Cooperative and crowd-sourced multifunctional automotive radar
View Patent ↗A system comprises a multifunction radar receiver that in turn comprises processing circuitry and front-end circuitry. The front-end circuitry is operable to receive a millimeter wave burst via a plurality of antennas to generate a plurality received signals. The processing circuitry is operable to receive a first scene representation that is an aggregate of scene representations generated by one or more other radar receivers. The processing circuitry is operable to process the received signals to generate a second scene representation. The processing circuitry is operable to compare the first scene representation and the second scene representation and generate a difference scene based on the comparison. The processing circuitry is operable to generate a control signal based on the difference scene.
1. A system comprising:
a radar transceiver receiver that comprises transmitter circuitry, processing circuitry, and receiver circuitry, wherein:
the transmitter circuitry is operable to transmit millimeter wave bursts for reflection off of objects near the radar transceiver;
the receiver circuitry is operable to receive millimeter wave bursts via a plurality of antennas and generate digital signals for processing; and
the processing circuitry is operable to:
process digital signals generated from one or more received millimeter wave bursts to generate a first scene representation that is an average of scene representations generated by one or more transceivers external to the radar transceiver;
process digital signals generated from one or more different received millimeter wave bursts received from reflections of millimeter wave bursts transmitted by the radar transmitter circuitry to generate a second scene representation;
compare the first scene representation and the second scene representation to determine if any dynamic objects are in the second scene representation based on the comparison; and
generate a control signal based on the determination of any dynamic objects.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the radar transceiver resides in a passenger vehicle and the control signal controls, at least in part, one or more of: brakes, an accelerator, steering system, turn signals, and dashboard instrumentation.
3. The system of claim 2 , wherein:
the radar transceiver comprises bus interface circuitry; and
the receiver circuitry is operable to communicate the first scene representation via the bus interface circuitry.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the radar transceiver comprises bus interface circuitry; and
the receiver circuitry is operable to communicate data representing any determined dynamic objects via the bus interface circuitry.
5. The system of claim 2 , wherein:
the transmitting circuitry is located near a front of said passenger vehicle.
6. The system of claim 3 , wherein the radar transceiver is operable to communicate the first scene representation to one or more other transceivers in the passenger vehicle via the bus interface circuitry.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the receiver circuitry resides in a passenger vehicle and the control signal controls transmissions of a transmitter of the passenger vehicle.
8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the transmitter circuitry is coupled to the receiver circuitry via bus interface circuitry.
9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the transmitter circuitry is operable to:
receive one or both of the first scene representation and data representing any determined dynamic objects via the bus interface circuitry; and
modulate the one or both of the first scene representation and data representing any determined dynamic objects onto a millimeter wave radar burst.
10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the transmitter circuitry is operable to:
receive one or both of the first scene representation and data representing any determined dynamic objects via the bus interface circuitry; and
transmit the one or both of the first scene representation and data representing any determined dynamic objects to a roadside data service.
11. A method comprising:
transmitting, by transmitter circuitry of a radar transceiver, millimeter wave bursts for reflection off of objects near the radar transceiver;
receiving, by receiver circuitry of the radar transceiver, millimeter wave radar bursts via a plurality of antenna elements and generate digital signals for processing;
processing, by processor circuitry of the radar transceiver, digital signals from one or more received millimeter wave radar bursts to generate a first scene representation that is an average of scene representations generated by one or more transceivers external to the radar transceiver;
processing, by the processor circuitry of the radar transceiver, digital signals generated from one or more different received millimeter wave radar bursts received from reflections of millimeter wave bursts transmitted by the radar transmitter circuitry to generate a second scene representation;
comparing, by the processor circuitry of the radar transceiver, the first scene representation and the second scene representation;
determining, by the processor circuitry of the radar transceiver, if any dynamic objects are in the second scene representation based on the comparison; and
generating, by the processor circuitry of the radar transceiver, a control signal based the determination of any dynamic objects.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the radar transceiver resides in a passenger vehicle and the method comprises the processor circuitry of the radar transceiver controlling, via the control signal, one or more of: brakes, an accelerator, steering system, turn signals, and dashboard instrumentation.
13. The method of claim 12 , comprising the processor circuitry of the radar transceiver communicating the first scene representation via a data bus.
14. The method of claim 11 , comprising the processor circuitry of the radar transceiver communicating data representing any determined dynamic objects to one or more radar transmitters via a data bus.
15. The method of claim 12 , wherein the one or more received millimeter wave radar bursts are generated by a radar transmitter in said passenger vehicle.
16. The method of claim 13 , comprising communicating, by the processor circuitry of the radar transceiver, the first scene representation to one or more receivers in the passenger vehicle via the data bus.
17. The method of claim 11 , wherein the transceiver resides in a passenger vehicle and the method comprises the processor circuitry of the radar transceiver controlling, via the control signal, transmissions of a transmitter of the passenger vehicle.
18. The method of claim 11 , comprising the processor circuitry of the radar transceiver communicating, via a data bus, with a radar transmitter.
19. The method of claim 18 , comprising:
the processor circuitry of the radar transceiver receiving one or both of the first scene representation and the data representing any determined dynamic objects via a data bus; and
the transmitter circuitry modulating the one or both of the first scene representation and the data representing any determined dynamic objects onto a millimeter wave radar burst.
20. The method of claim 18 , wherein:
the processor circuitry of the radar transceiver receiving one or both of the first scene representation and data representing any determined dynamic objects via a data bus; and
the transmitter circuitry transmitting the one or both of the first scene representation and the data representing any determined dynamic objects to a roadside data service.