Patent classifications
G01S7/036
Radar fill level measurement device comprising a phase-locked loop
A radar fill level measurement device for determining a fill level of a medium is provided, including a radar module to generate a transmission signal of at least 60 GHz; and an antenna coupled to the module and to transmit the signal to a surface of the medium and to receive a reflected signal, the module including a phase-locked loop including a push-push oscillator and a phase detector, the oscillator including a first and second outputs, a duplexer coupled between the push-push oscillator and the antenna, and a frequency multiplier coupled between the oscillator second output and the duplexer, the oscillator first output being directly wired to the phase detector input, the duplexer being coupled to the antenna, the phase detector including a reference input and a phase detector output coupled to an oscillator control input. A method for operating a radar fill level measurement device is also provided.
ANTENNA ARRAY HAVING A DIFFERENT BEAM-STEERING RESOLUTION IN ONE DIMENSION THAN IN ANOTHER DIMENSION
In an embodiment, an antenna includes a one-dimensional array of antenna cells, a signal feed, and signal couplers. The antenna cells are each spaced from an adjacent antenna cell by less than one half a wavelength at which the antenna cells are configured to transmit and to receive, are configured to generate an array beam that is narrower in a dimension than in an orthogonal dimension, and are configured to steer the array beam in the dimension. And the signal couplers are each configured to couple a respective one of the antenna cells to the signal feed in response a respective control signal having an active level. For example, the antenna cells can be arranged such that a straight line intersects their geometric centers.
RADAR UNIT, INTEGRATED CIRCUIT AND METHODS FOR DETECTING AND MITIGATING MUTUAL INTERFERENCE
A radar unit (400) for detecting an existence of interference is described that includes: a millimetre wave (mmW) transceiver (Tx/Rx) circuit configured support a normal data acquisition mode of operation that comprises transmitting a radar signal waveform and receiving an echo signal thereof; a mixed analog and baseband circuit operably coupled to the mmW Tx/Rx circuit; and a signal processor circuit (452) operably coupled to the mixed analog and baseband circuit. An interference detection unit (448) is operably coupled to the mmW Tx/Rx circuit. The radar unit is configured to operate a time-discontinuous mode of operation that includes a first time portion used as an interference monitoring period and a second time portion used by the radar unit in the normal data acquisition mode of operation, whereby the mixed analog and baseband circuit, signal processor circuit (452) and interference detection unit (448) are configured to detect interference signals during the monitoring period.
RADAR FILL LEVEL MEASUREMENT DEVICE COMPRISING A PHASE-LOCKED LOOP
A radar fill level measurement device for determining a fill level of a medium is provided, including a radar module to generate a transmission signal of at least 60 GHz; and an antenna coupled to the module and to transmit the signal to a surface of the medium and to receive a reflected signal, the module including a phase-locked loop including an oscillator, a phase detector, and a frequency divider, coupled between the oscillator output and the phase detector input, and a duplexer coupled between the oscillator and the antenna, the oscillator output being directly wired to an input of the duplexer, the frequency divider and the duplexer being coupled to a same oscillator output, the phase detector including a reference input and a phase detector output that is coupled to a control input of the oscillator. A method for operating a radar fill level measurement device is also provided.
RADAR FILL LEVEL MEASUREMENT DEVICE COMPRISING A PHASE-LOCKED LOOP
A radar fill level measurement device for determining a fill level of a medium is provided, including a radar module to generate a transmission signal of at least 60 GHz; and an antenna coupled to the module and to transmit the signal to a surface of the medium and to receive a reflected signal, the module including a phase-locked loop including a push-push oscillator and a phase detector, the oscillator including a first and second outputs, a duplexer coupled between the push-push oscillator and the antenna, and a frequency multiplier coupled between the oscillator second output and the duplexer, the oscillator first output being directly wired to the phase detector input, the duplexer being coupled to the antenna, the phase detector including a reference input and a phase detector output coupled to an oscillator control input. A method for operating a radar fill level measurement device is also provided.
Radar device and method of operating a radar device
A radar device includes a RF signal source, two or more antenna interface units, a feed network, and a control unit. The RF signal source is arranged to provide a RF signal; each of the antenna interface units includes an antenna port and one of the following: an amplifier and a mixer; the feed network includes two or more buffers, each buffer has an active and an inactive state; the control unit is arranged to generate or receive a selection signal which specifies none, one, or more of the antenna interface units as active antenna interface units and the remaining antenna interface units as inactive antenna interface units; the control unit is arranged to activate and deactivate the buffers in dependence on the selection signal so as to feed the RF signal to the none, one, or more active antenna interface units and not to the inactive antenna interface units.
Multi-system radar for measuring filling levels
A level radar is switchable between pulsed and FMCW radar methods. For example, the radar device may include two separate front ends which can be activated selectively via a logic control system. Upon switching to the respective other measurement principle, the evaluation software is also adapted accordingly. In this way, it is possible to use advantageous properties of both measurement methods in a targeted manner.
Radar apparatus
A radar apparatus includes a plurality of transmit antennas that transmits a plurality of transmission signals using a multiplexing transmission, and a transmission circuit that applies phase rotation amounts corresponding to combinations of Doppler shift amounts and code sequences to the plurality of transmission signals. Each of the plurality of transmission signals is assigned a different combination among the combinations. The combinations include at least two combinations of a same number of multiplexing by the code sequences.
Loopback techniques for synchronization of oscillator signal in radar
The disclosure provides a radar apparatus for estimating a position and a velocity of a plurality of obstacles. The radar apparatus includes a slave radar chip. A master radar chip is coupled to the slave radar chip. The master radar chip includes a local oscillator that generates a transmit signal. The slave radar chip receives the transmit signal on a first path and sends the transmit signal back to the master radar chip on a second path. A delay detect circuit is coupled to the local oscillator and receives the transmit signal from the slave radar chip on the second path and the transmit signal from the local oscillator. The delay detect circuit estimates a routing delay from the transmit signal received from the slave radar chip on the second path and from the transmit signal received from the local oscillator.
RADAR APPARATUS
A radar apparatus includes: a plurality of transmission antennas which transmit a plurality of transmission signals at every transmission period using a multiplexing transmission; and a transmission circuit which applies frequency offsets and phase rotations to the transmission signals for each transmission period during which the transmission signals are transmitted. A combination of the phase rotations varies for each transmission period and is repeatedly applied for a first number of transmission periods, and is different for each of the transmission antennas in each transmission period. The first number is larger than a number of the transmission antennas, and the frequency offsets are same for the transmission signals in each transmission period.