RADAR INTEGRATION WITH HANDHELD ELECTRONIC DEVICES

• US 20150185314A1
• Filed: 12/26/2013
• Published: 07/02/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/26/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Corcos, Dan, Elad, Danny
• Granted Patent: US 9,547,070 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/02 Systems using reflection of radio waves, e.g. primary radar systems; Analogous systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/34 using transmission of continuous, frequency-modulated waves while heterodyning the received signal, or a signal derived therefrom, with a locally-generated signal related to the contemporaneously transmitted signal
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/88 Radar or analogous systems specially adapted for specific applications electromagnetic prospecting or detecting of objects, e.g. near-field detection, G01V3/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/0245 Radar with phased array antenna
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/027 Constructional details of housings, e.g. form, type, material or ruggedness
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/35 Details of non-pulse systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/4056 specially adapted to FMCW
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/243 with built-in antennas
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 21/065 Patch antenna array
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 3/34 by electrical means active lenses or reflecting arrays H01Q3/46

Abstract

A device comprising: a housing mountable on a back surface of a handheld electronic device; a radar coupled with the housing, the radar comprising: (a) a receiver unit comprising at least one receiving antenna element; (b) a transmitter unit comprising at least one transmitting antenna element; an integrated circuit (IC) module; and an interface unit configured to operatively couple the radar with the handheld electronic device.

Claims

1. A device comprising:

a housing mountable on a back surface of a handheld electronic device;

a Frequency-Modulated Continuous-Wave (FMCW) radar coupled with the housing, the FMCW radar comprising;

(a) a receiver unit comprising at least one receiving antenna element,

(b) a transmitter unit comprising at least one transmitting antenna element,

(c) an integrated circuit (IC) module; and

an interface unit configured to operatively couple the IC module with the handheld electronic device.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the FMCW radar is embedded in the housing.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the interface unit is a wireless interface unit.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the interface unit is a wired interface unit.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one receiving antenna element comprises a plurality of receiving antenna elements and the at least one transmitting antenna element comprises a plurality of transmitting antenna elements, and wherein when the housing is mounted on the handheld electronic device:

the plurality of one transmitting antenna element are arranged in an array facing at least a first portion of the back surface of the handheld electronic device; and

the plurality of receiving antenna elements are arranged in an array facing at least a second portion of the back surface of the handheld electronic device.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein the handheld electronic device is selected from the group consisting of:

a smartphone and a tablet computer.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein the FMCW radar is configured to measure at least one variable selected from the group consisting of:

distance, speed and acceleration of a target object with respect to the handheld electronic device.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein the FMCW radar is a phased-array FMCW radar.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein the handheld electronic device comprises an image sensor, and wherein the image sensor is configured to provide input for directing a beam transmitted by the transmitter unit.

20. The device of claim 1, wherein the step frequency radar is configured to measure at least one variable selected from the group consisting of:

distance, speed and acceleration of a target object with respect to the handheld electronic device.

10. A handheld electronic device comprising a phased-array Frequency-Modulated Continuous-Wave radar (FMCW), the phased-array FMCW comprising:

a receiver unit comprising a plurality of receiving antenna elements;

a transmitter unit comprising a plurality of transmitting antenna elements; and

an integrated circuit (IC) module.

11. The handheld electronic device of claim 10, wherein:

the plurality of transmitting antenna elements are arranged in an array facing at least a first portion of the back surface of the handheld electronic device; and

the plurality of receiving antenna elements are arranged in an array facing at least a second portion of the back surface of the handheld electronic device.

12. The handheld electronic device of claim 10, further comprising an image sensor, and wherein input from the image sensor is used to direct a beam transmitted by the transmitter unit.

13. The handheld electronic device of claim 10, wherein the phased-array FMCW radar is configured to measure distance, speed or acceleration or a combination thereof of a target object at a specific direction with respect to the handheld electronic device.

14. A device comprising:

a housing mountable on a back surface of a handheld electronic device;

a step frequency radar coupled with the housing, the step frequency radar comprising;

(a) a receiver unit comprising at least one receiving antenna element,

(b) a transmitter unit comprising at least one transmitting antenna element,

(c) an integrated circuit (IC) module; and

an interface unit configured to operatively couple the IC module with the handheld electronic device.

15. The device of claim 14, wherein the step frequency radar is embedded in the housing.

16. The device of claim 14, wherein the interface unit is a wireless interface unit.

17. The device of claim 14, wherein the interface unit is a wired interface unit.

18. The device of claim 14, wherein the at least one receiving antenna element comprises a plurality of receiving antenna elements and the at least one transmitting antenna element comprises a plurality of transmitting antenna elements, and wherein when the housing is mounted on the handheld electronic device:

the plurality of one transmitting antenna element are arranged in an array facing at least a first portion of the back surface of the handheld electronic device; and

the plurality of receiving antenna elements are arranged in an array facing at least a second portion of the back surface of the handheld electronic device.

19. The device of claim 14, wherein the handheld electronic device is selected from the group consisting of:

a smartphone and a tablet computer.