[미국특허]
MILLIMETER-WAVE SENSOR SYSTEM FOR PARKING ASSISTANCE
원문보기
IPC분류정보
국가/구분
United States(US) Patent
공개
국제특허분류(IPC7판)
G01S-013/93
G01S-013/58
G01S-013/87
G01S-013/44
출원번호
US-0580293
(2015-06-17)
공개번호
US-0164429
(2018-06-14)
국제출원번호
PCT/RS2015/000016
(2015-06-17)
발명자
/ 주소
TASOVAC, Darko
MIHAJLOVIC, Veljko
BRANKOVIC, Veselin
KRCUM, Dusan
MILOSAVLJEVIC, Ivan
출원인 / 주소
NOVELIC D.O.O.
인용정보
피인용 횟수 :
0인용 특허 :
0
초록▼
The present invention relates to a parking support Apparatus and Method of operation comprising of an mm-wave radar sensor, having an integrated mm-wave IC front end. The proposed Apparatus is capable of detecting the parking obstacle object distance and angle, having inherently low cost system topo
The present invention relates to a parking support Apparatus and Method of operation comprising of an mm-wave radar sensor, having an integrated mm-wave IC front end. The proposed Apparatus is capable of detecting the parking obstacle object distance and angle, having inherently low cost system topology, suitable as a replacement in functionality for the commonly used ultrasound sensors. The proposed apparatus topology consist of one transmitting and two planar antennae, mm-wave radar topology with one down conversion chain and one transmitter chain based on FMCW radar, CW radar and Doppler radar, analog combining circuitry and N mm-wave power detectors, where N takes integer values from 1 and larger. The specific proposed method of operation is adjusted to a dedicated application. A combination of more than one proposed apparatus enables smart observation of the parking area in front of the moving platform with wired or wireless connection to the information evaluation and control entity. The proposed apparatus topology with lower complexity consist of one transmit and two planar antennae, mm-wave radar topology without any down conversion chain and one transmitter chain based on CW radar operation, analog combining circuitry and N mm-wave power detectors, where N takes values from 1 to 3. The system operation topology allows full distance and obstacle angle calculation by the apparatus itself in one topology solution or to have the information being calculated, combining more sensors, using low complexity apparatus topologies, also proposed in this innovation. The integration of the proposed apparatus in the vehicle bumper is inherently possible and may be optically and functionally provided as an efficient replacement for ultrasound parking assist systems. The complete proposed sensor apparatus topologies with integrated antennae, mm-wave IC and digital processing parts may be realized in a module smaller than 1×1×0.5 cm and operating in the 77-81 GHz band.
대표청구항▼
1: Parking Sensor Apparatus and Method of Operation 100, where mm-wave declares operation between 30 GHz and 300 GHz, comprising of: 1. Planar antenna system for transmitting mm-wave radio signals 22;2. Planar antenna system for receiving mm-wave radio signals 211;3. Planar antenna system for receiv
1: Parking Sensor Apparatus and Method of Operation 100, where mm-wave declares operation between 30 GHz and 300 GHz, comprising of: 1. Planar antenna system for transmitting mm-wave radio signals 22;2. Planar antenna system for receiving mm-wave radio signals 211;3. Planar antenna system for receiving mm-wave radio signals 212, being at distance d from planar antenna system 211, perpendicular to the sensor observing area;4. Integrated mm-wave radio front end 10, implemented in arbitrary semiconductor technology, having on-chip integrated mm-wave voltage control oscillator, mm-wave power amplifier, digital control interface, power supply; fractional N PLL enabling FMCW operation, N mm-wave power detectors where is N is an integer number larger than zero, 214, 215; analog signal combing entity 213, power splitter, mixer, signal conditioning analog circuitry with voltage gain control at lower frequency and analog filtering structures by lower frequency with arbitrary realization options;5. Analog to digital conversion entity 30;6. Digital processing functionality 40 including controlling functionality 41 and calculation and memory capacity for performing digital signal processing by arbitrary type of the realization options;7. Interface to entity outside of Apparatus 100, including N digital wired interfaces, where N is an integer number;8. Supporting circuitry 60, including a mechanical interface to the environment, where the Apparatus 100 is working and supporting electronic circuitry for power supply of 100. where Apparatus 100 is observing area, with direct line-of-sight operation, where the method of operation comprises: Transmission of mm-wave signals generated in mm-wave RF IC Front End 10 using 22, where the signal contains the frequency ramp, being generated by Voltage Control Oscillator VCO, fractional N PLL Phase Locked Loop, with frequency ramp larger than 400 MHz and Gain Controlled Power Amplifier PA both integrated in 10;Receiving mm-wave signals reflected from observation area using 211; splitting the signal and providing it to the mixer in 10;Down-conversion of the signals by mixing with incoming signal with VCO generating frequency ramp signal in 10;Amplification of the converted signal after mixer in 10;Analog filtering of the signals after amplification in 10;Signal conditioning in 10 for subsequent analog to digital conversion performed by 30; and provision to entity 40;Digital