# US 12,216,231 B2 · Systems and methods for data communication via a rotary link

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- Number: US 12,216,231 B2
- Document ID: US12216231B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/103,220
- Filed: 2020-11-24
- Published: 2021-07-01
- Granted: 2025-02-04
- Earliest claimed: 2019-12-30
- Assignees: Waymo LLC
- Applicants: Waymo LLC
- Inventors: Youming Qin; Paul Karplus
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12216231B2

## CPC

- G01S 7/4817: {relating to scanning}
- G01S 7/003: {Transmission of data between radar, sonar or lidar systems and remote stations}
- G01S 7/4812: {transmitted and received beams following a coaxial path}
- G01S 7/4813: {Housing arrangements}
- G01S 17/003: {Bistatic lidar systems; Multistatic lidar systems}
- G01S 17/931: of land vehicles
- G08C 17/02: using a radio link
- H02J 50/10: using inductive coupling
- H04B 5/24: Inductive coupling
- H04L 5/0007: {the frequencies being orthogonal, e.g. OFDM(A) or DMT}
- H04W 4/38: for collecting sensor information
- 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
- G08C: TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS FOR MEASURED VALUES, CONTROL OR SIMILAR SIGNALS (fluid pressure transmitting systems F15B; mechanical means for transferring the output of a sensing member into a different variable G01D5/00; mechanical control systems G05G)
- H02J: ELECTRIC POWER NETWORKS; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY
- H04B: TRANSMISSION
- H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M)
- H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72)

## Abstract

A sensing device includes a stationary portion and a rotating portion. The rotating portion is spaced apart from the stationary portion by a gap and is configured to rotate relative to the stationary portion. The rotating portion includes one or more sensors that generate data. A communication interface in the rotating portion is configured to encode the data with error correction codes to provide encoded data, modulate a radio frequency (RF) signal that includes a plurality of sub-carriers with the encoded data to provide a data-modulated RF signal (e.g., an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) signal), and transmit the data-modulated RF signal to the stationary portion via a wireless data transformer. The wireless data transformer includes a first conductive structure in the stationary portion and a second conductive structure in the rotating portion. The first and second conductive structures are inductively coupled together across the gap.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A sensing device, comprising:
a stationary portion configured for attachment to a vehicle;
a rotating portion, wherein the rotating portion is spaced apart from the stationary portion by a gap and is configured to rotate relative to the stationary portion;
a wireless data transformer comprising a first conductive loop on a first printed circuit board (PCB) in the stationary portion and a second conductive loop on a second PCB in the rotating portion, wherein the first and second conductive loops are inductively coupled together across the gap;
a wireless power transformer configured to transmit power using a signal having a first frequency, wherein the wireless power transformer comprises a primary winding in the stationary portion and a secondary winding in the rotating portion;
a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device in the rotating portion, wherein the LIDAR device is configured to generate data; and
a communication interface in the rotating portion, wherein the communication interface is configured to (i) encode the data generated by the LIDAR device with error correction codes to provide encoded data, (ii) modulate a radio frequency (RF) signal that includes a plurality of sub-carriers with the encoded data to provide a data-modulated RF signal, and (iii) transmit the data-modulated RF signal to a vehicle communication interface in the vehicle via the wireless data transformer, wherein the data-modulated RF signal uses frequencies greater than the first frequency, and wherein the vehicle communication interface is configured to (a) demodulate the data-modulated RF signal to recover the encoded data, (b) decode the encoded data to recover the data generated by the LIDAR device, and (c) transmit the data to a computing device in the vehicle.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The sensing device of claim 1, wherein the data-modulated RF signal is an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) signal.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The sensing device of claim 2, wherein the communication interface is configured to transmit and receive data in accordance with G.hn specifications.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The sensing device of claim 1, wherein the communication interface is further configured to receive a vehicle-originating data-modulated RF signal from the vehicle communication interface via the wireless data transformer.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The sensing device of claim 4, wherein the communication interface is further configured to demodulate the vehicle-originating data-modulated RF signal to recover further encoded data and decode the further encoded data to recover further data.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The sensing device of claim 1, wherein the communication interface is configured to communicate with the vehicle communication interface using time-division duplexing.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The sensing device of claim 1, wherein the first conductive loop at least partially surrounds the primary winding and the second conductive loop at least partially surrounds the secondary winding.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The sensing device of claim 7, wherein the first conductive loop is a first multi-turn loop and the second conductive loop is a second multi-turn loop.

