A radar device comprises a radar circuit configured to transceive first radar signals that occupy a first frequency band and second radar signals that occupy a second frequency band. An antenna device of the radar device comprises a first set and a second set of antennas and is configured to selectively transduce the first radar signals via the first set and not via the second set and to selectively transduce the second radar signals via the second set and not via the first set. A processing device of the radar device detects from the first radar signals target reflections via first propagation channels and from the second radar signals target reflections via second propagation channels. The signal processing device jointly evaluates the target reflections via the first and second propagation channels to form a common virtual antenna array for determining an angular position of a target object.

In an embodiment, a method of operating a radar includes: generating a set of chirps; transmitting the set of chirps; receiving chirps corresponding to the transmitted set of chirps; using a finite state machine (FSM) to apply a phase shift to each of the transmitted chirps or each of the received chirps based on a code; and demodulating the received chirps based on the code.

A method for a MIMO radar system includes encoding signals that are transmitted from different transmitting antennas according to code blocks; determining for a radar object a Doppler estimation that has a periodic ambiguity; and resolving the periodic ambiguity, where the resolving includes, for each of multiple ambiguity hypotheses of the Doppler shift: compensating for the Doppler shift according to the respective ambiguity hypothesis, and decoding for separating signal components associated with the transmitting antennas. An ambiguity hypothesis that is applicable to the radar object is selected based on quality criteria for the decoding for the particular ambiguity hypotheses, and an unambiguous speed estimation of the radar object is determined corresponding to the Doppler estimation and the selected ambiguity hypothesis. The quality of an angle estimation based on the signal components can be determined as a quality criterion for the decoding.

Apparatus and methods are presented for characterising the environment of a user platform. In certain embodiments RF signals are transmitted and received through an antenna array having a plurality of elements activated in a predetermined sequence, and received signals are manipulated with round-trip path corrections to enhance the gain of the array in one or more directions. Objects in those directions are detected from the receipt of returns of transmitted signals, and the manipulated received signals processed to estimate range to those objects. In other embodiments RF signals transmitted by one or more external transmitters are received and manipulated to enhance the gain of a local antenna array or antenna arrays associated with the one or more transmitters to enhance the gain of the arrays in one or more directions. Objects in those directions are detected from the receipt of reflected signals from the transmitters, and the manipulated received signals processed to estimate range to those objects.

A co-prime coded DDM MIMO radar system, apparatus, architecture, and method are provided with a reference signal generator (112) that produces a transmit reference signal; a plurality of DDM transmit modules (11) that produce, condition, and transmit a plurality of transmit signals over which each have a different co-prime encoded progressive phase offset from the transmit reference signal; a receiver module (12) that receives a target return signal reflected from the plurality of transmit signals by a target and generates a digital signal from the target return signal; and a radar control processing unit (20) configured to detect Doppler spectrum peaks in the digital signal, where the radar control processing unit comprises a Doppler disambiguation module (25) that is configured with a CPC decoder to associate each detected Doppler spectrum peak with a corresponding DDM transmit module, thereby generating a plurality of transmitter-associated Doppler spectrum peak detections.

The radar apparatus includes: a plurality of transmission antennas that transmit a transmission signal; and a transmission circuit that applies a phase rotation amount corresponding to a Doppler shift amount and a code sequence to the transmission signal to perform multiplexing transmission of the transmission signal from the plurality of transmission antennas. A transmission delay of the transmission signal is set for a transmission period of the transmission signal. Each of the plurality of transmission antennas is associated with a combination of the Doppler shift amount and the code sequence such that at least one of the Doppler shift amount and the code sequence is different between a plurality of the combinations. A number of multiplexing by the code sequence corresponding to a first Doppler shift amount is different from a number of multiplexing by the code sequence corresponding to a second Doppler shift amount.

A system for phase-modulated radar detection, preferably including one or more transmitter arrays, receiver arrays, and signal processors. A method for phase-modulated radar detection, preferably including transmitting a set of probe signals, receiving a set of reflected probe signals, and/or decoding the set of received probe signals, and optionally including evaluating effects of phase variance and/or modifying probe signal characteristics.

An automotive radar system includes multiple radar antennas and a radar front end chip. The front end chip includes a plurality of phase rotators coupled to a local oscillator, wherein each phase rotator of the plurality of phase rotators is coupled to multiple digital phase modulators; a plurality of switches that couple selectable ones of the multiple digital phase modulators to respective amplifiers, each amplifier coupled to a respective antenna output; and a controller which provides digital control signals to the plurality of phase rotators, the multiple digital phase modulators, and the plurality of switches to synthesize transmit signals for each of the multiple radar antennas.

A radar system includes transmitters and receivers configured for installation and use in a vehicle. The transmitters transmit radio signals. The receivers receive radio signals that include the transmitted radio signals reflected from objects in an environment. Each receiver has a controller, a buffer, and a post-buffer processor. The receiver processes the received radio signals and stored data samples in the buffer. The buffer operates in a plurality of modes defined by the controller. Two or more modes of operation of the plurality of modes are performed with a same set of data samples stored in the buffer. The post-buffer processor receives data samples from the buffer and performs at least one of correlation processing to determine object ranges, Doppler processing to determine object velocity, and, in combination with other receivers of the plurality of receivers, further processing to determine angular locations of the objects.

Apparatuses and methods for two-dimensional beam scanning for determining the position of an object in three-dimensional space are provided. An apparatus comprises a multiplicity of transmitters and receivers, which are arranged orthogonal to one another in an L-, U- or T-shaped structure. In one apparatus, the transmission signals are frequency and phase modulated in combination; and in another apparatus a single frequency carrier signal is subject to binary phase modulation. Here, this is a high-frequency encoding with a great code length, which is generated according to the pseudo-random number principle. The received signals, which include information from all transmitters, are decoded and consequently split into sub-signals, which can be assigned to a two-dimensional virtual array. According to the method of digital beamforming, the individual signals of the virtual antenna elements are formed into a plurality of highly focused beams in the horizontal and vertical direction.