Velocity and Angle Tracking of Fast Targets Using a Bandwidth-Coded Hybrid Chirp FMCW Radar

Frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) radars are widely used for range and velocity estimation. However, conventional velocity measurement techniques based on 2D-FFT processing require a large number of chirps and suffer from a maximum unambiguous velocity limitation, which restricts their applicability to high-speed targets. This study addresses these challenges by proposing a hybrid FMCW chirp waveform that employs bandwidth variation between consecutive chirps while maintaining a constant chirp duration. The proposed method enables separation of range- and Doppler-dependent frequency components using only two chirps; thus, it improves the maximum velocity constraint by keeping intermediate-frequency bandwidth and sampling requirements low. In addition, spatial angle estimation is performed using an amplitude-comparison monopulse antenna configuration, allowing single-snapshot angle measurement with low computational complexity. To enhance measurement robustness, extended and unscented Kalman filters are integrated for target tracking. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed waveform achieves accurate velocity estimation for very high-speed targets and that the unscented Kalman filter consistently outperforms the extended Kalman filter in terms of convergence speed and robustness, particularly under poor initialization and strong nonlinearities. The results confirm that the proposed framework provides an efficient solution for tracking a single, fast-moving, isolated target in a homogeneous environment using FMCW radar systems at short and medium ranges.