Parametrization of joint OFDM-based radar and communication systems for vehicular applications

The design process of a joint radar and communication system employing OFDM is analyzed. In particular, the question on how to choose OFDM modulation parameters such as carrier distance, guard interval length, frame length or pilot design is studied. Such systems use the same OFDM frames to transmit data and image the surroundings, so both radar and communication are affected by the choice of these parameters. The main design criteria for the radar component are accuracy of distance and speed measurements, whereas the communication subsystem needs to be designed such that it transmits robustly through a mobile communication channel. As these design criteria often are antipodal, arguments for choosing a particular set of modulation parameters are discussed. The presented design process is applied to the case of a vehicular (car-to-car) communication, in which moving participants communicate in the 24 GHz range.