Patent Description:
Wireless communications and wireless sensing are two types of electromagnetic radio wireless signaling that have applications in a variety of fields. Typically, a transceiver, namely an electronic circuit that includes both a transmitter and a receiver, is embedded in an electronic device to transmit and receive wireless radio frequency (RF) electromagnetic waves.

In a transceiver used for wireless communications, data is exchanged between two devices over a wireless communication bridge. Wireless communications can vary widely, in terms of operating frequency and delivery. Examples of wireless communications are mobile communications, wireless network communications, Bluetooth communications, and near field communications (NFCs). In a transceiver used for wireless sensing, an electromagnetic signal is transmitted and a reflection of the electromagnetic signal is received in a sensing modality used, for example, in interactive systems and / or applications. In each system, signals are generated, transmitted, received, and processed in accordance with applicable operating conditions.

<CIT> describes techniques and devices for using the wireless communication chipset to implement radar sensing techniques. The techniques utilize a controller that enables the wireless communication chipset to transmit and receive radar signals in addition to wireless communication signals. In particular, the controller can cause the wireless communication chipset to perform full-duplex operations, support digital beamforming, or produce radar modulations.

The invention is set out in the appended set of claims, which relate to the embodiments of <FIG>. Further embodiments disclosed in the description and the figures facilitate the understanding of the claimed invention. Technical advantages are generally achieved by embodiments of this disclosure, which describes a system and method of operating a common transceiver for wireless sensing and wireless communications.

This disclosure provides many applicable inventive concepts that can be embodied in a wide variety of specific contexts. The specific embodiments are merely illustrative of specific configurations and do not limit the scope of the claimed embodiments. Features from different embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments unless noted otherwise. Variations or modifications described with respect to one of the embodiments may also be applicable to other embodiments. Further, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions, and alterations can be made herein without departing from the scope of this disclosure as defined by the appended claims. While the inventive aspects are described primarily in the context of a component of a smartphone or a smartwatch, it should also be appreciated that those inventive aspects may also be applicable to other devices such as health monitors, heart rate monitors, thermometers, wearable computers, optical head-mounted displays, etc. Similar elements with the same name may be designated with the same or different reference numbers in the various figures.

Mobile telephones and other types of mobile devices are typically equipped with a wireless communications transceiver used to exchange data with other devices. Wireless sensing, when implemented in a device, may additionally provide for exciting opportunities in terms of gesture recognition, health parameter monitoring, personal physiological signal sensing, location detection, object detection, movement detection, etc..

It is therefore advantageous to additionally provide for wireless sensing capabilities in these mobile devices. It should be appreciated that the addition of separate transceivers, applicable to each technology, may be an inefficient implementation method in accomplishing this end, both in terms of financial cost and component footprint cost. However, owing to technical operational differences, a wireless communications transceiver used for wireless communications is not readily used for wireless sensing. Likewise, a transceiver used for wireless sensing is not readily used in wireless communications. In other words, a transceiver solely designed for one application lacks certain components necessary for accomplishing the task of the other.

Embodiments of this disclosure provide techniques and circuit designs for a common transceiver that may be used for both wireless communications and for wireless sensing in a host device. The additional capabilities in the common transceiver are made possible by reusing common component blocks and the intelligent addition of the non-common blocks to common transceiver circuit. The resulting common transceiver is significantly more efficient in terms of monetary and footprint cost than having two distinct transceivers separately performing the same functions. This is particularly advantageous in portable devices, where size and weight can be a limiting factor. Certain embodiments of the present disclosure may advantageously provide wireless sensing capabilities to an existing wireless communication system. In other embodiments, wireless communication capabilities are added to an existing wireless sensing system. In some embodiments of the disclosure, to accommodate the lower bandwidth and / or larger dynamic range of the wireless sensing signal at baseband, the common transceiver may include a dedicated wireless sensing receive path having a narrowband analog baseband receiver and / or a high-resolution low-sampling rate analog-to-digital converter (ADC). In other embodiments, a dedicated wireless sensing transmit path may include a narrowband analog baseband transmitter and / or a narrowband digital-to-analog converter (DAC).

Aspects of this disclosure provide embodiment methods and structures for adding wireless sensing capabilities to wireless communication transceivers having two or more antennas without adding any additional antennas. Multiple wireless sensing transmit and receive paths may be implemented in transceivers having multiple antennas, such as those used in the multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radio techniques. Multiple transmit and receive paths may advantageously provide sensing capabilities used for detecting, for example, an objects direction. One or more switches may be used to transmit, receive, or sample the various incoming and outgoing signals. These and other details are discussed in greater detail below.

<FIG> is a diagram of an embodiment transceiver <NUM> used for communicating wireless communication signals in a wireless communications network, which may be installed in a host device. The host device may be any electronic device, such as a smartphone, a smartwatch, a wearable device, a tracking device, etc. As shown, the transceiver <NUM> includes a processor <NUM>, a memory <NUM>, a modem <NUM>, a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) <NUM>, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) <NUM>, a phase locked loop (PLL) <NUM>, an analog transmitter (Tx) <NUM>, an analog receiver (Rx) <NUM>, a duplexer <NUM>, and an antenna <NUM>, which may (or may not) be arranged as shown in <FIG>.

The processor <NUM> may be any component or collection of components adapted to perform computations and/or other processing related tasks, and the memory <NUM> may be any component or collection of components adapted to store programming and/or instructions for execution by the processor <NUM>. The modem <NUM> is used to modulate digital data produced by, for example, the processor <NUM> to a modulated signal and / or to demodulate a modulated signal to digital data to be processed by, for example, the processor <NUM>. The modem <NUM> is also known as a mobile broadband modem, a connect card, or a data card. The DAC <NUM> is a circuit or system that converts a digital signal to an analog signal. In contrast, the ADC <NUM> is a circuit or system that converts an analog signal to a digital signal. The analog transmitter <NUM> may be a circuit that includes one or more filters, amplifiers, and / or mixers. The analog transmitter <NUM> may be used to condition an analog signal, for example, by amplifying the analog signal or by up-converting the analog signal to a different operating frequency. The analog receiver <NUM> may be a circuit that includes one or more filters, amplifiers, and / or mixers. The analog receiver <NUM> may be used to condition a received analog signal, for example, by amplifying the analog signal using a low noise amplifier (LNA) or by down-converting the analog signal to a different operating frequency. The phase locked loop <NUM> is typically used to generate an LO signal that is sent to a mixer of the analog transmitter <NUM> and a mixer of the analog receiver <NUM>. The LO signal may be used as an input to the analog transmitter <NUM> to up-convert a transmitting analog signal or as an input to the analog receiver <NUM> to down-covert a received analog signal. In either case, the phase of the LO signal is synchronized with a clock of the host device for common phase throughout the transceiver <NUM>. The duplexer <NUM> is any component or collection of components that allow bi-directional communication over a single path. The duplexer <NUM> isolates the receive path from the transmit path, allowing the transceiver to share a common antenna. In some embodiments, the duplexer <NUM> may be a switch. In some embodiments, the switch may be controlled by the processor <NUM>. In other embodiments, the duplexer <NUM> may be a circulator. The antenna <NUM> may be any device that propagates electromagnetic signals and receives electromagnetic signals through space.

