IP Library Granted Patent US 11,874,370
Granted Patent B2
US 11,874,370 · App. 17/281,858 · Granted Jan 16, 2024

Method for acquiring environment information by means of multiple radar sensors

Inventors: Andreas Löffler (Weiler-Simmerberg, DE); Fabian Harrer (Munich, DE); Thomas Gisder (Much, DE); Marc-Michael Meinecke (Sassenburg, DE); Thorsten Bagdonat (Braunschweig, DE)
Assignees: CONTINENTAL AUTONOMOUS MOBILITY GERMANY GMBH; VOLKSWAGEN AG
G01S13/931G01S13/872G01S13/90
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,874,370
App. No.
17/281,858
Granted
Jan 16, 2024
Kind
B2
Abstract

A method for acquiring information in the spatial environment of a vehicle, comprising: providing at least two radar sensors arranged at different positions at the vehicle; transmitting radar signals by the radar sensors, the radar signals being assigned to the radar sensors; receiving reflected components of the radar signals assigned to the radar sensors at the respective radar sensors and further processing these reflected components of the radar signals as reception information; assigning time information to the reception information obtained from the respective radar sensors, the time information forming a time reference for the reception information; assigning location information to the reception information obtained from the respective radar sensors, the location information forming a location reference for the reception information; and processing the reception information obtained from the at least two radar sensors into common environment information by taking into account the time information and the location information.

Claims (28)

1. A method for acquiring information in the spatial environment of a vehicle, comprising the following steps:

providing at least two radar sensors arranged at different locations of the vehicle;

transmitting radar signals by the radar sensors, the radar signals being assigned to the radar sensors;

receiving reflected components of the radar signals assigned to the radar sensors at the respective radar sensors and further processing these reflected components of the radar signals as reception information;

assigning time information to the reception information obtained from the respective radar sensors, the time information forming a time reference for the reception information;

assigning location information to the reception information obtained from the respective radar sensors, the location information forming a location reference for the reception information; and

processing the reception information obtained from the at least two radar sensors into common environment information by taking into account the time information and the location information.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the radar sensors provide reception information which can be processed by a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) algorithm to form environment information.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the reception information obtained from the individual radar sensors is synchronized to one another in terms of time on the basis of the time information.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the reception information obtained from the individual radar sensors is correlated with one another in terms of location on the basis of the location information.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the environment information is obtained by combining the reception information obtained from the different radar sensors and jointly processing this reception information to form the environment information.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the reception information is jointly processed in a SAR processing unit.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the SAR processing unit is provided in the vehicle as a unit independent of the radar sensors or the SAR processing unit is integrated into one of the radar sensors.

8. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the environment information is calculated in a SAR processing unit by a complex-valued processing taking the amplitudes and phases of time-synchronized and locally correlated reception information of the radar sensors into account.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the environment information is provided as SAR environment information.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the locally different positioning of the radar sensors on the vehicle is compensated.

11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein time information is assigned to the location information provided by an odometry unit of the vehicle.

12. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the time information is provided by a time synchronization unit of the vehicle.

13. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the reception information provided by the radar sensors and/or the location information is interpolated in order to be able to assign the reception information to the location information in a time-synchronized manner.

14. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the reception information provided by the radar sensors and/or the location information is buffered.

15. Radar system for a vehicle comprising:

at least two radar sensors which are arranged at different positions at the vehicle, the radar sensors being configured to transmit radar signals, to receive reflected components of the radar signals assigned to the respective radar sensor and to process them further to form reception information;

a time synchronization unit configured to provide time information;

an odometry unit configured to provide location information;

a unit configured to assign time information to the reception information obtained from the respective radar sensors, the time information forming a time reference for the reception information;

a unit configured to assign location information to the reception information obtained from the respective radar sensors, the location information forming a location reference for the reception information; and

a processing unit configured to process the reception information obtained from the at least two radar sensors by taking into account the time information and the location information to form common environment information.

16. A vehicle comprising a radar system according to claim 15 .

Assignments (2)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jul 27, 2023
From: CONTI TEMIC MICROELECTRONIC GMBH
To: CONTINENTAL AUTONOMOUS MOBILITY GERMANY GMBH
Reel/Frame 064410/0126 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 11, 2021
From: LÖFFLER, ANDREAS; HARRER, FABIAN; GISDER, THOMAS; MEINECKE, MARC-MICHAEL; BAGDONAT, THORSTEN
To: CONTI TEMIC MICROELECTRONIC GMBH; VOLKSWAGEN AG
Reel/Frame 056221/0033 →
Priority Claims (1)
DE 10 2018 124 215.8 · Oct 1, 2018 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20210396870A1 · Dec 23, 2021
Cited By (1)
US 12,736,620