RFbeam Microwave K-MD2 User manual

© RFbeam Microwave GmbH |Schuppisstrasse 7 |CH-9016 St. Gallen |www.rfbeam.ch |K-MD2 Engineering Sample |user manual 07/2018 – Revision A |Page 1/23
– 24 GHz FMCW radar with digital signal processing
– Angle of arrival in azimuth/elevation
– Serial target list output
– Detection distance: 100 m for persons/200 m for cars
– Distance range: 0 –250 m, 1m resolution
– Speed range: ± 130 km/h, 1 km/h resolution
– Angle range: ± 9.1° (elevation) ±16.4° (azimuth),
0.1°resolution
– Compact size: 120 × 72 × 15 mm
– Traffic analysis and classification
– Intersection management
– Security systems
– Object speed measurement systems
– Measurement and research applications
– Industrial sensors
The K-MD2 is a high-end 3D radar transceiver with three recei-
ving channels and a low phase noise, PLL controlled transmitter.
The target information from the three receive antennas is digiti-
zed and the high speed digital signal processing performs range
and doppler FFT’s with an update rate of 20 measurements per
second. Using the serial interface, many operating parameters
such as frequency, bandwidth and repetition rate can be adjus-
ted. Results are available in target list format as well as in raw
range-doppler matrices. Ethernet and a serial communication
interfaces are included.
Features
Applications
Description
Control Panel
PRODUCT INFORMATION
Figure 1: Control panel GUI overview
user manual
K-MD2
Engineering Sample
radar transceiver
with integrated signal processing

© RFbeam Microwave GmbH |Schuppisstrasse 7 |CH-9016 St. Gallen |www.rfbeam.ch |K-MD2 Engineering Sample |user manual 07/2018 – Revision A |Page 2/23
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
Product Information ............................ 1
Features ......................................... 1
Applications ...................................... 1
Description....................................... 1
Control Panel..................................... 1
Installation ....................................... 3
Setup for TCP (Ethernet) .......................... 3
Quick Start ...................................... 4
Adjust the Settings................................ 6
Control Panel ................................... 9
Views ........................................... 10
Miscellaneous Display Controls ................... 15
Control Tabs..................................... 16
System Requirements ....................... 23
Revision History .............................. 23

© RFbeam Microwave GmbH |Schuppisstrasse 7 |CH-9016 St. Gallen |www.rfbeam.ch |K-MD2 Engineering Sample |user manual 07/2018 – Revision A |Page 3/23
INSTALLATION
Double-click the K-MD2_CTP-RFB-01XX_Setup.msi
file to start the installation of the control panel. Follow
the steps until installation is completed.
To use the integrated video function, the « Logitech
HD Webcam C525 » is recommended and suppor-
ted by the control panel. Please download and install
necessary drivers for the webcam from the manufac-
turer’s website.
Setup for TCP (Ethernet)
Choose this option to connect the radar via TCP. To
connect the radar with the computer via ethernet
follow these steps:
1. Plug in the delivered power supply (+12VDC) and
connect it to the K-MD2
2. Connect the ethernet cable to the K-MD2 and
your computer
3. After some seconds the LED1 starts blinking
4. Change the IPV4 connection settings on your
computer to a static setting with the following
parameters:
IP-Address: 192.168.16.1
Subnet: 255.255.255.0
5. Open the cmd console and type in:
ping 192.168.16.2 <enter>
6. The K-MD2 should now respond to this ping. If
there is no response at all, recheck your IP-ad-
dress settings. If your IP-address settings are cor-
rect, please consider the possibility your firewall is
blocking the connection.
7. Connect your webcam – wait until Windows has
installed the webcam drivers.
8. Your K-MD2 is now connected with your compu-
ter – start the control panel.
9. Now click the “Connect” button in the TCP frame
(Figure 2). If it does not connect immediately, click
again until it successfully connects your K-MD2.
10. On a system with multiple cameras, the window
Figure 3 will pop up. Select the camera you want
to use.
11. After connecting, the control panel will display the
following view of Figure 4.
Figure 2: TCP area
Figure 3: Camera selection window
Figure 4: Default connected view

© RFbeam Microwave GmbH |Schuppisstrasse 7 |CH-9016 St. Gallen |www.rfbeam.ch |K-MD2 Engineering Sample |user manual 07/2018 – Revision A |Page 4/23
QUICK START
The control panel provides a range of setting options.
The structure of the panel views is designed to guide
you through the different steps of radar processing.
Figure 5: Signal processing workflow
Raw ADC Data (RADC)
– Samples ADC data from all 3 RX antennas
(1 Frame = 256 Samples x 256 Chirps)
Mean Range-Doppler (RMRD)
– Calculates the range-doppler map for all 3 RX antennas
– Averages the range-doppler map of all 3 RX antennas
Raw Target (PDAT)
– Find targets over threshold
– Range compensation
– Filtering with an exponential moving average
Tracking Target (TDAT)
– Uses an alpha-beta-gamma tracker to track targets
– Assigns objects to tracking channels
– Predicts temporary lost objects

