JP2000111636A - High frequency circuit of radar device and radar device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a high frequency circuit of a radar device capable of wholly uniforming oscillating frequencies of high frequency oscillators arranged in a plurality to generate transmission signals and local signals without reducing output of the transmission signals supplied to an antenna and capable of being formed into an MMIC(monolithic microwave integrated circuit). SOLUTION: The transmission parts 12a to 12c for generating transmission signals S sent out as a radar wave have respectively high frequency oscillators OSC, and are constituted so that a reference signal F generated by the reference signal generating part 16 is fed to the respective high frequency oscillators OSC through a common transmission line CL and directional couplers DJ1 to DJ3. Since the respective transmission signals S are respectively generated by the exclusive high frequency oscillators OSC, even if a high frequency circuit is formed into an MMIC, sufficient signal strength can be secured, and since both the respective transmission signals S become the same frequency as the reference signal F by an injection lock of the high frequency oscillators OSC fed with the reference signal F, uniform detecting accuracy can be obtained even in any transmission part 12.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a radar apparatus for obtaining position information of a target object using a plurality of radar beams composed of microwaves and millimeter waves and having different irradiation directions, and a high-frequency circuit constituting the radar apparatus. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a radar apparatus for acquiring position information of a target object by transmitting and receiving a radar wave in a microwave band or a millimeter wave band has been widely used for various applications such as air traffic control and weather observation. Have been.

In recent years, such a radar device has been mounted on a vehicle to detect a collision-prone obstacle existing in front of the vehicle, to issue a warning to a driver, and to control the operation of the vehicle (braking force, etc.). Controls and dangers have been taken. Such an in-vehicle radar device is required to be small and inexpensive and to be capable of scanning a radar beam because it needs to detect an obstacle over a relatively wide range.

As a method of scanning a radar beam, there are known a method of mechanically switching the direction of an antenna for transmitting and receiving radar waves and a method of electronically switching a beam irradiation direction using a plurality of antennas. I have. However, the mechanical switching method has a problem that the switching speed is slow. At present, many radar devices using the electronic switching method have been proposed.

As a radar apparatus using this electronic switching method, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Sho 62-259077 discloses a radar apparatus having a plurality of antennas arranged in different directions.
There is disclosed an apparatus that transmits and receives radar waves in each direction by distributing a transmission signal generated by an impatt oscillator by a power divider and supplying the power-divided transmission signal to each antenna.

On the other hand, as a technique for reducing the size and cost of these radar devices, a monolithic microwave integrated circuit in which a high-frequency circuit for handling microwaves or millimeter waves is integrated on a small semiconductor chip by a semiconductor manufacturing technique. Circuits (MMICs) are known.

[0007]

However, when the high-frequency circuit of the above-mentioned radar device is converted into an MMIC, a so-called solid-state device such as a gun diode or an imput diode provided for generating a transmission signal or a local signal. Must be replaced with an oscillation circuit composed of transistors, stubs, and the like.

[0008] In this oscillator circuit formed as an MMIC, since each element constituting the circuit is extremely small and cannot supply a high-power signal like a solid-state element, the output of the oscillator circuit is distributed. When the power is supplied to a plurality of antennas, there is a problem that the detection distance is significantly reduced.

Therefore, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No.
It is conceivable to provide a transmitting circuit (that is, an oscillating circuit for generating a transmitting signal) for each antenna as described in the above document. However, an oscillating circuit configured as an MMIC is compared with a case using a solid-state element. Thus, there is a problem that it is difficult to accurately adjust the frequency of the transmission signal generated by each transmission circuit.

That is, in the MMIC, since the substrate-shaped elements and patterns are formed by printing using a plate making technique, if the sizes and patterns of the elements constituting the oscillation circuit vary during printing, the oscillation frequency of the oscillation circuit shifts. And moreover
In the MMIC, it is not usually possible to provide a means for finely adjusting the frequency as provided in the solid-state device, and therefore, it is not possible to finely adjust the frequency shifted due to a variation at the time of manufacturing.

[0011] In the FMCW type radar apparatus, which is frequently used as an in-vehicle radar apparatus, a target object is detected using a radar wave whose frequency is continuously changed. Since radar waves having different frequency modulation widths are transmitted and received for each antenna, the accuracy of the distance for each antenna (that is, for each azimuth to be detected) is directly affected by the accuracy of detecting the distance to the target object and the relative speed. Since the situation may be different, it is highly necessary to make the characteristics of the oscillators that generate the transmission signals uniform between the transmission circuits.

Incidentally, for example, it is conceivable to adjust the control voltages individually by using a voltage control oscillator (VCO) capable of externally controlling the oscillation frequency, thereby making the respective frequencies uniform. In addition to the necessity, even if the frequency can be accurately adjusted by the adjustment, the frequency of each oscillator is shifted due to a change over time, so that there is a problem that the oscillator cannot be used stably for a long period of time. .

Further, the high frequency circuit of the radar device is MM
Even if an IC can be used, many antennas are required to scan a wide range with radar waves, or a complicated configuration such as adjusting the phase of a transmission signal depending on the transmission direction is required. It is strongly desired to reduce the size of the entire radar device including the antenna.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems.
The oscillation frequencies of a plurality of high-frequency oscillators provided for generating transmission signals and local signals can be all aligned without lowering the output of the transmission signal supplied to the antenna, and furthermore, the high frequency of the radar device capable of MMIC can be obtained. It is an object to provide a circuit and a small-sized radar device suitable for using such a high-frequency circuit.

[0015]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a high-frequency circuit of a radar apparatus for generating a transmission signal supplied to a transmission antenna and transmitted as a radar wave. A plurality of high-frequency processing units including at least the transmission signal generation unit, and the reference signal injection unit injects the reference signal generated by the reference signal generation unit into each of the high-frequency processing units.

The transmission signal generating means constituting the high-frequency processing section comprises a high-frequency oscillator whose oscillation frequency is locked to the frequency of the reference signal by an injection locking phenomenon (also called injection lock) when the reference signal is injected. Therefore, all the transmission signals generated by each transmission signal generation unit exactly match the frequency and phase of the reference signal.

As described above, according to the high-frequency circuit of the radar apparatus of the present invention, since the high-frequency oscillator for generating the transmission signal is provided for each transmission antenna, the intensity of the transmission signal can be sufficiently increased even if the MMIC is used. Since the high-frequency oscillators and the high-frequency oscillators have exactly the same oscillation frequency and phase, any high-frequency processing unit can detect a target object with high sensitivity and uniform distance accuracy.

Further, since the oscillation of the high-frequency oscillator is controlled by utilizing the injection locking phenomenon, it is not necessary to perform a complicated adjustment work to make the oscillation frequency and the phase of the high-frequency oscillator uniform, and it is not necessary to change over time. As a result, the oscillation frequency does not shift between the respective high-frequency oscillators, so that the reliability and maintainability of the device can be improved.