processing of the signal in 40 is: Extracting the distance information from the previous arbitrary processed signal using FMCW radar calculation principles and proving this information to entity 60;Initializing adjusting of gain control of the PA in 10 in order to meet the detection range of the power detectors 214, 216;Apparatus 100 is sending CW signals at a specific frequency of operation, being generated by PLL and VCO in 10, through the antenna 22;Receiving mm-wave signals reflected from observation area using 211; splitting the signal and providing it to the linear signal combining entity 213, where the entity 213 enables magnitude change, signal phase changes as well as signals combining, where 213 is released by arbitrary distributed passive or active analog circuitry means;Receiving mm-wave signals reflected from observation area using 212; and providing it to the linear signal combining entity 213, where the entity 213 enables magnitude change, signal phase changes as well as signals combining, where 213 is released by arbitrary distributed passive or active analog circuitry means;Providing linearly combined antenna input signals by 213 to the power detectors 214, 215;Providing power detectors 214, 215 outputs to analog to digital conversion entity 30, which provides digitalized signals to entity 40;Digital processing entity 40 is Calculating azimuth angle to the obstacle by utilizing mathematical calculation with following inputs: power detector 214, 215 values, antenna 211, and 212 physical distance in Apparatus 100, using algebraic and inverse trigonometric mathematical calculations in the polynomial manner, where the physical distance between antennae in Apparatus 100 is chosen to take specific value related to the wavelength of the operational frequency and operational frequency;Providing calculated angle information to the entity 60;Entity 60 provides the information about object angle and object distance to vehicle infrastructure. 2: Parking Sensor Apparatus and Method of Operation 101, where mm-wave declares operation between 30 GHz and 300 GHz, comprising of: 1. Planar antenna system for transmitting mm-wave radio signals 22;2. Planar antenna system for receiving mm-wave radio signals 211;3. Planar antenna system for receiving mm-wave radio signals 212, being at distance d from planar antenna system 211, perpendicular to the sensor observing area;4. Integrated mm-wave radio front end 10, implemented in arbitrary semiconductor technology, having on-chip integrated mm-wave voltage control oscillator, mm-wave power amplifier, digital control interface, power supply; PLL enabling CW operation on locked to specific frequency, N mm-wave power detectors where is N is an integer number larger than zero, 214, 216; analog signal combing entity 213, where N mm-wave power detectors have filtering and amplification after envelope detection;5. Analog to digital conversion entity 30;6. Digital processing functionality 40 including controlling functionality 41 and calculation and memory capacity for performing digital signal processing by arbitrary type of the realization options;7. Interface to entity outside of Apparatus 101, including N digital wired interfaces, where N is an integer number larger than zero;8. Supporting circuitry 60, including a mechanical interface to the environment, where the Apparatus 101 is working and supporting electronic circuitry for power supply of 101, where apparatus 101 is observing area, with direct line-of-sight operation, where the method of operation includes: Transmission of mm-wave signals generated in mm-wave RF IC Front End 10 using 22, where the signal contains the CW signal, being generated by Voltage Control Oscillator VCO and Gain Controlled Power Amplifier PA, both integrated in 10;Receiving mm-wave signals reflected from observation area using 211; providing it to the linear signal combining entity 213, where the entity 213 enables magnitude change, signal phase changes as well as signals combining, where 213 is released by arbitrary distributed passive or active analog circuitry means;Receiving mm-wave signals reflected from observation area using 212; providing it to the linear signal combining entity 213, where the entity 213 enables magnitude change, signal phase changes as well as signals combining, where 213 is released by arbitrary distributed passive or active analog circuitry means;Providing linearly combined antenna input signals by 213 to the power detectors 214, 216;Providing power detectors 214, 215 outputs to analog to digital conversion entity 30, which provides digitalized signals to entity 40;Digital processing entity 40 is Calculating azimuth angle to the obstacle by utilizing mathematical calculation with following inputs: power detector 214, 215 values, antenna 211, and 212 physical distance in Apparatus 101, using algebraic and inverse trigonometric mathematical calculations in the polynomial manner, where the physical distance between antennae in Apparatus 101 is chosen to take specific value related to the wavelength of the operation frequency, and operation frequencyProviding calculated angle information to entity 60;Entity 60 is providing the information about the angle to the obstacle to an external computational unit;External computational unit is gathering calculated different azimuth angles to the obstacle, from N different apparatuses 101, where N is an integer larger than 1, and