High-resolution signal processing for a switch antenna array FMCW radar with a single channel receiver

Standard high resolution array processing techniques are based on simultaneous sampling of the whole multiple sensor array and, hence, require that the number of receivers should be equal to the number of receiving antennas. A switch antenna array FMCW radar system is introduced as a promising substitute for the multiple-channel array due to its lower cost and a simpler front-end circuitry. New high-resolution signal processing algorithms for the system composed of a single transmitter, m receiving antennas, and a single receiving channel are based on the new nonstationary version of the Capon (1969) beamforming. Simulation demonstrates that the new algorithms yield very good performance in terms of both estimation accuracy and multiple-target resolution. These algorithms give better estimation than the MUSIC algorithm even for the case of slow moving targets.