The transmit path of the transceiver <NUM> includes the processor <NUM>, the modem <NUM>, the DAC <NUM>, the analog transmitter <NUM>, the duplexer <NUM>, and the antenna <NUM>. During signal transmission, the processor <NUM> and the modem <NUM> generate a digital wireless communication signal. The digital wireless communication signal is converted, by the DAC <NUM>, to an analog wireless communication signal. The embedded mixer in the analog transmitter <NUM> receives an LO signal from the phase locked loop, which is phase synchronized with a common clock of the host device. The mixer up-converts, using the LO signal, the analog wireless communication signal to an RF wireless communication signal at a particular operating frequency. In some embodiments, an embedded filter in the analog transmitter <NUM> may be used as a low-pass, band-pass, or high-pass filter to condition the RF wireless communication signal. The desired frequency ranges, to be selected or eliminated, in the various types of filters may be application dependent. In some embodiments, an amplifier may be embedded in the analog transmitter <NUM> to amplify the RF wireless communication signal prior to propagation by the antenna <NUM>. The duplexer <NUM> receives the amplified RF wireless communication signal and produces the signal to the antenna <NUM>, which is used to wirelessly transmit the RF signal to another device in the wireless communications network.

The receive path of the transceiver <NUM> includes the antenna <NUM>, the duplexer <NUM>, the analog receiver <NUM>, the ADC <NUM>, the modem <NUM>, and the processor <NUM>. The antenna <NUM> receives an RF wireless communication signal from, for example, another host device or a base station in the wireless communications network. The RF wireless communication signal is directed, using the duplexer <NUM>, to the analog receiver <NUM>. In some embodiments, an amplifier, for example a low noise amplifier, may be used to amplify the RF wireless communication signal. In some embodiments, an embedded filter, for example a low-pass, band-pass, or high-pass filter, may be used to condition the received RF wireless communication signal. In some embodiments, an embedded mixer in the analog receiver <NUM> may receive an LO signal from the phase locked loop <NUM>, which is phase synchronized with the common clock of the host device. The mixer down-converts the RF wireless communication signal using the LO signal to a baseband wireless communication signal. The ADC <NUM> converts the analog wireless communication signal to a digital wireless communication signal. The modem <NUM> and the processor <NUM> receive and process the digital wireless communication signal.

The receive and transmit paths of the transceiver <NUM> typically operate at different carrier frequencies when using the frequency division duplex (FDD) technique. However, when using time division duplex (TDD) techniques, such as in WiFi or WiGig, the transmit and receive paths may operate at different time slots but at the same carrier frequency. Therefore, in the transceiver <NUM>, a single antenna may be sufficient for the transmitting and receiving.

As noted, a typical wireless sensing transceiver, unlike a wireless communication transceiver, may operate as a standalone device. And, as the transmitted signal and the reflected received signal are transmitted and received near-simultaneously, a wireless sensing transceiver necessitates multiple antennas. <FIG> is a diagram of an embodiment wireless sensing transceiver <NUM> used for wireless sensing, which may be installed in a host device.

In a typical wireless sensing operation, an RF signal is transmitted and a reflection of the RF signal is received. The reflected RF signal is then analyzed to, for example, monitor a heartbeat rate, monitor a respiratory rate, detect objects, determine a location of an object, determine a movement of an object, etc. As an example, to monitor the respiratory rate, a pulsed or continuous RF signal may be directed to a chest of a user. A time-based analysis of the reflected signals from the chest can be performed to estimate the respiratory rate due to the movement of the chest. In another example, to monitor the heartbeat, a pulsed or continuous RF signal may be directed to person. The reflected RF signals are analyzed in accordance with the detection time and frequency of the reflected signal. In one embodiment, the RF signal is a pulsed signal. In other embodiments, the RF signal may be a continuous wave signal. In some embodiments, the distance between the wireless sensing transceiver <NUM> and a reflected service may be very short (e.g., in the millimeter range). In other embodiments, the distance between the wireless sensing transceiver <NUM> may be large (e.g., multiple meters).

As shown, the wireless sensing transceiver <NUM> includes a processor <NUM>, a memory <NUM>, a digital transmitter <NUM>, a digital receiver <NUM>, a DAC <NUM>, an ADC <NUM>, a phase locked loop <NUM>, an analog transmitter <NUM>, an analog receiver <NUM>, and a pair of antennas <NUM> and <NUM>, which may (or may not) be arranged as shown in <FIG>. In the wireless sensing transceiver <NUM>, a pre-defined probing signal, such as a single-tone waveform, frequency-modulated continuous waveform (FMCW), or a stepped frequency waveform may be transmitted by the antenna <NUM>. The transmitted signal may be reflected off an object <NUM> and the reflected RF signal is then received at the antenna <NUM>. The wireless sensing transceiver <NUM> near-simultaneously transmits and receives a reflection of the probing signal, which is then processed to extract information relating to the reflected object <NUM>. The processing of the reflected probing signal allows the wireless sensing transceiver <NUM> to, for example, detect objects (e.g., humans), determine the location, determine a movement, or detect other high level physiological features (e.g., breathing rate, heart beat rate, etc.). The transmit and receive paths in the wireless sensing transceiver <NUM> may operate at the same frequency and may carry a sensing signal at the same time.

The wireless sensing transceiver <NUM> includes a digital transmitter <NUM>, a digital receiver <NUM>, and a second antenna <NUM> not originally found in the transceiver <NUM>. The digital transmitter <NUM> is any component or collection of components used to generate a digital wireless sensing signal. The digital receiver <NUM> is any component or collection of components used to receive a digital wireless sensing signal. The digital receiver <NUM> may use or include an estimation algorithm based on a discrete Fourier transform (DFT), to detect a distance of a target, to determine a Doppler frequency shift, for down-sampling the probing signal, or for other processing tasks of the reflected signal.