The high-frequency processing unit includes, in addition to the transmission signal generation means, a local signal generation means for generating a local signal having the same frequency as the transmission signal, and a radar received by the reception antenna. An IF signal generating means for generating an intermediate frequency signal (also referred to as an IF signal) by mixing a local signal with a received wave signal may be provided.

In this case, the local signal generating means may be a signal branching circuit (for example, a directional coupler or the like) for generating a local signal by branching the transmission signal generated by the transmission signal generating means. And a high frequency oscillator whose oscillation frequency is locked to the frequency of the reference signal by an injection locking phenomenon (injection lock) when the reference signal is injected. May be.

In particular, in the case of the configuration according to the fourth aspect, it is not necessary to split the transmission signal for generation of the local signal, so that the transmission signal is transmitted through the transmission antenna and the signal strength. The intensity of the radar wave does not decrease, and the IF signal generating means:
Since an intermediate frequency signal having a large amplitude can be generated using a local signal having a large signal strength, the detection sensitivity can be further improved.

Next, as in the high frequency circuit of the radar device according to any one of claims 2 to 4, when the high frequency processing section includes both the transmission signal generation means and the IF signal generation means, As described in Item 5, a single shared antenna is used as a transmission antenna and a reception antenna, and a signal separation unit that allows a transmission signal to pass from the transmission signal generation unit to the common antenna and a reception signal to pass only from the common antenna to the IF signal generation unit. May be provided.

In this case, since the number of antennas is reduced,
The overall configuration of the radar device including the antenna can be reduced in size,
It can be more suitably used for applications such as in-vehicle use. As a reference signal injecting means for injecting a reference signal into the high frequency processing unit, for example, a signal branch circuit for branching the reference signal generated by the reference signal generating means by the number of high frequency oscillators And the reference signal branched by the signal branch circuit may be injected into a high-frequency oscillator.

Further, the reference signal injection means may be used as a reference signal injection means.
As described, an injection antenna for transmitting a reference signal as a radio wave may be provided, and the radio wave transmitted from the injection antenna may be applied to each of the high-frequency oscillators to thereby inject the reference signal into the high-frequency oscillator. .

In this case, if the high-frequency oscillator is MMIC, the radio wave (reference signal) emitted from the injection antenna is directly received by the elements and stubs constituting the high-frequency oscillator. It is not necessary to provide a terminal for use or a signal branching circuit for distributing the reference signal, and it is not necessary to physically connect the high-frequency oscillator and the reference signal generating means. In addition to the configuration, the degree of freedom in the layout of the high-frequency circuit is increased, so that various shapes can be accommodated depending on the application.

When the reference signal emitted from the injection antenna to the high-frequency processing unit is injected not only into the high-frequency oscillator but also into other circuits, especially IF signal generating means,
There is a possibility that the IF signal generating means is saturated and accurate detection cannot be performed. That is, since the local signal input to the IF signal generating means has the same frequency as the irradiated reference signal, the reference signal injected into the IF signal generating means saturates the IF signal generating means, This makes it impossible to detect the received signal of the radar wave received by.

Therefore, for example, as described in claim 8,
Measures to prevent the reference signal from being injected into the IF signal generation means, such as providing shielding means between the injection antenna and the high-frequency processing unit to shield radio waves emitted toward parts other than the high-frequency oscillator. It is desirable to apply.

Next, in the high frequency circuit of the radar device according to the ninth aspect, each transmission signal generation means is configured to be able to individually start and stop generation of the transmission signal. In the high-frequency circuit of the radar apparatus of the present invention configured as described above, for example, only the transmission signal generation unit that generates a transmission signal to the transmission antenna having the radar beam directed in the direction closest to the target transmission direction is operated. However, if the supply of the transmission signal from the other transmission signal generating means is controlled to be stopped, the beam is not transmitted in a direction other than the target transmission direction. This can be specified as an unnecessary reflected wave caused by multipath (reception of a radar wave reflected by a plurality of objects) and the like, and can be removed in a subsequent process, so that highly reliable detection can be performed.

Since the frequency range in which the high frequency oscillator causes the injection locking phenomenon is limited, for example, FMCW
In the case of modulating the frequency of a transmission signal as in a radar apparatus of a system, if the frequency modulation width is larger than a lockable frequency range, the high-frequency oscillator cannot follow the reference signal.

Therefore, in such a case, the present invention is applied to claim 10
As described above, it is necessary to provide a frequency synchronization means for increasing and decreasing the natural oscillation frequency of the high-frequency oscillator in synchronization with the increase and decrease of the frequency of the reference signal. That is, since the lockable frequency range is widened with the natural oscillation frequency as the center frequency, if the natural oscillation frequency is increased or decreased according to the increase or decrease of the frequency of the reference signal, the reference signal is always within the lockable frequency range. The frequency can be included.

Next, in a radar apparatus provided with the high-frequency circuit according to any one of the first to tenth aspects, the radar apparatus is connected to the high-frequency circuit and used as one of a transmitting antenna, a receiving antenna, and a common antenna. For example, an array antenna in which a plurality of element antennas are linearly arranged and a plane wave in a different direction from the array antenna depending on the incident position of a signal from each high-frequency processing unit. And a Rotman lens that changes the phase of a signal distributed to each of the element antennas so that the light is radiated.

In the radar device thus configured, the radar antenna can be configured to be extremely thin, and the high-frequency circuit can be formed as an MMIC, so that the radar device can be configured to be extremely thin and small. Similarly, in a radar apparatus provided with the high-frequency circuit according to any one of claims 1 to 10, as a radar antenna, a dielectric lens that converges a radar wave, and the dielectric lens A plurality of patch antennas are arranged in the vicinity of the focal position of the lens along the scanning direction of the radar wave, and the patch antennas are provided at each transmission signal output terminal or each reception signal input terminal of the high-frequency circuit, or at each transmission signal input terminal. The one provided for each output terminal may be used.

In the radar device configured as described above, the beam is narrowed down by the dielectric lens, and the antenna gain is increased. Therefore, the sensitivity of the radar can be improved, and if the same sensitivity is obtained, a lower output ( That is, the transmission signal generation means / IF signal generation means (small size) can be used, and the radar apparatus can be further reduced in size.

When the patch antenna is used as described above, it is preferable to use a patch antenna in which the feeding surface and the radiation surface are separated from each other. desirable. That is, the transmission signal generating means and the I
Since the F signal generating means can be easily provided, the layout of the apparatus can be simplified, and the configuration of the entire radar apparatus including the antenna can be reduced in size.

