# US 2021/0239787 A1 · Scalable cascading radar system > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2021/0239787 A1 - Document ID: US20210239787A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 16/776,882 - Filed: 2020-01-30 - Published: 2021-08-05 - Earliest claimed: 2020-01-30 - Assignees: Aptiv Technologies AG - Applicants: Aptiv Technologies Limited - Inventors: Zhengzheng Li - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20210239787A1 ## CPC - G01S 7/0232: {Avoidance by frequency multiplex} - G01S 7/032: {Constructional details for solid-state radar subsystems} - G01S 7/003: {Transmission of data between radar, sonar or lidar systems and remote stations} - G01S 7/282: Transmitters - G01S 7/4008: {of transmitters} - G01S 7/4017: {of HF systems} - G01S 13/003: {Bistatic radar systems; Multistatic radar systems} - G01S 13/343: {using sawtooth modulation} - G01S 13/87: Combinations of radar systems, e.g. primary radar and secondary radar - G01S 13/931: of land vehicles - H04B 7/0413: MIMO systems - G01S 7/028: {Miniaturisation, e.g. surface mounted device [SMD] packaging or housings} - G01S 2013/93273: {on the top of the vehicles} - G01S: RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES - H04B: TRANSMISSION ## Abstract The techniques of this disclosure describe a scalable cascading automotive radar system that generates a common oscillator signal enabling consecutive chirps to be output more quickly and precisely than any previous cascading automotive radar system, thereby reducing phase noise and improving performance. The scalable cascading automotive radar system combines a respective LO signal output from at least two primary transceivers to distribute the combined signals as a common oscillator signal to be input to all the transceivers of the radar system. Thus, settling time and resetting times that otherwise occur between chirps generated by other automotive radar systems are reduced because the common oscillator signal is no longer constrained to a single LO signal from a single primary transceiver. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A scalable cascading automotive radar system comprising: a plurality of transceivers including a first transceiver and a second transceiver each configured to output a respective local oscillator (LO) signal; a combiner configured to merge the respective LO signal that is output from the first transceiver with the respective LO signal that is output from the second transceiver into a common oscillator signal; a divider configured to distribute the common oscillator signal to each of the plurality of transceivers when the transceivers are emitting radar signals for detecting radar reflections from targets outside an automobile; and a radar control component configured to output information associated with the radar reflections detected from the radar signals that reached the targets outside the automobile. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The scalable cascading automotive radar system of claim 1, further comprising an amplifier between the combiner and the divider, the amplifier configured to increase the common oscillator signal to a threshold level required by the plurality of transceivers for emitting the radar signals and detecting the radar reflections from the targets. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The scalable cascading automotive radar system of claim 1, further comprising an antenna configured to emit the radar signals and detect the radar reflections. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The scalable cascading automotive radar system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of transceivers further include at least two additional transceivers that are each configured to receive the common oscillator signal. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The scalable cascading automotive radar system of claim 4, wherein the at least two additional transceivers are each configured to not output a respective LO signal. ### Claim 6 (depends on 4) The scalable cascading automotive radar system of claim 4, wherein the at least two additional transceivers is each configured to output a respective LO signal, and the combiner is configured to merge the respective LO signals from each of the first, second, and the at least two additional transceivers into the common oscillator signal. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The scalable cascading automotive radar system of claim 1, wherein the divider is configured to evenly distribute the common oscillator signal to a respective LO signal input of each of the plurality of transceivers. ### Claim 8 A scalable cascading automotive radar system comprising: a plurality of transceivers each capable of outputting a respective local oscillator (LO) signal; a combiner configured to merge the respective LO signal that is output from at least two of the plurality of transceivers into a common oscillator signal; a divider configured to distribute the common oscillator signal to each of the plurality of transceivers when the transceivers are emitting radar signals for detecting radar reflections from targets outside an automobile; and a radar control component configured to output information about the radar reflections from the targets outside the automobile. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The scalable cascading automotive radar system of claim 8, wherein the combiner is configured to not merge the respective LO signal from at least two other transceivers of the plurality of transceivers. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The scalable cascading automotive radar system of claim 8, wherein the divider comprises multiple dividers configured to distribute an equal portion of the common oscillator signal output from the combiner to the respective LO signal input of each of the plurality of transceivers. ### Claim 11 (depends on 8) The scalable cascading automotive radar system of claim 8, wherein the radar control component is further configured to: generate a first chirp with a first of the plurality of transceivers; and generate a second chirp with a second of the plurality of transceivers, the second chirp having a different frequency function over time than the first chirp. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The scalable cascading automotive radar system of claim 11, wherein the radar control component is further configured to: generate a third chirp with a third of the plurality of transceivers; and generate a fourth chirp with a fourth of the plurality of transceivers. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The scalable cascading automotive radar system of claim 12, wherein at least two chirps have respective frequency functions of time that are the same. ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The scalable cascading automotive radar system of claim 12, wherein at least two chirps comprise respective frequency functions of time that are different. ### Claim 15 A method comprising: obtaining, from each of at least two transceivers of a scalable cascading automotive radar system, a respective local oscillator (LO) signal; generating, based on a combination of the respective LO signals output from the at least two transceivers, a common oscillator signal for input to the at least two transceivers when the at least two transceivers are emitting radar signals for detecting radar reflections from targets outside an automobile; and inputting the common oscillator signal into a respective LO signal input of each of the at least two transceivers when the at least two transceivers are emitting the radar signals for detecting the radar reflections from the targets outside the automobile. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, further comprising: while inputting the common oscillator signal into the respective LO signal input of each of the at least two transceivers, simultaneously inputting the common oscillator signal into additional transceivers of the automotive radar system that do not output respective LO signals when the at least two transceivers are emitting the radar signals for detecting the radar reflections from the targets outside the automobile. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The method of claim 16, further comprising: refraining from obtaining the respective LO signals that are output from the additional transceivers. ### Claim 18 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, wherein generating the common oscillator signal for input to the at least two transceivers comprises: combining the respective LO signals of the at least two transceivers prior to dividing the combined respective LO signal into the common oscillator signal. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The method of claim 18, further comprising: amplifying the common oscillator signal prior to, or subsequent to, dividing the combined respective LO signal into the common oscillator signal. ### Claim 20 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, further comprising: detecting the radar reflections that are synchronized to the common oscillator signal.