Embodiments of the invention may provide a phase locked loop (PLL) for a long-range and short-range frequency-modulated carrier-frequency (FMCW) RADAR system, including: a single feedback loop for generating a control signal based on differences between an output signal of the RADAR and a reference signal; a first voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) adapted to generate a first output signal having a first loop bandwidth using the control signal; a second VCO adapted to generate a second output signal having a second loop bandwidth using the control signal; and an output switch for selecting one of the first output signal and the second output signal and outputting the selected signal as the output signal of the RADAR.

Embodiments of the invention may provide a phase locked loop (PLL) for a long-range and short-range frequency-modulated carrier-frequency (FMCW) RADAR system, including: a single feedback loop for generating a control signal based on differences between an output signal of the RADAR and a reference signal; a first voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) adapted to generate a first output signal having a first loop bandwidth using the control signal; a second VCO adapted to generate a second output signal having a second loop bandwidth using the control signal; and an output switch for selecting one of the first output signal and the second output signal and outputting the selected signal as the output signal of the RADAR.

A radar system is disclosed that provides joint object detection and communication capabilities. The radar system includes a communication signal generator that provides a communication signal, a pre-distortion module that applies a pre-distortion to the communication signal to provide a pre-distorted communication signal, a linear frequency modulation (LFM) signal generator that provides a LFM signal, and a mixer that mixes the pre-distorted communication signal onto the LFM signal to provide a radar signal to be transmitted by the radar system. The radar system further includes an all-pass filter that filters a plurality of de-ramped reflected images of the radar signal to provide a filtered signal. Each de-ramped reflected image includes an associated image of the pre-distorted communication signal. The all-pass filter provides a linear group delay, and a non-linear phase response. The pre-distortion is an inverse of the non-linear phase response of the all-pass filter.

A radar system is disclosed that provides joint object detection and communication capabilities. The radar system includes a communication signal generator that provides a communication signal, a pre-distortion module that applies a pre-distortion to the communication signal to provide a pre-distorted communication signal, a linear frequency modulation (LFM) signal generator that provides a LFM signal, and a mixer that mixes the pre-distorted communication signal onto the LFM signal to provide a radar signal to be transmitted by the radar system. The radar system further includes an all-pass filter that filters a plurality of de-ramped reflected images of the radar signal to provide a filtered signal. Each de-ramped reflected image includes an associated image of the pre-distorted communication signal. The all-pass filter provides a linear group delay, and a non-linear phase response. The pre-distortion is an inverse of the non-linear phase response of the all-pass filter.

An electronically steerable phased array and switching network connected to an FMCW radar transceiver to enable a low-cost monopulse tracking system that covers a wide field of regard using electronic beam steering. In a first mode, beamformer integrated circuits (BFICs) at each element in the array are switched synchronously with transmit/receive (T/R) switches located at the subarray level. This allows the entire aperture to be switched between transmission and reception, enabling the FMCW radar transceiver to be operated in a pulsed configuration. In a second mode, a portion of the T/R switches at the subarray level and all of the connecting BFICs at the element level are fixed in either transmitting or receiving mode, allowing separate portions of the aperture to concurrently transmit or receive. The arrangement of transmitting and receiving subarrays can be dynamically reconfigured to allow for accurate bearing and azimuth estimation using alternating monopulse.

A continuous wave, frequency diverse array (FDA) Detector, Transmitter, Receiver and/or Method are disclosed. The frequencies can be radio waves or sonic waves. Different frequencies are applied to each transmitter element, to generate transmissions schemes with repeating patterns of constructive interference (e.g. each pattern may be a spiral). The patterns differ (e.g. opposite spiral directions to help determine azimuth, or different spiral rotation speeds to help determine range), to a sufficient extent that from the timing of signal reflected back as a result of each one, the azimuth and/or range of an object can be determined, irrespective of where the object/target is in the field of view. Use of continuous wave transmissions enables lower transmission powers and/or avoids requiring an expensive beam-steering transmitters or receivers.

A continuous wave, frequency diverse array (FDA) Detector, Transmitter, Receiver and/or Method are disclosed. The frequencies can be radio waves or sonic waves. Different frequencies are applied to each transmitter element, to generate transmissions schemes with repeating patterns of constructive interference (e.g. each pattern may be a spiral). The patterns differ (e.g. opposite spiral directions to help determine azimuth, or different spiral rotation speeds to help determine range), to a sufficient extent that from the timing of signal reflected back as a result of each one, the azimuth and/or range of an object can be determined, irrespective of where the object/target is in the field of view. Use of continuous wave transmissions enables lower transmission powers and/or avoids requiring an expensive beam-steering transmitters or receivers.

Techniques and apparatuses are described that implement a smart device with an integrated radar system. The radar integrated circuit is positioned towards an upper-middle portion of a smart device to facilitate gesture recognition and reduce a false-alarm rate associated with other non-gesture related motions of a user. The radar integrated circuit is also positioned away from Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) antennas and a wireless charging receiver coil to reduce interference. The radar system operates in a low-power mode to reduce power consumption and facilitate mobile operation of the smart device. By limiting a footprint and power consumption of the radar system, the smart device can include other desirable features in a space-limited package (e.g., a camera, a fingerprint sensor, a display, and so forth).

A method is described that can be used in a radar system. In accordance with one exemplary embodiment, the method includes calculating a first spectrum, which represents a spectrum of a segment of a complex baseband signal. The segment is assignable to a specific chirp of a chirp sequence contained in a first RF radar signal. The method further includes estimating a second spectrum, which represents a spectrum of an interference signal contained in the complex baseband signal, based on a portion of the first spectrum that is assigned to negative frequencies.

According to an aspect, a radar system comprising a transmitter operative to transmit a first set of chirps on a single transmit antenna and a second set of chirps on a plurality of transmit antennas, in that, the first set of chirps forming a first part of a chirp frame and the second set of chirps forming a second part of the chirp frame, a first receiver segment operative to generate a first set of parameters from a first set of received chirps that is reflection of the first set of chirps from one or more objects and a second segment operative to generate a second set of parameters from a second set of received chirps that is reflection of the second set of chirps from the one or more objects part of the received chirp frame and the first set of parameters, wherein, first set of parameters and second set of parameters comprise at least one of range doppler and angle of one or more objects.