Real time implementation of reconfigurable correlation radar for road anticollision system

Car anti-collision systems are becoming very popular in automotive industry as well as in research. Furthermore, this device could become mandatory aboard vehicle in the next years. The principle of this system is to avoid collision between the equipped vehicle and the one in front, or other kind of obstacles (pedestrians, animals, etc.). As a consequence, this will reduce accidents and enhance road safety. Such systems are studied by the INRETS-LEOST* within the framework of the GRRT, Regional Group for Transportation Research. Those systems use radar detection to measure distance to obstacle and the obstaclepsilas relative speed. Many radar antennas were developed in the INRETS-LEOST* in collaboration with the IEMN**. Most of the microwave sensors were carried out by the IEMN-DHS**. Correlation radar is the most recent radar developed in the LEOST. This paper concerns real time implementation of this radar. We will give the principle of distance measurement using this sensor as well as the implementation of the correlation function on an FPGA. The main contributions of this paper concern the reconfigurable aspect of the correlator, using a VHDL code generator, and enhancements in the correlator architecture.