Multicarrier phase modulated continuous waveform for automotive joint radar-communication system

Automotive radar implementation in the mm Wave band (79 G Hz) is being increasingly considered for the high bandwidths offered. While the radar systems and technology is maturing in mm Wave bands, the reuse of radar spectrum for low latency, limited throughput and safety critical communication has started to receive attention of late. Towards this, a joint radar-communication (JRC) system is proposed where the platform performs sensing and communication operations. The major challenge in JRC waveform design is the lack of degrees of freedom (DoF), due to need to estimate communication symbols in addition to the radar parameters. In this work, we propose a novel automotive JRC system based on multicarrier phase-modulated continuous waveform (MC-PMCW). MC-PMCW provides sufficient DoF to confine desired parameters, i.e., angles of arrival, Doppler shifts, ranges, and communication symbols in different dimensions. It can overcome the limitations of conventional PMCW and OFDM waveforms by leveraging the multicarrier feature of OFDM and the code sequence of PMCW to embed radar and communication. Further, the separation of parameters into different domains reduces complexity and enhances robustness; this is desirable in automotive scenarios characterized by dynamic scenes. Numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed system.