In transmit, the digital transmitter <NUM> generates a digital wireless sensing signal. In one embodiment, the processor <NUM> generates a signal to be driven by the digital transmitter <NUM>. In another embodiment, the wireless sensing transceiver <NUM> may optionally include a tone generator (not shown) that is driven by the digital transmitter <NUM>. In one such embodiments, the optional tone generator or the digital transmitter may be controlled using the processor <NUM> to generate the digital wireless signal. The DAC <NUM> converts the digital wireless sensing signal to an analog wireless sensing signal. A mixer in the analog transmitter <NUM> may up-convert the analog wireless sensing signal to an RF wireless sensing signal using an LO signal from the phase locked loop <NUM>. In some embodiments, a filter embedded in the analog transmitter <NUM> may be used to condition the RF signal to remove, for example unwanted noise existing at other frequencies. In some embodiments, an amplifier in the analog transmitter may amplify the RF sensing signal prior to transmission. The RF sensing signal is then transmitted using the antenna <NUM>.

In receive, the antenna <NUM> receives an RF wireless sensing signal that is a reflection of the transmitted RF wireless signal using antenna <NUM>. As the wireless sensing transceiver <NUM> has two separate antennas for transmit and receive, a duplexer is unnecessary. An example of a reflected signal is a reflection from a body part, such as skin, which is then processed to detect the heartbeat of a user. It should be appreciated that the reflected signal may be a reflection of other objects and can be used in a variety of applications. The received RF wireless signal may be amplified using, for example an embedded low noise amplifier in the analog receiver <NUM>. In some embodiments, the analog receiver <NUM> may include a filter to remove unwanted RF signals operating at different frequencies from the operating frequency of the wireless sensing transceiver <NUM>. An embedded mixer in the analog receiver <NUM> may down-convert the received RF wireless signal using an LO signal from the phase locked loop <NUM> to an analog wireless sensing signal. The processor and the digital receiver <NUM> may then process the reflected sensing signal.

It should be appreciated that there are several differences between a transceiver used for wireless sensing and a transceiver used for wireless communications. As an example, each transceiver may transmit a different signal type. Correspondingly, the signal processing at the receiver side of each transceiver may also be different. Likewise, particular characteristics of one transceiver do not necessarily apply to the other. As an example, the leakage signal from the transmit antenna to the receive antenna in wireless sensing, which has near-simultaneous transmit and receive characteristics, can be greater than the desired reflection signal. As a result, various methods may be used to address this interference issue in wireless sensing applications. This is typically not an issue with wireless communications.

It should also be appreciated that in wireless sensing, which uses self-mixing technology (i.e., same carrier signal used for transmit and receive), the baseband bandwidth is typically narrower than the baseband in wireless communications. In wireless communications, the channel capacity of a communication channel, or alternatively the data rate communicated over a channel, is directly correlated with the bandwidth of the channel. Therefore, in wireless communications to transfer large amounts of data, a larger bandwidth is preferable. In contrast, a narrow bandwidth is desired in wireless sensing. For example, a vital sign signal to be monitored by a wireless sensing device has a very narrow bandwidth (e.g., a typical respiration is less than half a Hertz (Hz) and a heartbeat is just over a Hz). In such an example, the baseband bandwidth is minimized to only allow the passage of vital sign signals and to block the passage of high frequency interferences. As an example, the baseband bandwidth for wireless communication signals may be <NUM>, while the baseband bandwidth for wireless sensing may be <NUM>.

As shown, the wireless sensing transceiver <NUM> may share several common component blocks with the transceiver <NUM>. The common components of the transceiver <NUM> and the wireless sensing transceiver <NUM> are a processor <NUM>, a memory <NUM>, a DAC <NUM>, an ADC <NUM>, a phase locked loop <NUM>, an analog transmitter <NUM>, an analog receiver <NUM>, and an antenna <NUM>. Embodiments of this disclosure advantageously provide an alternative structure of a transceiver that can operate in both wireless communications and wireless sensing, benefiting from common components found in the distinct transceivers.

<FIG> is a diagram of an embodiment transceiver <NUM> for communicating wireless communication and wireless sensing signals, which may be installed in a host device. As shown, the transceiver <NUM> includes a processor <NUM>, a memory <NUM>, a modem <NUM>, a wireless sensing digital transmitter <NUM>, a wireless sensing digital receiver <NUM>, a DAC <NUM>, an ADC <NUM>, a phase locked loop <NUM>, an analog transmitter <NUM>, an analog receiver <NUM>, and a pair of antennas <NUM> and <NUM>, which may (or may not) be arranged as shown in <FIG>. It should be appreciated that the phase locked loop <NUM> may provide an LO signal as an input to the analog receiver <NUM>.

In this embodiment, wireless sensing capabilities are added to an existing wireless communication system. This is accomplished by adding the second antenna <NUM>, the wireless sensing digital transmitter <NUM>, and the wireless sensing digital receiver <NUM> of the wireless sensing transceiver <NUM> to the transceiver <NUM>. As the transmit path and the receive path in the transceiver <NUM> are separate and distinct, a duplexer becomes unnecessary. The duplexer <NUM> is replaced by the addition of the second antenna <NUM>.

The common components used for wireless sensing and wireless communication are the processor <NUM>, the memory <NUM>, the DAC <NUM>, the ADC <NUM>, the phase locked loop <NUM>, the analog transmitter <NUM>, the analog receiver <NUM>, and the antennas <NUM> and <NUM>. The wireless sensing digital transmitter <NUM> and the wireless sensing digital receiver <NUM> are used mainly for wireless sensing and the modem <NUM> is used mainly for wireless communications.

The wireless sensing digital transmitter <NUM> generates wireless sensing probing signals, which are transmitted through the DAC <NUM>, the analog transmitter <NUM>, and then propagated using the antenna <NUM>. The reflected signal is received at the antenna <NUM>, which is then transferred through the analog receiver <NUM> and the ADC <NUM>, to the wireless sensing digital receiver <NUM>. The signal is then processed using the processor <NUM> and the memory <NUM>. Thus, the transceiver <NUM> advantageously adds wireless sensing capabilities to an original single-antenna communication transceiver at the cost of an additional antenna and two low-cost digital blocks.

In wireless communications, the processor <NUM>, the memory <NUM>, and the modem <NUM> generate a wireless communication signal, which is transmitted through the DAC <NUM> and the analog transmitter <NUM>, which is then propagated using the antenna <NUM>. A received communications signal is received at the antenna <NUM>, which then travels through the analog receiver <NUM> and the ADC <NUM> to the modem <NUM>, where it is processed by the processor <NUM> and the memory <NUM>.

