Radio or sonic wave detector, transmitter, receiver and method thereof

A continuous wave radio or sonic frequency diverse array (CW-FDA) detector for determining an unambiguous range of a reflective object within a range and field of view of interest, the detector comprising:

• a continuous wave radio or sonic frequency diverse array (CW-FDA) transmitter, including:
• a frequency generator;
• and
• an array of transmitter elements;
• a continuous wave radio or sonic frequency diverse array (CW-FDA) receiver, including:
• a receiver configured to receive returned signals reflected from the reflective object resulting from a transmission by the CW-FDA transmitter across at least part of the field of view of interest;
• a computing device configured to receive returned signal data from the CW-FDA receiver;
• the CW-FDA transmitter configured to operate according to a first transmission scheme, the first transmission scheme including:
• the frequency generator configured to provide at least two transmitter elements of the array of transmitter elements with signals of respectively different frequency;
• wherein the differing frequency signals are of a substantially continuous wave;
• and
• wherein a spacing of the at least two transmitter elements and the frequencies provided thereto are such to generate a first transmission pattern,
• the first transmission pattern including:
• a transmission pattern exhibiting a deterministic pattern of constructive interference repeating in range;
• and
• a first feature attributable to the first transmission pattern, the first feature selected from a group consisting of a frequency, a timing, a polarization, a shape and combinations thereof,
• wherein within each repeat in the range, the transmission pattern includes areas of constructed interference distributed in azimuth or range, such that a timing of returned signals results from reflection of the transmission pattern by the reflective object and provides a constraint on possible values of the range;
• the CW-FDA transmitter further configured to operate according to a second transmission scheme, the second transmission scheme generating a second transmission pattern different from the first transmission pattern and having a second feature attributable to the second transmission pattern, the second feature selected from a group consisting of a frequency, a timing, a polarization, a shape and combinations thereof, the first and second transmission patterns exhibiting a spatial diversity of constructive interference compared to the other of the first and second transmission patterns;
• the CW-FDA receiver configured to receive signals of the first and second transmission patterns, each signal resulting from each of the first and second transmission patterns,
• wherein a timing of attributable returned signals enables unambiguous determination of the range of the reflective object, and
• wherein the computing device is configured to attribute each received signal to its respective transmission pattern based on the first and second features, and
• wherein the computing device is further configured to unambiguously determine range of the reflective object based at least on the timing of the attributed returned signals.