[0035]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. [First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a high-frequency circuit of a radar apparatus according to a first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the high-frequency circuit 10 according to the present embodiment starts / stops according to a control signal C input through a control terminal Tc, and transmits a transmission signal S to a transmission antenna As at the time of startup. Transmitting units 12 (12a to 12c) as high-frequency processing units that output from transmitting terminals Ts
And a mixer MI as an IF signal generating means for generating an intermediate frequency signal IF by mixing a local signal LO with a received signal R from a receiving terminal Tr to which the receiving antenna Ar is connected.
X, and outputs the generated intermediate frequency signal IF to an output terminal To.
And a receiving unit 14 that outputs the data to the outside via a.

The high-frequency circuit 10 of the present embodiment includes a high-frequency oscillator OSCf for generating a reference signal F serving as a reference for a transmission signal S generated by the transmission unit 12 and the high-frequency oscillator OSCf.
A reference signal generation unit 16 as reference signal generation means including an amplifier AMPf for amplifying the output of Cf, a common transmission line CL for transmitting the reference signal F generated by the reference signal generation unit 16, and a common transmission line CL The directional couplers DJ1 to DJ3 for supplying a part of the reference signal F to be transmitted to the transmitters 12a to 12c, and a part of the reference signal F for the local signal LO. And a directional coupler DJ4 for supplying the mixer MIX to be configured. Note that the common transmission line CL and the directional couplers DJ1 to DJ1 to D
J3 corresponds to reference signal injection means.

The transmission units 12a to 12c have exactly the same configuration, and include a high-frequency oscillator OSC as transmission signal generation means for generating a transmission signal S.
As shown in FIG. 2, the high-frequency oscillator OSC has a high electron mobility field effect transistor (HEMT).
n mobility transistor) 20a and HEMT 20a
A negative resistance circuit 20 comprising a feedback stub 20b connected to the source of the HEMT 20a to apply positive feedback to
One end is connected to the gate of the HEMT 20a, the other end is a resonance circuit 22 composed of a transmission line grounded via a capacitor 24, one end is a non-grounded end of the capacitor 24, and the other end is a directional coupler DJn (n = 1). Stub 26 for adjusting the input impedance so that no signal leaks to the directional coupler DJn side, and one end of the HEMT 20a.
And a transmission line 28a having the other end connected to the transmission terminal Ts of the transmission unit 12, and one end connected to the transmission terminal Ts,
The other end is grounded via a capacitor 30 and a resistor 3
And an output matching circuit 28 that adjusts the output impedance of the high-frequency oscillator OSC.

The high-frequency oscillator OSC thus configured
Is activated when power is supplied via the control terminal Tc,
If the reference signal F is not supplied from the directional coupler DJn,
Oscillates at the natural oscillation frequency determined by the circuit configuration.
On the other hand, if the reference signal F is supplied from the directional coupler DJn, the injection locking phenomenon (injection lock) causes
The oscillation frequency is locked, and a transmission signal S having the same frequency and the same phase as the reference signal F is generated.

The high-frequency oscillator OSCf constituting the reference signal generator 16 has the same configuration as that of the above-described high-frequency oscillator OSC, except that the stub 26 is omitted and power is always supplied to the control terminal Tc. The natural oscillation frequencies of the high-frequency oscillators OSC and OSCf are set to be substantially equal.

In the high-frequency circuit 10 of the present embodiment configured as described above, the output of the transmission signal S is permitted by the control signal C (that is, power is supplied via the control terminal Tc). The high-frequency oscillator OSC is activated, and the transmission signal S generated by the high-frequency oscillator OSC is output from the transmission terminal Ts. If the transmitting antenna As is connected to the transmitting terminal Ts, the transmitting antenna As transmits the radar wave.

At this time, the reference signal F generated by the reference signal generator 16 is transmitted to the common transmission line CL and the directional coupler DJ.
Since the high-frequency oscillator OSC is distributed and injected to the high-frequency oscillators OSC of the transmission units 12a to 12c via 1 to DJ3, the activated high-frequency oscillator OSC transmits the same frequency and the same phase as the injected reference signal F by the injection lock. Signal S
Will be output.

A part of the reference signal F is shared by the common transmission line C
L, the mixer M of the receiving unit 14 via the directional coupler DJ4
IX is also supplied as a local signal LO to the mixer MI
X mixes the local signal LO with the reception signal R input from the reception terminal Tr to generate an intermediate frequency signal IF,
Output from the output terminal To to the outside.

Accordingly, the high-frequency circuit 10 of this embodiment and the antennas As, which are connected to the transmission terminal Ts and the reception terminal Tr,
Ar and a control signal C to be applied to the control terminal Tc, and an intermediate frequency signal IF output from the output terminal To.
By combining with a signal processing device that processes the data, a radar device can be easily configured.

As described above, according to the high-frequency circuit 10 of this embodiment, a plurality of transmission signals S, each of which is transmitted as a separate radar wave, are generated using the dedicated high-frequency oscillator OSC. Therefore, the high-frequency circuit 1
0, the signal strength of each transmission signal S can be sufficiently ensured, and the local signal LO having a sufficiently large signal strength can be obtained without lowering the strength of the transmission signal S by branching the reference signal F. Is generated, the conversion gain in the mixer MIX can also be improved.
That is, if a radar device is configured using the high-frequency circuit 10 of the present embodiment, highly sensitive detection can be performed.

When a radar device having a plurality of transmitting antennas As is used as an on-vehicle radar device for detecting a vehicle traveling ahead or an obstacle in a roadside zone, the directivity of the transmitting antenna As is high (that is, as a transmitting antenna As). (With a narrowed radar beam), each arranged to emit radar waves in a different direction.

Specifically, assuming that the beam width of the transmitting antenna As is 10 ° and the azimuth angle in front of the vehicle is 0 °, each beam is connected to each transmitting antenna As continuously along a horizontal plane (road surface). Azimuth angles -10 °, 0 °, +10
(Where the left side is minus and the right side is plus, facing the front), the entire range from -15 ° to + 15 ° can be scanned without omission. In this case, in order to be able to receive radar waves from any of the transmitting antennas As, the receiving antenna Ar having a beam width of 30 ° may be arranged facing the azimuth angle of 0 °.

When the high-frequency circuit 10 of the present embodiment is applied to such a radar device, each of the transmission units 12a to 12a to 12c is controlled by using the injection lock of the high-frequency oscillator OSC.
Since all the frequencies and phases of the transmission signal S generated at 12c are matched, a target object in any direction can be detected with uniform accuracy.

Further, in the high-frequency circuit 10 of the present embodiment, a control terminal Tc is provided for each of the transmission sections 12a to 12c.
Since the start / stop can be performed individually, the high-frequency oscillator OSC is started only in the direction in which transmission is desired, so that radar waves received from directions other than the corresponding direction are specified as unnecessary reflected waves due to multipath or the like. And more reliable detection can be performed.