It should be noted that wireless communications and wireless sensing are two different operating modes of the transceiver <NUM>. The operational mode can be selected automatically, for example using high-level software or manually. As an example, a cellular phone can switch to communication mode to transmit data, while operating in sensing mode at other times.

<FIG> is a diagram of an embodiment transceiver <NUM> for communicating wireless communication and wireless sensing signals, which may be installed in a host device. As shown, the transceiver <NUM> includes a processor <NUM>, a memory <NUM>, a modem <NUM>, a wireless sensing digital transmitter <NUM>, a wireless sensing digital receiver <NUM>, a pair of DACs <NUM> and <NUM>, a pair of ADCs <NUM> and <NUM>, a phase locked loop <NUM>, a pair of analog transmitters <NUM> and <NUM>, a pair of analog receivers <NUM> and <NUM>, a pair of duplexers <NUM> and <NUM>, and a pair of antennas <NUM> and <NUM>, which may (or may not) be arranged as shown in <FIG>. It should be appreciated that the phase locked loop <NUM> may provide an LO signal as an input to the analog transmitters <NUM> and <NUM> and the analog receivers <NUM> and <NUM>.

In this embodiment, wireless sensing capabilities are added to a two-antenna wireless communication transceiver. This is accomplished by adding the wireless sensing digital transmitter <NUM> and the wireless sensing digital receiver <NUM> to the two-antenna wireless communication transceiver. As the transceiver <NUM> is equipped with multiple transmit and receive paths, the transceiver <NUM> may have additional capabilities in comparison to the transceiver <NUM>. In some embodiments, the wireless communication may be applicable to 2x2 multiple-input multiple output (MIMO) radar techniques. In some applications, the wireless transceiver <NUM> may be able to communicate with two different devices within the wireless communications network.

The transceiver <NUM> advantageously adds wireless sensing capabilities to an original two-antenna wireless communication transceiver, such as a two-antenna WiFi transceiver of a smartphone. The original two-antenna wireless communication transceiver includes two antennas, two transmit path chains, and two receive path chains for better communication performance (e.g., higher data transmission rate). To reuse the original wireless communication transceiver, one of the two antennas in addition to one transmit path chain for transmitting a probing signal and one receive path chain for near-simultaneous receiving may be used for wireless sensing.

The common components used for wireless sensing and wireless communication are the processor <NUM>, the memory <NUM>, the DAC <NUM>, the ADC <NUM>, the phase locked loop <NUM>, the analog transmitter <NUM>, the analog receiver <NUM>, the duplexers <NUM> and <NUM>, and the antennas <NUM> and <NUM>. The wireless sensing digital transmitter <NUM> and the wireless sensing digital receiver <NUM> are used for wireless sensing. The modem <NUM> is used for wireless communication. The ADC <NUM> and the analog receiver <NUM> are used in a second receive path of the wireless communication, while the DAC <NUM> and the analog transmitter <NUM> are used in a second transmit path of the wireless communication.

The wireless sensing digital transmitter <NUM> generates wireless sensing probing signals, which are transmitted through the DAC <NUM>, the analog transmitter <NUM>, and then propagated using the antenna <NUM> by the direction of the duplexer <NUM>. The reflected sensing RF signal is received at the antenna <NUM>, which is then transferred through the analog receiver <NUM> and the ADC <NUM>, to the wireless sensing digital receiver <NUM>. The signal is then processed using the processor <NUM> and the memory <NUM>. Thus, the transceiver <NUM> advantageously adds wireless sensing capabilities to an original dual-antenna communication transceiver at the cost of two low-cost digital blocks.

In a first path used for wireless communications, the processor <NUM>, the memory <NUM>, and the modem <NUM> generate a wireless communication signal, which is transmitted through the DAC <NUM> and the analog transmitter <NUM>, which is then propagated using the antenna <NUM> by the directing of the duplexer <NUM>. In a second path used for wireless communications, the processor <NUM>, the memory <NUM>, and the modem <NUM> generate a wireless communication signal, which is transmitted through the DAC <NUM> and the analog transmitter <NUM>, which is then propagated using the antenna <NUM> by the directing of the duplexer <NUM>.

In a first path used for wireless communications, a received communications signal is received at the antenna <NUM>, which then travels through the analog receiver <NUM>, by the directing of the duplexer <NUM>, and the ADC <NUM> to the modem <NUM>, where it is processed by the processor <NUM> and the memory <NUM>. In a second path used for wireless communications, a received communications signal is received at the antenna <NUM>, which then travels through the analog receiver <NUM>, by the directing of the duplexer <NUM>, and the ADC <NUM> to the modem <NUM>, where it is processed by the processor <NUM> and the memory <NUM>.

<FIG> is a diagram of an embodiment transceiver <NUM> for communicating wireless communication and wireless sensing signals, which may be installed in a host device. As shown, the transceiver <NUM> includes a processor <NUM>, a memory <NUM>, a modem <NUM>, a wireless sensing digital transmitter <NUM>, a wireless sensing digital receiver <NUM>, a pair of DACs <NUM> and <NUM>, several ADCs <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>, a phase locked loop <NUM>, a pair of analog transmitters <NUM> and <NUM>, a pair of analog receivers <NUM> and <NUM>, a pair of duplexers <NUM> and <NUM>, a pair of antennas <NUM> and <NUM>, and an analog baseband (BB) receiver <NUM>, which may (or may not) be arranged as shown in <FIG>. It should be appreciated that the phase locked loop <NUM> may provide an LO signal as an input to the analog transmitters <NUM> and <NUM> and the analog receivers <NUM> and <NUM>. The analog receiver <NUM> includes an RF component <NUM> and an analog component <NUM>. The ADC <NUM> is a low-sample rate / high resolution ADC.

The RF component of the analog receiver <NUM> may include RF related components, such as the mixer and the low noise amplifier. The analog component of the analog receiver <NUM> may include non-RF related components, such as a low-pass filter.

As noted, wireless communications and wireless sensing transceivers may have different operating requirements. In particular, these differences may be applicable to the analog baseband receiver and the ADC. In some embodiments, the wireless sensing signal may have a lower bandwidth and a larger dynamic range at baseband in comparison to the wireless communication signal. The analog baseband receiver and ADC of a typical wireless communication transceiver may not satisfy the operating requirements of the wireless sensing signal. Therefore, in some embodiments, the analog baseband receiver <NUM>, having a narrowband analog baseband, may be used for wireless sensing. And, the ADC <NUM> connected to the analog base band receiver <NUM> may be a high-resolution and / or low sample rate ADC in comparison to the ADCs <NUM> and <NUM>. This adaptive solution of sampling at different rates for different signals can be advantageous in reducing operating power and improving system efficiency.

