Integrated Radar in WLAN Radio for Presence Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional ambient mode features in consumer electronic devices require expensive hardware like mmWave radar units or Ambient Light Sensors, making it costly to implement and limiting its availability on lower-cost products.
Innovation Solution
Integration of a frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar unit within a wireless chipset, such as those implementing Wi-Fi and/or Bluetooth technologies, which reuses the Wi-Fi/Bluetooth transmit chain for radar transmissions and a dedicated receive chain for reflected signals, enabling presence and localization detection without additional sensors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional ambient mode features use dedicated mmWave radar units or Ambient Light Sensors, then presence detection accuracy is improved, but device cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines radar functionality with the existing Wi-Fi/Bluetooth wireless chipset by integrating an FMCW radar unit that shares the transmit chain and antenna with wireless communication functions. This merging eliminates the need for separate dedicated radar hardware, reducing device cost while maintaining presence detection accuracy through signal processing techniques that distinguish radar echoes from communication signals.
Solution Approach 2:
The wireless chipset is designed to perform multiple functions: wireless communication (Wi-Fi/Bluetooth) and radar-based presence detection. The FMCW radar unit shares the transmit chain, antenna, and baseband processing resources with wireless communication functions, enabling a single component to serve dual purposes and reducing overall device cost while maintaining detection accuracy.
2Reliability
If dedicated radar hardware is added for presence detection, then detection reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The radar receive chain is integrated with the wireless chipset's existing receive path, sharing antennas, RF front-end components, and baseband processing resources. This integration reduces hardware complexity by eliminating separate dedicated radar hardware while maintaining detection reliability through careful signal separation and processing techniques that distinguish radar echoes from wireless communication signals.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces signal processing intermediaries including IQ sample analysis, channel state information (CSI) processing, and machine learning-based classification algorithms that mediate between the shared hardware resources and reliable presence detection. These intermediaries enable the system to reliably distinguish radar echoes from communication signals using existing hardware, maintaining detection reliability without increasing hardware complexity.
3Ease of manufacture
If FMCW radar is integrated into wireless chipset, then device cost is reduced, but signal interference between radar and wireless communication may occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements time-division multiplexing where the FMCW radar and wireless communication functions operate in alternating time slots within a structured frame. During radar intervals, wireless communication is suspended, and during communication intervals, radar transmission is suspended. This periodic action eliminates signal interference between the two functions while maintaining both capabilities, reducing device cost through integration without introducing interference problems.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically switches between radar and wireless communication modes based on operational requirements, with the baseband processor adapting signal processing parameters in real-time. This dynamic operation allows the integrated system to optimize performance for each function while preventing interference, maintaining cost-effectiveness through shared hardware without suffering from signal conflicts.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution allows for low-cost ambient experience on wireless devices by providing credible presence and location information with minimal additional costs, enabling sensor fusion with other modalities and distinguishing between room-level and home-level detection.
Implementation Method 1
a frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar unit integrated into a wireless chipset
Implementation Method 2
receive reflected signals from the antenna through a receive chain
Implementation Method 3
generate in-phase and quadrature (IQ) samples from the reflected signals and the set of chirps
Data Source
AI summary
Technologies directed to providing a wireless chipset with integrated radar for presence detection and localization for natural and ambient interactions with a device are described. A wireless device can send via a first antenna, a set of chirps in a first portion of a frame. The wireless device can receive, via a second antenna, reflected signals corresponding to the set of chirps, and generate in-phase and quadrature (IQ) samples. The wireless device sends (or receives), data in a second portion of the frame to (or from) a second device. The wireless device generates, using RF signals sent or received by the wireless device, channel state information (CSI) data representing channel properties of a channel. The wireless device can determine, using the IQ samples and the CSI data, that an environment in which the wireless device is located has been disrupted by a presence or motion of a person.