Google Patents Radar That Detects Objects Hidden Behind Obstacles Without Direct Line of Sight
Radar is great at detecting things in open space, but walls and large objects block the signal completely. Google is working on a fix that involves bouncing radar beams off programmable reflectors to peer around those obstacles.
How Google's radar bounces signals around walls
Ever wondered why your phone's radar or motion sensor can't detect you when you're in another room? The signal hits a wall and stops.
Google's patent tackles this by adding a middle step: place a smart reflector (called an adaptive phase-changing device, or APD) somewhere between the radar source and the hidden area. The radar transmitter first scans around to figure out where a blocking object (a wall, a pillar, a large vehicle) is sitting. Then it uses the APD to bounce radar signals around that obstacle and scan what's on the other side.
The APD isn't a fixed mirror. It can electronically shift the angle of the reflected signal, sweeping it like a flashlight beam across the hidden zone until it finds something. Once it does, the system locks in the exact settings needed to keep tracking that object.
The device has the APD vary ( 377 ) phase vectors to change reflection directions of APD radar sensing signals to scan for a blocked object blocked by the blocking object.
Translation: The system shifts the phase vectors to bounce signals around obstacles and search for hidden items.
How the APD reflects and steers radar beams
The system works in three stages. First, the transmitting device (a base station, a phone, or a satellite node) fires initial radar signals in multiple directions to map its surroundings and pinpoint the blocking object's position.
Second, the device selects an APD whose registered position makes it a useful relay point, essentially a programmable mirror that can be steered electronically. The APD reflects the radar beam so it curves around or past the blocker.
Third, the APD cycles through different phase vectors (think of these as dial settings that change which angle the reflector bounces the signal toward). By stepping through many angles, the system effectively sweeps a radar beam across the hidden zone, a process called scanning, until it detects a blocked object on the other side.
Once a blocked object is found, the device calculates and stores a set of APD configurations: the exact phase settings that form a reliable signal path to that specific object. Those settings can then be reused for ongoing tracking without having to re-scan from scratch.
What this means for next-gen wireless sensing networks
For wireless networks, being able to sense (not just communicate around) obstacles opens the door to indoor positioning, crowd monitoring, and motion detection in spaces where line-of-sight radar fails today. A future 5G or 6G base station equipped with nearby APD panels could, in theory, track movement through walls the way security cameras track movement in open hallways.
Google's run of radar-sensing filings suggests the company sees sensing as a core part of future network infrastructure, not a separate gadget category. For everyday users, that could eventually mean buildings that automatically know where people are without cameras, or emergency services that can locate survivors behind rubble.
Google's 657th filing we've tracked since May in our Google coverage adds to a run that includes laser-based weather detection and deeper AR light guides.
The radar system described here depends on physical reflector panels already being mounted at known locations in the environment before any sensing can happen. That means the software and signal logic in this filing are only half the story; the reflector hardware has to be planned, manufactured, and installed first.
That infrastructure requirement points toward controlled settings like hospitals, warehouses, or industrial floors as the earliest realistic home for this technology. Those are places where an organization could deliberately install the panels and know exactly where they are, which is the precondition the system requires.
The filing also notes that all claims have been canceled, meaning the legal protection around these ideas is currently unresolved. A product path likely runs through research partnerships and specialized deployments well before anything reaches a general consumer.
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The drawings
7 drawing sheets from US 2026/0259310 A1 · click any drawing to enlarge
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