In this embodiment, the high-frequency circuit 10 includes the receiving unit 14, but the receiving unit 14 and the directional coupler DJ4 that generates a local signal are omitted, and only the transmission of a radar wave is performed. A high frequency circuit may be configured. [Second Embodiment] Next, a second embodiment will be described.

The high-frequency circuit 10a of the present embodiment differs from the high-frequency circuit 10 of the first embodiment only in part of the configuration. The following description focuses on the differences. That is, FIG.
As shown in (1), in the high-frequency circuit 10a of this embodiment, a common transmission line CL for transmitting the reference signal F and a directionality for distributing the reference signal F to each of the transmitters 12a to 12c are provided as a configuration corresponding to the reference signal injection means. Instead of the couplers DJ1 to DJ3, the reference signal F generated by the reference signal generation unit 16 is used as a radio wave, and the high-frequency oscillator OS of each of the transmission units 12a to 12c is used.
An injection antenna At for irradiating and injecting C is provided. Further, the directional coupler D that generates the local signal LO
J4 is provided on a transmission line connecting the reference signal generator 16 and the injection antenna At.

The stub 2 provided to receive the reference signal F from the directional coupler DJn is used as the high-frequency oscillator OSC constituting the transmitting units 12a to 12c.
6 (see FIG. 2) may be omitted. In the high-frequency circuit 10a of the present embodiment thus configured, the reference signal F generated by the reference signal generation unit 16 and applied to the high-frequency oscillator OSC via the injection antenna At uses the stub constituting the high-frequency oscillator OSC. And is received by the transmission line and injected into the high-frequency oscillator OSC.

Then, the high frequency oscillator OSC outputs a transmission signal S having the same frequency and the same phase as the injected reference signal F by the injection lock. As described above, according to the high-frequency circuit 10a of the present embodiment, similarly to the high-frequency circuit 10 of the first embodiment, a plurality of transmission signals S are created using the dedicated high-frequency oscillator OSC, respectively.
Each high-frequency oscillator OS using injection lock
C controls the oscillation state of C, generates a local signal LO by branching the reference signal F, and further transmits the local signals LO.
Are individually activated / stopped, the same effects as in the high-frequency circuit 10 of the first embodiment can be obtained.

In addition to these effects, in the high-frequency circuit 10a of the present embodiment, the reference signal F is converted into radio waves using the injection antenna At and injected into the high-frequency oscillator OSC, and the common transmission line CL and the directional coupling Since the units DJ1 to DJ3 are not required, not only the circuit configuration is simplified, but also since there is no need to physically connect the transmission unit 12 and the reference signal generation unit 16, the degree of freedom in circuit layout is increased, It is possible to flexibly cope with a case where the present invention is applied to an apparatus having many layout restrictions.

In the present embodiment, the high-frequency circuit 10a includes the receiving unit 14, but the high-frequency circuit that transmits only radar waves is configured by omitting the receiving unit 14 and the directional coupler DJ4. You may. In the present embodiment, the local signal LO is generated by branching the reference signal F by the directional coupler DJ4.
Instead of J, an injection-lockable high-frequency oscillator may be provided at a position irradiated with the radio wave from the injection antenna At, and the output of this high-frequency oscillator may be supplied to the mixer MIX as a local signal LO.

In this case, the receiver 14 and the reference signal generator 1
6 does not need to be physically connected, so that the degree of freedom in circuit layout is increased. Further, the high-frequency circuits 10 and 10a of the first and second embodiments use the
Although the number is provided, the number of the transmission units 12 is not limited to this, and two or four or more transmission units may be provided. Third Embodiment Next, a third embodiment will be described.

The high-frequency circuit 10b of the present embodiment differs from the high-frequency circuit 10 of the first embodiment only in part of the configuration. The following description focuses on the differences. As shown in FIG. 4, the high-frequency circuit 10b of the present embodiment is provided with three transmission / reception units 18 (18a to 18c) instead of the transmission unit 12 and the reception unit 14 in the high-frequency circuit 10 of the first embodiment. Directional coupler DJ4 for generating local signal LO
Has been removed. In the present embodiment, the transmitting / receiving section 18 corresponds to a high-frequency processing section.

The transmission / reception units 18a to 18c have exactly the same configuration, and are started / stopped according to a high-frequency oscillator OSC for generating a transmission signal S and a control signal C input via a control terminal Tc. During startup, the amplifier AMPs amplifies the transmission signal S generated by the high-frequency oscillator OSC and outputs the amplified signal to the transmission terminal Ts to which the transmission antenna As is connected, and the transmission signal S generated by the high-frequency oscillator OSC. A directional coupler DJs as a local signal generating means for generating a local signal LO by branching a unit;
The local signal LO from the directional coupler DJs is added to the received signal R from the receiving terminal Tr to which the receiving antenna Ar is connected.
And a mixer MIX as IF signal generating means for generating an intermediate frequency signal IF by mixing the signals and outputting the IF signal from an output terminal To. The high-frequency oscillators OSC of the transmission / reception units 18a to 18c are respectively directional couplers DJ1 to DJ
It is connected so that the reference signal F is supplied through J3.

The high-frequency oscillator OSC according to the present embodiment is set so that power is always supplied from the terminal (see FIG. 2) connected to the control terminal Tc in the first embodiment, and the oscillating operation is always performed. ing. Further, the start / stop of the amplifier AMPs by the control signal C may be realized by controlling the power supply by the control signal C, for example, as in the case of the high-frequency oscillator OSC. It may be realized by changing, specifically, by changing the gate bias of the HEMT if configured.

In the high-frequency circuit 10b of the present embodiment thus configured, the reference signal F generated by the reference signal generation section 16 is transmitted to the common transmission line CL and the directional couplers DJ1 to DJ.
3, the high-frequency oscillator O of each of the transmission / reception units 18a to 18c
Dispensed and injected into SC. Therefore, the high-frequency oscillator OS
C outputs a transmission signal S having the same frequency and the same phase as the injected reference signal F by the injection lock.

The transmission signal S amplified by the amplifier AMPs is output from the transmission terminal Ts only in the transmission / reception section 18 in which the output of the transmission signal S is permitted by the control signal C (the amplifier AMPs is activated). And the transmission terminal T
If the transmitting antenna As is connected to s, the transmitting antenna As transmits the radar wave.

At this time, the transmission signal S generated by the high-frequency oscillator OSC is partially branched by the directional coupler DJs and supplied to the mixer MIX as a local signal LO.
The mixer MIX transmits the local signal LO to the receiving terminal Tr.
Mixed with the received signal R input from the
Is generated and output from the output terminal To to the outside.

Accordingly, the high-frequency circuit 10b of this embodiment is
Antenna A connected to transmitting terminal Ts and receiving terminal Tr
By combining s and Ar with a signal processing device that generates a control signal C to be applied to the control terminal Tc and processes the intermediate frequency signal IF output from the output terminal To, a radar device can be easily configured. Can be.

