Vehicle navigational system and signal processing method for said navigational system

• US 6,414,712 B1
• Filed: 06/10/1998
• Issued: 07/02/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 12/13/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Daimler AG (Mercedes-Benz Group AG)
• Original Assignee: Daimler Chrysler Company LLC (Stellantis NV)
• Inventors: Wanielik, Gerd, Ritter, Werner
• Primary Examiner(s): Rao, Andy
• Application Number:
  US09/091,186
• Time in Patent Office: 1,483 Days
• Field of Search: 348/148, 348/118, 348/119, 348/121, 348/122, 348/159, 348/162, 348/163, 348/164, 348/169, 348/170
• US Class Current: 348/118
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/28 with correlation of data from several navigational instruments
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/867 Combination of radar systems with cameras
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/931 of land vehicles

Abstract

The invention relates to a vehicle navigational system with a radar arrangement and an image sensor arrangement. It is proposed to derive target parameters separately from the receiving signals of the two arrangements and to convey them to data merging means to link the separately derived parameters. Linking can be carried out at different levels of digital signal processing.

Claims

1. A signal processing method for a vehicle navigational system having a radar arrangement and an image sensor arrangement, the method including the steps of:

monitoring a solid-angle region with the radar arrangement;

monitoring essentially the same solid-angle region with the image sensor arrangement;

determining respective target parameters from the signals received from the radar arrangement and the image sensor arrangement;

linking the target parameters determined from signals received from the radar arrangement with the target parameters determined from signals received from the image sensor arrangement through data merging wherein reduced data sets and the resultant derived target parameters are created during the evaluation of the signals received from the radar and image sensor arrangements through a suitable linking of the data;

specifying solid angle sections for an image evaluation based on the evaluation of the signals received from the radar arrangement; and

evaluating the signals received from the image sensor arrangement solely from these specified solid angle sections.

2. A signal processing method according to claim 1, wherein a target classification is carried out during the data merging.

3. A signal processing method according to claim 1 wherein a separate target pre-classification is respectively carried out during the evaluation of the incoming signals in the radar and image sensor arrangement and that the various target pre-classifications are linked during the data merging.

4. A signal processing method according to claim 3, wherein the target pre-classification results are weighted with a quality rating during the data merging.

5. A signal processing method according to claim 1, respectively separate target parameters are derived during the radar and image evaluation of the incoming signals and that the separately derived target parameters are combined in a joint parameter vector during the data merging.

6. A signal processing method according to claim 1, wherein solid-angle sections with target reports are specified for the radar evaluation of the incoming signals and that for the image evaluation, only the signals received from the image sensor arrangement for these solid-angle sections are evaluated.