Radar data processing apparatus and data processing method

Abstract

The invention detects a ghost occurring due to mispairing, reflections from a wall, or the like, and improves the ability of a radar to track targets when actual relative velocity changes by more than a certain value. If a stationary target is present within a prescribed region centered about a moving target, the stationary target is excluded from output data by determining it as being a target resulting from mispairing due to the detection of guardrail posts or similar structures. Further, a moving target that is expected to collide with an eligible target is also excluded from the output data by determining it as being a target resulting from mispairing due to the detection of a target having many reflecting points. For a moving target showing an unlikely relative velocity, pairing with some other peak is attempted by determining the moving target as being a target resulting from mispairing due to the detection of a plurality of moving targets moving in the same direction. When there are two targets substantially equal in distance and velocity, the target located outward, as viewed from the radar-equipped vehicle, is excluded from the output data by determining it as being a ghost occurring due to reflections from a wall or like structure. After checking continuity, if the present data is not one calculated by extrapolation but the previous data is one calculated by extrapolation, filtering calculations are not performed for the calculation of the relative velocity; in other cases, the filtering calculations are performed.