Maximum measurable velocity in frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar

1. A radar system comprising:

a first radar transceiver integrated circuit (IC) configured to:

transmit a first frame of chirps, the first frame of chirps including a first chirp and a second chirp; and

generate a first digital signal in response to receiving a reflection of the first frame of chirps;

a second radar transceiver IC configured to:

transmit a second frame of chirps at a time delay, wherein the time delay is based on an elapsed time from a start of the first chirp in the first frame of chirps and a second chirp in the first frame of chirps; and

generate a second digital signal in response to receiving a reflection of the second frame of chirps; and

a processor coupled to the first radar transceiver IC and the second radar transceiver IC, the processor configured to determine a velocity of an object based on the first digital signal and the second digital signal.

2. The radar system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

perform range fast Fourier transforms (FFTs) on each digital signal to generate a range array for each digital signal;

interleave corresponding range arrays of the first digital signals and the second digital signals to generate interleaved range arrays;

perform Doppler FFTs on each interleaved range array to generate a range-Doppler array for each range array; and

combine the range-Doppler arrays to form a combined range-Doppler array,

wherein the processor is configured to determine the velocity of the object using the combined range-Doppler array.

3. The radar system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

perform range fast Fourier transforms (FFTs) on each digital signal to generate a range array for each digital signal;

perform Doppler FFTs on each range array to generate a range-Doppler array for each digital signal; and

combine the range-Doppler arrays to generate a combined range-Doppler array,

wherein the processor is configured to determine the velocity of the object based on the combined range-Doppler array and the range-Doppler arrays.

4. The radar system of claim 3 , wherein to determine the velocity of an object, the processor is further configured to:

compute a first velocity estimate for the object based on the combined range-Doppler array;

compute a second velocity estimate for the object based on phase differences of a peak corresponding to the object in corresponding range-Doppler arrays of the first digital signals and the second digital signals; and

compute the velocity of the object based on the first velocity estimate and the second velocity estimate.

5. The radar system of claim 1 , wherein the first radar transceiver IC is coupled to a first transmit antenna and a first receive antenna and the second radar transceiver IC is coupled to a second transmit antenna and a second receive antenna.

6. The radar system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to operate in a calibration mode to determine systematic phase offsets between corresponding receive channels of the first radar transceiver IC and the second radar transceiver IC, wherein the systematic phase offsets are used in determining the velocity of the object.

7. The radar system of claim 6 , wherein to determine a systematic phase offset, the processor is further configured to

find a first peak corresponding to a known stationary object in a first range-Doppler array generated responsive to receiving first reflected chirps of a first test frame of chirps in a first receive channel of the first radar transceiver IC;

find a second peak corresponding to the first peak in a second range-Doppler array generated responsive to receiving second reflected chirps of a second test frame of chirps in a receive channel corresponding to the first receive channel of the second radar transceiver IC, the second test frame transmitted at a time delay from transmission of the first frame; and

determine the systematic phase offset based on a difference between a phase at the first peak and a phase at the second peak.

8. The radar system of claim 6 wherein to determine a systematic phase offset, the processor is further configured to

identify a stationary object in a field of view of the radar system, wherein to identify the stationary object, the radar system is configured to:

find a first peak corresponding to an object in a first range-Doppler array generated responsive to receiving first reflected chirps of a first test frame of chirps in a first receive channel of the first radar transceiver IC;

find a second peak corresponding to the first peak in a second range-Doppler array generated responsive to receiving second reflected chirps of a second test frame of chirps in a receive channel corresponding to the first receive channel of the second radar transceiver IC, the second test frame transmitted at a first time delay from transmission of the first test frame;

find a third peak corresponding to the object in a third range-Doppler array generated responsive to receiving third reflected chirps of a third test frame of chirps in the first receive channel of the first radar transceiver IC;

find a fourth peak corresponding to the third peak in a fourth range-Doppler array generated responsive to receiving fourth reflected chirps of a fourth test frame of chirps in the receive channel corresponding to the first receive channel of the second radar transceiver IC, the fourth test frame transmitted at a second time delay from transmission of the third test frame; and

determine that the object is stationary when a first phase difference at the first peak and the second peak is sufficiently similar to a second phase difference at the third peak and the fourth peak; and

determine the systematic phase offset based on the first phase difference and the second phase difference.

