Auto-Radar Drive Scenario Simulation: Increasing Realism With Multipath, Diffuse Scattering, And Micro-Doppler

Drive scenario simulation can offer significant benefits for early testing of sensor designs and as a complement to operational road tests. However, focusing on mmWave radar sensors, there are several challenges to simulation of a realistic automotive scenario:

• Near-field conditions that invalidate traditional RCS concepts
• ​Densely-faceted vehicle models; complex for traditional “propagation” ray-tracers
• Complex multipath from roadside structures (guard rails, signs, parked vehicles, etc.)
• Dynamic scenarios with multiple vehicles in motion, potentially with moving parts

This presentation uses WaveFarer® Radar Simulation Software to describe these challenges, possible solutions, and recent R&D to address key aspects of the problem, including target scattering, multipath and clutter, and micro-Doppler from motion such as the moving limbs of a walking pedestrian.