# US 11,994,584 B2 · Phase-based ultrasonic ranging > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,994,584 B2 - Document ID: US11994584B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/325,395 - Filed: 2021-05-20 - Published: 2021-09-02 - Granted: 2024-05-28 - Earliest claimed: 2016-12-27 - Assignees: Texas Instruments Incorporated - Applicants: Texas Instruments Incorporated - Inventors: Charles Kasimer Sestok, IV - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11994584B2 ## CPC - G01S 15/931: of land vehicles - G01S 7/527: Extracting wanted echo signals {(Doppler systems G01S15/50)} - G01S 15/101: {Particularities of the measurement of distance (G01S15/12, G01S15/14, and G01S15/18 take precedence)} - G01S 15/36: with phase comparison between the received signal and the contemporaneously transmitted signal - G01S 2015/932: {for parking operations} - G01S 2015/938: {in the bumper area} - G01S: RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES ## Abstract One example includes an ultrasonic ranging system. The system includes an ultrasonic transducer configured to transmit an ultrasonic signal and to receive reflected ultrasonic signal paths having been reflected from a plurality of target objects during a ranging operation. The system also includes a ranging processor configured to detect a location associated with the plurality of target objects based on monitoring phase information associated with the reflected ultrasonic signal paths. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A system comprising: an ultrasonic transducer configured to: transmit an ultrasonic signal; and receive a reflected ultrasonic signal; and a processor configured to: generate samples of the reflected ultrasonic signal at different times; determine phase angles of the samples of the reflected ultrasonic signal; and determine a location of an object based on the phase angles. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the location is a first location, and the object is a first object, and wherein the processor is configured to determine a second location of a second object based on the phase angles. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the phase angles are first phase angles, the ultrasonic signal is a first ultrasonic signal, the reflected ultrasonic signal is a first reflected ultrasonic signal, the samples are first sample, and the system further comprises a second ultrasonic transducer configured to transmit a second ultrasonic signal and to receive a second reflected ultrasonic signal; and wherein the processor is configured to: determine second phase angles of second samples of the second reflected ultrasonic signal received at different times; and detect the location of the object based on the first phase angles and the second phase angles. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein: the processor is configured to: transform the samples of reflected ultrasonic signal to a second signal; determine real components and imaginary components of the second signal; and determine the phase angles based on the real components and the imaginary components. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The system of claim 4, wherein the processor is configured to: perform phase unwrapping of the second signal; and determine the phase angles based on samples of the phase-unwrapped second signal. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to: generate a second signal by a convolution operation between the phase angles and a ramp function; and determine the location based on the second signal. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The system of claim 6, wherein the processor is configured to determine the location based on determining a time when the second signal exceeds a threshold level for a threshold duration of time. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The system of claim 7, wherein the threshold level is a first threshold level, and the processor is configured to determine the location based on determining a time when the second signal is between a second threshold level and the first threshold level for the threshold duration of time. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to: determine a first time of transmission of the ultrasonic signal; determine a second time of reception of the reflected ultrasonic signal based on the phase angles; and determine a distance of the object from the ultrasonic transducer based on the first time and the second time; and determine the location of the object based on the distance. ### Claim 10 A method comprising: transmitting, by an ultrasonic transducer, an ultrasonic signal; receiving, by the ultrasonic transducer, a reflected ultrasonic signal; generating, by a processor, samples of the reflected ultrasonic signal at different times; determining, by the processor, phase angles of the samples of the reflected ultrasonic signal; determining, by the processor, a location of an object based on the phase angles. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, wherein the location is a first location, and the object is a first object, and the method comprising: determining, by the processor, a second location of a second object based on the phase angles. ### Claim 12 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, wherein the phase angles are is a first phase angles, the ultrasonic signal is a first ultrasonic signal, the reflected ultrasonic signal is a first reflected ultrasonic signal, the samples are first samples, and the method further comprises: transmitting, by the ultrasonic transducer, a second ultrasonic signal; receiving, by the ultrasonic transducer, a second reflected ultrasonic signal; generating second samples of the second reflected ultrasonic signal at different times; determining, by the processor, second phase angles of the second samples; and determining, by the processor, the location of the object based on the first phase angles and the second phase angles. ### Claim 13 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, further comprising: transforming, by the processor, the samples of the reflected ultrasonic signal to a second signal; determining, by the processor, real components and imaginary components of the second signal; and determining, by the processor, the phase angles based on the real components and the imaginary components. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, further comprising: performing, by the processor, phase unwrapping of the second signal; determining, by the processor, the phase angles based on the phase-unwrapped second signal. ### Claim 15 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, further comprising: generating, by the processor, a second signal by a convolution operation between the phase angles and a ramp function; and determining the location based on the second signal. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, further comprising: determining, by the processor, the location based on determining a time when the second signal exceeds a threshold level for a threshold duration of time. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The method of claim 16, wherein the threshold level is a first threshold level, and the method further comprises determining, by the processor, the location based on determining a time when the second signal is between a second threshold level and the first threshold level for the threshold duration of time. ### Claim 18 (depends on 10) The method of claim 10, further comprising: determining, by the processor, a first time of transmission of the ultrasonic signal; determining, by the processor, a second time of reception of the reflected ultrasonic signal based on the phase angles; determining, by the processor, a distance of the object from the ultrasonic transducer based on the first time and the second time; and determining, by the processor, the location of the object based on the distance.