3D Localization Using a Scalable FMCW MIMO Radar Design

The localization of targets in a 2D or 3D manner becomes more important for many fields such as security, industrial or automotive applications. FMCW MIMO radar is one candidate for executing this task. From a system design perspective, the number of antennas is a key aspect. Based on a proposed hardware design, we investigate in this paper how many antennas are needed for accurate direction of arrival (DoA) estimation. In order to find the relationship between the number of antennas and accuracy of DoA estimation, a 2D FFT based approach and another hybrid one using FFT in combination with MUSIC are examined. The simulations show, that the hybrid approach requires much less antennas to provide an accurate DoA estimation. Moreover, it shows significantly better results in noisy scenarios.