Radar Sensor for Motor Vehicles

• US 20080186223A1
• Filed: 07/11/2005
• Published: 08/07/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Original Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Inventors: Lucas, Bernhard, Hilsebecher, Joerg, Haffmans, Paco, Hauk, Joachim, Mayer, Hermann
• Application Number:
  US11/663,369
• Publication Number:
  US 20080186223A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 342/109
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/32 using transmission of continuous waves, whether amplitude-, frequency-, or phase-modulated, or unmodulated
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/345 using triangular modulation
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/584 adapted for simultaneous range and velocity measurements
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/87 Combinations of radar systems, e.g. primary radar and secondary radar
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9325 for inter-vehicle distance regulation, e.g. navigating in platoons
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/032 Constructional details for solid-state radar subsystems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/4004 of parts of a radar system
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/4039 of sensor or antenna obstruction, e.g. dirt- or ice-coating

Abstract

A radar sensor for motor vehicles, including at least one transmitter and receiver device for transmitting and receiving a frequency-modulated radar signal, an analyzer unit for computing the distances and relative velocities of the located objects, and an integrated Doppler radar system for independent measurement of the relative velocities.

Claims

1-8. -8. (canceled)

9. A radar sensor for a motor vehicle, comprising:

at least one transmitter and receiver device for transmitting and receiving a frequency-modulated radar signal;

an analyzer unit for computing distances and relative velocities of located objects; and

an integrated Doppler radar system for independent measurement of the relative velocities.

10. The radar sensor according to claim 9, wherein a reference oscillator for controlling a frequency of the frequency-modulated radar signal at the same time constitutes an oscillator of the Doppler radar system.

11. The radar sensor according to claim 10, wherein the frequency-modulated radar signal is in an operating frequency band which corresponds to an integral multiple of the frequency of the reference oscillator.

12. The radar sensor according to claim 10, wherein the radar sensor is designed to cyclically repeat radar measurements and to generate the frequency-modulated radar signal during each measuring cycle only during part of a period of the measuring cycle, and further comprising a switch to connect the reference oscillator to the transmitter and receiver device for the Doppler radar during a time in which the frequency-modulated radar signal is not generated.

13. The radar sensor according to claim 9, wherein the transmitter and receiver device includes at least one antenna patch for emitting the frequency-modulated radar signal, and a separate antenna patch is provided for the Doppler radar system.

14. The radar sensor according to claim 13, wherein the at least one antenna patch for the frequency-modulated radar signal and the separate antenna patch of the Doppler radar system are mounted in front of a common lens.

15. The radar sensor according to claim 13, further comprising:

at least one mixer for mixing the received signal with the transmitted signal associated respectively with the at least one antenna patch for the frequency-modulated radar signal;

a preamplifier connected to intermediate frequency outputs of the mixer, the preamplifier having as many channels as there are mixers for the frequency-modulated radar signal; and

a further mixer associated with the antenna patch for the Doppler radar system, an intermediate frequency output of the further mixer being connected to one of the channels of the preamplifier.

16. The radar sensor according to claim 9, wherein the analyzer unit includes a first module for computing the distances and relative velocities of the objects based on the frequency-modulated radar signal, a second module for computing the relative velocities of the objects based on the Doppler radar system, and a comparator module for comparing the relative velocities computed by the first and second modules.