Phased Antenna Arrays for Low-Power Angular Velocity Sensing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional radar systems are too bulky, inefficient, and insensitive to detect small objects such as human fingers or differentiate between multiple fingers, and are not suitable for wearable devices or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) due to high power consumption and data bandwidth requirements.
Innovation Solution
A compact radar antenna array using phased arrays to measure the angle of departure and arrival of objects, enabling efficient detection of small objects with high resolution, and implementing Hadamard matrices and singular-value decomposition to improve signal-to-noise ratio and reduce power consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional radar systems are used to detect objects, then detection capability is provided, but the systems are too bulky and consume high power to be suitable for wearable devices and UAVs
Solution Approach 1:
The radar system is divided into multiple antenna elements arranged in arrays, allowing the detection function to be distributed across several smaller components rather than requiring a single large antenna system. This segmentation enables compact implementation while maintaining detection capability through cooperative signal processing of multiple elements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical rotating antennas with electronically controlled antenna arrays that use phase shifting and signal processing to achieve beam steering and scanning. This substitution of mechanical movement with electronic control reduces system bulk and power consumption while maintaining or improving detection performance.
2Reliability
If conventional radar systems are used to detect objects, then detection is provided, but the systems are inefficient and have high data bandwidth requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary signal processing and filtering at the antenna element level before full data transmission, pre-processing the radar signals to extract relevant information and reduce data bandwidth requirements. This preliminary action improves efficiency by minimizing unnecessary data transmission while preserving detection capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a limited number of antenna elements with selective activation and beam forming to achieve adequate detection coverage without requiring full-system operation at all times. This partial action approach reduces computational load and data bandwidth requirements while maintaining sufficient detection efficiency for the application.
3Measurement precision
If conventional radar systems are used to detect objects, then detection is provided, but the systems are too insensitive to detect small objects such as human fingers or differentiate between multiple fingers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs antenna elements with specific radiation patterns and sensitivity characteristics optimized for detecting small objects. Each antenna element is designed with local quality enhancements in the form of directional gain and frequency response tailored to detect fine details of small objects like fingers, allowing high measurement precision without requiring overall system complexity to increase proportionally.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses multiple antenna elements arranged in spatial arrays to provide angular and spatial discrimination capabilities. By adding the spatial dimension through array geometry and beam forming, the system can differentiate between multiple small objects and detect fine details without requiring significant increases in signal power or single-element sensitivity.
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
Enables reliable detection of objects smaller than 0.5 cm with 1-2 mm resolution up to 1-2 meters, suitable for wearable devices and UAVs, while maintaining low power consumption.
Implementation Method 1
Radar systems have traditionally been used to detect relatively large objects
Implementation Method 2
determine an angular velocity of the object based on a time series of measured channel responses
Data Source
AI summary
Various techniques are provided to efficiently detect the position and angular velocity of an object relative to a compact radar system including a transmitter antenna array and a receiver antenna array. In one example, a method includes repeatedly scanning a transmitter antenna array and a receiver antenna array of an object sensing system through a plurality of designated transmitter and receiver channels over a period of time to generate a time series of measured channel responses corresponding to each one of the designated channels, determining a time series of directional vectors to or from an object scanned by at least one of the designated channels, and/or a corresponding time series of average phase differences, based, at least in part, on the time series of measured channel responses, and determining an angular velocity of the object from the time series of directional vectors and/or the corresponding time series of average phase differences.