Generally, the high-resolution ADC corresponds to an ADC having a bit rate greater than or equal to <NUM>-bits. In contrast, a low-resolution ADC or a typical ADC corresponds to an ADC having a bit rate less than <NUM>-bits. Generally, a high sample rate ADC corresponds to an ADC having a sampling rate greater than or equal to <NUM>. In contrast, a low sample rate or a typical sample rate corresponds to a sampling rate less than <NUM>. It should be appreciated that the sampling rate and resolution are application dependent and vary as a result. As an example, a high-speed low resolution ADC corresponds to an ADC having <NUM> bits at <NUM>, while a low-speed high-resolution ADC corresponds to an ADC having <NUM> bits at <NUM>.

The modified transceiver <NUM> advantageously adds wireless sensing to a dual-antenna wireless communication transceiver without adding any additional antennas. The inclusion of a narrowband / high dynamic range baseband receiver and a high resolution / low sample rate ADC improves performance and robustness for wireless sensing.

In the transceiver <NUM>, wireless sensing capabilities are added to an existing wireless communication system having two separate communication paths. The wireless sensing digital transmitter <NUM> is added to one of the transmit paths originally used for wireless communication. The wireless sensing digital receiver <NUM>, the ADC <NUM>, and the analog baseband receiver <NUM> are added to one of the receive paths originally used for wireless communication.

The common components used for wireless sensing and wireless communication are the processor <NUM>, the memory <NUM>, the DAC <NUM>, the phase locked loop <NUM>, the analog transmitter <NUM>, the RF component <NUM> of the analog receiver <NUM>, the duplexers <NUM> and <NUM>, and the antennas <NUM> and <NUM>. The wireless sensing digital transmitter <NUM>, the wireless sensing digital receiver <NUM>, the ADC <NUM>, and the analog baseband receiver <NUM> are used for wireless sensing.

The modem <NUM> is used for wireless communication. The ADC <NUM> and the analog receiver <NUM> are used in a second receive path of the wireless communication, while the DAC <NUM> and the analog transmitter <NUM> are used in a second transmit path of the wireless communication. A wireless communication receive path, semi-shared with wireless sensing, includes the analog component <NUM> of the analog receiver <NUM> and the ADC <NUM>.

The wireless sensing digital transmitter <NUM> generates wireless sensing probing signals, which are transmitted through the DAC <NUM>, the analog transmitter <NUM>, and then propagated using the antenna <NUM> by the direction of the duplexer <NUM>. The reflected sensing RF signal is received at the antenna <NUM>, which is then transferred through the RF component <NUM> of the analog receiver <NUM>, the analog baseband receiver <NUM>, and the ADC <NUM>, to the wireless sensing digital receiver <NUM>. The signal is then processed using the processor <NUM> and the memory <NUM>. Thus, the transceiver <NUM> advantageously adds wireless sensing capabilities to an original dual-antenna communication transceiver at the cost of two low-cost digital blocks and two low-cost analog blocks.

In a first transmit path used for wireless communications, the processor <NUM>, the memory <NUM>, and the modem <NUM> generate a wireless communication signal, which is transmitted through the DAC <NUM> and the analog transmitter <NUM>, which is then propagated using the antenna <NUM> by the directing of the duplexer <NUM>. In a second transmit path used for wireless communications, the processor <NUM>, the memory <NUM>, and the modem <NUM> generate a wireless communication signal, which is transmitted through the DAC <NUM> and the analog transmitter <NUM>, which is then propagated using the antenna <NUM> by the directing of the duplexer <NUM>.

In a first receive path used for wireless communications, a received communications signal is received at the antenna <NUM>, which then travels through the analog receiver <NUM>, by the directing of the duplexer <NUM>, and the ADC <NUM> to the modem <NUM>, where it is processed by the processor <NUM> and the memory <NUM>. In a second receive path used for wireless communications, a received communications signal is received at the antenna <NUM>, which then travels through the analog receiver <NUM>, by the directing of the duplexer <NUM>, and the ADC <NUM> to the modem <NUM>, where it is processed by the processor <NUM> and the memory <NUM>.

<FIG> is a diagram of an embodiment transceiver <NUM> for communicating wireless communication and wireless signals, which may be installed in a host device. As shown, the transceiver <NUM> includes a processor <NUM>, a memory <NUM>, a modem <NUM>, a wireless sensing digital transmitter <NUM>, a wireless sensing digital receiver <NUM>, a pair of DACs <NUM> and <NUM>, several ADCs <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>, a phase locked loop <NUM>, a pair of analog transmitters <NUM> and <NUM>, a pair of RF analog receivers <NUM> and <NUM>, several analog baseband receivers <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>, a switch <NUM>, and multiple antennas <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>, which may (or may not) be arranged as shown in <FIG>.

It should be appreciated that the phase locked loop <NUM> may provide an LO signal as an input to the analog transmitters <NUM> and <NUM> and the RF analog receivers <NUM> and <NUM>. It should also be appreciated that even though <NUM> antennas are showed in <FIG>, a transceiver with more antennas and additional transmit and receive paths may be contemplated to account for, for example, 8x8 MIMO, etc. The RF analog receivers <NUM> and <NUM> may include RF related components, such as the mixer and the low noise amplifier. The analog baseband receivers <NUM> and <NUM> may include non-RF related components, such as a low-pass filter. The multiple antennas of the transceiver <NUM> may be used for multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) method in a wireless communication. MIMO is used for multiplying the capacity of a radio link using multiple antennas, for example to exploit multipath propagation.

The transceiver <NUM> adds wireless sensing to an original wireless communication transceiver having multiple antennas, for example in a WiGig transceiver. In transmit, the wireless sensing probing signal may be transmitted using either of the transmit paths simultaneously or alternatively to each other. In receive, the switch <NUM> may be used to sample the reflected signal in alternate sequences for processing by the wireless sensing digital receiver <NUM>. The transceiver <NUM> advantageously adds wireless sensing to the original multiple antenna wireless communication transceiver without adding additional antennas. The transceiver <NUM> may additionally add capabilities found using the MIMO radar technique to wireless sensing, which can identify a direction of an object that causes the reflection of the wireless sensing probe signal. The inclusion of a narrowband / high dynamic range baseband receiver and a high resolution / low sample rate ADC improves performance and robustness for wireless sensing.

