A method for operating a stepped frequency radar system is disclosed. The method involves performing stepped frequency scanning across a frequency range using frequency steps of a step size, the stepped frequency scanning performed using at least one transmit antenna and a two-dimensional array of receive antennas, changing at least one of the step size and the frequency range, and performing stepped frequency scanning using the at least one transmit antenna and the two-dimensional array of receive antennas and using the changed at least one of the step size and the frequency range.

A radar system includes a transmitter, a receiver, and a processor. The transmitter is configured to transmit a radio signal. The receiver is configured to receive a radio signal which includes the transmitted radio signal reflected from an object in the environment. The processor is configured to control the transmitter and the receiver to at least one of mitigate interference in the received radio signals, and avoid interfering radio signals transmitted by another radio transmitter.

A pulse radar system and method has long range unambiguous image reflections at high pulse repetition frequency (PRF), long range high resolution radial velocity not limited by Doppler Nyquist limiting, improved signal sensitivity, and strong in-band interference rejection, thereby improving existing radar by increasing the transmission pulse rate by uniquely tagging each outgoing pulse so they can be easily separated when received.

The invention describes a radar system consisting of a plurality of subcomponents each individually having all components of a radar device which comprise at least transmitters, receivers, a mixer and a phase locked loop, wherein an individual phase code is generated for each transmitter; and transmitters and receivers of all subcomponents of the radar system together provide a virtual overall arrangement according to the Multiple Input Multiple Output method, wherein at least one virtual sub-arrangement of the overall arrangement, provided by a combination of transmitters of a subcomponent and receivers of a subcomponent, has at least one overlapping column or one overlapping row with another virtual sub-arrangement of the overall arrangement, wherein the at least other virtual sub-arrangement is provided by another combination of transmitters of a subcomponent and receivers of a subcomponent.

A split-steer amplifier with an invertible phase output, includes a first transistor having its base coupled to a positive node of an input port, its emitter coupled to ground, and collector connected to a positive intermediate node; a second transistor having its base coupled to a negative node of the input port, its emitter coupled to ground, and collector connected to a negative intermediate node; and multiple output ports each having a transistor arrangement operable to couple a positive node of that output port to the positive intermediate node and a negative node of that output port to the negative intermediate node, operable to couple the positive node of that output port to the negative intermediate node and the negative node of that output port to the positive intermediate node, and operable to decouple the positive node and the negative node of that output port from the intermediate nodes.

A method for use in a radar device is described herein. In accordance some implementations, the method includes generating an RF oscillator signal which includes frequency-modulated chirps, amplitude-modulating the RF oscillator signal by a modulation signal, and transmitting the amplitude-modulated RF oscillator signal via at least one antenna. In some implementations, the method may further include receiving an RF signal that includes frequency-modulated chirp echo signals from a target object, down-converting the received RF signal into a base band using the RF oscillator signal for providing a base band signal, and processing the base band signal to detect information included in the modulation signal.

An automotive spread MIMO-configured radar system has a plurality of transceiver antenna units for transmitting mutually orthogonal radar waves. Each transceiver antenna unit has a plurality of range gates to indicate a range detected by the transceiver antenna unit. At least one specific transceiver antenna unit (TRx.sub.1) is configured to transmit a reference signal received directly by at least one transceiver antenna unit (TRx.sub.2) that is separated by an a priori known distance from the specific transceiver antenna unit (TRx.sub.1). An evaluation and control unit is configured for reading out the plurality of range gates for the transceiver antenna unit (TRx.sub.2), and, based on the read-out range gate that indicates the received reference signal and based on the a priori known distance, for synchronizing the specific transceiver antenna unit (TRx.sub.1) and the transceiver antenna unit (TRx.sub.2) that received the reference signal and/or for correcting a measured Doppler shift.

A radar transmitter transmits a radar signal through a transmitting array antenna at a predetermined transmission period, and a radar receiver receives a reflected wave signal which is the radar signal reflected by a target through a receiving array antenna. A transmitting array antenna and a receiving array antenna each include multiple subarray elements, the subarray elements in the transmitting array antenna and the receiving array antenna are linearly arranged in a first direction, each subarray element includes multiple antenna elements, the subarray element has a dimension larger than a predetermined antenna element spacing in the first direction, and an absolute value of a difference between a subarray element spacing of the transmitting array antenna and a subarray element spacing of the receiving array antenna is equal to the predetermined antenna element spacing.

A vehicular sensing system includes a plurality of multiple input multiple output (MIMO) radar sensor units disposed at a vehicle so as to have respective fields of sensing exterior of the vehicle. Each MIMO radar sensor unit includes a plurality of transmitting antennas and a plurality of receiving antennas, with each transmitting antenna transmitting radar signals and each receiving antenna receiving radar signals. Outputs of the individual MIMO radar sensor units of the plurality of MIMO radar sensor units are provided to an electronic control unit (ECU) using a communication protocol of the vehicle and, responsive to the outputs of the MIMO radar sensor units, the ECU detects objects present exterior the vehicle. The vehicular sensing system adjusts the total number of transmitting and receiving antennas utilized by the plurality of MIMO radar sensor units in accordance with complexity of a surrounding environment of the vehicle.

A stepped frequency radar system is disclosed. The system includes components for performing stepped frequency scanning across a frequency range using frequency steps of a step size, the stepped frequency scanning performed using at least one transmit antenna and a two-dimensional array of receive antennas, changing at least one of the step size and the frequency range, and performing stepped frequency scanning using the at least one transmit antenna and the two-dimensional array of receive antennas and using the changed at least one of the step size and the frequency range.