High-Accuracy AM-FM Radar with an Active Reflector

An amplitude-modulated and frequency-modulated (AM-FM) radar with an active reflector to produce high-accuracy distance measurements is proposed and demonstrated in this paper. The proposed radar consists of an AM-FM base module and an active reflector. The combination of AM and FM modulations resolves ambiguity of the absolute distance in typical AM radars, while improving range accuracy in typical FM radars with narrow bandwidth. Also, the active reflector, which translates the frequency of the received signal, resolves the problem of phase detection interference due to the direct Tx-to-Rx leakage in AM radars. In this paper, the operating principle, experimental tests, and analysis are presented. The implemented AM-FM radar operates in X-band (Tx: 10.5 GHz, Rx: 8.5 GHz) with the 620 MHz bandwidth. The measured range accuracy of less than ±10 mm at a distance of 70 m is obtained.