The common components used for wireless sensing and wireless communication are the processor <NUM>, the memory <NUM>, the DACs <NUM> and <NUM>, the phase locked loop <NUM>, the analog transmitters <NUM> and <NUM>, the RF analog receivers <NUM> and <NUM>, and the antennas <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>. The wireless sensing digital transmitter <NUM>, the wireless sensing digital receiver <NUM>, the ADC <NUM>, the analog baseband receiver <NUM>, and the switch <NUM> are used for wireless sensing. The modem <NUM>, the ADCs <NUM> and <NUM>, and the analog baseband receivers <NUM> and <NUM> are used for wireless communications.

The wireless sensing digital transmitter <NUM> generates wireless sensing probing signals, which can be transmitted simultaneously or alternatively from two different transmit paths chains. In a first wireless sensing transmit path, the probing signal is transmitted using the antenna <NUM> after travelling through the DAC <NUM> and the analog transmitter <NUM>. In a second wireless sensing transmit path, the probing signal is transmitted using the antenna <NUM> after travelling through the DAC <NUM> and the analog transmitter <NUM>.

At the receiver side, reflected sensing RF signals are received at both antennas <NUM> and <NUM>. In a first wireless sensing receive path, the reflected sensing signal is received at the wireless sensing digital receiver <NUM> after travelling through the RF analog receiver <NUM>, the switch <NUM>, the analog baseband receiver <NUM>, and the ADC <NUM>. In a second wireless sensing path, the reflected sensing signal is received at the wireless sensing digital receiver <NUM> after travelling through the RF analog receiver <NUM>, the switch <NUM>, the analog baseband receiver <NUM>, and the ADC <NUM>. The switch <NUM> is used in a switching scheme to alternatively sample the reflected RF signal received at antennas <NUM> and <NUM>. The transceiver <NUM> advantageously adds MIMO-related wireless sensing capabilities to an original four-antenna communication transceiver at the cost of two low-cost digital blocks and three low-cost analog blocks.

In a first transmit path used for wireless communications, the processor <NUM>, the memory <NUM>, and the modem <NUM> generate a wireless communication signal, which is transmitted through the DAC <NUM> and the analog transmitter <NUM>, which is then propagated using the antenna <NUM>. In a second transmit path used for wireless communications, the processor <NUM>, the memory <NUM>, and the modem <NUM> generate a wireless communication signal, which is transmitted through the DAC <NUM> and the analog transmitter <NUM>, which is then propagated using the antenna <NUM>.

In a first receive path used for wireless communications, a received communications signal is received at the antenna <NUM>, which then travels through the RF analog receiver <NUM>, the analog baseband receiver <NUM>, and the ADC <NUM> to the modem <NUM>, where it is processed by the processor <NUM> and the memory <NUM>. In a second receive path used for wireless communications, a received communications signal is received at the antenna <NUM>, which then travels through the RF analog receiver <NUM>, the analog baseband receiver <NUM>, and the ADC <NUM> to the modem <NUM>, where it is processed by the processor <NUM> and the memory <NUM>.

<FIG> is a diagram of an embodiment transceiver <NUM> for communicating wireless communication and wireless signals, which may be installed in a host device. As shown, the transceiver <NUM> includes a processor <NUM>, a memory <NUM>, a modem <NUM>, a wireless sensing digital transmitter <NUM>, a wireless sensing digital receiver <NUM>, several DACs <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>, several ADCs <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>, a phase locked loop <NUM>, several analog baseband transmitters <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>, a pair of RF analog transmitters <NUM> and <NUM>, a pair of RF analog receivers <NUM> and <NUM>, several analog baseband receivers <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>, a pair of switches <NUM> and <NUM>, and multiple antennas <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>, which may (or may not) be arranged as shown in <FIG>.

It should be appreciated that the phase locked loop <NUM> may provide an LO signal as an input to the RF analog transmitters <NUM> and <NUM>, and the RF analog receivers <NUM> and <NUM>. It should also be appreciated that even though <NUM> antennas are showed in <FIG>, a transceiver with more antennas and additional transmit and receive paths may be contemplated to account for, for example, 8x8 MIMO, etc. The RF analog transmitters <NUM> and <NUM> may include RF related components, such as the mixer and the amplifier. The analog baseband transmitters <NUM> and <NUM> may include non-RF related components, such as a filter. The multiple antennas of the transceiver <NUM> may be used for multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) method in a wireless communication.

The transceiver <NUM> adds wireless sensing to an original wireless communication transceiver having multiple antennas, for example in a WiGig transceiver. In transmit, a narrowband DAC <NUM> and a narrowband baseband transmitter <NUM> are added for wireless sensing. The narrowband DAC <NUM> and the narrowband baseband transmitter <NUM> provide a low-power option for wireless sensing.

Generally, the high-resolution DAC corresponds to a DAC having a bit rate greater than or equal to <NUM>-bits. In contrast, a low-resolution DAC or a typical DAC corresponds to a DAC having a bit rate less than <NUM>-bits. Generally, a high sample rate DAC corresponds to a DAC having a sampling rate greater than or equal to <NUM>. In contrast, a low sample rate or a typical sample rate DAC corresponds to a DAC having sampling rate less than <NUM>. It should be appreciated that the sampling rate and resolution are application dependent and vary as a result. As an example, a high-speed low resolution DAC corresponds to a DAC having <NUM> bits at <NUM>, while a low-speed high-resolution DAC corresponds to a DAC having <NUM> bits at <NUM>. This adaptive solution of sampling at different rates for different signals can be advantageous in reducing operating power and improving system efficiency.

The transceiver <NUM> may additionally add capabilities found using the MIMO radar technique to wireless sensing, which can identify a direction of an object that causes the reflection of the wireless sensing probe signal. The modified transceiver <NUM> advantageously adds wireless sensing to a dual-antenna wireless communication transceiver without adding any additional antennas.

The common components used for wireless sensing and wireless communication are the processor <NUM>, the memory <NUM>, the phase locked loop <NUM>, the RF analog transmitters <NUM> and <NUM>, the RF analog receivers <NUM> and <NUM>, and the antennas <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>. The wireless sensing digital transmitter <NUM>, the wireless sensing digital receiver <NUM>, the DAC <NUM>, the ADC <NUM>, the analog base band transmitter <NUM>, the analog baseband receiver <NUM>, and the switches <NUM> and <NUM> are used for wireless sensing. The modem <NUM>, the DACs <NUM> and <NUM>, the ADCs <NUM> and <NUM>, the analog baseband transmitters <NUM> and <NUM>, and the analog baseband receivers <NUM> and <NUM> are used for wireless communications.

