Detection and compensation of target losses when there is a channel change

1. A method of detecting and correcting the loss of targets lost by a distance sensor installation of a motor vehicle when a target object moves from one detection channel of the distance sensor installation to an adjacent detection channel, comprised of the following steps:

receiving a signal from a distance sensor installation;

determining a mean width of a weak detection band as located between two intensity peaks of two adjacent detection channels;

computing a time that the target object remains in said weak detection band.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein a lateral width b of the weak detection band is determined according to the following equation

b =tan(α i )* s,

where α i is the transition angle between channel i and its adjacent channel, and s is the distance traveled by the motor vehicle before the target object returns into a sufficiently sensitive range of the adjacent channel.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein a mean aperture angle w of the weak detection band is determined between the adjacent detection channels.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the mean aperture angle of the weak detection band is determined by means of the following equation:

w =arcsin( b/d )

where d is the mean radial distance between the disappearance of the target object and its reappearance in the adjacent detection channel.

5. The method according to claim 3 , wherein that the mean aperture angle w of the weak detection band is determined by measuring a variety of different channels i and/or target objects.

6. The method according to claim 3 , wherein a length s′ of the weak detection band is determined by means of the following equation

s′=d ′×sin( w )/tan(α i )

where d′ is the last distance measured to the target object and α i is the angle between the previous position and an expected channel transition.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein a distance s is determined by integrating the time into the speed v of the motor vehicle.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein a relative speed v rel , of the motor vehicle is measured with reference to the target object.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the following equation is applied:

t=s′/v rel

where s′ is a length of the weak detection band, to compute the time t that the target object stays within the weak detection band.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising the target being narrow.

11. The method of claim 1 further comprising the target being a single channel target.

12. A method of detecting and correcting the loss of targets lost by a distance sensor installation of a motor vehicle when a target object moves from one detection channel of the distance sensor installation to an adjacent detection channel, comprised of the following steps:

receiving a signal from a distance sensor installation;

determining a mean width of a weak detection band as located between two intensity peaks of two adjacent detection channels;

computing a time that the target object remains in said weak detection band;

calculating a distance to the target object using said width determination and said time computation, said calculated distance correcting for the loss of the target to direct sensing.

13. A distance sensor in a distance sensor installation of a motor vehicle, said distance sensor determining a distance to a target object lost when the target object moves from one detection channel of the distance sensor installation to an adjacent detection channel, said distance sensor comprising:

a signal processing circuit, said signal processing circuit being configured to determine a mean width of a weak detection band as located between two intensity peaks of two adjacent detection channels;

said signal processing circuit being further configured to compute a time that the target object remains in said weak detection band; and

said signal processing circuit being further configured to calculate a distance to the target object using said width determination and said time computation.

14. The sensor of claim 13 , wherein a lateral width b of the weak detection band is determined according to the following equation

b =tan(α i )* s,

where α i is the transition angle between channel i and its adjacent channel, and s is the distance traveled by the motor vehicle before the target object returns into a sufficiently sensitive range of the adjacent channel.

15. The sensor of claim 14 , wherein a mean aperture angle w of the weak detection band is determined between the adjacent detection channels.

16. The sensor of claim 15 , wherein the mean aperture angle of the weak detection band is determined by means of the following equation:

w =arcsin( b/d )

where d is the mean radial distance between the disappearance of the target object and its reappearance in the adjacent detection channel.

17. The sensor of claim 13 , wherein a distance s is determined by integrating the time into the speed v of the motor vehicle.

18. The sensor of claim 13 , wherein the mean aperture angle w of the weak detection band is determined by measuring a variety of different channels i and/or target objects.

19. The sensor of claim 16 , wherein a length s′ of the weak detection band is determined by means of the following equation

s′=d ′×sin( w )/tan(α i )

where d′ is the last distance measured to the target object and α i is the angle between the previous position and an expected channel transition.

20. The sensor of claim 13 , wherein a relative speed v rel , of the motor vehicle is measured with reference to the target object.

21. The sensor of claim 20 , wherein the following equation is applied:

t=s′/v rel

where s′ is a length of the weak detection band, to compute the time t that the target object stays within the weak detection band.