Patent ID: 8441395

Claim:
An electronic scanning radar apparatus, which is installable in a moving body, the electronic scanning radar apparatus comprising: a transmission unit configured to transmit a transmission wave; a receiving unit including a plurality of antennas receiving an incoming wave coming from a present target, the incoming wave being formed from a reflection wave of the transmission wave reflected at the present target; a beat signal generation unit configured to generate beat signals in response to the transmission wave and the incoming wave; a frequency resolution processing unit configured to obtain complex number data calculated from beat frequencies having signal levels obtained by performing a frequency resolution for the beat signals based on a predetermined frequency width; a peak detector configured to detect an existence of the present target by detecting peak signal levels of the beat frequencies; a target link unit associating between the present target detected in a present detecting cycle and a past target detected in past detecting cycles; and a direction detecting unit configured to perform a spectral estimation based on the complex number data of the beat frequencies indicating an existence of a target, each of the beat frequencies being obtained from each of the antennas in the present detecting cycle, the direction detecting unit performing a weighted averaging process for complex number elements of a present normal equation and past normal equations, the present normal equation being obtained from a present result of the spectral estimation in the present detecting cycle, the past normal equations being obtained from past results of the spectral estimation in the past detecting cycles, the direction detecting unit calculating a direction of the incoming wave based on the weighted averaging process.