### Claim 9

A system, comprising:
a first platform configured for attachment to a vehicle;
a second platform spaced apart from the first platform by a gap, wherein the second platform is configured to rotate relative to the first platform;
an apparatus coupled to the second platform, wherein the apparatus comprises a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device configured to generate data;
a wireless data transformer configured to transmit the data generated by the LIDAR device via the gap, wherein the wireless data transformer comprises a first conductive loop on a first printed circuit board (PCB) in the first platform and a second conductive loop on a second PCB in the second platform, wherein the first and second conductive loops are inductively coupled together across the gap;
a wireless power transformer configured to transmit power to the apparatus via the gap using a signal having a first frequency, wherein the wireless power transformer comprises a primary winding in the first platform and a secondary winding in the second platform; and
a communication interface in the second platform, wherein the communication interface is configured to (i) encode the data generated by the LIDAR device with error correction codes to provide encoded data, (ii) modulate a radio frequency (RF) signal that includes a plurality of sub-carriers with the encoded data to provide a data-modulated RF signal, and (iii) transmit the data-modulated RF signal to a vehicle communication interface in the vehicle via the wireless data transformer, wherein the data-modulated RF signal uses frequencies greater than the first frequency, and wherein the vehicle communication interface is configured to (a) demodulate the data-modulated RF signal to recover the encoded data, (b) decode the encoded data to recover the data generated by the LIDAR device, and (c) transmit the data to a computing device in the vehicle.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The system of claim 9, wherein the first conductive loop at least partially surrounds the primary winding and the second conductive loop at least partially surrounds the secondary winding.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The system of claim 10, wherein the first conductive loop is a first multi-turn loop and the second conductive loop is a second multi-turn loop.

### Claim 12 (depends on 9)

The system of claim 9, wherein the data-modulated RF signal is an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) signal.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The system of claim 12, wherein the communication interface is configured to transmit and receive data in accordance with G.hn specifications.

### Claim 14 (depends on 9)

The system of claim 9, wherein the apparatus comprises a motor configured to cause rotation of the second platform relative to the first platform.

### Claim 15

A method comprising:
rotating a rotating portion of a sensing device relative to a stationary portion of the sensing device, wherein the rotating portion is spaced apart from the stationary portion by a gap, and wherein the stationary portion is coupled to a vehicle;
transmitting power to the rotating portion via a wireless power transformer using a signal having a first frequency, wherein the wireless power transformer comprises a primary winding in the stationary portion and a secondary winding in the rotating portion;
generating data by a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) device in the rotating portion;
encoding, by a communication interface in the rotating portion, the data generated by the LIDAR device with error correction codes to provide encoded data;
modulating, by the communication interface, a radio frequency (RF) signal that includes a plurality of sub-carriers with the encoded data to provide a data-modulated RF signal; and
transmitting, by the communication interface, the data-modulated RF signal to a vehicle communication interface in the vehicle via a wireless data transformer, wherein the wireless data transformer comprises a first conductive loop on a first printed circuit board (PCB) in the stationary portion and a second conductive loop on a second PCB in the rotating portion, wherein the first and second conductive loops are inductively coupled together across the gap, wherein the data-modulated RF signal uses frequencies greater than the first frequency, and wherein the vehicle communication interface is configured to (a) demodulate the data-modulated RF signal to recover the encoded data, (b) decode the encoded data to recover the data generated by the LIDAR device, and (c) transmit the data to a computing device in the vehicle.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15, wherein the data-modulated RF signal is an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) signal.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The method of claim 16, wherein the communication interface is configured to transmit and receive data in accordance with G.hn specifications.

### Claim 18 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15, further comprising:
receiving, by the communication interface and from the vehicle communication interface in the vehicle, a vehicle-originating data-modulated RF signal via the wireless data transformer;
demodulating, by the communication interface, the vehicle-originating data-modulated RF signal to recover further encoded data; and
decoding, by the communication interface, the further encoded data to recover further data.