Radar monitoring device

• US 8,457,814 B2
• Filed: 03/26/2009
• Issued: 06/04/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/29/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alpine Electronics Incorporated (Alps Alpine Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Alpine Electronics Incorporated (Alps Alpine Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Hasegawa, Koyo
• Primary Examiner(s): OBAID, FATEH M
• Application Number:
  US12/411,650
• Publication Number:
  US 20090299627A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,531 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 701/17
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/0209 Systems with very large relative bandwidth, i.e. larger than 10 %, e.g. baseband, pulse, carrier-free, ultrawideband
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/86 Combinations of radar systems with non-radar systems, e.g. sonar, direction finder
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/932 using own vehicle data, e.g. ground speed, steering wheel direction
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/93271 in the front of the vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/023 Interference mitigation, e.g. reducing or avoiding non-intentional interference with other HF-transmitters, base station transmitters for mobile communication or other radar systems, e.g. using electro-magnetic interference [EMI] reduction techniques auxiliary means for detecting or identifying radar signals or the like G01S7/021; means for anti-jamming G01S7/36
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/0235 Avoidance by time multiplex
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/4008 of transmitters

Abstract

When a vehicle moves into a radar prohibited area preset for the neighborhood of a facility that suffers adverse effects from radar waves, emission of radar waves is stopped, and a voice guidance such as “Radar monitoring is stopped” is sent to a speaker via a voice output unit. Moreover, during a period in which a vehicle is located in a radar prohibited area, an icon that indicates that a radar is being stopped, a mark that indicates an institution for which the radar prohibited area is set, and the scope of the radar prohibited area are displayed on a map image.

Claims

1. A radar monitoring device that monitors a surrounding neighborhood of a vehicle using a radar unit comprising:

a storage unit that stores radar prohibited areas, the radar prohibited areas being geographical areas in which an emission of a radar wave is prohibited;

a current position calculating unit that calculates a current position;

a radar control unit that directs the radar unit to stop emission of a radar wave when the current position is located in one of the radar prohibited areas;

a guidance image display unit that displays a guidance image that includes a first map and a current position mark indicating the current position of the vehicle on the first map; and

a radar prohibited area display unit that displays a geographical scope of a current radar prohibited area of the radar prohibited areas, the current radar prohibited area including the current position, on the first map during the stoppage of emission of a radar wave in the radar unit;

wherein, during stoppage of emission of a radar wave in the radar unit, when an entire or major part of a geographical scope of the first map is included in the geographical scope of the current radar prohibited area, the radar prohibited area display unit displays, together with the guidance image including the first map, an additional image that shows, on a second map having a larger scale that covers an entire part of the geographic scope of the current radar prohibited area, the current position and the geographical scope of the current radar prohibited area.

2. The radar monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the radar unit emits an Ultra WideBand (UWB) radar wave.

3. The radar monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the radar control unit directs the radar unit to (1) stop emission of a radar wave when the current position is moved from outside of a first radar prohibited area of the radar prohibited areas to inside of the first radar prohibited area and (2) start emission of a radar wave when the current position is moved from inside of a second radar prohibited area of the radar prohibited areas to outside of the second radar prohibited area.

4. The radar monitoring device according to claim 3, further comprising a radar stoppage notification unit that notifies a user that monitoring of the surrounding neighborhood of the vehicle using the radar unit has been stopped when the radar control unit has directed the radar unit to stop emission of a radar wave.

5. The radar monitoring device according to claim 4, further comprising a radar stoppage indication unit that indicates to the user that monitoring of the surrounding neighborhood of the vehicle using the radar unit is being stopped during stoppage of emission of a radar wave in the radar unit.

6. The radar monitoring device according to claim 3, wherein each of the radar prohibited areas is set for an institution that includes a facility that suffers an adverse effect from a radar wave within a neighborhood of the institution,

a position of the institution is stored in the storage unit for the radar prohibited area, and

during stoppage of emission of a radar wave in the radar unit, the radar prohibited area display unit displays a position of an institution for which the current radar prohibited area is set on the first map.

7. The radar monitoring device according to claim 3, further comprising a radar stoppage indication unit that indicates to a user that monitoring of the surrounding neighborhood of the vehicle using the radar unit is stopped during the stoppage of emission of a radar wave in the radar unit.

8. The radar monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein each of the radar prohibited areas is set for an institution that includes a facility that suffers an adverse effect from a radar wave within a neighborhood of the institution,

a position of the institution is stored in the storage unit for the radar prohibited area, and

during the stoppage of emission of a radar wave in the radar unit, the radar prohibited area display unit displays a position of an institution for which the current radar prohibited area is set on the first map.

9. A radar unit control method for controlling, in a radar monitoring device that monitors a surrounding neighborhood of a vehicle using a radar unit, operation of the radar unit, the method comprising:

calculating a current position;

detecting, on the basis of radar prohibited areas that are geographical areas in which emission of a radar wave is prohibited and are stored in advance in a storage unit, whether the current position is located in one of the radar prohibited areas;

causing the radar unit to stop emission of a radar wave when the current position is located in one of the radar prohibited areas;

displaying on a display unit a guidance image that includes a first map and a current position mark indicating the current position of the vehicle on the first map; and

displaying on the display unit a geographical scope of a current radar prohibited area of the radar prohibited areas, the current radar prohibited area including the current position, on the first map during the stoppage of emission of a radar wave in the radar unit;

wherein, during stoppage of emission of a radar wave in the radar unit, when an entire or major part of a geographical scope of the first map is included in the geographic scope of the current radar prohibited area, displaying on the display unit, together with the guidance image including the first map, an additional image that shows, on a second map having a larger scale that covers an entire part of the geographical scope of the current radar prohibited area, the current position and the geographical scope of the current radar prohibited area.

10. The radar unit control method according to claim 9, wherein the radar unit is caused to stop emission of a radar wave when the current position is moved from outside of a first radar prohibited area of the radar prohibited areas to inside of the first radar prohibited area, and the radar unit is caused to start emission of a radar wave when the current position is moved from inside of a second radar prohibited area of the radar prohibited areas to outside of the second radar prohibited area.

11. The radar unit control method according to claim 10, further comprising notifying a user that monitoring of the surrounding neighborhood of the vehicle using the radar unit has been stopped when the radar unit has been caused to stop emission of a radar wave.

12. The radar unit control method according to claim 10, further comprising indicating to a user that monitoring of the surrounding neighborhood of the vehicle using the radar unit is being stopped during the stoppage of emission of a radar wave in the radar unit.

13. The radar unit control method according to claim 9, wherein the radar unit is caused to stop emission of a radar wave when the current position is moved from outside of a radar prohibited area to inside of the radar prohibited area, and the radar unit is caused to start emission of a radar wave when the current position is moved from inside of the radar prohibited area to outside of the radar prohibited area.