Chip-scale radio-frequency localization devices and associated systems and methods

Abstract

A device comprising: a substrate; a semiconductor die mounted on the substrate; a transmit antenna fabricated on the substrate and configured to transmit radio-frequency (RF) signals at least at a first center frequency; a receive antenna fabricated on the substrate and configured to receive RF signals at least at a second center frequency different than the first center frequency; and circuitry integrated with the semiconductor die and configured to provide RF signals to the transmit antenna and to receive RF signals from the receive antenna.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . A system, comprising:
 a plurality of interrogator devices including first and second interrogator devices, each of the first and second interrogator devices comprising a radio-frequency (RF) transmit antenna configured to transmit RF signals to a target device, and transmit circuitry configured to generate RF signals for transmission to the target device by the RF transmit antenna;   a controller configured to:
 control the first interrogator device to transmit, to the target device, a first RF signal, and 
 after the first interrogator device has completed transmitting the first RF signal, control the second interrogator device to transmit, to the target device, a second RF signal; and 
   receive circuitry configured to:
 receive a third RF signal transmitted by the target device in response to transmitting the first RF signal using the first interrogator device, and 
 receive a fourth RF signal transmitted by the target device in response to transmitting the second RF signal using the second interrogator device. 
   
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the first RF signal has a first center frequency, and the third RF signal has a second center frequency different from the first center frequency. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the second RF signal has the first center frequency, and the fourth RF signal has the second center frequency. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the second center frequency is a harmonic of the first center frequency. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the first center frequency is in a range of 50-70 GHz, and the second center frequency is in a range of 100-140 GHz. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the receive circuitry comprises a first RF receive antenna and a second RF receive antenna, and wherein the receive circuitry is configured to receive the third RF signal using the first RF receive antenna and to receive the fourth RF signal using the second RF receive antenna. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 a first substrate, wherein the RF transmit antenna of the first interrogator device and the first RF receive antenna are disposed on the first substrate; and   a second substrate, wherein the RF transmit antenna of the second interrogator device and the second RF receive antenna are disposed on the second substrate.   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the first interrogator device and at least a portion of the receive circuitry are disposed on a common printed circuit board. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the plurality of interrogator devices further comprises a third interrogator device,
 wherein the controller is further configured to, after the second interrogator device has completed transmitting the second RF signal, control the third interrogator device to transmit a fifth RF signal to the target device, and   wherein the receive circuitry is further configured to receive a sixth RF signal transmitted by the target device in response to transmitting the fifth RF signal using the third interrogator device.   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the plurality of interrogator devices further comprises a fourth interrogator device,
 wherein the controller is further configured to, after the third interrogator device has completed transmitting the fifth RF signal, control the fourth interrogator device to transmit a seventh RF signal to the target device, and   wherein the receive circuitry is further configured to receive an eighth RF signal transmitted by the target device in response to transmitting the seventh RF signal using the fourth interrogator device.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the receive circuitry is configured to:
 generate a first RF mixed signal using the first RF signal and the third RF signal, wherein the first RF mixed signal is indicative of a first distance between the first interrogator device and the target device, and   generate a second RF mixed signal using the second RF signal and the fourth RF signal, wherein the second RF mixed signal is indicative of a second distance between the second interrogator device and the target device.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the receive circuitry is configured to generate the first RF mixed signal by mixing the first RF signal with the third RF signal, and is configured to generate the second RF mixed signal by mixing the second RF signal with the fourth RF signal. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 12 , further comprising at least one processor configured to:
 determine the first distance using the first RF mixed signal;   determine the second distance using the second RF mixed signal; and   determine a location of the target device using the first distance and the second distance.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the first RF signal is a linear frequency modulated (LFM) signal. 
     
     
         16 . A method for determining a location of a target device using a system comprising first and second interrogator devices and receive circuitry, the method comprising:
 controlling the first interrogator device to transmit, to the target device, a first radio-frequency (RF) signal;   after the first interrogator device has completed transmitting the first RF signal, controlling a second interrogator device to transmit, to the target device, a second RF signal;   receiving, from the target device and using the receive circuitry, a third RF signal transmitted by the target device in response to transmitting the first RF signal using the first interrogator device;   receiving, from the target device and using the receive circuitry, a fourth RF signal transmitted by the target device in response to transmitting the second RF signal using the second interrogator device;   generating, using the first RF signal and the third RF signal, a first RF mixed signal indicative of a first distance between the first interrogator device and the target device;   generating, using the second RF signal and the fourth RF signal, a second RF mixed signal indicative of a second distance between the second interrogator device and the target device; and   determining the location of the target device using the first RF mixed signal and the second RF mixed signal.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the first RF signal has a first center frequency, and the third RF signal has a second center frequency different from the first center frequency. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the center frequency is a harmonic of the first center frequency. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein determining the location of the target device comprises:
 determining the first distance using the first mixed RF signal;   determining the second distance using the second mixed RF signal; and   determining the location of the target device using the first distance and the second distance.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 after the second interrogator device has completed transmitting the second RF signal, controlling a third interrogator device to transmit, to the target device, a fifth RF signal;   receiving, from the target device and using the receive circuitry, a sixth RF signal transmitted by the target device in response to transmitting the fifth RF signal using the third interrogator device; and   generating, using the fifth RF signal and the sixth RF signal, a third RF mixed signal indicative of a third distance between the third interrogator device and the target device,   wherein determining the location of the target device using the first RF mixed signal and the second RF mixed signal comprises determining the location of the target device using the first RF mixed signal, the second RF mixed signal and the third RF mixed signal.   
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein generating the first RF mixed signal comprises mixing the first RF signal with the third RF signal and generating the second RF mixed signal comprises mixing the second RF signal with the fourth RF signal.