JP2011232099A - Radar processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a radar processor which is capable of using a maximum processing time for signal processing.SOLUTION: The radar processor includes: an observation control unit 1 for managing observation specifications to control observation using a radar; a tracking processing database 4 for storing information of a plurality of tracking processing units; a signal processing unit 2 for processing a received signal; a tracking processing unit 3 for performing processing of tracking a target; a tracking processing load prediction unit 5 which retrieves information of a target tracking processing unit from the tracking processing database 4 to calculate an upper limit of a processing time for the tracking processing unit on the basis of the observation specifications and outputs the calculated upper limit of the processing time for the tracking processing unit and observation specifications; and a signal processing content modification unit 6 which calculates a processing time permitted for signal processing by subtracting the upper limit of the processing time for the tracking processing unit from a predetermined upper limit of a time between reception of a radio wave and output of a tracking result by the radar and modifies parameters defining a processing time of signal processing on the basis of the calculated processing time for signal processing and the observation specifications to output the modified parameters to the signal processing unit 2.

Description

  The present invention relates to a radar processing apparatus that detects and detects a target using radio waves and performs tracking.

  The radar processing apparatus detects and detects a signal corresponding to a target by performing signal processing on a radar reception signal received by an antenna, and performs target tracking processing based on the signal detected by the target. . A series of processing from receiving from the antenna to obtaining the tracking processing result is so-called real-time processing that must be processed within a certain time, for example, until the next scan.

  The processing load of these signal processing and tracking processing varies depending not only on the observation mode but also on the target number, weather, and radio wave conditions. In particular, in the case of tracking processing, the processing load varies significantly depending on the target number. As described above, the radar processing apparatus sometimes has a large processing load or a small processing load. However, in order to guarantee real-time processing even at the maximum processing load, the scale of the processing apparatus inevitably increases.

  Therefore, a method has been proposed in which the processing load of the processing device is observed and the content of processing for subsequent radar signal data is changed based on the processing load. That is, when the processing load is low, the processing load may be high, so that the subsequent processing is performed in detail, and when the processing load is high, it is roughly performed so as not to increase the processing load.

  In Patent Document 1, the processing load status of each process of the radar signal input (buffer memory), the target detection unit (signal processing unit), and the data processing unit (tracking processing unit) is constantly monitored and observed, and a specific process is performed. It is disclosed that when the processing load increases, the processing load is reduced by thinning out data by a predetermined method according to the processing.

  Further, in Patent Document 2, the processing load factor of the CPU is observed, a computer surplus amount, that is, a processing time that can be spent on signal processing is obtained, and a radar parameter that can be multiplied by the processing time is obtained from a table prepared in advance. It is disclosed to apply it to a radar apparatus.

JP 2005-337883 A JP 2006-329669 A

Hiroyuki Sato, Ikuo Ozaki: "Evaluation of power consumption reduction method in parallel processing environment", Information Processing Society of Japan Research Report, 2007-ARC-174, 2007

  In Patent Document 1, the processing load is individually observed for signal processing and tracking processing, and the processing content is changed according to each processing load. However, it is necessary to maintain the real-time property in both the signal processing and tracking processing time for each received radar signal data, and not the single processing time for signal processing and tracking processing. For example, if the tracking processing time is short, the real-time property can be maintained even if time is spent on the signal processing. However, in the method of Patent Document 1, data is thinned if the signal processing load is high even if the tracking processing load is low. . That is, the method of Patent Document 1 has a problem in that data may be thinned out even if the processing capability of the apparatus is sufficient.

  In Patent Document 2, processing contents (radar parameters) corresponding to the processing time that can be spent are provided in a prepared table. However, in the case of tracking processing, the processing time differs depending on the target number even if the processing contents are the same. There was a problem that an accurate table could not be prepared because of its characteristics.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and predicts the processing time of the tracking process corresponding to the received radar signal data, so that the radar signal can be maintained within a range where real-time characteristics can be maintained. An object of the present invention is to obtain a radar processing apparatus that can spend the maximum processing time for signal processing on data.

  A radar processing apparatus according to the present invention includes an observation control unit that manages observation parameters of a received signal and controls observation by a radar, a tracking processing database that stores information of a plurality of tracking processing units, and signals the received signal. A signal processing unit that detects and detects a signal corresponding to the target by processing, and performs target tracking processing based on the signal detected by the signal processing unit, and the correspondence stored in the tracking processing database Based on the observation specifications from the observation control unit and the tracking processing unit that updates the information of the tracking processing unit to be extracted, information on the target tracking processing unit is extracted from the tracking processing database, and the processing time of the tracking processing unit is A tracking processing load prediction unit that calculates an upper limit value and outputs the upper limit value of the processing time of the calculated tracking processing unit and the observation specifications; and a preset radar By subtracting the upper limit value of the processing time of the tracking processing unit from the upper limit value of the time from when the radio wave is received until the tracking result is output, the processing time that can be spent on signal processing is calculated, and the calculated signal processing A signal processing content changing unit that changes the signal processing content and outputs the signal processing content to the signal processing unit based on time and the observation specifications.

