An information acquiring unit for acquiring direction information indicating the direction in which a target is to be searched for and observation accuracy information indicating the observation accuracy in the direction, and a beam arrangement determining unit for determining an arrangement of beams to be emitted by an antenna from the direction information and the observation accuracy information acquired by the information acquiring unit are provided, and a beam controlling unit controls the directions of the beams to be emitted by the antenna in accordance with the arrangement of beams determined by the beam arrangement determining unit.

An information acquiring unit for acquiring direction information indicating the direction in which a target is to be searched for and observation accuracy information indicating the observation accuracy in the direction, and a beam arrangement determining unit for determining an arrangement of beams to be emitted by an antenna from the direction information and the observation accuracy information acquired by the information acquiring unit are provided, and a beam controlling unit controls the directions of the beams to be emitted by the antenna in accordance with the arrangement of beams determined by the beam arrangement determining unit.

Example embodiments relate to radar transceivers. One embodiment includes a radar transceiver. The radar transceiver includes a chirp generator for generating a chirp having an initial frequency and a final frequency. The radar transceiver also includes a controllable variable gain amplifier having an input connected to an output of the chirp generator. Further, the radar transceiver includes a control unit connected to a control input on the chirp generator and to a control input on the controllable variable gain amplifier. The control unit is adapted to output a first control signal to the chirp generator such that the chirp generator starts generating the chirp. The control unit is also adapted to output a second control signal to the controllable variable gain amplifier such that the controllable variable gain amplifier starts increasing an amplification in the controllable variable gain amplifier from a first amplification level to a second amplification level.

Example embodiments relate to radar transceivers. One embodiment includes a radar transceiver. The radar transceiver includes a chirp generator for generating a chirp having an initial frequency and a final frequency. The radar transceiver also includes a controllable variable gain amplifier having an input connected to an output of the chirp generator. Further, the radar transceiver includes a control unit connected to a control input on the chirp generator and to a control input on the controllable variable gain amplifier. The control unit is adapted to output a first control signal to the chirp generator such that the chirp generator starts generating the chirp. The control unit is also adapted to output a second control signal to the controllable variable gain amplifier such that the controllable variable gain amplifier starts increasing an amplification in the controllable variable gain amplifier from a first amplification level to a second amplification level.

A stepped frequency radar system is disclosed. The stepped frequency radar system includes a two-dimensional array of radio frequency (RF) units, wherein each RF unit is configured to implement stepped frequency scanning and includes at least one RF transmit antenna and a two-dimensional array of receive antennas, and a frequency controller configured to provide digital frequency control signals to the RF units in the two-dimensional array of RF units that cause at least two of the RF units to simultaneously perform stepped frequency scanning at two different frequencies.

A method for operating a stepped frequency radar system is disclosed. The method involves performing stepped frequency scanning across a first frequency range using frequency steps of a first step size, the stepped frequency scanning performed using at least one transmit antenna and a two-dimensional array of receive antennas, evaluating data generated from the stepped frequency scanning across the first frequency range, changing from the first step size to a second step size in response to the data evaluation, wherein the second step size is different from the first step size, and performing stepped frequency scanning across a second frequency range using the at least one transmit antenna and the two-dimensional array of receive antennas and using frequency steps of the second step size.

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.

The present disclosure relates to a method for cancelling spillover in a MIMO radar system. The method comprises (i) transmitting and receiving a signal in a transmit-receive pair, the received signal including a spillover signal; (ii) routing a part of the transmitted signal of the transmit-receive pair to the received signal to increase the power level of the spillover signal; and (iii) cancelling the spillover signal and the part of the transmitted signal by a spillover cancellation subsystem associated with the transmit-receive pair. Because the part of the transmitted signal corresponds to the spillover signal, both of these signals may be added together to result in a combined signal having a high enough power level to improve the functioning of the spillover cancellation subsystem.

The present disclosure relates to a method for cancelling spillover in a MIMO radar system. The method comprises (i) transmitting and receiving a signal in a transmit-receive pair, the received signal including a spillover signal; (ii) routing a part of the transmitted signal of the transmit-receive pair to the received signal to increase the power level of the spillover signal; and (iii) cancelling the spillover signal and the part of the transmitted signal by a spillover cancellation subsystem associated with the transmit-receive pair. Because the part of the transmitted signal corresponds to the spillover signal, both of these signals may be added together to result in a combined signal having a high enough power level to improve the functioning of the spillover cancellation subsystem.

Implementation of radio frequency applications in satellite environments can be constrained by size, mass, cost, and power limitations. These applications can include radar, communications, radio astronomy, or other scientific or industrial applications. A variety of systems are provided to facilitate recording of baseband radio frequency signals at high bandwidth and low power using low-cost components. These systems include field-programmable gate arrays or other programmable logic devices integrating between high-frequency ADCs and two or more multiplexed non-volatile storage mediums. Also provided are systems for providing calibration and self-test functionality in a low-cost, flexible, low-power radio frequency frontend. These systems include high-frequency switches configured to allow a calibration and/or self-test pulse to be acquired for each radar pulse generated by the system.