Methods for multi-band radar based sensing

1. A method for operating an integrated circuit (IC) device, the method comprising:

setting a configuration of the IC device to select from available options of a low-band operational mode and a high-band operational mode;

transmitting and receiving radio frequency (RF) signals at a low-band frequency when the configuration of the IC device is set to the low-band operational mode; and

transmitting and receiving RF signals at a high-band frequency when the configuration of the IC device is set to the high-band operational mode, wherein transmitting RF signals at the high-band frequency comprises upconverting a first signal at the low-band frequency to a second signal at the high-band frequency and wherein receiving RF signals at the high-band frequency comprises downconverting a third signal at the high-band frequency to a fourth signal at the low-band frequency, wherein the upconversion and the downconversion are implemented using a conversion signal at a conversion frequency;

further comprising upconverting the first signal at the low-band frequency with an intermediate frequency to output a fifth signal at the low-band frequency plus the intermediate frequency.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising downconverting the fourth signal at the low-band frequency with the fifth signal at the low-band frequency plus the intermediate frequency to produce a seventh signal at the intermediate frequency.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising providing the seventh signal to a baseband component.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting RF signals at the low-band frequency and at the high-band frequency comprises stepping the first signal across a frequency range.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the low-band frequency is in the range of 2-6 GHz, the high-band frequency is in the range of 122-126 GHz, and the conversion frequency is 120 GHz.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein transmitting RF signals at the low-band frequency and at the high-band frequency comprises stepping the first signal across the 2-6 GHz frequency range.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the intermediate frequency is 2.5 MHz.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the low-band frequency is in the range of 2-6 GHz, the high-band frequency is in the range of 22-26 GHz, and the conversion frequency is 20 GHz.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein transmitting RF signals at the low-band frequency and at the high-band frequency comprises stepping the first signal across the 2-6 GHz frequency range.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the intermediate frequency is 2.5 MHz.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein setting the configuration comprises setting a switch to select from available options of exclusively low-band transmit and receive signal paths and exclusively high-band transmit and receive signal paths.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein setting the configuration to select the low-band operational mode comprises powering up components that are exclusive to the low-band operational mode and powering down components that are exclusive to high-band operational mode.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein setting the configuration to select the high-band operational mode comprises powering up components that are exclusive to the high-band operational mode and powering down components that are exclusive to low-band operational mode, wherein components that are exclusive to the high-band operational mode include a transmit mixer for the upconversion and a receive mixer for the downconversion.

14. A method for operating a radio frequency (RF) system, the method comprising:

setting a configuration of an integrated circuit (IC) device to select from available options of a low-band operational mode and a high-band operational mode;

transmitting and receiving radio frequency (RF) signals at a low-band frequency when the configuration of the IC device is set to the low-band operational mode, wherein RF signals are transmitted from a low-band transmit interface of the IC device and wherein RF signals are received at a low-band receive interface of the IC device; and

transmitting and receiving RF signals at a high-band frequency when the configuration of the IC device is set to the high-band operational mode, wherein transmitting RF signals at the high-band frequency comprises upconverting a first signal at the low-band frequency to a second signal at the high-band frequency and wherein receiving RF signals at the high-band frequency comprises downconverting a third signal at the high-band frequency to a fourth signal at the low-band frequency, wherein RF signals at the high-band frequency are transmitted from a high-band transmit interface of the IC device and wherein RF signals at the high-band frequency are received at a high-band receive interface of the IC device, and wherein the upconversion and the downconversion are implemented using a conversion signal at a conversion frequency;

further comprising upconverting the first signal at the low-band frequency with an intermediate frequency to output a fifth signal at the low-band frequency plus the intermediate frequency.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising downconverting the fourth signal at the low-band frequency with the fifth signal at the low-band frequency plus the intermediate frequency to produce a seventh signal at the intermediate frequency.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising providing the seventh signal to a baseband component.

17. The method of claim 14 , further comprising generating a source signal at a base frequency from an electronic oscillator.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising generating the first signal at the low-band frequency from the source signal at the base frequency.

19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising generating a pre-conversion signal at a pre-conversion frequency from the source signal at the base frequency and generating the conversion signal at the conversion frequency from the pre-conversion signal at the pre-conversion frequency.