  The radar processing apparatus according to the present invention predicts the processing time of the tracking process corresponding to the received radar signal data, thereby maximizing the processing for signal processing on the radar signal data within a range in which real-time characteristics can be maintained. Can spend time.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the radar processing apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the correspondence of the observation range of the radar processing apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention, and a tracking process unit. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the radar processing apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention.

  A preferred embodiment of a radar processing apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
A radar processing apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a radar processing apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In the following, in each figure, the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts.

  Referring to FIG. 1, a radar processing apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention includes an observation control unit 1 that manages observation parameters such as radar coverage, pulse width and pulse repetition interval, and controls observation by a radar, and an antenna. The signal processing unit 2 detects and detects a signal corresponding to the target by performing signal processing on the received signal S received in step S, and performs target tracking processing based on the signal detected by the signal processing unit 2 The tracking processing unit 3 that outputs the tracking processing result, the tracking processing database 4 that holds information of each tracking processing unit, and the observation specifications of the received signal from the observation control unit 1 are received, and the corresponding tracking processing unit is based on that. The tracking processing load prediction unit 5 that predicts the processing load of the tracking processing unit, and the processing time that can be spent for signal processing is calculated from the tracking processing time predicted by the tracking processing load prediction unit 5 And is provided with the signal processing content changing section 6 to change the signal process contents depending on the time.

  Next, the operation of the radar processing apparatus according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the correspondence relationship between the observation range and the tracking processing unit of the radar processing apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  The processing method of the tracking process is shown in Non-Patent Document 1. According to Chapter 3.1 of Non-Patent Document 1, the processing unit for performing the tracking process is a cluster that is a set of wakes overlapping gates that are predicted positions at the time of the next observation of the target. This cluster represents a spatial range.

  The tracking processing database 4 stores, for each tracking unit, that is, for each cluster, the spatial range of the cluster, the number of target targets in the cluster, and the latest average value of the processing time of the cluster.

  The tracking processing load prediction unit 5 receives observation specification information corresponding to the received signal S received from the observation control unit 1, obtains a beam coverage (observation range), and uses the observation range information for the tracking processing database. The information of the tracking processing unit stored in 4 is searched.

  As shown in FIG. 2, A-1 to A-7 are beam coverages (observation ranges), and B-1 to B-7 are clusters (tracking processing units).

  2A shows an example in which three tracking processing units correspond to one observation range, and FIG. 2B shows an example in which one tracking processing unit corresponds to three observation ranges. (C) is an example in which three tracking processing units correspond to three observation ranges.

  When the tracking processing load predicting unit 5 searches the tracking processing database 4 and the correspondence relationship between the observation range and the tracking processing unit is as shown in FIG. 2A, the tracking processing unit B-1 corresponding immediately , B-2 and B-3 are predicted.

  When the correspondence relationship between the observation range and the tracking processing unit is as shown in FIG. 2B, the tracking processing load predicting unit 5 includes the observation ranges A-2 and A including all the tracking processing unit ranges. -3, A-4 is waited until a reception signal corresponding to A-4 is input, and then processing time prediction of the tracking processing unit B-4 is performed.

  Furthermore, when the correspondence relationship between the observation range and the tracking processing unit is as shown in FIG. 2C, the tracking processing load prediction unit 5 first predicts the processing time of the tracking processing unit B-5, and the observation range. After waiting until the reception signals corresponding to A-6 and A-7 are input, the processing time of the tracking processing units B-6 and B-7 is predicted.

  Next, processing time prediction for each tracking processing unit will be described.

  According to Chapter 3.2 of Non-Patent Document 1, the processing time of the tracking process is the load prediction value “number of tracks (target target number) × number of correlation detection data” and the latest average value of the processing time of the tracking process. It is shown that it can be obtained from Here, the recent average value of the target target number and the processing time can be obtained from the tracking processing database 4, but the number of correlation detection data is obtained from the detected target data which is the result of signal processing. I don't know before processing. However, since there is an upper limit to the number of target data to be detected, it is possible to predict the upper limit value of the tracking processing time.

  The tracking process load prediction unit 5 extracts the target target number of the target tracking process unit and the latest average value of the processing time from the tracking process database 4 and calculates the upper limit value of the processing time of the target tracking process unit. Then, the upper limit value of the calculated processing time of the tracking processing unit and the observation parameters corresponding to the received signal S sent from the observation control unit 1 are sent to the signal processing content changing unit 6.

