Patent ID: 7466260

Claim:
A radar apparatus comprising: an electromagnetic-wave transmitting/receiving unit that transmits a beam of an electromagnetic wave as a transmitted wave and receives a reflected wave generated when the transmitted wave is reflected from a target, the electromagnetic wave including repeated modulation sections in which a frequency is changed over time in a predetermined frequency range; and an information detecting unit that detects information regarding the target on the basis of beat signals generated by mixing the transmitted wave and the received wave, wherein the information detecting unit includes: a frequency-spectrum measuring unit that measures a frequency spectrum of a first beat signal in a first section of the transmitted wave in which the frequency of the transmitted wave is changed over time and a frequency spectrum of a second beat signal in a second section of the transmitted wave in which an inclination of frequency transition over time is the same as an inclination of frequency transition in the first section, the second section following the first section at a predetermined time interval; and a state-value detecting unit that compares a first peak group including peaks having strengths higher than a first predetermined level in the frequency spectrum of the first beat signal with a second peak group including peaks having strengths higher than a second predetermined level in the frequency spectrum of the second beat signal, calculates a phase change between a first peak included in the first peak group and a second peak included in the second peak group, the frequencies of the first and second peaks being substantially the same, calculates a relative moving distance using the phase change, and detects a relative velocity and a relative distance of the target corresponding to the first and second peaks using the relative moving distance.