The wireless sensing digital transmitter <NUM> generates wireless sensing probing signals, which can be transmitted simultaneously or alternatively from two different transmit paths chains. The probing signal travels through the DAC <NUM>, the analog baseband transmitter <NUM>, and then split at the switch <NUM> to the two transmit path chains. In a first wireless sensing transmit path, the probing signal is transmitted using the antenna <NUM> after travelling through the RF analog transmitter <NUM>. In a second wireless sensing transmit path, the probing signal is transmitted using the antenna <NUM> after travelling through RF analog transmitter <NUM>.

At the receiver side, reflected sensing RF signals are received at both antennas <NUM> and <NUM>. In a first wireless sensing receive path, the reflected sensing signal is received at the wireless sensing digital receiver <NUM> after travelling through the RF analog receiver <NUM>, the switch <NUM>, the analog baseband receiver <NUM>, and the ADC <NUM>. In a second wireless sensing path, the reflected sensing signal is received at the wireless sensing digital receiver <NUM> after travelling through the RF analog receiver <NUM>, the switch <NUM>, the analog baseband receiver <NUM>, and the ADC <NUM>. The switch <NUM> is used in a switching scheme to alternatively sample the reflected RF signal received at antennas <NUM> and <NUM>.

In a first transmit path used for wireless communications, the processor <NUM>, the memory <NUM>, and the modem <NUM> generate a wireless communication signal, which is transmitted through the DAC <NUM>, the analog baseband transmitter <NUM>, and RF analog transmitter <NUM>, which is then propagated using the antenna <NUM>. In a second transmit path used for wireless communications, the processor <NUM>, the memory <NUM>, and the modem <NUM> generate a wireless communication signal, which is transmitted through the DAC <NUM>, the analog baseband transmitter <NUM>, and the RF analog transmitter <NUM>, which is then propagated using the antenna <NUM>.

<FIG> is a diagram of a network <NUM> for communicating data. The network <NUM> includes a base station <NUM> having a coverage area <NUM>, a plurality of UEs <NUM>, and a backhaul network <NUM>. As shown, the base station <NUM> establishes uplink (dashed line) and/or downlink (dotted line) connections with the UEs <NUM>, which serve to carry data from the UEs <NUM> to the base station <NUM> and vice-versa. Data communicated over the uplink/downlink connections may include data communicated between the UEs <NUM>, as well as data communicated to/from a remote-end (not shown) by way of the backhaul network <NUM>. As used herein, the term "base station" refers to any network-side device configured to provide wireless access to a network, such as an enhanced Node B (eNodeB or eNB), a gNB, a transmit/receive point (TRP), a macro-cell, a femtocell, a Wi-Fi Access Point (AP), and other wirelessly enabled devices. Base stations may provide wireless access in accordance with one or more wireless communication protocols, e.g., 5th generation new radio (<NUM> NR), LTE, LTE advanced (LTE-A), High Speed Message Access (HSPA), Wi-Fi <NUM>. 11a/b/g/n/ac, etc. As used herein, the term "UE" refers to any user-side device configured to access a network by establishing a wireless connection with a base station, such as a mobile device, a mobile station (STA), a vehicle, and other wirelessly enabled devices. In some embodiments, the network <NUM> may include various other wireless devices, such as relays, low power nodes, etc. While it is understood that communication systems may employ multiple access nodes capable of communicating with a number of UEs, only one base station <NUM>, and two UEs <NUM> are illustrated for simplicity.

<FIG> illustrates a block diagram of another embodiment processing system <NUM> for performing methods described herein, which may be installed in a host device. As shown, the processing system <NUM> includes a processor <NUM>, a memory <NUM>, and interfaces <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> which may (or may not) be arranged as shown in <FIG>. The processor <NUM> may be any component or collection of components adapted to perform computations and/or other processing related tasks, and the memory <NUM> may be any component or collection of components adapted to store programming and/or instructions for execution by the processor <NUM>. In an embodiment, the memory <NUM> includes a non-transitory computer readable medium. The interfaces <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> may be any component or collection of components that allow the processing system <NUM> to communicate with other devices/components and/or a user. In an embodiment, one or more of the interfaces <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> may be adapted to communicate data, control, or management messages from the processor <NUM> to applications installed on the host device and/or a remote device. As another embodiment, one or more of the interfaces <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> may be adapted to allow a user or user device (e.g., personal computer (PC), etc.) to interact/communicate with the processing system <NUM>. The processing system <NUM> may include additional components not depicted in <FIG>, such as long-term storage (e.g., non-volatile memory, etc.).

In some embodiments, the processing system <NUM> is included in a network device that is accessing, or part otherwise of, a telecommunications network. In one embodiment, the processing system <NUM> is in a network-side device in a wireless or wireline telecommunications network, such as a base station, a relay station, a scheduler, a controller, a gateway, a router, an applications server, or any other device in the telecommunications network. In other embodiments, the processing system <NUM> is in a user-side device accessing a wireless or wireline telecommunications network, such as a mobile station, a user equipment (UE), a personal computer (PC), a tablet, a wearable communications device (e.g., a smartwatch, etc.), a wireless capable vehicle, a wireless capable pedestrian, a wireless capable infrastructure element or any other device adapted to access a telecommunications network.

In some embodiments, one or more of the interfaces <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> connects the processing system <NUM> to a transceiver adapted to transmit and receive signaling over the telecommunications network. <FIG> illustrates a block diagram of a transceiver <NUM> adapted to transmit and receive signaling over a telecommunications network. The transceiver <NUM> may be installed in a host device. As shown, the transceiver <NUM> comprises a network-side interface <NUM>, a coupler <NUM>, a transmitter <NUM>, a receiver <NUM>, a signal processor <NUM>, and a device-side interface <NUM>. The network-side interface <NUM> may include any component or collection of components adapted to transmit or receive signaling over a wireless or wireline telecommunications network. The coupler <NUM> may include any component or collection of components adapted to facilitate bi-directional communication over the network-side interface <NUM>. The transmitter <NUM> may include any component or collection of components (e.g., up-converter, power amplifier, etc.) adapted to convert a baseband signal into a modulated carrier signal suitable for transmission over the network-side interface <NUM>. The receiver <NUM> may include any component or collection of components (e.g., down-converter, low noise amplifier, etc.) adapted to convert a carrier signal received over the network-side interface <NUM> into a baseband signal. The signal processor <NUM> may include any component or collection of components adapted to convert a baseband signal into a data signal suitable for communication over the device-side interface(s) <NUM>, or vice-versa. The device-side interface(s) <NUM> may include any component or collection of components adapted to communicate data-signals between the signal processor <NUM> and components within the host device (e.g., the processing system <NUM>, local area network (LAN) ports, etc.).

