METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR HYPERVIEW AUTOMOTIVE RADAR
First Claim
1. A method for determining the characteristics of a target, comprising:
- up-converting and transmitting a transmission signal from each of a plurality of spatially separated antenna units, each of said antenna units transmitting and/or receiving over an independent region;
receiving and down-converting a reflected portion of said transmission signal from each of said antenna units to generate a plurality of down-converted signals; and
distributing said down-converted signals to one or a plurality of processing units.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus are presented that reduce the overall system cost for automotive radar sensing applications. In accordance with aspects of the present invention, one way sensor count reduction can be achieved is through the coverage of multiple vehicle sides through a single sensor. One embodiment combines all high-frequency signal sensor components with an antenna network which are together separately housed as an antenna unit. Each antenna unit transmits high-frequency radar signals and receives and down-converts reflected portions of said transmitted signal. The low-frequency down-converted signals produced by each antenna unit are processed through a shared processing unit which may be separately housed from all antenna units or commonly housed with an antenna unit. In addition, methods for effectively utilizing a sensor comprising multiple antenna units are described according to aspects of the present invention. Other methods and apparatus are presented.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method for determining the characteristics of a target, comprising:
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up-converting and transmitting a transmission signal from each of a plurality of spatially separated antenna units, each of said antenna units transmitting and/or receiving over an independent region;
receiving and down-converting a reflected portion of said transmission signal from each of said antenna units to generate a plurality of down-converted signals; and
distributing said down-converted signals to one or a plurality of processing units. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An apparatus for determining the characteristics of a target, comprising:
a plurality of spatially separated antenna units, wherein each of said antenna units comprises an integrated housing comprising means for up-converting and transmitting a transmission signal, means for receiving and down-converting a reflected portion of said transmission signal to generate a down-converted signal, and means for distributing said down-converted signal to one or a plurality of processing units, wherein each of said spatially separated antenna units transmits and/or receives over an independent region.
Specification