SWRU636 December   2024

 

  1.   1
  2.   Trademarks
  3. 1Introduction
  4. 2Software Quickstart Guide
  5. 3Software Evaluation Flow
    1. 3.1 About Radar Evaluation
    2. 3.2 More Resources

3.1 About Radar Evaluation

There are three major components to TI's radar demonstrations. These are the chirp configurations, device binary, and visualizer. A general evaluation workflow is as follows:

AWRL6844EVM IWRL6844EVM Three steps for evaluationFigure 3-1 Three steps for evaluation.

Chirp Configuration

Fundamentally, mmWave FMCW radars transmit pulses called chirps which, after reflected off of a target, can be used to determine the target's range, velocity and azimuth.

AWRL6844EVM IWRL6844EVM Configuration diagramFigure 3-2 Configuration diagram.
By tuning the physical characterstics (such as frequency slope and number of chirps), a radar's range, resolution, and power consumption can be optimized. TI mmWave radar devices store chirp characteristics in Chirp Configuration files. The chirp configuration file may also contain parameters for algorithmic and application specific modifications. Chirp configurations are uploaded to the device over UART at runtime, allowing for chirp and demo modifications without needing to reflash the device with a new binary.

Application Binary

Raw data from these reflected chirps are processed on-device by a signal chain on the application binary. This firmware is flashed onto the device and processes raw radar data into real-time position and velocity information. Application specific binaries targeted for specific applications, such as Child Presence Detection, can be found in the Radar Toolbox in the TI Resource Explorer. Once processed, the device will begin sending this real-time position and velocity information in the TLV format over UART to the user's computer to be visualized.

Visualizers

Visually verifying the radar's output in real-time is useful for evaluation. Visualizers can take the EVM's UART output and render the point cloud and classification information in 3D space. A general-purpose visualizer is found in the MMWAVE-L-SDK and application specific visualizer can be found in the Radar Toolbox.