Granted Patent B2

US 12,736,620 · App. 18/578,311 · Granted Sep 15, 2026

Inventors: Frank Ruppelt (Bietigheim-Bissingen, DE); Christian Sturm (Bietigheim-Bissingen, DE); Vedran Kovacevic (Bietigheim-Bissingen, DE)

Assignee: Valeo Schalter und Sensoren GmbH

G01S7/403G01S7/4091G01S13/931

Abstract

Claims (70)

1 . A method for assigning information channels of at least two sensors to a detection device on the part of at least one control device of the detection device,

wherein each sensor is mounted in defined mounting positions relative to one another,

wherein the detection device is provided for monitoring at least one monitoring area in connection with at least one vehicle,

the method comprising:

emitting at least one scanning signal into at least one monitoring area using at least one of the sensors,

receiving at least one echo signal of at least one scanning signal reflected on at least one object target of at least one object in at least one monitoring area using at least two of the sensors,

determining at least one direction variable using at least one echo signal,

wherein the direction variable characterizes a respective direction of a reflecting object target relative to at least one reference area of the detection device,

assigning at least one information channel of at least one of the mounting positions of the sensors using at least one direction variable,

wherein for at least two of the sensors and their respective information channels, at least one respective sensor direction variable is determined in each case by the respective received echo signals,

wherein the sensor direction variable characterizes at least one direction of at least one object target detected using the respective sensor relative to a sensor reference area of the respective sensor, by at least one sensor direction variable in each case,

determining at least one sensor structure for at least a part of the information channels of the at least two sensors, which characterizes the relative positions of the at least two sensors to one another, wherein determining the at least one sensor structure comprises ordering the at least two sensors based on the at least one respective sensor direction variable,

comparing at least one sensor structure and at least one position structure,

wherein the at least one position structure characterizes relative positions of at least a part of the defined mounting positions to one another, and

from the comparison of the at least one sensor structure and the at least one position structure, assigning at least one information channel to at least one of the mounting positions of the sensors.

2 . The method as claimed in claim 1 ,

wherein a scanning signal is emitted using only one of the sensors in at least one assignment sequence, or

no scanning signal is emitted using at least one of the sensors in at least one assignment sequence and

at least one of the non-emitting sensors is operated in reception readiness for echo signals in at least one assignment sequence.

3 . The method as claimed in claim 2 ,

wherein the echo signals received using the respective sensors for assignment to the information channels are not brought into correlation with the at least one emitted scanning signal in at least one assignment sequence and

wherein the at least one emitting sensor and the at least one reception-ready sensor are not operated in a synchronized manner in at least one assignment sequence.

4 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

carrying out multiple assignment sequences, and

implementing an assignment of the information channels of the at least two sensors and the defined mounting positions from the results of at least a part of the assignment sequences,

wherein scanning signals are emitted using the same at least one sensor in at least two assignment sequences or scanning signals are emitted using different sensors in at least two assignment sequences.

5 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

determining at least one direction angle as the sensor direction variable of at least one sensor,

determining at least one sensor direction variable of at least one sensor relative to at least one reference axis, and/or at least one reference surface of the at least one sensor, and

implementing at least one sensor direction variable as the average of at least one object direction variable,

wherein the at least one object direction variable characterizes the respective direction of a detected object target relative to the corresponding at least one sensor.

6 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

determining the sensor direction angles of the at least two sensors as at least one sensor structure,

specifying a sequence of the spatial arrangement of the defined mounting position as the position structure, and

upon the comparison of the at least one sensor structure and the at least one position structure, assigning the information channels of the sensors in a size-related sequence of their respective sensor direction variables in accordance with the sequence of the spatial arrangement of the defined mounting position of the sensors to the mounting positions.

7 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

assigning information channels between the sensors and at least one control device of the detection device to the respective mounting positions,

at least partially determining sensor direction variables using the respective sensors,

at least partially determining sensor direction variables using at least one control device of the detection device from information obtained using the sensors and/or at least one sensor structure, and

implementing the comparison of at least one sensor structure and at least one position structure using at least one control device of the detection device.

8 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:

implementing at least a part of the information channels as physical connections or virtual connections between the sensors and at least one control device of the detection device.

9 . A detection device for monitoring at least one monitoring area, in connection with at least one vehicle,

wherein the detection device comprises:

at least two sensors, which are arranged in defined mounting positions relative to one another,

at least one control device, which can communicate via respective information channels with the sensors, and

at least one assignment means for assigning at least one of the information channels to at least one of the mounting positions of one of the sensors,

wherein the at least one assignment means comprises means for determining at least one respective sensor direction variable,

wherein the at least one sensor direction variable characterizes at least one direction of at least one object target detected using the respective sensor relative to at least one sensor reference area of the respective sensor, using respective received echo signals,

wherein the characterization of the at least one direction of the at least one object target is used for determining at least one sensor structure for at least a part of the information channels of the at least two sensors using at least one sensor direction variable in each case,

wherein determining the at least one sensor structure comprises ordering the at least two sensors based on the at least one respective sensor direction variable,

wherein the at least one sensor structure characterizes the relative positions of the at least two sensors to one another, for comparing at least one sensor structure and at least one position structure,

wherein the at least one position structure characterizes relative positions of at least a part of the mounting positions to one another for assigning at least one information channel to at least one of the mounting positions of the sensors from the comparison of the at least one sensor structure and the at least one position structure.

10 . The detection device as claimed in claim 9 ,

wherein at least a part of the information channels is implemented as physical lines, and

at least a part of the information channels is implemented as virtual connections by coding of transmitted information.

11 . The detection device as claimed in claim 9 ,

wherein the at least two mounting positions are arranged along a line.

12 . A vehicle comprising at least one detection device for monitoring at least one monitoring area,

wherein the at least one detection device comprises:

at least two sensors, which are arranged in defined mounting positions relative to one another,

at least one control device, which is able to communicate via respective information channels with the sensors, and

at least one assignment means for assigning at least one of the information channels to at least one of the mounting positions of one of the sensors

wherein the at least one assignment means comprises means for determining at least one respective sensor direction variable,

wherein the at least one respective sensor direction variable characterizes at least one direction of at least one object target detected using the respective sensor relative to at least one sensor reference area of the respective sensor, using respective received echo signals, for determining at least one sensor structure for at least a part of the information channels of the at least two sensors using at least one sensor direction variable in each case,

wherein determining the at least one sensor structure comprises ordering the at least two sensors based on the at least one respective sensor direction variable,

wherein the at least one sensor structure characterizes the relative positions of the at least two sensors to one another, for comparing at least one sensor structure and at least one position structure,

wherein the position structure characterizes the relative positions of at least a part of the mounting positions to one another, for assigning at least one information channel to at least one of the mounting positions of the sensors from the comparison of the at least one sensor structure and the at least one position structure.

13 . The vehicle as claimed in claim 12 ,

wherein the vehicle comprises at least one driver assistance system.

Assignments (1)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (36)