Method for testing a target object as single point scattering center

Abstract

A vehicle-based method of determining the extent to which a target object is a single point scattering center is provided, wherein the vehicle comprises a radar system including at least one radar transmit element adapted to send a radar signal towards the target object, and a plurality of receiver channels (elements or antennas), each being adapted to receive radar signals reflected from the target object. According to the method, a radar signal is transmitted from the at least one radar transmit element to the target object, and signals being reflected by the target object are received at the receiver channels. A frequency transformation of the reflected signals is performed in order to create a range-Doppler map for each of the plurality of receiver channels. Furthermore, a beam vector is generated by selecting a respective value from each of the range-Doppler maps as an element of the beam vector corresponding to a respective receiver channel. The beam vector is processed by a Fourier transform and a peak amplitude from the Fourier transform is calculated. Finally, a reference value is calculated which depends on the elements of the beam vector, and the peak amplitude is compared with the reference value in order to determine the extent to which the target object is a single point scattering center.