9. A method comprising:

initiating transmission of a first frame of chirps by a first radar transceiver integrated circuit (IC), the first frame of chirps including a first chirp and a second chirp;

initiating transmission of a second frame of chirps by a second radar transceiver IC at a time delay, wherein the time delay is based on an elapsed time from a start of the first chirp in the first frame of chirps and a start of the second chirp in the first frame of chirps;

generating first digital signal by the first radar transceiver IC in response to receiving reflected chirps of the first frame of chirps;

generating second digital signal by the second radar transceiver IC in response to receiving reflected chirps of the time delayed second frame of chirps; and

determining a velocity of an object based on the first digital signal and the second digital signal.

10. The method of claim 9 , comprises:

performing range fast Fourier transforms (FFTs) on each digital signal to generate a range array for each digital signal;

interleaving corresponding range arrays of the first digital signals and the second digital signals to generate interleaved range arrays;

performing Doppler FFTs on each interleaved range array to generate a range-Doppler array for each range array; and

combining the range-Doppler arrays to form a combined range-Doppler array; and

determining the velocity of the object using the combined range-Doppler array.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprises:

performing range fast Fourier transforms (FFTs) on each digital signal to generate a range array for each digital signal;

performing Doppler FFTs on each range array to generate a range-Doppler array for each digital signal; and

combining the range-Doppler arrays to generate a combined range-Doppler array; and

determining the velocity of the object based on the combined range-Doppler array and the range-Doppler arrays.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein determining the velocity further comprises:

computing a first velocity estimate for the object based on the combined range-Doppler array;

computing a second velocity estimate for the object based on phase differences of a peak corresponding to the object in corresponding range-Doppler arrays of the first digital signals and the second digital signals; and

computing the velocity of the object based on the first velocity estimate and the second velocity estimate.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein the first radar transceiver IC is coupled to a first transmit antenna and a first receive antenna and the second radar transceiver IC is coupled to a second transmit antenna and a second receive antenna.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein determining a velocity further comprises using systematic phase offsets between corresponding receive channels of the first radar transceiver IC and the second radar transceiver IC in determining the velocity of the object.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the radar system determines a systematic phase offset when operated in a calibration mode by:

finding a first peak corresponding to a known stationary object in a first range-Doppler array generated responsive to receiving first reflected chirps of a first test frame of chirps in a first receive channel of the first radar transceiver IC;

finding a second peak corresponding to the first peak in a second range-Doppler array generated responsive to receiving second reflected chirps of a second test frame of chirps in a receive channel corresponding to the first receive channel of the second radar transceiver IC, the second test frame transmitted at a time delay from transmission of the first frame; and

determining the systematic phase offset based on a difference between a phase at the first peak and a phase at the second peak.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the radar system determines a systematic phase offset when operated in a calibration mode by:

identifying a stationary object in a field of view of the radar system by:

finding a first peak corresponding to an object in a first range-Doppler array generated responsive to receiving first reflected chirps of a first test frame of chirps in a first receive channel of the first radar transceiver IC;

finding a second peak corresponding to the first peak in a second range-Doppler array generated responsive to receiving second reflected chirps of a second test frame of chirps in a receive channel corresponding to the first receive channel of the second radar transceiver IC, the second test frame transmitted at a first time delay from transmission of the first test frame;

finding a third peak corresponding to the object in a third range-Doppler array generated responsive to receiving third reflected chirps of a third test frame of chirps in the first receive channel of the first radar transceiver IC;

finding a fourth peak corresponding to the third peak in a fourth range-Doppler array generated responsive to receiving fourth reflected chirps of a fourth test frame of chirps in the receive channel corresponding to the first receive channel of the second radar transceiver IC, the fourth test frame transmitted at a second time delay from transmission of the third test frame; and

determining that the object is stationary when a first phase difference at the first peak and the second peak is sufficiently similar to a second phase difference at the third peak and the fourth peak; and

determining the systematic phase offset based on the first phase difference and the second phase difference.