As described above, according to the high-frequency circuit 10b of this embodiment, the high-frequency oscillator OS
C is provided and the output of the high-frequency oscillator OSC is only branched into two, so that the signal strength of the transmission signal S is not greatly reduced, and the high-frequency circuit 1
Even if 0 is converted to MMIC, the signal strength of the transmission signal S can be sufficiently ensured.

In the high-frequency circuit 10b of this embodiment,
Since the frequencies and phases of the transmission signals S generated by the respective transmission / reception units 18 are all matched by using the injection lock of the high-frequency oscillator OSC, the same as in the high-frequency circuit 10 of the first embodiment, High-frequency circuit 10b of the embodiment
Can detect a target object in any direction with uniform accuracy.

Further, in the high-frequency circuit 10b of this embodiment,
A control terminal Tc is provided for each of the transmission / reception units 18a to 18c so that the output of the transmission signal S can be individually enabled / disabled. By activating the oscillator OSC, a radar wave received from a direction other than the corresponding direction can be specified as an unnecessary reflected wave due to multipath or the like, and highly reliable detection can be performed.

Further, in the high-frequency circuit 10b of this embodiment, as for the mixer MIX for processing the received signal R, all the transmitting and receiving units 18 are operating. If they are set to overlap, outputs (intermediate frequency signal IF) for the same target object can be obtained simultaneously from a plurality of transmission / reception units 18, and by comparing the intensities and phases of these outputs, the reception antenna Ar can be obtained. The direction of arrival of the received radar wave can be accurately detected. [Fourth Embodiment] Next, a fourth embodiment will be described.

The high-frequency circuit 10c of the present embodiment differs from the high-frequency circuit 10b of the third embodiment only in part of the configuration. The following description focuses on the differences. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, in the high-frequency circuit 10c of the present embodiment, the reference signal F is transmitted to the common transmission line CL for transmitting the reference signal F and the transmission / reception units 18a to 18c as a configuration corresponding to the reference signal injection unit. Instead of the directional couplers DJ1 to DJ3 to be distributed, the reference signal F generated by the reference signal generation unit 16 is converted into a radio wave to irradiate and inject the high frequency oscillator OSC of each of the transmission / reception units 18a to 18c with the injection antenna At. Is provided.

As the high-frequency oscillator OSC constituting the transmission / reception units 18a to 18c, similarly to the second embodiment, a stub 26 (see FIG. 9) provided for receiving the supply of the reference signal F from the directional coupler DJn. 2) may be omitted. In the high-frequency circuit 10c of the present embodiment thus configured, the reference signal F generated by the reference signal generation unit 16 and applied to the high-frequency oscillator OSC via the injection antenna At uses the stub constituting the high-frequency oscillator OSC. Or the transmission line, and is injected into the high-frequency oscillator OSC.

Then, the high-frequency oscillator OSC generates a transmission signal S having the same frequency and the same phase as the injected reference signal F by the injection lock. Then, the transmission signal S is output from the transmission terminal Ts, and
Part of the mixer MIX constitutes the same transmission / reception unit 18.
Supplied to

As described above, the high-frequency circuit 10c of the present embodiment
According to the third embodiment, the high-frequency circuit 10b of the third embodiment has the same configuration as that of the high-frequency circuit 10b of the third embodiment except that the method of injecting the reference signal F into the high-frequency oscillator OSC is different. The effect can be obtained.

In addition, the high-frequency circuit 10 of this embodiment
In c, similarly to the high-frequency circuit 10a of the second embodiment, the reference signal F is converted into a radio wave using the injection antenna At and injected into the high-frequency oscillator OSC, and the common transmission line CL and the directional couplers DJ1 to DJ3 are used. Is unnecessary, not only simplifies the circuit configuration, but also eliminates the need to physically connect the transmission / reception unit 18 and the reference signal generation unit 16, thereby increasing the degree of freedom in circuit layout and restricting the layout. It can flexibly cope with application to many devices. [Fifth Embodiment] Next, a fifth embodiment will be described.

The high-frequency circuit 10d of the present embodiment differs from the high-frequency circuit 10b of the third embodiment only in the configuration of the transmitting / receiving section, and therefore, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted. The following description focuses on the differences between the configurations. That is, as shown in FIG.
In 0d, each transmission / reception unit 19 (19a to 19c) includes an injection-lockable high-frequency oscillator OSCr instead of the directional coupler DJs as a configuration corresponding to the local signal generation unit. The high-frequency oscillator OSCr is a high-frequency oscillator OSCr that generates the transmission signal S.
The transmission / reception unit 19 has exactly the same configuration as the transmission / reception unit 19.
The high-frequency oscillators OSCr a to 19c are connected so as to be supplied with reference signals via directional couplers DJ4 to DJ6, respectively. In the high-frequency circuit 10d of the present embodiment configured as described above, the high-frequency oscillator OSC that is injection-locked by the injection of the reference signal F is used.
Operates exactly the same as the high-frequency circuit 10b of the third embodiment except that it generates a local signal having the same frequency and the same phase as the reference signal F.

Therefore, according to the high-frequency circuit 10d of the present embodiment, it is possible to obtain exactly the same effects as those of the high-frequency circuit 10b of the third embodiment. In addition, in the high-frequency circuit 10d of the present embodiment, the transmission signal S is not branched,
In addition, the local signal LO having a large signal strength can be supplied to the mixer MIX by the individual high-frequency oscillator OSCr, and the conversion gain in the mixer MIX can be improved.
The detection sensitivity can be further improved.

In this embodiment, the transmission / reception units 19a to 19a-1
Each of the high-frequency oscillators OSC and OSCr constituting 9c is configured to inject the reference signal F via the common transmission line CL and the directional couplers DJ1 to DJ6.
As in the second and fourth embodiments, the reference signal F generated by the reference signal generation unit 16 is used as the radio wave instead of the common transmission line CL and the directional couplers DJ1 to DJ6, and the transmission and reception units 19a to 19a are used. Irradiation and injection for At 19c
May be provided. [Sixth Embodiment] Next, a sixth embodiment will be described.

The high-frequency circuit 10e of the present embodiment differs from the high-frequency circuit 10b of the third embodiment only in part in the configuration. Therefore, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted. The following description focuses on the parts that do. That is, FIG.
As shown in the figure, the high-frequency circuit 10e according to the present embodiment includes a hybrid coupler 4 as a signal separating unit that connects transmission lines to each of the transmission / reception units 18a to 18c in a ring shape.
0 is connected. In this figure, only the periphery of one transmission / reception unit 18 is shown to make the drawing easy to see.