The transceiver <NUM> may transmit and receive signaling over any type of communications medium. In some embodiments, the transceiver <NUM> transmits and receives signaling over a wireless medium. In some embodiments, the transceiver <NUM> may be a wireless transceiver adapted to communicate in accordance with a wireless telecommunications protocol, such as a cellular protocol (e.g., long-term evolution (LTE), etc.), a wireless local area network (WLAN) protocol (e.g., Wi-Fi, etc.), or any other type of wireless protocol (e.g., Bluetooth, near field communication (NFC), etc.). In such embodiments, the network-side interface <NUM> comprises one or more antenna/radiating elements. In some embodiments, the network-side interface <NUM> may include a single antenna, multiple separate antennas, or a multi-antenna array configured for multi-layer communication, e.g., single input multiple output (SIMO), multiple input single output (MISO), multiple input multiple output (MIMO), etc. In other embodiments, the transceiver <NUM> transmits and receives signaling over a wireline medium, e.g., twisted-pair cable, coaxial cable, optical fiber, etc. Specific processing systems and/or transceivers may utilize all of the components shown, or only a subset of the components, and levels of integration may vary from device to device.

<FIG> are flowcharts of embodiment methods for wireless communications, as may be performed by a common transceiver in a host device. <FIG> is a flowchart of an embodiment method <NUM> for wireless communications in a transmit path of the common transceiver. At step <NUM>, the common transceiver generates a digital wireless communications signal using a common processor and a modem of the common transceiver. In some embodiments where the common transceiver has multiple transmit paths, multiple wireless communication signals may be generated for each transmit path. At step <NUM>, the digital wireless communications signal is converted to an analog wireless communications signal using a DAC. In some embodiments, the DAC may be a common component used for both wireless communications and wireless sensing. In some embodiments, the wireless communications and the wireless sensing may each have a different DAC. At step <NUM>, an analog transmitter is used to amplify the analog wireless communications signal. In some embodiments, the analog transmitter may also be used to filter unwanted signals. At step <NUM>, the amplified analog wireless communications signal is transmitted over a common transmitting antenna of the common transceiver.

<FIG> is a flowchart of an embodiment method <NUM> for wireless communications in a receive path of the common transceiver. At step <NUM>, the common transceiver receives an analog wireless communications signal over a common receiving antenna of the transceiver. In some embodiments where the common transceiver has multiple receive paths, multiple wireless communications signals may be received over multiple common receiving antennas. At step <NUM>, an analog receiver may be used to amplify the received analog wireless communications signal. In some embodiments, the analog receiver may also filter out unwanted signals. At step <NUM>, the analog wireless communications signal is converted, using an ADC, to a digital wireless communications signal. In some embodiments, the ADC may be a common component shared between the wireless communication and wireless sensing paths. In some embodiments, each of the wireless sensing and wireless communications may have different ADCs. At step <NUM>, the digital wireless communications signal is processed by a common processor and a modem of the common transceiver.

<FIG> are flowcharts of embodiment methods for wireless sensing, as may be performed by a common transceiver in a host device. <FIG> is a flowchart of an embodiment method <NUM> for wireless sensing in a transmit path of the common transceiver. At step <NUM>, the common transceiver generates a digital wireless sensing signal using a common processor and a wireless sensing digital transmitter. In some embodiments where the common transceiver has multiple transmit paths, multiple wireless sensing signals may be generated. At step <NUM>, the digital wireless sensing signal is converted to an analog wireless sensing signal using a DAC. In some embodiments, the DAC may be shared with the wireless communications path. In some embodiments, the DAC may be capable of operating under a narrower band than the DAC used for wireless communications. At step <NUM>, an analog transmitter may be used to amplify the wireless sensing signal. In some embodiments, the analog transmitter my operate at a baseband different from the analog transmitter used for wireless communications. In some embodiments, a switch may be used to direct multiple wireless sensing signals to multiple transmit paths. At step <NUM>, the amplified analog wireless sensing signal is transmitted over a common antenna of the transceiver.

<FIG> is a flowchart of an embodiment method <NUM> for wireless sensing in a receive path of the common transceiver. At step <NUM>, the common transceiver receives an analog wireless sensing signal over a common receiving antenna of the transceiver. The analog wireless sensing signal being a reflected signal of a wireless sensing signal transmitted by the common transceiver. In some embodiments where the common transceiver has multiple receive paths, multiples wireless sensing signals may be received over multiple common receiving antennas. At step <NUM>, an analog receiver may be used to amplify the received analog wireless sensing signal. In some embodiments, the analog receiver may have a narrowband analog baseband. At step <NUM>, the analog wireless sensing signal is converted to a digital wireless sensing signal using an ADC. In some embodiments, the ADC may be a high-resolution and / or low sample rate ADC in comparison to the ADC used for wireless communications. In some embodiments, a switch may be used to sample wireless sensing signals received at multiple common receiving antennas. In such embodiments, the direction of the object causing the reflection may be determined by sampling of the signals. At step <NUM>, a common processor and a wireless sensing digital receiver may be used to process the wireless sensing signal.

Claim 1:
A method for wireless communications and wireless sensing, the method comprising:
converting (step <NUM>), by a common digital-to-analog converter (<NUM>), DAC, of a device, a digital wireless communication signal into an analog wireless communication signal;
transmitting (step <NUM>) the analog wireless communication signal over a common transmitting antenna (<NUM>) of the device;
converting (step <NUM>), by the common DAC, a digital wireless sensing signal into an analog wireless sensing signal; and
transmitting (step <NUM>) the analog wireless sensing signal over the common transmitting antenna;
the method further comprising:
receiving (step <NUM>, <NUM>), over a common receiving antenna (<NUM>, <NUM>) of the device, a second analog wireless communication signal and a second analog wireless sensing signal, the second analog wireless sensing signal being a reflected analog signal of the amplified analog wireless sensing signal; and
amplifying (step <NUM>, <NUM>), by a common receive amplifier (<NUM>, <NUM>) of the device, the second analog wireless communication signal and the second analog wireless sensing signal;
converting (step <NUM>), by a first analog-to-digital converter (ADC) (<NUM>) of the device, the second analog wireless communication signal to a second digital wireless communication signal; and
converting (step <NUM>), by a narrowband analog baseband receiver (<NUM>) and a second ADC (<NUM>) of the device, the second ADC comprising a higher resolution ADC with a lower sampling rate than the first ADC, the second analog wireless sensing signal to a second digital wireless sensing signal, the second analog wireless sensing signal having a lower bandwidth and a larger dynamic range than the second analog wireless communication signal.