Radar device

A system comprising:

• a vehicle with a radar device, the radar device comprising:
• a radar circuit configured to transceive a first antenna signal and a second antenna signal, wherein the first antenna signal occupies a first frequency band and the second antenna signal occupies a second frequency band that is separate from the first frequency band, the first frequency band and the second frequency band having a frequency gap between them of at least a half of a frequency span of the first frequency band or the second frequency band, the first antenna signal comprises a first frequency sweep that spans the first frequency band, the second antenna signal comprises a second frequency sweep that spans the second frequency band, the first antenna signal being separate from the second antenna signal, the first antenna signal having a first range, the second antenna signal having a second range that is larger than the first range, the first antenna signal and the second antenna signal each including transmit signals and receive signals (received in response thereto;
• an antenna device configured to transduce the first antenna signal via a first antenna of the antenna device and the second antenna signal via a second antenna of the antenna device;
• and
• a signal processing device configured to jointly process the first and second antenna signal by,
• mixing the transmit signals with the receive signals to generate an intermediate signal such that a frequency of the intermediate signal is based on the first frequency sweep and the second frequency sweep,
• determining a frequency difference between the transmit signals and the receive signals by measuring the frequency of the intermediate signal, and
• determining, using both the first antenna signal with the first frequency band and the first range and the second antenna signal with the second frequency band and the second range, a distance to a target object irradiated by the antenna device based on the frequency difference.

A method for operating a radar device, for example for automotive applications, the radar device comprising a radar circuit, an antenna device and a signal processing device, the method comprising:

• transceiving a first antenna signal and a second antenna signal with the radar circuit, wherein the first antenna signal occupies a first frequency band and the second antenna signal occupies a second frequency band that is separate from the first frequency band, the first frequency band and the second frequency band having a frequency gap between them of at least a half of a frequency span of the first frequency band or the second frequency band, the first antenna signal comprises a first frequency sweep that spans the first frequency band, the second antenna signal comprises a second frequency sweep that spans the second frequency band, the first antenna signal being separate from the second antenna signal, the first antenna signal having a first range, the second antenna signal having a second range that is larger than the first range, the first antenna signal and the second antenna signal each including transmit signals and receive signals (received in response thereto;
• transducing the first antenna signal via a first antenna of the antenna device and the second antenna signal via a second antenna of the antenna device;
• and
• jointly processing the first and second antenna signal by,
• mixing the transmit signals with the receive signals to generate an intermediate signal such that a frequency of the intermediate signal is based on the first frequency sweep and the second frequency sweep,
• determining a frequency difference between the transmit signals and the receive signals by measuring the frequency of the intermediate signal, and
• determining, using both the first antenna signal with the first frequency band and the first range and the second antenna signal with the second frequency band and the second range, a distance to a target object irradiated by the antenna device based on the frequency difference.