duration (when compared, [7] the amount of false alarms per
averaging over the bins without containing a target in order to
second for the FAR), which makes the result as discussed becomes
specify a threshold. It remains unclear which bins correspond to the
independent of the update ratio.
targets as this takes place before the detection of the target. The
To discriminate noise from signal power, the periodogram is
solution is to rely on the correct parametrisation of the OFDM
subjected to a hypothesis test and a threshold η is introduced.
radar system, and there exists a maximal index (Nmax) after which
PerF(n, m) > η ⇒ H1 there are no more peaks. A maximal likelihood for σN2 can be
(6) identified by the below by averaging over more than one row
PerF(n, m) < η ⇒ H0 beyond Nmax,
In which H1 refers to the hypothesis that a target makes K MPer
contribution to the given bin's amplitude; H0 means the null 1
MPerK ∑ ∑
2
σ^ = PerF(NPer, m) (11)
hypothesis without any target. When there was only noise, let Z k=1m=0
refer to the (random) amplitude of any bin of PerF(n, m) to
calculate the probability of false alarm. in which K refers to the number of rows above the average. The
The probability that the periodogram's any single bin exceeds value of 1 or 2 for K remains sufficient unless MPer is very small.
the threshold is The periodogram refers to a two-dimensional matrix, including
Doppler values and the power degrees. An application with the
usage of a radar system needs an accurate list of targets, with their
Doppler and individual rage.

5606 J. Eng., 2019, Vol. 2019 Iss. 19, pp. 5605-5609

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 Table 1 Parameters of OFDM signal
Parameters Value
bandwidth 100 MHz
sub-carrier spacing 60 kHz
number of sub-carriers 1668
number of OFDM symbols 500
carrier frequency 5.8 GHz
duration of cyclic prefix 4.1675 μs
OFDM symbol duration 16.67 μs
IFFT length 16,384

Fig. 2 Connection of the radar test system 2

(k − n^ i)
2
(l − m^ i)
(B)k, l = 0∀k, l s.t. 2 − ≤1 (13)
(Nwin /2) (Mwin /2)2
(vi) Increment i.
(vii) Continue at 2).

3 Experiments
The entire radar integrated system uses the universal calculator as a
control unit, controlling the vector signal source to generate and
launch OFDM signal, and then modulated by radio frequency
source to transmit in a form of electromagnetic wave. The trigger
signal and reference clock is connected between transmitter and
receiver to achieve synchronisation. After receiving from receiver,
the signal is analysed by signal processing, data processing etc.
The whole system consists of a transmitter, a frequency
converter, a receiver and a subsystem of receiver, as shown in
Fig. 2. Among them, the transmitter frequency range is from 100 
kHz to 20 GHz. The highest frequency of the receiver is 26.5 GHz.
The physical connection of this system is shown in Fig. 3.
The signal of OFDM is utilised to identify the target according
Fig. 3 Physical connection of radar test system to the test system. OFDM signal parameters are shown in Table 1.
According to parameters in Table 1, the distance resolution is
A multi-target detection algorithm is needed to gain a list from calculated as 1.5 m and the velocity resolution is calculated as
the PerF(n, m). The binary successive target cancellation is an 1.24 m/s.
algorithm of multi-target detection. Fig. 4 shows the RD spectrum of the detection performance of
How to segregate noise from individual targets is discussed periodogram-based estimation algorithms with different SNR.
from the prior part. Extra issues appear with multiple targets: The radar was placed three stories high to observe the vehicles
Even though they are further apart than the radar resolution, on the road. Fig. 5 shows the scenario of the detection.
weak targets close to strong targets might be overshadowed. The measurement result by using periodogram-based estimation
The sidelobes from strong peaks may be incorrectly identified algorithms is shown as Fig. 6.
as single targets. In order to eliminate the error detection caused by excessive
These problems are not independent, and there is a trade-off sidelobes, hamming window is used to deal with the received echo,
when trying to minimise them. In short-range radar systems, like which is shown as Figs. 7 and 8.
vehicular radar. In fact, there exists no distinction between valid Finally, Fig. 9 shows the position of the target calculated by the
targets and clutter, as any scattering object may relate to the target. algorithms above.
For instance, an automobile parked by the roadside may be clutter
for one application, yet related to another. In the periodogram, 4 Conclusion
there exists no distinction between targets and potential clutter.
Thus, in practice, clutter analysis will be left to other sub-systems. A radar test system based on OFDM signal is established for the
A method of detecting multiple targets is binary successive detection of moving target, and it is applied to the actual situation.
By using the binary successive target cancellation algorithms and
target cancellation. It requires a binary map B ∈ {0, 1}NPer × MPer the estimation algorithms that are based on the periodogram, the
with the same dimensions as the periodogram, utilised identify the moving target was successfully detected. The window of the signal
targets that have been previously positioned. The size of the processing decreases the sidelobes effectively, making it easier to
window's major lobe is required in number of bins for (Mwin) and distinguish the clutter and sidelobes. Thus, the probability of the
(Nwin) as the Doppler and range. correct target detection is improved. Besides, the iteration of binary
The algorithm operates as below: successive target cancellation algorithms can also improve
detection performance when choosing a reasonable time of
(i) To initialise all the binary map's elements to one, (B)k, l = 1, and iteration.
an index value i = 0.
(ii) Find the greatest peak 5 Acknowledgments
(n^ i, m^ i) = arg max PerF(n, m) s.t. (B)n, m = 1 The author wants to express their gratitude to the Key Laboratory
n, m
(12) of Marine Environmental Monitoring and Information Processing,
(iii) Stop searching if PerF(n^ i, m^ i) < η. Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, for providing
infrastructure and experimental environment. Furthermore, the
(iv) To determine the Doppler and range of the ith target via an
author wants to express thankfulness to the researchers of Harbin
algorithm of interpolation from (n^ i, m^ i), such as quadratic
Institute of Technology for previous work they did which is
interpolation, and to add them to the target list. fundamental of this study.
(v) Set

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Fig. 5 Traffic scenario of a street in HIT

Fig. 6 Target detection by using Periodogram-based estimation Fig. 4 Effect of SNR by using Periodogram-based estimation algorithms
algorithms (a) SNR = 0 dB, (b) SNR = −10 dB

Fig. 7 Target detection with hamming window (Sidelobe attenuation is

about 42 dB)

5608 J. Eng., 2019, Vol. 2019 Iss. 19, pp. 5605-5609

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6 References
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[2] Sturm, C., Pancera, E., Zwick, T., et al.: ‘A novel approach to OFDM radar
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[3] Sturm, C.C., Zwick, T., Wiesbeck, W.: ‘An OFDM system concept for joint
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[5] Singh, U.K., Bhatia, V., Mishra, A.K.: ‘Multiple target detection and
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[6] Zhuang, S.N., Fang, Q., Ren, B.: ‘Extended target detection for OFDM
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Fig. 8 Target detection calculated by the Binary Successive Target

Cancellation algorithms (pFA = 1 × 10−6）
(a) Binary map B for i = 0, (b) Binary map B for i = 2

Fig. 9 Target position after calculating by the algorithms. Except for

stationary targets, all two moving vehicles are detected

J. Eng., 2019, Vol. 2019 Iss. 19, pp. 5605-5609 5609

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