In one aspect, a system for obtaining dielectric properties of an object is disclosed, which comprises a plurality of transceivers for generating radiation in the microwave or millimeter-wave region of the electromagnetic spectrum. The transceivers are positioned in spatially fixed relationships relative to one another. The system further includes a controller for selectively activating the transceivers for irradiating at least a portion of the object and detecting at least a portion of the radiation reflected from said portion of the object in response to the irradiation, where each of the activated transceivers generates a signal in response to detection of the reflected radiation. The reflected signals are analyzed to determine a plurality of reflectivity coefficients corresponding to different discrete locations of the object, and the reflectivity coefficients are used to determine the complex permittivity of the discrete locations.

According to an aspect, there is provided an apparatus for a radio frequency front end of a beamforming transmitter or transceiver. The apparatus comprises a dual-polarized antenna element (222) for reception of electromagnetic waves transmitted by an antenna array (221) of the radio frequency front end and subsequently reflected from at least one obstruction. The dual-polarized antenna element comprises first and second feed points (223, 224) for reception of a first polarization and of a second polarization. The apparatus further comprises a switch for switching between reception of the first polarization via the first feed point and the second polarization via the second feed point.

A millimeter or mm-wave system includes transmission of a millimeter wave (mm-wave) radar signal by a transmitter to an object. The transmitted mm-wave radar signal may include at least two signal orientations, and in response to each signal orientation, the object reflects corresponding signal reflections. The signal reflections are detected and a determination is made as to location of the object.

A system for identifying a target object includes a database containing a plurality of unique combinations of a plurality of orbital angular momentum modes. Each of the unique combinations of the plurality of orbital angular momentum modes is associated with a particular type of target object. A signal generator generates a signal having one of a plurality of orbital angular momentum modes applied thereto and directs the signal toward the target object. A transceiver transmits the signal toward the target object and receives a second signal having a unique combination of a plurality of orbital angular momentum modes reflected from the target object. A detection system compares the second signal having the unique combination of the plurality of orbital angular momentum modes with the plurality of unique combinations of the plurality of unique orbital angular unique combination of a plurality of orbital angular momentum modes within the database, identifies the target object responsive to the comparison of the second signal having the unique combination of the plurality of orbital angular momentum modes with the plurality of unique combinations of the plurality of unique orbital angular unique combination of a plurality of orbital angular momentum modes within the database and provides an output identifying the target object.

In some examples, a radar device is configured to detect an object, where the radar device includes transceiver circuitry configured to transmit radar signals having a first polarization type towards the object, receive radar signals having the first polarization type reflected from the object, and receive radar signals having a second polarization type reflected from the object, the second polarization type being different than the first polarization type. The radar device also includes processing circuitry configured to determine a material category of the object based on the radar signals having the first polarization type reflected from the object and the radar signals having the second polarization type reflected from the object.

A vehicle-assistance system for classifying objects in a vehicle's surroundings is provided. The system may include at least one memory configured to store classification information for classifying a plurality of objects and at least one processor configured to receive, on a pixel-by-pixel basis, a plurality of measurements associated with LIDAR detection results. The measurements may include at least one of: a presence indication, a surface angle, object surface physical composition, and a reflectivity level. The at least one processor may also be configured to receive, on the pixel-by-pixel basis, at least one confidence level associated with each received measurement, and access the classification information. The at least one processor may further be configured to, based on the classification information and the received measurements with the at least one associated confidence level plurality, identify a of pixels as being associated with a particular object.

A method and apparatus to identify an object include extracting first location information, second location information, and motion information of an object from a polarimetric RADAR signal that is reflected from the object. Each of the first location information, the second location information, and the motion information correspond to each of polarized waves. The apparatus and the method also include generating a first image and a second image, combining the first image and the second image to generate first composite images, each corresponding to each of the polarized waves, and identifying the object using a neural network based on the first composite images. The first image corresponds to each of the polarized waves and includes the first location information and the second location information, and the second image corresponds to each of the polarized waves and includes the first location information and the motion information.

An aircraft ice detection system is configured to determine a condition of a cloud and includes a radar transmitter, a radar receiver, optics and a splitter. The radar transmitter is configured to produce quasi-optical radiation. The optics are configured to direct the quasi-optical radiation from the radar transmitter to the cloud and receive reflected quasi-optical radiation from the cloud. The radar receiver is configured to receive the reflected quasi-optical radiation from the optics and the splitter is configured to direct the reflected quasi-optical radiation from the optics to the radar receiver.

A radar system for a vehicle includes: a processing device having multiple transmit outputs and multiple receive inputs; a main transmit antenna to transmit main radar waves essentially parallel to a road, and coupled to the processing device via a first transmit output; a main receive antenna to receive reflections of the main radar waves off objects, and coupled via a first receive input; a first street condition monitoring (SCM) transmit antenna to transmit first polarized radar waves essentially directed to the road at a first polarization, and coupled via a second transmit output; and a first SCM receive antenna to receive, at the first polarization, reflections of the polarized radar waves off the road, and coupled via a second receive input. The system can include second SCM transmit and receive antennas coupled via a third transmit output and a third receive input and operating at a second polarization.

A millimeter or mm-wave system includes transmission of a millimeter wave (mm-wave) radar signal by a transmitter to an object. The transmitted mm-wave radar signal may include at least two signal orientations, and in response to each signal orientation, the object reflects corresponding signal reflections. The signal reflections are detected and a determination is made as to location of the object.