US 12,000,953 B2Granted

Radar device

AssigneeAptiv Technologies AG

InventorsDennis Vollbracht, Alexander Ioffe

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

A radar device for automotive applications comprises a radar circuit configured to process a radar signal that has a first signal portion and a second signal portion, wherein the first signal portion occupies a first frequency band and the second signal portion occupies a second frequency band that is separate from the first frequency band. An antenna device of the radar device comprises a first and second antenna element that are both coupled to a common signal port of the radar circuit and the radar device is configured to route both the first signal portion and the second signal portion via the common signal port between the radar circuit and the antenna device. The antenna device is a frequency selective antenna device that transduces the first signal portion via the first antenna element and not via the second antenna element and that transduces the second signal portion at least via the second antenna element.

Claims19

Dependent claims

A radar device for automotive applications, the radar device comprising:

a radar circuit for transceiving radar signals having a first signal portion and a second signal portion, the first signal portion occupying a first frequency band and the second signal portion occupying a second frequency band that is separate from the first frequency band, the radar circuit configured to route both the first signal portion and the second signal portion to a common signal port of the radar circuit;
an antenna device including a first antenna element that is part of a first antenna and a second antenna element that is part of a second antenna, the first antenna element and second antenna element both being coupled to the common signal port of the radar circuit, antenna device configured as a frequency selective antenna device that transduces the first signal portion via the first antenna element and not via the second antenna element and that transduces the second signal portion at least via the second antenna element;
and
a signal processing device configured to,
adaptively switch an antenna configuration between a first antenna configuration including the first antenna with the first antenna element and a second antenna configuration including the second antenna with the second antenna element by:
changing a frequency band of the radar signal from the first frequency band to the second frequency band to emit the second signal portion of the radar signals while maintaining a same conductive or inductive coupling configuration between the radar circuit and the antenna device via the common signal port, and
changing the frequency band of the radar signal from the second frequency band to the first frequency band to emit the first signal portion of the radar signals while maintaining the same conductive or inductive coupling configuration between the radar circuit and the antenna device via the common signal port, and
detect, from the first signal portion, target reflections via a first propagation channel and to detect, from the second signal portion, target reflections via a second propagation channel.

5 more elements

A method for operating a radar device for automotive applications, the radar device including a signal processing device, a radar circuit, and an antenna device having a first antenna element that is part of a first antenna and a second antenna element that is part of a second antenna, the first and second antenna element being both coupled to a common signal port of the radar circuit, the method comprising:

generating, by the signal processing device, a radar signal having a first signal portion and a second signal portion, the first signal portion occupying a first frequency band and the second signal portion occupying a second frequency band that is separate from the first frequency band;
routing both the first signal portion and the second signal portion via the common signal port between the radar circuit and the antenna device;
transducing the first signal portion via the first antenna element and not via the second antenna element and the second signal portion at least via the second antenna element;
adaptively switching, by the signal processing device, between a first antenna configuration including the first antenna with the first antenna element and a second antenna configuration including the second antenna with the second antenna element by:
changing a frequency band of the radar signal from the first frequency band to the second frequency band to emit the second signal portion of the radar signals while maintaining a same conductive or inductive coupling configuration between the radar circuit and the antenna device via the common signal port, and
changing the frequency band of the radar signal from the second frequency band to the first frequency band to emit the first signal portion of the radar signals while maintaining the same conductive or inductive coupling configuration between the radar circuit and the antenna device via the common signal port;
detecting, by the signal processing device and from the first signal portion, target reflections via a first propagation channel;
and
detecting, by the signal processing device and from the second signal portion, target reflections via a second propagation channel.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 17/153,825Filed 20 Jan 2021
Priority: EP 201554954 Feb 2020
Published: US 2021/0239791 A15 Aug 2021
Granted: 4 Jun 2024
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification26 codes

G01S 7/354
Receivers: extracting wanted echo-signals
G01S 7/025
Using polarisation effects: involving the transmission of linearly polarised waves
G01S 13/931
For anti-collision purposes: of land vehicles
G01S 7/02
Details of systems according to groups G01S13/00, G01S15/00, G01S17/00: of systems according to group G01S13/00

Family

US 2021/0239791 A1Pre-grant publication · published 5 Aug 2021
US 12,000,953 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.

Timeline

Citations

Open elsewhere

Building an agent or pulling many patents? Use the API or MCP server instead of scraping pages. Get an API key