Multiplexing radar beat signals

An apparatus comprising:

• transmission means for transmitting a radar transmit signal;
• reception means for receiving two or more radar receive signals, the two or more radar receive signals representing portions of the radar transmit signal that are reflected by an object;
• downconversion means for generating two or more radar beat signals by downconverting the two or more radar receive signals using the radar transmit signal;
• multiplexing means for generating a composite radar beat signal by multiplexing the two or more radar beat signals together;
• demultiplexing means for extracting the two or more radar beat signals from the composite radar beat signal;
• and
• interface means for propagating the composite radar beat signal from the multiplexing means to the demultiplexing means, the interface means coupled to the multiplexing means and configured to be coupled to a processor, the interface means comprising at least one communication path, a quantity of the radar beat signals being greater than a quantity of paths in the at least one communication path.

A method for multiplexing radar beat signals to facilitate propagation across interface circuitry, the method comprising:

• transmitting a radar transmit signal;
• receiving two or more radar receive signals, the two or more radar receive signals representing portions of the radar transmit signal that are reflected by an object;
• downconverting the two or more radar receive signals using the radar transmit signal to generate two or more radar beat signals;
• multiplexing the two or more radar beat signals together to generate a composite radar beat signal;
• and
• propagating the composite radar beat signal across the interface circuitry to a demultiplexing circuit, the interface circuitry comprising at least one communication path, a quantity of the radar beat signals being greater than a quantity of paths in the at least one communication path.

One or more devices configured to implement at least a portion of a wireless transceiver, the one or more devices comprising:

• a radio-frequency integrated circuit configured to be coupled to an antenna array, the radio-frequency integrated circuit comprising:
• a transmit chain comprising an upconversion mixer;
• two or more receive chains, each of the two or more receive chains comprising a downconversion mixer having an input coupled to an output of the upconversion mixer;
• and
• a multiplexing circuit coupled to outputs of the two or more downconversion mixers;
• and
• a demultiplexing circuit,
• wherein the multiplexing circuit and the demultiplexing circuit are configured to be coupled together by interface circuitry comprising at least one communication path, wherein a quantity of the two or more receive chains is greater than a quantity of paths in the at least one communication path, and wherein the interface circuitry is configured to pass a composite radar beat signal from the multiplexing circuit to the demultiplexing circuit.

An apparatus comprising:

• a radio-frequency integrated circuit configured to be coupled to an antenna array, the radio-frequency integrated circuit configured to:
• transmit a radar transmit signal using the antenna array;
• and
• receive multiple radar receive signals using the antenna array, the multiple radar receive signals representing portions of the radar transmit signal that are reflected by an object,
• the radio-frequency integrated circuit comprising:
• multiple receive chains each configured to generate a radar beat signal by downconverting a respective radar receive signal of the multiple radar receive signals using the radar transmit signal;
• and
• a multiplexing circuit coupled to the multiple receive chains, the multiplexing circuit configured to multiplex the radar beat signals together to generate a composite radar beat signal;
• a demultiplexing circuit;
• and
• interface circuitry configured to pass the composite radar beat signal from the multiplexing circuit to the demultiplexing circuit;
• a processor comprising multiple digital receive chains,
• wherein the demultiplexing circuit is coupled between the interface circuitry and the two or more digital receive chains, the demultiplexing circuit configured to:
• demultiplex the composite radar beat signal to extract the radar beat signals;
• and
• provide the extracted radar beat signals respectively to the multiple digital receive chains.