METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR RADAR IDENTIFICATION
An inductive system for vehicle information capture, having a radar module adapted to identify an echo signal having an amplitude over a threshold value, an interrogator module coupled to the radar module and adapted to initiate a radio frequency identification (RFID) information exchange when the amplitude is over the threshold value, a processor coupled to the radar module and the interrogator module, and a memory storage unit adapted to store RFID information. Examples disclosed herein provide methods and apparatus for vehicle sensors and vehicle identification.
1 . A vehicle sensor system, comprising:
a radar module; and
an inductive sensor module having a decode module to extract content from a sensor signal.
2 . The vehicle sensor system as in claim 1 , wherein a sensor signal is a radio frequency identification (RFID) signal.
3 . The vehicle sensor system as in claim 2 , wherein the inductive sensor module further comprises an RFID interrogator module adapted to transmit an interrogation signal and read a return signal from an RFID tag.
4 . The vehicle sensor system as in claim 3 , wherein the return signal is a traffic instruction.
5 . The vehicle sensor system as in claim 4 , wherein the traffic instruction is a speed limit indicator.
6 . The vehicle sensor system as in claim 5 , further wherein the radar module comprises:
an antenna array adapted to receive electromagnetic signals;
an amplitude detection module to detect electromagnetic signals above a threshold value; and
a controller adapted to provide a control signal to the inductive sensor on detection of electromagnetic signals above the threshold.
7 . A traffic infrastructure element, comprising:
a reflectarray having a reflection distribution for incident electromagnetic signals to reflect at a first gain value; and
a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag module responsive to RFID transmissions from a reader device, wherein the RFID transmission activates the RFID module to return data to the reader device.
8 . The traffic infrastructure element as in claim 7 , where the RFID tag module comprises a transponder.
9 . The traffic infrastructure element as in claim 8 , wherein the return data corresponds to an instruction to the reader device.
10 . The traffic infrastructure element as in claim 9 , further comprising:
a storage device having traffic control information stored therein.
11 . An inductive system for vehicle information capture, comprising:
a radar module adapted to identify an echo signal having an amplitude over a threshold value;
an interrogator module coupled to the radar module and adapted to initiate a radio frequency identification (RFID) information exchange when the amplitude is over the threshold value;
a processor coupled to the radar module and the interrogator module; and
a memory storage unit adapted to store RFID information.
12 . The inductive system as in claim 10 , wherein the echo signal corresponds to an echo from a reflectarray element.
13 . The inductive system as in claim 11 , wherein the interrogator module transmits an interrogation signal to a RFID tag positioned proximate the inductive system.
14 . The inductive system as in claim 12 , wherein the processor maps the RFID tag information to traffic information stored in the memory storage unit.
15 . The inductive system as in claim 13 , wherein the radar module sends a signal to the interrogator module to start RFID processing.
16 . The inductive system as in claim 11 , wherein the radar module comprises:
an antenna array; and
a beam steering module coupled to the antenna array.
17 . The inductive system as in claim 16 , further comprising a communication module and a controller.
18 . The inductive system as in claim 17 , wherein the communication module is adapted to transmit a request for information to an infrastructure element.
19 . The inductive system as in claim 18 , wherein the communication module provides the information from the infrastructure element to the controller, wherein the controller determines an action for a vehicle.
20 . The inductive system as in claim 19 , wherein the information is a speed limit indicator.