20. A method for operating an integrated circuit (IC) device, the method comprising:

setting a configuration of the IC device to select from available options of a low-band operational mode and a high-band operational mode;

transmitting and receiving radio frequency (RF) signals at a low-band frequency when the configuration of the IC device is set to the low-band operational mode; and

transmitting and receiving RF signals at a high-band frequency when the configuration of the IC device is set to the high-band operational mode, wherein transmitting RF signals at the high-band frequency comprises upconverting a first signal at the low-band frequency to a second signal at the high-band frequency and wherein receiving RF signals at the high-band frequency comprises downconverting a third signal at the high-band frequency to a fourth signal at the low-band frequency, wherein the upconversion and the downconversion are implemented using a conversion signal at a conversion frequency;

wherein the low-band frequency is in the range of 2-6 GHz, the high-band frequency is in the range of 122-126 GHz, and the conversion frequency is 120 GHz.

21. The method of claim 20 , further comprising upconverting the first signal at the low-band frequency with an intermediate frequency to output a fifth signal at the low-band frequency plus the intermediate frequency.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein the intermediate frequency is 2.5 MHz.

23. The method of claim 20 , further comprising downconverting the fourth signal at the low-band frequency with the fifth signal at the low-band frequency plus the intermediate frequency to produce a seventh signal at the intermediate frequency.

24. The method of claim 23 , further comprising providing the seventh signal to a baseband component.

25. The method of claim 20 , wherein transmitting RF signals at the low-band frequency and at the high-band frequency comprises stepping the first signal across a frequency range.

26. The method of claim 20 , wherein transmitting RF signals at the low-band frequency and at the high-band frequency comprises stepping the first signal across the 2-6 GHz frequency range.

27. The method of claim 20 , wherein setting the configuration comprises setting a switch to select from available options of exclusively low-band transmit and receive signal paths and exclusively high-band transmit and receive signal paths.

28. The method of claim 20 , wherein setting the configuration to select the low-band operational mode comprises powering up components that are exclusive to the low-band operational mode and powering down components that are exclusive to high-band operational mode.

29. The method of claim 20 , wherein setting the configuration to select the high-band operational mode comprises powering up components that are exclusive to the high-band operational mode and powering down components that are exclusive to low-band operational mode, wherein components that are exclusive to the high-band operational mode include a transmit mixer for the upconversion and a receive mixer for the downconversion.

30. A method for operating an integrated circuit (IC) device, the method comprising:

setting a configuration of the IC device to select from available options of a low-band operational mode and a high-band operational mode;

transmitting and receiving radio frequency (RF) signals at a low-band frequency when the configuration of the IC device is set to the low-band operational mode; and

transmitting and receiving RF signals at a high-band frequency when the configuration of the IC device is set to the high-band operational mode, wherein transmitting RF signals at the high-band frequency comprises upconverting a first signal at the low-band frequency to a second signal at the high-band frequency and wherein receiving RF signals at the high-band frequency comprises downconverting a third signal at the high-band frequency to a fourth signal at the low-band frequency, wherein the upconversion and the downconversion are implemented using a conversion signal at a conversion frequency;

wherein the low-band frequency is in the range of 2-6 GHz, the high-band frequency is in the range of 22-26 GHz, and the conversion frequency is 20 GHz.

31. The method of claim 30 , further comprising upconverting the first signal at the low-band frequency with an intermediate frequency to output a fifth signal at the low-band frequency plus the intermediate frequency.

32. The method of claim 31 , wherein the intermediate frequency is 2.5 MHz.

33. The method of claim 30 , further comprising downconverting the fourth signal at the low-band frequency with the fifth signal at the low-band frequency plus the intermediate frequency to produce a seventh signal at the intermediate frequency.

34. The method of claim 33 , further comprising providing the seventh signal to a baseband component.

35. The method of claim 30 , wherein transmitting RF signals at the low-band frequency and at the high-band frequency comprises stepping the first signal across a frequency range.

36. The method of claim 30 , wherein transmitting RF signals at the low-band frequency and at the high-band frequency comprises stepping the first signal across the 2-6 GHz frequency range.

37. The method of claim 30 , wherein setting the configuration comprises setting a switch to select from available options of exclusively low-band transmit and receive signal paths and exclusively high-band transmit and receive signal paths.

38. The method of claim 30 , wherein setting the configuration to select the low-band operational mode comprises powering up components that are exclusive to the low-band operational mode and powering down components that are exclusive to high-band operational mode.

39. The method of claim 30 , wherein setting the configuration to select the high-band operational mode comprises powering up components that are exclusive to the high-band operational mode and powering down components that are exclusive to low-band operational mode, wherein components that are exclusive to the high-band operational mode include a transmit mixer for the upconversion and a receive mixer for the downconversion.