US Patent 9417315 Radar system and methods for making and using same

A transmitter front end circuit is described. The transmitter front end circuit is provided with a radar transmitter port, a radar receiver port, a radar amplifier, a coupler, a radar antenna input and a signal director. The radar amplifier has a low power side receiving a transmit signal having a transmit waveform modulated onto a carrier frequency from the radar transmitter port, and a high power side outputting an amplified transmit waveform suitable for transmission to a radar antenna. The coupler is coupled to the high power side of the radar amplifier to sample the amplified transmit waveform. The radar antenna input is configured to receive return signals from a radar antenna. And, the signal director selectively directs the sample of the amplified transmit waveform and the return signals to the radar receiver port.