The hybrid coupler 40 has a transmission / reception terminal Tm to which a shared antenna Am for both transmission and reception is connected, and allows the transmission signal S input from the transmission terminal Ts of the transmission / reception unit 18 to pass only to the transmission / reception terminal Tm. The reception signal R input from the transmission / reception terminal Tm is transmitted to the transmission / reception unit 1
8 is a well-known device configured to pass only through the reception terminal Tr of No. 8.

If the radar device is configured using the high-frequency circuit 10e of the present embodiment configured as described above, the number of antennas can be reduced. Therefore, not only can the device be reduced in size, but also the radar beam can be reduced by each common antenna Am. Since the transmission time and the reception time are completely the same, the capability of the antenna Am can be effectively used to the maximum.

In this embodiment, the hybrid coupler 40 is applied to the high-frequency circuit 10b of the third embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the high-frequency circuits 10c and 10d described in the fourth and fifth embodiments may be used. As described above, the present invention can be similarly applied as long as it has a transmission / reception unit having both the transmission terminal Ts and the reception terminal Tr.

In this embodiment, the hybrid coupler 40 is used. However, a circulator using a permanent magnet, a rat race circuit, or the like that can obtain the same operation as the hybrid coupler 40 may be used. Seventh Embodiment Next, a high-frequency circuit 10f according to the present embodiment, which will be described with reference to a seventh embodiment, is the same as the high-frequency circuit 10f according to the third embodiment.
Since the configuration is only partially different from b, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted, and the description will focus on portions having different configurations.

That is, the high-frequency circuit 10f of the present embodiment is applied to an FMCW type radar device which detects a target object using a radar wave whose frequency continuously changes in a triangular waveform. As shown in FIG.
To 18c and the high-frequency oscillator OSCf forming the reference signal generator 16 are configured to change the natural oscillation frequency in accordance with the modulation signal M. A generating triangular wave generator 42 is provided. In FIG. 8, only one transmitting / receiving unit 18 is shown for easy viewing, but the high-frequency oscillator OSC of the other transmitting / receiving unit 18 is shown.
Is also configured to receive the supply of the modulation signal M from the triangular wave generator 42. This triangular wave generator 42 and a modulation signal M from the triangular wave generator 42 to the high-frequency oscillator OSC.
Is equivalent to the frequency synchronization means.

Here, as shown in FIG. 9, the high-frequency oscillator OSC constituting each transmission / reception section 18 includes resistors 36a, 36a in addition to the configuration of the high-frequency oscillator described above with reference to FIG.
6b and 36c, a bias voltage obtained by dividing the modulation signal M from the triangular wave generator 42 is applied to the connection end between the resonance circuit 22 and the capacitor 24, so that the bias voltage is applied to the gate of the HEMT 20a via the resonance circuit 22. There is provided a bias application circuit 36 for applying. However, one end is transmission line 2
8b and the resistor 32 connected to the connection end of the capacitor 30
To the other end, a power supply voltage or a constant voltage obtained by dividing the power supply voltage is applied.

In the high-frequency oscillator OSC, the modulation signal M
The bias voltage applied between the gate and the source of the HEMT 20a changes according to (the voltage value of the HEMT 20a), and the natural oscillation frequency changes due to the change in the gate-to-source capacitance, thereby enabling the injection lock. Frequency range (hereinafter referred to as lockable range) changes.

The high-frequency oscillator OSCf constituting the transmission / reception section 16 has exactly the same configuration except that the stub 26 is omitted.
f is set to oscillate at substantially the same frequency with respect to the modulation signal M of the same magnitude.

According to the high-frequency circuit 10f of the present embodiment thus configured, as shown in FIG. 10A, the reference signal F (that is, the transmission signal S) changes along with the change in the frequency of the reference signal F. Since the lockable range of the injected high-frequency oscillator OSC changes, the injection lock can be reliably performed even when the frequency modulation width of the reference signal F is larger than the lockable range. It can be suitably used.

As shown in FIG. 10B, when the frequency modulation width of the reference signal F is smaller than the lockable range of the high-frequency oscillator OSC constituting the transmitting / receiving section 18, the modulation signal M is applied to the high-frequency oscillator OSC. Instead, the natural oscillation frequency of the high-frequency oscillator OSC may be fixed near the center of the frequency modulation width.

Further, in this embodiment, the configuration in which the triangular wave generator 42 is added to the high-frequency circuit 10b of the third embodiment has been described, but the high-frequency oscillator O for generating the transmission signal S has been described.
The technique of changing the natural oscillation frequency of the SC similarly to the frequency of the reference signal F may be applied to the other embodiments described above.

In the high-frequency circuits 10b to 10d of the third to fifth embodiments, three transmission / reception units 18, 19 have been described. However, the number of transmission / reception units 18, 19 is not limited to this. Two or four or more may be provided. [Eighth Embodiment] Next, a radar apparatus configured by applying the high-frequency circuit 10 of the first embodiment will be described.

FIG. 11A shows a radar device 50 of this embodiment.
FIG. 11B is a perspective view of the antenna unit as viewed from the front and rear. FIG.
As shown in (a), the radar device 50 of the present embodiment has an antenna unit 52 for transmitting a radar wave and a transmitting unit 54 (54a) which is a MMIC of the transmitting unit 12 of the high-frequency circuit 10 shown in FIG. High-frequency circuit 56 having a plurality of
And a control signal C applied to the control terminal Tc of each transmitting unit 54
And a signal processing circuit 58 for detecting a target object based on the intermediate frequency signal IF obtained from the output terminal To of the high frequency circuit 56. That is, the high-frequency circuit 56 has a configuration in which the transmission unit 12 is added to the high-frequency circuit 10 of the first embodiment.

Of these, the antenna section 52 is
As shown in (b), an array antenna 52a in which planar antennas A to G are linearly arranged along the radar wave scanning direction, and a transmission signal transmitted from a transmission terminal Ts of each transmission unit 54a to 54g. A high-frequency circuit 56 and a signal processing circuit 58 are provided on the back surface of the Lotman lens 52b (the mounting surface of the flat antennas A to H). Is mounted on the other side). The transmission terminals Ts of the respective transmission units 54 are arranged in a line along the radar wave scanning direction, similarly to the planar antennas A to G.

In the Rotman lens 52b, the transmission signal S input from the transmission unit 54a is transmitted to the planar antenna A so as to have the smallest phase delay and conversely to the planar antenna G so as to have the largest phase delay. At the same time, the phase lag is transmitted to the planar antennas B to F in such a manner that the phase lag gradually increases at equal intervals toward the F side. For this reason, the array antenna 52a
A plane wave is emitted in a direction inclined from the front of a to the plane antenna H side.

On the other hand, the transmission signal S input from the transmission unit 54d arranged at the center is transmitted to all the planar antennas A to G with the same phase delay. Therefore, a plane wave is radiated from the array antenna 52a toward the front of the array antenna 52a.

