Information-aided smart schemes for vehicle flow detection enhancements of traffic microwave radar detectors

Abstract

For satisfactory traffic management of an intelligent transport system, it is vital that traffic microwave radar detectors (TMRDs) can provide real-time traffic information with high accuracy. In this study, we develop several information-aided smart schemes for traffic detection improvements of TMRDs in multiple-lane environments. Specifically, we select appropriate thresholds not only for removing noise from fast Fourier transforms (FFTs) of regional lane contexts but also for reducing FFT side lobes within each lane. The resulting FFTs of reflected vehicle signals and those of clutter are distinguishable. We exploit FFT and lane-/or time stamp-related information for developing smart schemes, which mitigate adverse effects of lane-crossing FFT side lobes of a vehicle signal. As such, the proposed schemes can enhance the detection accuracy of both lane vehicle flow and directional traffic volume. On-site experimental results demonstrate the advantages and feasibility of the proposed methods, and suggest the best smart scheme.