# US 12,216,225 B2 · Facia supporting an ultra-wide radar field-of-view > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,216,225 B2 - Document ID: US12216225B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/455,890 - Filed: 2021-11-19 - Published: 2022-06-09 - Granted: 2025-02-04 - Earliest claimed: 2020-12-08 - Assignees: Aptiv Technologies AG - Applicants: Aptiv Technologies AG - Inventors: Syed An Nazmus Saqueb; Armin Talai; Kevin Paul McReynolds; Ricardo Cavazos; Mark William Hudson - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12216225B2 ## CPC - G01S 7/027: {Constructional details of housings, e.g. form, type, material or ruggedness} - G01S 13/931: of land vehicles - H01Q 1/42: Housings not intimately mechanically associated with radiating elements, e.g. radome - H01Q 1/421: {Means for correcting aberrations introduced by a radome} - G01S 2013/93271: {in the front of the vehicles} - 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 - H01Q: ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS (radiators or antennas for microwave heating H05B6/72) ## Abstract This document describes facia, including parts of vehicles, for supporting an ultra-wide radar field-of-view, for example, in automotive contexts. The facia is configured as a radome for supporting an ultra-wide field-of-view with an antenna despite the facia obstructing a field of view. The facia has one exterior surface or interior surface this is a mostly smooth or has a pattern of hemispherical indentations or domes that are configured to reduce reflections off that surface and increase light transmission through the facia. The other of the exterior or interior surface, has a pattern of hemispherical indentations or domes that are configured to reduce reflections off that surface and further increase light transmission through the facia. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A system comprising: an antenna including an array of elements directed towards a field-of-view; and a facia for a vehicle and configured to be arranged between the antenna and the field-of-view, the facia having an exterior surface exposed to the field-of-view and an interior surface that is opposite the exterior surface and exposed to the array of elements, the facia is configured as a radome having on the interior surface and the exterior surface a respective pattern of unit cells each with hemispherical indentations that are configured to trap light, the trapping of the light being effective to reduce reflections off that surface and increase light transmission through the facia to support an ultra-wide field-of-view using the antenna despite the facia obstructing the field of view, wherein: each one of the unit cells with the hemispherical indentations on the interior surface and the exterior surface includes a radius, a length, a width, and a total thickness of the radome, the radius is greater than one-half the length, the total thickness is greater than the length, and the total thickness is greater than the width. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the facia is configured as a flat radome, and the antenna comprises a planar antenna including the array of elements arranged in a two-dimensional grid. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the interior surface is arranged parallel to the array of elements. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein each of the hemispherical indentations comprises an opening that is perpendicular to the array of elements. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the interior surface is configured to form a plane of incidence that is perpendicular to a polarization of an incident wave to the facia. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the facia comprises a dielectric material. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The system of claim 6, wherein each hemispherical indentation in the pattern of hemispherical indentations comprises an identical unit cell comprising an equal portion of the dielectric material. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The system of claim 7, wherein each hemispherical indentation in the pattern of hemispherical indentations comprises a unit cell comprising an equal portion of the dielectric material, each unit cell being defined by a particular size and shape that configures each unit cell to trap a portion of the light. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The system of claim 8, wherein the particular size and shape that configures each unit cell to trap the portion of the light includes a tunnel opening between each hemispherical indentation in the pattern of hemispherical indentations and the field-of-view. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The system of claim 9, wherein each tunnel opening comprises a rectangular opening or a circular opening. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein each hemispherical indentation in the pattern of hemispherical indentations or domes is recessed at a depth into the interior surface. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein transmission characteristics of the facia indicate a transmission gain at an incident angle of zero degrees to be approximately the same as a transmission gain at an incident angle with a magnitude exceeding forty degrees. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein transmission characteristics of the facia at boresight are approximately equal to transmission characteristics of the facia at greater than forty-five degrees. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The system of claim 13, wherein the transmission characteristics of the facia at the boresight is approximately equal to transmission characteristics of the facia at approximately sixty degrees. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the facia comprises a curved facia configured as a radome for a non-planar antenna array of elements. ### Claim 16 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein each hemispherical indentation from the pattern of hemispherical indentations is sized to less than one wavelength of the center frequency of radar signals transmitted or received via the array of elements. ### Claim 17 (depends on 1) The system of claim 1, wherein the facia comprises a dielectric material, and a first group of hemispherical indentations from the pattern of hemispherical indentations comprise identical unit cells comprising an equal portion of the dielectric material, and a second group of hemispherical indentations or domes from the pattern of hemispherical indentations comprises a gradient radius or a gradient depth that is different than a radius or a depth of the hemispherical indentations from the first group. ### Claim 18 An apparatus comprising: a facia for a vehicle and configured to be arranged between an array of elements of an antenna and a field-of-view, the facia having an exterior surface exposed to the field-of-view and an interior surface exposed to the array of elements, the facia is configured as a radome for supporting an ultra-wide field-of-view with the antenna despite the facia obstructing the field of view, wherein each one of the exterior surface and the interior surface has a pattern of unit cells each with hemispherical indentations that are configured to reduce reflections off that surface and increase light transmission through the facia, wherein: each one of the unit cells with the hemispherical indentations on the interior surface and the exterior surface includes a radius, a length, a width, and a total thickness of the radome, the radius is greater than one-half the length, the total thickness is greater than the length, and the total thickness is greater than the width.