Therefore, according to the radar device 50 of the present embodiment, the control signal C is used to control the start / stop of the transmission unit 54 so that only one of the transmission units 54 is sequentially activated. If the processing circuit 58 is configured, it is possible to scan the transmission beam, and as described above, it is possible to perform highly reliable detection capable of reliably removing unnecessary reflected waves such as multipath.

Further, in the radar device 50 of this embodiment, since the antenna section 52 is constituted by the planar antennas A to G and the Rotman lens 52b, an extremely thin device can be constituted. In the present embodiment, the first
Although the radar device to which the high-frequency circuit 10 of the embodiment is applied has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and any of the above-described high-frequency circuits 1
0a to 10f may be applied.

In particular, when the high-frequency circuits 10b to 10d having a transmitting / receiving section are used instead of the transmitting section, it is necessary to prepare two sets of antenna sections 52 for the transmitting terminal Ts and the receiving terminal Tr. However, when the high-frequency circuit 10e in which the hybrid coupler 40 is added to the transmitting and receiving unit is applied, it is not necessary to separately provide a receiving antenna, and only one set of the antenna unit 52 may be provided. [Ninth Embodiment] Next, a radar device 60 to which the high-frequency circuit 10b of the third embodiment is applied will be described.

FIG. 12A shows the radar device 6 of this embodiment.
FIG. 12B is a perspective view illustrating an appearance of the light-emitting element 0, and FIG. As shown in FIG.
The radar device 60 of the present embodiment is configured such that the transmitting and receiving unit 18 of the high-frequency circuit 10b shown in FIG.
2. A board 64 on which a pair of patch antennas PAs and PAr provided for transmission and reception are mounted, respectively.
Are arranged in a row (seven in this embodiment), the beam width of the radar wave radiated from the transmitting patch antenna PAs is reduced, and the radar wave incident from the outside is received. And a dielectric lens 68 that converges on the patch antenna PAr.

Here, FIG. 13A is a front view of the carrier 66 and a cross-sectional view taken along line XX, and FIG. 13B is a rear view of the carrier 66. As shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B, the patch antennas PAs and PAr each have a substrate 64 having a radio wave input / output surface formed on one surface and a power supply surface formed on the other surface. Have been. Then, the substrate 64
A transmission / reception unit 62 is mounted at the center of the
, Patch antennas PAs and PAr are mounted on both sides. The substrate 64 includes patch antennas PAs, P
The carrier 66 is attached to the carrier 66 such that the side on which the Ar incident / exit surface is formed is opposed to the rear surface of the carrier 66.

The carrier 66 is provided with a window 76a at a position facing each of the patch antennas PAs and PAr for exposing an incident surface thereof. A common transmission line C for transmitting the reference signal F is provided on the rear side of the carrier 66.
L, a directional coupler DJn that branches a part of the reference signal F from the transmission line group for transmitting the control signal C and the intermediate frequency signal IF and the common transmission line CL and supplies the reference signal F to the transmission / reception unit 62.
, And a reference signal generation unit 16 (not shown) for generating the reference signal F is also mounted. That is, on the carrier 66, a high-frequency circuit having a configuration in which the transmitting and receiving unit 18 is added to the high-frequency circuit 10b of the third embodiment is mounted.

The carrier 66 thus configured is arranged near the focal position of the dielectric lens 68 so that the substrates 64 are arranged in parallel with the dielectric lens 68 and along the scanning direction of the radar wave. I have. Then, as shown in FIG. 12B, with the radiation direction of the radar wave as the front, the beams of the patch antennas PAs and PAr on the substrate 64 a disposed on the rightmost side toward the front are caused by the action of the dielectric lens 68. , The patch antenna PA is radiated in a direction inclined to the left toward the front, and has a substrate 64d disposed at the center.
The s, PAr beam is emitted toward the front. That is, each of the substrates 64 (64a to 64g) is configured to transmit and receive radar waves in different directions depending on the arrangement position.

As described above, according to the radar device 60 of this embodiment, since the patch antennas PAs and PAr in which the radiation surface and the feed surface are formed on different surfaces of the substrate 64 are used, The transmission / reception unit 62 and the like can be easily arranged on the back surface (the same surface as the power supply surface), and a compact device can be configured.

Further, in the radar device 60 of this embodiment, by using the dielectric lens 68, the mounting angle of the substrates 64 (that is, the patch antennas PAr and PAs) with respect to the carrier 66 does not change for each substrate 64. Since the radiation direction of the radar beam is changed,
Creation of the device can be facilitated. [Tenth Embodiment] Next, a radar apparatus to which the high-frequency circuit 10c of the fourth embodiment is applied will be described.

The radar device 70 of this embodiment differs from the radar device 60 of the ninth embodiment only in the configuration of the carrier 66, and therefore only the carrier 76 will be described. FIG. 14 is a front view of a carrier part in the radar device of the present embodiment, and its YY sectional view.

As shown in FIG. 14, the carrier 76 in the radar apparatus according to the present embodiment has the high frequency circuit 1 shown in FIG.
The transmission / reception unit 7 in which the transmission / reception unit 18 of Oc is converted to an MMIC
2. A board 74 on which a pair of patch antennas PAs and PAr provided for transmission and reception are mounted, respectively.
These substrates 74 are mounted on the carrier 66 as in the ninth embodiment. In addition, only the transmission line group ML for transmitting the control signal C and the intermediate frequency signal IF is provided on the rear surface of the carrier 76.

At the rear of the carrier 76 (on the side facing the rear surface), a circuit 73 in which the reference signal generator 16 of the high-frequency circuit 10c shown in FIG. 5 is formed as an MMIC, and a patch antenna PAt as an injection antenna At. And a second carrier 77 on which a substrate 75 on which is mounted is mounted. The substrate 75 is attached to the back surface of the second carrier 77, and the second carrier 77 is provided with a window 77a for exposing the patch antenna PAt at a portion facing the patch antenna PAt.

Further, the carrier 76 and the second carrier 77
A shielding plate 80 made of a metal plate or the like and serving as shielding means for blocking the passage of radio waves is provided between them. However, as shown in FIG.
An opening 80a for allowing the radio wave (reference signal F) from the second carrier 77 to pass therethrough is provided in a portion of the second carrier 2 facing the mounting position of the high-frequency oscillator OSC.

As shown in FIG. 14B, the window 77a formed in the second carrier 77 is formed to be horizontally long so that radio waves can be spread in the direction of arrangement of the substrates 74 on which the transmitting / receiving section 72 is mounted. . In the thus configured radar device 70 of the present embodiment, the radio wave (reference signal F) emitted from the patch antenna PAt of the second carrier 77 is
Since it is limited by 0 and is irradiated only to the high-frequency oscillator OSC, there is no inconvenience that the mixer MIX or the like is irradiated and the mixer MIX is saturated, and the reliability of the device can be improved.

