Vehicle illumination system

• US 8,436,747 B2
• Filed: 08/08/2008
• Issued: 05/07/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/08/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Harman Becker Automotive Systems GmbH (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Harman Becker Automotive Systems GmbH (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.)
• Inventors: Schoepp, Harald
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Hung T.
• Application Number:
  US12/188,425
• Publication Number:
  US 20090072996A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,733 Days
• Field of Search: 340/903, 340/435, 340/436, 340/438, 340/425.5, 340/815.45, 340/988, 340/815.4, 701/29, 701/45, 701/301, 701/1, 701/300
• US Class Current: 340/903
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/1423 Automatic dimming circuits, i.e. switching between high beam and low beam due to change of ambient light or light level in road traffic
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/2696 Mounting of devices using LEDs
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/444 with indication of the braking strength or speed changes, e.g. by changing shape or intensity of the indication B60Q1/1407, B60Q1/442, B60Q1/447 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/535 to prevent rear-end collisions, e.g. by indicating safety distance at the rear of the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/543 for indicating other states or conditions of the vehicle indicating taxis' state of hire or fare G07B13/045
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2300/112 Vehicle speed
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2300/114 Vehicle acceleration or deceleration
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2300/40 Indexing codes relating to other road users or special conditions
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2300/47 Direct command from other road users, i.e. the command for switching or changing the beam is sent by other vehicles or road devices
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 2900/30 Lamps commanded by wireless transmissions
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 3/80 Circuits; Control arrangements for dashboards B60Q3/16; for mass transit vehicles B60Q3/47
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 9/007 providing information about the distance to an obstacle, e.g. varying sound
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 9/008 for anti-collision purposes
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/89 for mapping or imaging
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/9316 combined with communication equipment with other vehicles or with base stations
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2013/93277 in the lights
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/4814 of transmitters alone
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/161 Decentralised systems, e.g. inter-vehicle communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/1149 Arrangements for indoor wireless networking of information
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/116 : Visible light communication

Abstract

A vehicle illumination system includes a light source emitting light for illuminating the vehicle surroundings or the vehicle interior or both, and a modulation unit modulating the emitting of light of the light source, where the emitted light is modulated with a frequency that is high enough so that the modulation of the light is substantially not perceivable by a person.

Claims

1. A vehicle illumination system, comprising:

a light source configured for emitting light in the visible wavelength range for illuminating surroundings of a vehicle, an interior of the vehicle, or both the surroundings and the interior;

a modulation unit configured for modulating the emitting of the light of the light source, where the emitted light is modulated with a frequency that is high enough so that the modulation of the light is substantially not perceivable by a person;

a sensor that detects modulated light emitted by the light source and provides a received signal indicative thereof;

a vehicle range finding system that receives and processes the received signal and generates a distance signal relating to the distance of the object; and

a vehicle information transfer system that includes an information processing unit, which receives and processes the received signal and controls the modulation of the light in such a way that the emitted light is modulated in dependence on a predetermined information to be transmitted.

2. The vehicle illumination system of claim 1, where the light source is selected from the group consisting of a vehicle headlight, a vehicle taillight, a vehicle exterior light, a vehicle interior light, and combinations of two or more of the foregoing.

3. The vehicle illumination system of claim 1, where the light source is one of a plurality of light sources, each light source communicating with and modulated by the modulation unit.

4. The vehicle illumination system of claim 1, where the modulation unit is one of a plurality of modulation units, each modulation unit communicating with and modulating a respective one of the light sources.

5. The vehicle illumination system of claim 1, where the light source includes a vehicle headlight with light emitting diodes illuminating an area substantially in front of the vehicle.

6. The vehicle illumination system of claim 1, where the light source includes a vehicle taillight with light emitting diodes illuminating an area substantially behind the vehicle.

7. The vehicle illumination system of claim 1, where the light source includes a plurality of light emitting diodes emitting light in the visible wavelength range.

8. The vehicle illumination system of claim 1, where the light source includes a plurality of infrared light emitting diodes.

9. The vehicle illumination system of claim 1, further including a power amplifier configured for receiving a modulation signal from the modulation unit and modulating the light emission of the light source.

10. The vehicle illumination system of claim 1, where the emitted light is modulated with a frequency in the range of 0.1 to 50 MHz.

11. The vehicle illumination system of claim 1, where the emitted light is modulated with a plurality of frequencies in the range of 0.1 to 50 MHz.

12. The vehicle illumination system of claim 1, further including a distance processing unit configured for receiving and processing the distance signal from the sensor to obtain information relating to the distance and/or position of the object.

13. The vehicle illumination system of claim 12, further including a driver assistance system configured for receiving from the distance processing unit the information relating to the distance and/or position of the object.

14. The vehicle illumination system of claim 1, further including a driver assistance system, where the information processing unit is configured for sending at least part of the received information to the driver assistance system to provide driver assistance.

15. The vehicle illumination system of claim 1, where the detector is configured for receiving modulated light emitted from another vehicle whereby an information transfer between the two vehicles is enabled.

16. The vehicle illumination system of claim 1, further including a status detection unit configured for detecting a velocity of the vehicle and/or a change in velocity of the vehicle, where the information sent includes information relating to the velocity and/or the change in velocity of the vehicle.

17. The vehicle illumination system of claim 1, further including a status detection unit, where, when the status detection unit detects a braking of the vehicle with a predetermined deceleration, the emitted light is modulated with a predetermined frequency.

18. A method for illuminating a vehicle, comprising:

illuminating surroundings of the vehicle, an interior of the vehicle, or both the surroundings and the interior, with light in the visible wavelength range emitted by a light source; and

modulating the emitting of the light by utilizing a modulation unit, where the emitted light is modulated with a frequency which is high enough so that the modulation of the light is substantially not perceivable by a person, and controlling the modulation of light by utilizing an information processing unit in such a way that the emitted light is modulated in dependence on a predetermined information to send the information;

detecting with a sensor the modulated light emitted by the light source and reflected by an object, where the sensor generates a distance signal relating to the distance of the object; and

detecting with the sensor modulated light emitted by a vehicle illumination system disposed in another vehicle by utilizing a detector that generates a light signal in response to detecting the modulated light, and processing the light signal using the information processing unit to obtain a received information.

19. The method of claim 18, where illuminating includes illuminating an area in front and/or behind the vehicle by means of a headlight and/or a taillight, respectively, where the headlight and the taillight include light emitting diodes.

20. The method of claim 18, where illuminating includes illuminating the vehicle interior by utilizing a vehicle interior light including light emitting diodes.

21. The method of claim 18, further including processing the distance signal by utilizing a distance processing unit to obtain information relating to the distance and/or position of the object.

22. The method of claim 21, further including supplying the information relating to the distance and/or position of the object to a driver assistance system to provide driver assistance.

23. The method of claim 21, further including supplying the information relating to the distance and/or position of the object to a passenger protection system to control the deployment of passenger protection equipment.

24. The method of claim 18, where the controlling of the modulation is performed in such a way that, when the vehicle is braking with a predetermined deceleration, the light is modulated with a predetermined frequency.

25. The method of claim 18, further including supplying the received information to a driver assistance system, where the received information includes information relating to a velocity and/or change in velocity of a vehicle from which the detected modulated light originates.