Digital Beamforming Radar Sensing Wireless Chipset
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional radars are costly and space-intensive, making them unsuitable for incorporation in consumer devices due to size and cost constraints, and existing wireless communication chipsets lack the necessary capabilities for effective radar sensing.
Innovation Solution
Repurposing wireless communication chipsets to perform digital beamforming and radar sensing by utilizing multiple receiver chains to generate baseband data, enabling angular position determination of targets through spatial response analysis, and allowing for full-duplex operations and radar modulations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional radar sensors are used, then radar sensing performance is improved, but device size and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The wireless communication chipset is designed to perform multiple functions: both wireless communication and radar sensing. The same antennas, receivers, and baseband processing circuits are used for both communication signals and radar signals, eliminating the need for separate dedicated radar hardware and reducing overall device size and cost.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the radar sensing function with the wireless communication chipset by integrating radar signal transmission and reception capabilities into the existing communication hardware architecture. The transmitter can generate both communication and radar signals, and the receivers can process both types of signals through the same baseband processing chain.
2Reliability
If conventional radar sensors are used, then radar sensing performance is improved, but device cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The wireless communication chipset is designed to perform multiple functions: both wireless communication and radar sensing. The same antennas, receivers, and baseband processing circuits are used for both communication signals and radar signals, eliminating the need for separate dedicated radar hardware and reducing overall device size and cost.
Solution Approach 2:
The wireless communication chipset's existing hardware components serve dual purposes: they handle both communication and radar functions. The transmitter generates radar signals using its existing signal generation capabilities, and the receivers process radar echoes through their existing signal reception and baseband processing chains, making the system self-sufficient for radar sensing without additional dedicated components.
3Area of stationary object
If wireless communication chipset is used for radar sensing, then device size and cost are reduced, but radar sensing capability is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes to the wireless communication chipset to enable radar sensing functionality. The transmitter's signal generation parameters are adjusted to produce radar-appropriate waveforms (such as FMCW or chirp signals), and the receivers' processing parameters are configured to detect and analyze radar echoes. This allows the existing hardware to achieve radar sensing capability through software and parameter configuration rather than hardware modification.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent repurposes existing wireless communication hardware components for radar sensing applications. The antennas, receivers, and baseband processing circuits that were originally designed for communication are discarded from their sole communication function and recovered/reused for dual-purpose communication and radar sensing, maximizing hardware utilization while minimizing device size.
4Measurement precision
If digital beamforming is implemented, then angular position determination accuracy is improved, but processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The baseband processing circuits in the wireless communication chipset perform digital beamforming operations as part of their multi-functional role. The same digital signal processing resources that handle communication signal processing are also used for radar signal processing, including beamforming calculations for angular position determination. This shared processing architecture reduces overall system complexity while maintaining beamforming capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces potential hardware-based beamforming mechanisms with software-based digital beamforming algorithms implemented in the baseband processing circuits. Instead of using complex hardware phase shifters or analog beamforming networks, the system uses digital signal processing to achieve the same angular position determination, simplifying the hardware architecture while maintaining measurement precision.
Data Source
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AI summary
Techniques and apparatuses are described that enable digital beamforming for radar sensing using a wireless communication chipset. A controller initializes or causes the wireless communication chipset to use multiple receiver chains to receive a radar signal that is reflected by a target. A digital beamformer obtains baseband data from the wireless communication chipset and generates a spatial response, which may be used to determine an angular position of the target. The controller can further select which antennas are used for receiving the radar signal. In this way, the controller can further optimize the wireless communication chipset for digital beamforming. By utilizing these techniques, the wireless communication chipset can be used for wireless communication or radar sensing.