In this embodiment, the description has been given of the radar apparatus to which the high-frequency circuit 10c of the fourth embodiment is applied.
The above-mentioned shielding plate 80 is not limited to this, and the injection antenna A
The same can be applied as long as the reference signal F is injected into the high-frequency circuit by radio waves using t.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a high-frequency circuit according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of a high-frequency oscillator.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a high-frequency circuit according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a high-frequency circuit according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram of a high-frequency circuit according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram of a high-frequency circuit according to a fifth embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram of a high-frequency circuit according to a sixth embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a schematic configuration diagram of a high-frequency circuit according to a seventh embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a circuit diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of a high-frequency oscillator.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation of the high-frequency circuit according to the seventh embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram and a perspective view illustrating a configuration of a radar apparatus according to an eighth embodiment.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of a radar device according to a ninth embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a front view, a rear view, and a cross-sectional view of the carrier.

FIG. 14 is a front view and a cross-sectional view of a carrier in a radar device according to a tenth embodiment.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the appearance of a shape of a shielding plate and a configuration of a reference wave transmitting unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

10, 10a to 10f, 56 ... high frequency circuit 12 (12a to 12c), 54 (54a to 54d) ... transmission unit 14 (14a to 14c) ... reception unit 16, 73 ... reference signal generation unit 16 (16a to 16c), 18 (18a-18c), 1
9 (19a to 19c), 62, 72...
... Negative resistance circuit 22 ... Resonance circuit 24,30 ... Capacitor 26 ... Stub 28 ... Output matching circuit 32 ... Resistance 36 ... Bias applying circuit 40 ... Hybrid coupler 42 ... Triangular wave generator 50,60,70 ... Radar device 52 ... Antenna Section 52a: Array antenna 52b: Rotman lens 58: Signal processing circuit 64 (64a to 64d), 7
4, 75: substrate 66: carrier 68: dielectric lens 76, 77
... Carriers 76a, 77a ... Window 80 ... Shielding plate 80a ... Openings A to G ... Planar antennas AMPf, AMPs ... Amplifier Am ... Shared antennas Ar ... Receiving antennas As
... Transmission antenna At ... Injection antenna CL ... Common transmission line ML
... Transmission line group DJn (DJ1 to DJ6), DJs ... Directional coupler
MIX: Mixer OSC, OSCf, OSCr: High-frequency oscillator PAr, PAs, PAt: Patch antenna Ts: Transmission terminal Tr: Reception terminal Tm: Transmission / reception terminal Tc: Control terminal To: Output terminal

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. A high-frequency circuit of a radar apparatus including a plurality of high-frequency processing units including at least a transmission signal generating unit for generating a transmission signal supplied to a transmission antenna and transmitted as a radar wave, wherein the frequency of the transmission signal is Reference signal generating means for generating a reference signal for defining; and reference signal injecting means for injecting the reference signal generated by the reference signal generating means into each of the high-frequency processing units. The high frequency circuit of a radar device, wherein the generation means comprises a high frequency oscillator whose oscillation frequency locks to the frequency of the reference signal by injection locking when the reference signal is injected. 2. The high-frequency circuit of the radar device according to claim 1, wherein the high-frequency processing unit generates a local signal having the same frequency as the transmission signal, and a radar wave received by a reception antenna. A high frequency circuit for a radar device, comprising: an IF signal generating unit that generates an intermediate frequency signal by mixing the received signal of (1) with the local signal generated by the local signal generating unit. 3. The high-frequency circuit of a radar device according to claim 2, wherein the local signal generation unit branches from a transmission signal generated by the transmission signal generation unit to generate the local signal. A high-frequency circuit for a radar device. 4. The high-frequency circuit according to claim 2, wherein said local signal generating means locks an oscillation frequency to a frequency of said reference signal by a synchronous injection phenomenon when said reference signal is injected. A high-frequency circuit for a radar device, comprising: 5. The high-frequency circuit of a radar device according to claim 2, wherein a single shared antenna is used as the transmission antenna and the reception antenna, and the transmission signal is shared from the transmission signal generation unit. The received signal from the shared antenna to the IF
A high-frequency circuit for a radar device, comprising: a signal separating unit that passes only to a signal generating unit. 6. The high-frequency circuit of a radar device according to claim 1, wherein said reference signal injection means converts the reference signal generated by said reference signal generation means into a number equal to the number of said high-frequency oscillators. A high-frequency circuit for a radar device, comprising: a signal branching circuit for branching, wherein a reference signal branched by the signal branching circuit is injected into each of the high-frequency oscillators. 7. The high-frequency circuit of a radar device according to claim 1, wherein said reference signal injection means includes an injection antenna for transmitting said reference signal as a radio wave, and said reference signal injection means transmits said reference signal from said injection antenna. A high-frequency circuit for a radar apparatus, wherein the reference signal is injected into the high-frequency oscillator by irradiating each of the high-frequency oscillators with the generated radio waves. 8. The high-frequency circuit of a radar device according to claim 7, further comprising: shielding means for shielding a radio wave emitted toward a portion other than the high-frequency oscillator between the injection antenna and the high-frequency processing unit. A high-frequency circuit for a radar device, comprising: 9. The high-frequency circuit of a radar device according to claim 1, wherein each of the transmission signal generation units is configured to be capable of individually starting and stopping generation of the transmission signal. The high frequency circuit of the radar device. 10. The high-frequency circuit of the radar device according to claim 1, further comprising: a frequency synchronization unit configured to increase or decrease the natural oscillation frequency of the high-frequency oscillator in synchronization with an increase or decrease in the frequency of the reference signal. A high-frequency circuit for a radar device. 11. The high-frequency circuit according to claim 1, further comprising: a radar antenna connected to the high-frequency circuit and used as one of the transmitting antenna, the receiving antenna, or the shared antenna. In the radar device, the radar antenna radiates plane waves in different directions from the array antenna depending on an array antenna in which a plurality of element antennas are linearly arranged and an incident position of a signal from each high-frequency processing unit. And a Rotman lens that changes the phase of a signal distributed to each of the element antennas. 12. The high-frequency circuit according to claim 1, further comprising: a radar antenna connected to the high-frequency circuit and used as one of the transmitting antenna, the receiving antenna, or the shared antenna. In the radar apparatus, the radar antenna includes: a dielectric lens that converges a radar wave; and a plurality of patch antennas that are arranged near a focal position of the dielectric lens along a scanning direction of the radar wave. A radar device, wherein the patch antenna is provided for each transmission signal output terminal, each reception signal input terminal, or each transmission / output signal input / output terminal of the high-frequency circuit. 13. The radar device according to claim 12, wherein the patch antenna is supplied with power from one surface of a substrate on which the patch antenna is formed, and emits a radar wave from the other surface. A radar apparatus characterized by being configured as described above.