knowing the physical distance between N different apparatuses 101, calculated also the distances from the obstacle, having its position in front of the parking sensor observation plane; 3: Parking Sensor Apparatuses: Apparatus 102a and Apparatus 102b and Method of Operation, where mm-wave declares operation between 30 GHz and 300 GHz, comprising of: 1. In Apparatus 102a: Planar antenna for transmitting mm-wave radio signals 22 in Apparatus 102a; Integrated mm-wave radio front end 10, implemented in arbitrary semiconductor technology, having on-chip integrated mm-wave voltage control oscillator, mm-wave power amplifier, digital control interface, power supply; PLL enabling CW operation locked to specific frequency;Interface to entity outside of Apparatus 102a, including N digital wired interfaces, where N is an integer number larger than zero;Interface to entity outside of Apparatus 102a, including K digital wireless interfaces, where K is an integer number;Digital control entity 41;Supporting circuitry 50, including a mechanical interface to the environment, where the Apparatus 102a operates and supporting electronic circuitry for power supply of 102a. 2. In Apparatus 102b: Planar antenna for receiving mm-wave radio signals 211 in Apparatus 102b; Planar antenna for receiving mm-wave radio signals 212 in Apparatus 102b, being at distance d from planar antenna system 211, perpendicular to the sensor observing area;N mm-wave power detectors where is N is an integer number larger than zero, 214, 215; analog signal combing entity 213, where N mm-wave power detectors have filtering and amplification after power detection;Analog to digital conversion entity 30;Digital processing functionality 40 including controlling functionality 41 and calculation and memory capacity for performing digital signal processing by arbitrary type of the realization options;Interface to entity outside of Apparatus 102b, including M digital wired interfaces, where M is an integer number larger than zero;Interface to entity outside of Apparatus 102b, including K digital wireless interfaces, where K is an integer number;Supporting circuitry 50, including a mechanical interface to the environment, where the Apparatus 102b operates and supporting electronic circuitry for power supply of 102b. where apparatus 102a transmits signals and apparatus 102b receives signals in observing area, with direct line-of-sight operation, where the method of operation includes: Transmission of mm-wave signals generated in mm-wave RF IC Front End 10 using 22 of the Apparatus 102a, where the signal contains the CW signal, being generated by Voltage Control Oscillator VCO and Gain Controlled Power Amplifier PA, both integrated in 10;In Apparatus 102b: Receiving mm-wave signals reflected from observation area using 211; providing it to the linear signal combining entity 213, where the entity 213 enables magnitude change, signal phase changes as well as signals combining, where 213 is released by arbitrary distributed passive or active analog circuitry means;Receiving mm-wave signals reflected from observation area using 212 of the Apparatus 102b; and providing it to the linear signal combining entity 213, where the entity 213 enables magnitude change, signal phase changes as well as signals combining, where 213 is released by arbitrary distributed passive or active analog circuitry means;Providing linearly combined antenna input signals by 213 to the power detectors 214, 215;Providing power detectors 214, 215 outputs to analog to digital conversion entity 30, which provides digitalized signals to entity 40;Digital processing entity 40 is Calculating azimuth angle to the obstacle by utilizing mathematical calculation with following inputs: power detector 214, 215 values, antenna 211, and 212 physical distance in Apparatus 102b, using algebraic and inverse trigonometric mathematical calculations in the polynomial manner, where the physical distance between antennae in apparatus 102b is chosen to take a specific value related to the wavelength of the operation frequency and operation frequencyProviding calculated angle information to the entity 60;Entity 60 is providing the information about angle to the obstacle to an external computation unit;External computation unit is gathering calculated different azimuth angles to obstacle, from N different apparatuses 102b, where N is an integer larger than 2 and knowing the physical distance between N different apparatuses 102b, calculated also the distances from the obstacle, having its position in front of the parking sensor observation plane, where the complete parking support system may contain J 102a apparatuses, where J is an integer larger than zero. 4: System according to claim 1, in which entity 213 contains two splitters, two power combiners and one phase shifter of 90 degrees realized by the arbitrary topology and implementation within entity 10, providing mm-wave two combined signals to mm-wave power detector 214 and 215 inputs. 5: System according to claim 1, in which the distance d between entity 211 and 212 is between one quarter the wavelength and one whole the wavelength related to the frequency of operation. 