© RFbeam Microwave GmbH |Schuppisstrasse 7 |CH-9016 St. Gallen |www.rfbeam.ch |K-MD2 Engineering Sample |user manual 07/2018 – Revision A |Page 5/23
Figure 6: Overview control panel areas
There are many views to select, all of them with a preceded shortcut.
The shortcuts are also preceded by the data output and therefore allows
easy checking of whether the current view receives and shows data from
the radar.
The control panel is structured according to Figure 6.
Go to the same named chapter for further information.
Views
Miscellaneous
Display Controls
Tabs
Example
By enabling “PDAT – Raw Target Data”
onthe“DataOutput”, the view:
– PDAT – Raw Target Speed/Range
– PDAT – Raw Target Azimuth/Range
– PDAT – Raw Target Elevation/Range
– PDAT – Raw Target Range/Range
– PDAT – Raw Target 3D
Start to update with radar data, also illustrated
inFigure 7.
Figure 7: Data output example

© RFbeam Microwave GmbH |Schuppisstrasse 7 |CH-9016 St. Gallen |www.rfbeam.ch |K-MD2 Engineering Sample |user manual 07/2018 – Revision A |Page 6/23
Figure 8: Device orientation
Figure 9: Clipping ADC signals
Figure 10: No clipping ADC signals
Adjust the Settings
Although the K-MD2 is pre-calibrated with useful
parameters and the control panel assists in parameter
selection, for a good result there are still many things
to consider and set depending on your needs. This
chapter is a guideline to lead you to usable results in
the shortest possible time.
All changed parameters are saved on the K-MD2
device and are still available after power off/on.
Make sure the orientation of the device is as
shown in Figure 8. Otherwise the azimuth
and elevation angles are mirrored.
Radar Settings
On the radar tab the K-MD2 parameters can be set.
Choose the following settings according to the appli-
cation:
– Range
– Speed
– RX gain
Changing of these settings, especially the RX gain,
can result in clipping of the ADC signals as shown
inFigure 9. If this happens, reduce the RX gain
inaway that the ADC signals don’t clip anymore
asshown inFigure 10.
Clipping ADC signals will result in loss of sensi-
tivity and therefore in worse target detections.
The range has to be set depending on the maximum
distance which should be detected and the necessary
distance resolution of the application. The speed set-
ting is dependent of the maximum detectable speed
of the application.

© RFbeam Microwave GmbH |Schuppisstrasse 7 |CH-9016 St. Gallen |www.rfbeam.ch |K-MD2 Engineering Sample |user manual 07/2018 – Revision A |Page 7/23
Detection Settings
Using the ADC data, which is now perfectly parame-
terized, the K-MD2 calculates three raw range-dopp-
ler maps (for each RX antenna) and subsequently
averages them into one mean range-doppler map.
Targets over the “Peak threshold” are coloured red in
the mean range-doppler map. Depending on the de-
tection settings the raw targets are reported. Set the
detection parameters according to your needs.
Figure 11: Mean range-doppler map to raw targets

© RFbeam Microwave GmbH |Schuppisstrasse 7 |CH-9016 St. Gallen |www.rfbeam.ch |K-MD2 Engineering Sample |user manual 07/2018 – Revision A |Page 8/23
Tracking Settings
On each frame the range, speed and direction of
every track is updated. An alpha-beta-gamma tracker
is used, where the speed is updated with the current
acceleration estimate, and the range is updated with
the current speed estimate. If a constant speed is
assumed the acceleration is assumed to be zero,
resulting in more reliable tracking for objects moving
at a constant speed (e.g. towards or away from the
radar). If the speed of the object is changing rapidly
(e.g. passing across the radar field of view) it can be
tracked if a constant speed is not assumed.
The list of detected peaks is compared with the
updated list of known tracks. If a peak matches an
existing track, it is marked as associated and the life
of the track is increased. If no peak is found for the
track, the life of the track is decreased. If there is no
existing track for the peak, a new track is created.
Once the life of a track reaches a minimum threshold
it is reported as a confirmed track. The life of a track
is limited, in that it will be lost if no detections are as-
sociated with it for the maximum track life. Adapt the
given parameters to suit your needs.
As indicated in the following figure, the tracking filter
reports only real targets and ignores reflections.
Figure 12: Raw targets to tracked targets

© RFbeam Microwave GmbH |Schuppisstrasse 7 |CH-9016 St. Gallen |www.rfbeam.ch |K-MD2 Engineering Sample |user manual 07/2018 – Revision A |Page 9/23
Figure 13: Start-up view of the control panel
CONTROL PANEL
This is the start-up view of the control panel. In this
chapter all the graphical elements and the functions
ofthe control panel are described.

© RFbeam Microwave GmbH |Schuppisstrasse 7 |CH-9016 St. Gallen |www.rfbeam.ch |K-MD2 Engineering Sample |user manual 07/2018 – Revision A |Page 10/23
Views
Video
Start and stop the webcam video stream.
Raw ADC Data View
This view shows the ADC values recorded by the K-MD2. Use
the «Recalculate axis button» to rescale when ADC signals are
displayed very small or bigger than the current axis range.
Chirp number:
The K-MD2 is configured to sample 256 chirps. From all of these
chirps the ADC signal of all three RX antennas can be shown
(Figure 14).
Mean Range-Spectrum View
This is the cross spectrum of the mean range-doppler map.
Chirp number:
The mean range-spectrum of the selected chirp number is
shown. The chirp number of zero speed is 128.
Figure 14: Chirps over time
Chirp number: 0 … 255
f
t
0123254 255
Figure 15: Chirp slices in therange-doppler map
Chirp number0 … … 255126127128129
… …