  The signal processing content changing unit 6 determines the tracking processing load prediction unit 5 based on an upper limit value (time limit for real-time processing) from when a preset radar receives a radio wave until the tracking result is output. By subtracting the upper limit value of the tracking processing time sent from, the processing time that can be spent on signal processing of this radar reception data is obtained. Then, based on the value and the observation specifications sent from the tracking processing load prediction unit 5, the parameter that defines the processing time of the signal processing is changed, and the parameter is sent to the signal processing unit 2.

  The parameters that define the processing time of the signal processing include, for example, not only a simple numerical value such as a threshold value of the signal intensity at the time of target detection and the number of targets to be detected but also a plurality of algorithms having different processing times of the signal processing. Prepare the algorithm itself as a parameter. Selecting parameters that require processing time improves the accuracy of signal processing. In the case of signal processing, unlike tracking processing, there is little variation in processing time due to the number of targets, weather, radio wave conditions, etc. Accordingly, since the processing time of the signal processing can be predicted relatively accurately, it is possible to easily change the signal processing parameters so that the desired processing time is obtained.

  The signal processing unit 2 detects and detects a signal corresponding to the target by performing signal processing on the received signal S with the parameter changed by the signal processing content changing unit 6, and sends the result to the tracking processing unit 3.

  The tracking processing unit 3 receives the detection data group that is the signal processing result sent from the signal processing unit 2, and searches the tracking processing unit 4 for information on the tracking processing unit stored in the tracking processing database 4 with the position information of the detection data group. Then, target tracking processing is performed for the tracking processing unit. Then, the tracking processing result is output, and the spatial range of the corresponding tracking processing unit, the target target number, and the latest average value of the processing time in the tracking processing database 4 are updated.

  The radar processing apparatus according to the first embodiment predicts the processing time of the tracking process corresponding to the radar signal data to be processed from now on, and is the maximum in the signal processing corresponding to the radar signal data within a range where the real-time property can be maintained. Since the parameter that defines the processing time of signal processing is changed so as to spend a limited processing time, there is an effect that signal processing with high accuracy can be performed. In addition, in the situation where the number of target targets is small, the tracking processing time is shortened, so that it is possible to increase the signal processing time, so that it is possible to detect and detect targets that cannot be detected or detected by normal processing. effective.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
A radar processing apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described.

  The radar processing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention is different in the operation (processing contents) of the signal processing content changing unit 6 from the radar processing apparatus according to the first embodiment, and is otherwise the same. Since there is, explanation is omitted.

  In the signal processing content changing unit 6 of the first embodiment described above, the parameters that define the processing time of the signal processing are changed based on the processing time that can be spent on the signal processing and the observation specifications. On the other hand, the signal processing content changing unit 6 of the second embodiment changes a parameter that defines the processing accuracy of signal processing.

  As a parameter that defines the processing accuracy of the signal processing, for example, a signal data processing apparatus internal format is conceivable. Three types of fixed-point, single-precision floating-point, and double-precision floating-point are prepared in this in-processor format, and these are switched. In the case of a fixed point, the processing time is short but the processing accuracy is poor. Conversely, in the case of double precision floating point, the processing time is long but the processing accuracy is good. The signal processing content changing unit 6 selects the format of the signal data processing apparatus so that the desired processing time is reached, and sends information on the format to the signal processing unit 2. And the signal processing part 2 processes similarly to said Embodiment 1 using the format in the processing apparatus.

  The radar processing apparatus according to the second embodiment predicts the processing time of the tracking process corresponding to the radar signal data to be processed from now on, and is the maximum in the signal processing corresponding to the radar signal data within a range where the real-time property can be maintained. Since the parameter that defines the processing accuracy of signal processing is changed so as to spend a limited processing time, there is an effect that signal processing with high accuracy can be performed. In addition, when the number of target targets is small, the tracking processing time is shortened, so that it is possible to increase the processing accuracy by multiplying the signal processing time accordingly, so that targets that cannot be detected or detected by normal processing can be detected and detected. There is an effect that it becomes possible.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
A radar processing apparatus according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a radar processing apparatus according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

  In FIG. 3, the radar processing apparatus according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention uses processing time that can be spent on signal processing from the tracking processing time predicted by the tracking processing load prediction unit 5 instead of the signal processing content changing unit 6. An observation specification changing unit 7 that calculates and changes the observation specification parameters of the radar according to the time is provided.