6: System according to claim 1, in which Apparatus 100 and Method of Operation are incorporating the extraction and analysis of the object being a living being with own vibration rate dedicated to living being vital signs vibration information, by transmitting CW signal over antenna 21 with operation in Doppler radar mode, receiving the signal by antenna 221, mixing in mixer incoming and reflected signal an providing after signal conditioning the analog information to the entity 30. Digital signal are processed by entity 40 with digital filtering in entity 46, vibrations detections and decision making process of existence of a living being in 47, 48, and 49. 7: System according to claim 1, in which Apparatus 100 and Method of Operation incorporate: Digital processing of the signal in 40 which additionally includes classification of vibrations frequencies from the previous arbitrary processed signal, detecting the type of living being. 8: System according to claim 1, in which apparatus 100 and Method of Operation incorporate: Digital processing of the signal in 40 and existence of the wireless interface 63, within entity 60, which enables remote wireless communication to the world outside the Apparatus 100, 101, 102a and 102b, by the arbitrary realization options and arbitrary wireless communication standard. 9: System according to claim 1, in which more than one Apparatus 100, is arranged to commonly controlled system to provide observation of larger observation area, compared to observation area of only one Apparatus 100 and to enhance the accuracy of the distance detection, by combining information about own calculated distance and distances being obtained by angle detection information of M additional different Apparatuses 100, where M may take integer numbers larger than one. 10: System according to claim 1, in which more than one Apparatus 100, is arranged to commonly controlled system to provide observation of larger observation area, compared to observation area of only one Apparatus 100 and to calculate the angles, position and distance of the obstacle from, by combining information and performing mathematical calculation, including own calculated distance and distance between M additional different apparatuses 100, where M may take integer numbers larger than one. 11: System according to claim 1, in which more than one Apparatus 100, is arranged to commonly controlled system to provide observation of larger observation area, compared to observation area of only one Apparatus 100 and position and distance of the obstacle to the surface with apparatuses, by combining information of the detected particular angles of each Apparatus 100 to the obstacle, performing the mathematical calculation, including the distance between M additional different Apparatuses 100, where M may take integer numbers larger than one. 12: System according to claim 2, in which more than one Apparatus 101, is arranged to commonly controlled system to provide observation of larger observation area, compared to observation area of only one Apparatus 101 and position and distance of the obstacle to the surface with apparatuses, by combining information of the detected particular angles of each Apparatus 101 to the obstacle, performing the mathematical calculation, including the distance between M additional different Apparatuses 101, where M may take integer numbers larger than one. 13: System according to claim 3, in which more than one Apparatus 102b, is arranged to commonly controlled system to provide observation of large observation area, combining information of detected angles of M additional different Apparatuses 102b, where M may take integer numbers larger than zero, where the information of the physical distance of each two Apparatuses 102b and information about angles to the obstacles being detected by each two apparatuses 102b are used for obstacle distance calculation, by mathematical calculation,where N different Apparatuses 102a, where N is integer larger than zero, are sending CW signal 14: System according to previous claims, in which more than one Apparatus 100, 101, 102a and 102b, have integrated mm-wave RF entity 10 operating in the 77-81 GHz band. 15: System according to claim 1, in which more than one Apparatus 100, 101, 102a and 102b, have integrated mm-wave RF entity 10 being realized by the CMOS technology, with gate lengths less than 90 nm. 16: System according to claim 1, where entities: 30, 40, 41 and 60 are integrated on the same silicon like mm-wave IC Entity 10. 17: System according to previous claim 1, where antenna system entities: 22, 211 and 212 are integrated on the same silicon like mm-wave IC Entity 10. 18: System according to previous claim 1, where antenna system entities: 22, 211 and 212 are connected to mm-wave IC Entity 10, and entity 10 to digital processing entity comprising functionalities 30, 40 and 60, using polymer technologies. 19: System according to previous claim 1, where antenna system entities: 22, 211 and 212 are connected to mm-wave IC Entity 10, and entity 10 to digital processing entity comprising functionalities 30, 40 and 60, using LTCC technologies. 20: System according to previous claim 1, where antenna system entities: 22, 211 and 212 are connected to mm-wave IC Entity 10 using differential feeding and where the entities are dipole antennae. 21: System according to previous claims 1-3, where antenna system entities: 22, 211 and 212 are realized by the planar printed dipoles, where apparatuses 100, 101, 102a and 102b have reflector to provide the radiation diagram perpendicular to the surface of the apparatuses.
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