Infineon simplifies 24-GHz radar sensing with three demo kits

By Gina Roos, editor-in-chief

Radar technology can be used in applications that require motion, speed, distance, and position detection, replacing legacy technology or enabling new applications. Infineon Technologies is simplifying the implementation of radar sensing by offering three development kits that support a range of applications from basic movement detection to advanced motion detection and sensing. These can be used to enable better detection with improved sensitivity, range, and accuracy in smaller form factors. They support the development and testing of radar in a variety of applications ranging from drones and robotics to smart homes, outdoor security, and indoor/outdoor lighting.

The three industrial 24-GHz XENSIV radar sensor demo kits  — Position2Go, Distance2Go, and Sensor2GoL — deliver three levels of sensing. The basic Sensor2GoL demo kit provides the basic platform for detecting motion, speed, and direction of movement; the Distance2Go kit adds distance detection; and the Position2Go adds the detection and tracking of position of multiple targets.

At the heart of each demo board is an Infineon 24-GHz radar chip , each supporting different applications. The more advanced Position2Go radar sensor development kit features Infineon’s BGT24MTR12 RF transceiver MMIC and a XMC4700 32-bit Arm Cortex-M4 microcontroller (MCU) series for signal processing.

An Alpha-Beta track­ing algorithm running on the XMC microcontroller allows for simultaneous tracking of multiple objects. With this kit, designers can develop applications that detect and track the position of multiple targets, detect distance of multiple targets, and detect the motion, speed, and direction of movement. Distance detection range is 1 m to 25 m (12 m for human targets). The radar system field of view is 76° horizontal and 19° vertical.

The demo board is pre-programmed using Infineon’s development tools. The module’s phase-locked loop (PLL) is controlled by the XMC4700 to generate the frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) ramps required for distance measurement. The MCU samples up to four IF channels of the transceiver chipset and communicates via the USB inter­face to a connected PC.

The kit includes a PC application graphical user interface (GUI) for Windows XP/Vista/7/8/10 that can be used to display and analyze data in the time and frequency domain. The GUI also allows for the extraction of the radar time domain signals, allowing for advanced debugging and algorithm development.

This kit can be used in outdoor security, drone obstacle avoidance, robotics obstacle avoidance, and people-tracking applications. Other potential uses include traffic monitoring and smart street lighting. Along with the demo board and software GUI, the kit comes with a USB cable, pre-compiled C libraries, source code (FW + basic radar algorithms), and PCB schematic and Gerber files.

The Distance2Go 24-GHz radar sensor development kit uses Infineon’s BGT24MTR11 RF transceiver MMIC together with a XMC4200 32-bit Arm Cortex-M4 MCU series. As the name of the kit implies, this demo kit delivers the capability to detect the distance of multiple targets as well as the capability to detect motion, speed. and direction of movement. Distance detection ranges from 0.5 m to 25 m.

The kit can be used to implement sensing applications at the 24-GHz ISM band for FMCW distance measurement, as well as Doppler-based movement detection, direction of movement detection, and speed measurements of targets. Applications include drone and robotics obstacle avoidance, tank-level sensing, and intelligent switches.

The kit consists of the BGT24MTR11 transceiver MMIC and a XMC4200 32-bit Arm Cortex-M4 for signal processing and communication via USB. Like the Position2Go demo kit, the board is already pre-programmed and the module’s PLL is controlled by the MCU to generate the FMCW ramps required for distance measurement. Here, the MCU samples up to two IF channels of the transceiver chipset and communicates via USB interface to a connected PC. The kit includes a demo board, SW GUI, FMCW FW and SW (also available as source code), doppler FW and SW (also available as source code), and schematic and the bill of materials for the module.

For lighting, security, smart homes, and building automation applications, the basic Sense2GoL radar sensor development kit consists of the Infineon BGT24LTR11 RF transceiver and a XMC1300 32-bit Arm Cortex-M0 MCU series. This demo kit offers the capability to detect motion, speed, and direction of movement. The maximum distance measurement is 15 m (human targets), and the maximum speed is 20 km/h.

It can implement several sensing applications such as Doppler-based movement detection, direc­tion of movement detection, and speed measurements of targets. Like the other two kits, the board is already pre-programmed. However, the module features intermediate frequency amplification stages. A PLL is not needed on the board thanks to the integrated temperature compensation block in the RF MMIC. The MCU samples up to two IF channels of the transceiver chipset and communicates via a USB interface to a connected PC. The kit includes the demo board, user’s manual, SW GUI, and schematic and bill of materials for the module.