Multifunctional automotive radar

1. A system comprising:

a multifunction radar transceiver comprising a transmitter and one or more receivers, wherein:

the transmitter is operable to:

modulate data onto a first radar burst;

beamform the first radar burst;

transmit the first radar burst via a plurality of antenna elements; and

dynamically select beamforming coefficients to apply to any particular radar burst based on an intended recipient of data modulated onto the particular radar burst; and

the one or more receivers is operable to:

receive a reflection of the first radar burst;

perform beamforming of the reflection of the first radar burst; and

demodulate the first radar burst to recover the data modulated on the first radar burst.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more receivers is operable to determine one or more of: speed, size, and location of an object that reflects the first radar burst.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein characteristics of the reflection of the first radar signal comprise one or more of: its latency, its Doppler shift, and its signal strength.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the radar bursts comprise one or more OFDM symbols.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the data modulated on the radar bursts comprises an identifier of the transmitter.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein:

the receiver is operable to receive a reflection of a second radar burst; and

distinguish the first radar burst from the second radar burst based on the first radar burst being scrambled by a first code and the second radar burst being scrambled by a second code.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein different radar bursts on which data destined for different recipients are transmitted using different beamforming coefficients.

8. The system of claim 2 , wherein:

the receiver is operable to generate a spectral signature of the object; and

communicate the spectral signature, a time of capture of the spectral signature, and a location of capture of the spectral signal to a network based service.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein:

an antenna pattern with which the first radar burst is transmitted comprises a lobe pointed at the ground; and

the receiver is operable to determine speed of the multifunction radar receiver relative to the ground using the reflections of the first radar burst.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the transmitter is operable to:

modulate data onto a second radar burst;

perform beamforming of the second radar burst; and

concurrent with the transmission of the first burst on a first one or more lobes of an antenna pattern, transmit the second radar burst via the plurality of antenna elements on a second one or more lobes of the antenna pattern.

11. A method comprising:

modulating, by a transmitter of a multifunction radar transceiver, data onto first and second radar bursts;

selecting, by the transmitter, beamforming coefficients to apply to the first and second radar bursts based on an intended recipient of data modulated onto the particular radar burst;

beamforming, by the transmitter, the first and second radar bursts; and

transmitting, by the transmitter, the first and second radar bursts via a plurality of antenna elements;

receiving, by a receiver of the multifunction radar transceiver, a reflection of the first radar burst;

beamforming, by the receiver, the reflection of the first radar burst; and

demodulating, by the receiver, the first radar burst to recover the data modulated on the first radar burst.

12. The method of claim 11 , comprising determining one or more of: speed, size, and location of an object that reflects the first radar burst.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein characteristics of the reflection of the first radar burst comprise one or more of: its latency, its Doppler shift, and its signal strength.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the radar bursts comprise one or more OFDM symbols.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the data modulated on the radar bursts comprises an identifier of the transmitter.

16. The method of claim 11 , comprising:

receiving, by the receiver, a reflection of the second radar burst; and

distinguishing, by the receiver, the first radar burst from the second radar burst based on the first radar burst being scrambled by a first code and the second radar burst being scrambled by a second code.

17. The method of claim 11 , wherein different radar bursts on which data destined for different recipients are transmitted using different beamforming coefficients.

18. The method of claim 11 , comprising:

generating, by the receiver, a spectral signature of the object; and

communicating, by the receiver, the spectral signature, a time of capture of the spectral signature, and a location of capture of the spectral signal to a network based service.

19. The method of claim 11 , wherein an antenna pattern with which the first radar burst is transmitted comprises a lobe pointed at the ground, and the method comprises:

determining, by the receiver, speed of the multifunction radar transceiver relative to the ground using the reflections of the first radar burst.

20. The method of claim 11 , comprising performing by the transmitter:

transmitting the second radar burst via the plurality of antenna elements concurrent with transmitting the first radar burst, wherein the first radar burst is transmitted on a first one or more lobes of an antenna pattern and the second radar burst is transmitted on a second one or more lobes of the antenna pattern.