Effects of Receiver Beamforming for Vital Sign Measurements Using FMCW Radar at Various Distances and Angles

Short-range millimeter wave radar sensors provide a reliable, continuous and non-contact solution for vital sign extraction. Off-The-Shelf (OTS) radars often have a directional antenna (beam) pattern. The transmitted wave has a conical main lobe, and power of the received target echoes deteriorate as we move away from the center point of the lobe. While measuring vital signs, the human subject is often located at the center of the antenna lobe. Since beamforming can increase signal quality at the side (azimuth) angles, this paper aims to provide an experimental comparison of vital sign extraction with and without beamforming. The experimental confirmation that beamforming can decrease the error in the vital sign extraction through radar has so far not been performed by researchers. A simple, yet effective receiver beamformer was designed and a concurrent measurement with and without beamforming was made for the comparative analysis. Measurements were made at three different distances and five different arrival angles, and the preliminary results suggest that as the observation angle increases, the effectiveness of beamforming increases. At an extreme angle of 40 degrees, the beamforming showed above 20% improvement in heart rate estimation. Heart rate measurement error was reduced significantly in comparison with the breathing rate.