Radar system and method of operating same
First Claim
1. A vehicle radar sensor to track targets proximate a vehicle traveling along a roadway, the radar sensor comprising:
- (a) a controller for initializing the sensor and for placing the sensor in one of a standby mode or an active mode;
(b) an active mode processor, coupled to said controller, said active mode processor for placing the sensor in one of an acquisition mode or a follow mode;
(c) a field of view tracker, coupled to receive signals from said active mode processor, said field of view tracker for locating and tracking all targets in a predetermined field of view of the sensor;
(d) a reduced view tracker, coupled to receive signals from and transmit signals to said active mode processor, said reduced view tracker for tracking a follow target and all targets within a specified range around the follow target and for determining when a second vehicle can interfere with the track of the followed target; and
(e) a lane estimator coupled to said field of view tracker and said reduced view tracker, said lane estimator for receiving data from both the field of view tracker and the platform vehicle and for processing the data to provide an indication of when the roadway ahead of the vehicle is not straight, such that all the tracked targets can be expected to wander from the line directly in front of the sensor vehicle and wherein said lane estimator provides an output signal to said field of view tracker and said reduced view tracker to allow said field of view tracker and said reduced view tracker to determine the location of the targets.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method of operating a radar system, including the steps of digitally sampling a received signal at a predetermined sampling rate, to periodically provide a set of selected samples, the set of selected samples including positive going ramp samples, negative going ramp samples and CW burst samples and performing a first fast Fourier transform (FFT) on the positive going ramp samples, performing a second fast Fourier transform on the negative going ramp samples and performing a third fast Fourier transform on the CW burst samples is described. Utilizing the subsequent radar operations the method further includes the steps of tracking each resulting signal from the first fast Fourier transform performing steps, tracking each resulting signal from the second fast Fourier transform performing steps and tracking each resulting signal from the third fast Fourier transform performing steps and associating any resulting signals from the tracking steps to periodically provide output signals indicative of other vehicles.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A vehicle radar sensor to track targets proximate a vehicle traveling along a roadway, the radar sensor comprising:
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(a) a controller for initializing the sensor and for placing the sensor in one of a standby mode or an active mode; (b) an active mode processor, coupled to said controller, said active mode processor for placing the sensor in one of an acquisition mode or a follow mode; (c) a field of view tracker, coupled to receive signals from said active mode processor, said field of view tracker for locating and tracking all targets in a predetermined field of view of the sensor; (d) a reduced view tracker, coupled to receive signals from and transmit signals to said active mode processor, said reduced view tracker for tracking a follow target and all targets within a specified range around the follow target and for determining when a second vehicle can interfere with the track of the followed target; and (e) a lane estimator coupled to said field of view tracker and said reduced view tracker, said lane estimator for receiving data from both the field of view tracker and the platform vehicle and for processing the data to provide an indication of when the roadway ahead of the vehicle is not straight, such that all the tracked targets can be expected to wander from the line directly in front of the sensor vehicle and wherein said lane estimator provides an output signal to said field of view tracker and said reduced view tracker to allow said field of view tracker and said reduced view tracker to determine the location of the targets. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method of selecting a primary target in a sensor disposed in a sensor vehicle traveling in a lane of a roadway, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) initially selecting a primary target by selecting a vehicle located in the same traveling lane as the sensor vehicle; (b) using sequential lobing information to estimate a location of the primary target; (c) generating track information in a target tracker, the track information including frequency locations of the primary target; (d) using the track information obtained in step (c), to select a next primary target; and (e) after selecting the next primary target, activating a reduced view tracker focused about the next primary target'"'"'s frequency locations. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for tracking targets proximate a vehicle traveling along a roadway, the method comprising the steps of:
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tracking a plurality of targets along a roadway; selecting a primary target and possible interfering targets; tracking the primary target and the possible interfering targets and predicting a future location of the primary target and the possible interfering targets; and activating a reduced view tracker focused about the primary target'"'"'s next frequency location. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification