Electronic devices with background-cancelled ultra short range object detection

US12013455B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Apple Inc. · US

Inventors

• Joonhoi Hur · Dallas, US
• Bernhard Sogl · Unterhaching, DE
• Jochen Schrattenecker · Eisenlohrsweg, AT
• Andreas Menkhoff · Oberhaching, DE
• Bin Xiao · Lo Wu, CN
• Lucas Calderin · Berkeley, US
• Andre Hanke · Mülheim an der Ruhr, DE
• Harald Pretl
• Rastislav Vazny · Sunnyvale, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Mar 12, 2021
• Grant date: Jun 18, 2024
• Expiry date: May 26, 2042

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G01S13/343
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

An electronic device may include a processor and wireless circuitry with transmit and receive antennas. Radar circuitry may use the transmit and receive antennas to perform spatial ranging on external objects farther than a threshold distance (e.g., 1-2 cm) from the transmit antenna. The wireless circuitry may include a voltage standing wave ration (VSWR) sensor coupled to the transmit antenna to detect the presence of objects within the threshold distance from the transmit antenna. This may serve to cover a blind spot for the radar circuitry near to the transmit antenna. The VSWR sensor may gather background VSWR measurements when other wireless performance metric data for the wireless circuitry is within a predetermined range of satisfactory values. The background VSWR measurements may be subtracted from real time VSWR measurements to perform accurate and robust ultra-short range object detection near to the transmit antenna.