  In the signal processing content changing unit 6 of the first embodiment and the second embodiment described above, the upper limit value of the time from when a preset radar receives a radio wave until the tracking result is output (for real-time processing) ), The processing time that can be spent on the signal processing of the radar reception data is calculated by subtracting the upper limit value of the tracking processing time sent from the tracking processing load prediction unit 5, and the value and the observation specifications are calculated. Based on this, the parameter that defines the processing time of signal processing or the parameter that defines the processing accuracy of signal processing has been changed. On the other hand, the observation specification changing unit 7 of the third embodiment changes the observation specification parameters of the radar.

  The observation specification changing unit 7 uses a tracking processing load prediction unit 5 based on an upper limit value (time limit for real-time processing) from when a preset radar receives a radio wave to when the tracking result is output. By subtracting the upper limit value of the tracking processing time sent from the radar, the processing time that can be spent on signal processing of this radar received data is calculated, and based on this value, the radar observation parameters are changed, and observation control is performed. Send the parameters to part 1.

  The radar specification parameters include, for example, pulse width and pulse repetition interval in the case of pulse radar and pulse Doppler radar. Although the processing time of signal processing for received data varies depending on the values of these observation parameters, the processing time can be predicted because the processing time varies little depending on the target number, weather, radio wave conditions, and the like. Therefore, it is possible to easily change the parameters of the observation specifications so as to achieve a desired processing time. If the pulse width is reduced or the pulse repetition interval is shortened, the processing time of signal processing becomes longer, but the processing accuracy is improved.

  The signal processing unit 2 performs signal processing on the received signal S to detect and detect a signal corresponding to the target, and sends the result to the tracking processing unit 3. The operation of the tracking processing unit 3 is the same as that in the first and second embodiments. The observation control unit 1 performs radar observations from the next time onward using the observation specification parameters sent from the observation specification changing unit 7.

  The radar processing apparatus according to the third embodiment predicts the processing time of the tracking process corresponding to the radar signal data to be processed from now on, and can spend the maximum processing time for signal processing within a range in which real-time characteristics can be maintained. Since the parameters of the observation specifications are changed as described above, there is an effect that highly accurate radar observation can be performed in the next and subsequent radar observations. In addition, since the tracking processing time is shortened when the number of target targets is small, it is possible to perform radar observation by multiplying the signal processing time accordingly, so that targets that cannot be detected or detected by normal observation can be detected and detected. There is an effect that it becomes possible.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Observation control part, 2 Signal processing part, 3 Tracking process part, 4 Tracking process database, 5 Tracking process load prediction part, 6 Signal processing content change part, 7 Observation specification change part.

Claims (4)

An observation control unit that manages the observation parameters of the received signal and controls the observation by the radar;
A tracking processing database for storing information of a plurality of tracking processing units;
A signal processing unit that detects and detects a signal corresponding to a target by performing signal processing on the received signal;
A tracking processing unit that performs target tracking processing based on the signal detected by the signal processing unit and updates information of a corresponding tracking processing unit stored in the tracking processing database;
Based on the observation specifications from the observation control unit, information on the target tracking processing unit is extracted from the tracking processing database, the upper limit value of the processing time of the tracking processing unit is calculated, and the processing time of the calculated tracking processing unit is calculated. Tracking processing load prediction unit for outputting the upper limit value and the observation specifications;
The processing time that can be spent for signal processing is calculated by subtracting the upper limit value of the processing time of the tracking processing unit from the upper limit value of the time from when the radar is set in advance until the tracking result is output. A radar processing apparatus comprising: a signal processing content changing unit that changes signal processing content and outputs the signal processing content to the signal processing unit based on the calculated signal processing time and the observation specifications. The radar processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the signal processing content changing unit changes a parameter that defines a processing time of signal processing. The radar processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the signal processing content changing unit changes a parameter that defines processing accuracy of signal processing. An observation control unit that manages the observation parameters of the received signal and controls the observation by the radar;
A tracking processing database for storing information of a plurality of tracking processing units;
A signal processing unit that detects and detects a signal corresponding to a target by performing signal processing on the received signal;
A tracking processing unit that performs target tracking processing based on the signal detected by the signal processing unit and updates information of a corresponding tracking processing unit stored in the tracking processing database;
Based on the observation specifications from the observation control unit, information on the target tracking processing unit is extracted from the tracking processing database, the upper limit value of the processing time of the tracking processing unit is calculated, and the processing time of the calculated tracking processing unit is calculated. Tracking processing load prediction unit for outputting the upper limit value and the observation specifications;
The processing time that can be spent for signal processing is calculated by subtracting the upper limit value of the processing time of the tracking processing unit from the upper limit value of the time from when the radar is set in advance until the tracking result is output. A radar processing apparatus comprising: an observation specification changing unit that changes an observation specification parameter based on the calculated processing time of the signal processing and outputs the changed parameter to the observation control unit.

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