This application claims priority from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2021-0030581, filed on Mar. 9, 2021, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The following description relates to radar technology, and more particularly, to a radar device in which signals of a plurality of radar modules are combined to expand a field of view (FOV).
In autonomous driving technology for a vehicle, a key sensor, along with a camera, is a radar sensor. Currently, in radar sensors, radio frequency (RF) circuit parts implemented using conventional non-silicon (Si) semiconductors are replaced with complementary metal-oxide semiconductors (CMOSs), and thus, driving chips implemented at low costs are being commercialized.
Currently, a vehicle radar is provided as a multi-channel radar with three channels including a front long range radar which detects a target within a long distance of about 150 m to 200 m in a forward direction, a front short range radar which detects a target within a short distance of about 60 m in the forward direction, and a rear radar which detects a target a rearward direction and is operated as a multi-channel phase array type which separates RF signals so as to have different phases.
In such a type, a transmitting antenna (Tx Antenna) and a receiving antenna (Rx Antenna) are separated, multiple input-multiple output (MIMO) technology using a phase array is applied so that the same signal is transmitted through antenna arrays oriented in different directions after a phase difference is adjusted so that beams transmitted from different antennas are transmitted without cancelling each other.
Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2017-0025764 (Mar. 8, 2017) discloses a radar module including an optimal arrangement structure of antenna channels for securing a field of view (FOV) and a detection distance such that a vehicle radar including both a long range radar device and a short range radar device simultaneously detects objects disposed at a long distance and a short distance, and a vehicle radar device including the same.
However, there is also a limitation on an FOV that is expandable by differently is designing an arrangement structure of antenna channels.
This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
The following description relates to a radar device in which a plurality of radar modules are integrated into one device and a field of view (FOV) is expanded using the plurality of radar modules.
In one general aspect, an integrated radar device includes a plurality of radar modules and a control module.
In an additional aspect, the plurality of radar modules may be disposed such that radar signals radiated by the individual radar modules are directed in different directions.
In an additional aspect, the control module may include a coordinate system transformation unit and an integrated tracking unit. The coordinate system transformation unit may receive position outputs of a detected target expressed in a local coordinate system by the individual radar modules and may transform the received position outputs to a global coordinate system, and the integrated tracking unit may is track the target by integrating the position outputs of the individual radar modules transformed to the global coordinate system.
The above-described aspects and other aspects are embodied through embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It will be understood that components of each of the embodiments may be combined in various ways within one embodiment unless otherwise stated or contradicted by one another. Each of blocks in a block diagram may be a representation of a physical part in some cases but may be a logical representation of a portion of a function of one physical part or a function of a plurality of physical parts in other cases. In some cases, the block or an entry of a portion of the block may be a set of program instructions. All or some of the blocks may be implemented as hardware, software, or a combination thereof.
When the two radar modules 130-1 and 130-2 are disposed to form a predetermined angle so as to radiate radar signals in different directions as shown in
The radar module 130 is a sensor module which transmits an electromagnetic signal, receives an electromagnetic signal returned by being reflected from a target, and estimates a distance to the target and a velocity of the target using a time difference between the two signals and a change in Doppler frequency. The radar module 130 may be a pulse radar type radar module which uses a pulse signal for transmission and reception of a radar or a continuous wave radar type radar module which continuously radiates a transmission signal without a pause time unlike a pulse radar.
The integrated radar device 10 of the present invention includes at least two radar modules 130 as shown in
In the integrated radar device 10 of the present invention, a housing of the device may have a polygonal shape according to a range of an FOV to be provided. In the example of
When the plurality of radar modules 130 are arranged to form a predetermined angle, the plurality of radar modules 130 may be disposed such that an FOV area of an individual radar module 130-1 or 130-2 partially overlaps an FOV area of another radar module 130-1 or 130-2. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the plurality of radar modules 130-1 and 130-2 may be disposed such that the FOV areas of the individual radar modules 130-1 and 130-2 do not overlap each other according to the purpose of using the integrated radar device 10.
The individual radar module 130 may output an angular position of a target detected from a transmitted radar signal and a reflected and returned signal in a local coordinate system of the corresponding radar module 130.
The individual radar modules 130 may be provided in the form of a PCB or flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) and may have the same antenna arrangement. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the individual radar modules 130 may have different antenna arrangements.
The control module 110 includes a coordinate system transformation unit 111 and an integrated tracking unit 113.
A coordinate system transformation unit 111 transforms a local coordinate system of the individual radar module 130 into a global coordinate system to be commonly used in devices. That is, the coordinate system transformation unit 111 receives a position output of a detected target expressed in a local coordinate system by the individual radar module 130 and transforms the received position output to the global coordinate system. In the example of
The control module 110 may further include a calibration unit 115 which calibrates the coordinate system transformation unit 111 according to an angle formed between an individual radar module 130-1 or 130-2 and an adjacent radar module 130-1 or 130-2. A coordinate system transformation is more influenced by an arrangement angle between the individual radar module 130-1 or 130-2 and the adjacent radar module 130-1 or 130-2 than an antenna arrangement of the individual radar module 130-1 or 130-2. Before a target is tracked using the integrated radar device 10, the coordinate system transformation unit 111 should be calibrated in advance according to the arrangement angles of the radar modules 130-1 and 130-2.
The integrated tracking unit 113 tracks a target by integrating position outputs of the individual radar modules 130 transformed to the global coordinate system. The integrated tracking unit 113 does not track a target using angular positions of the is detected target output by the individual radar modules 130 but tracks the target in a state in which output results of the individual radar modules 130 are integrated in one global coordinate system.
The control module 110 includes an external interface capable of outputting a target tracking result to the outside.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of radar modules 130-1 and 130-2 may be formed as a master radar module 130-2 and a slave radar module 130-1. The master radar module 130-2 includes the control module 110, and the slave radar module 130-1 is connected directly to the master radar module 130-2 or is connected thereto through another radar module.
In the integrated radar device 10 shown in
According to another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in
The FMCW type radar is a type of radar which may modulate a frequency of a continuously transmitted signal according to a time and may extract velocity information as well as distance information through a modulated amount of a received frequency.
As shown in the block diagram of the FMCW radar of
According to the present invention, a plurality of radar modules can be integrated into one device, and an FOV of the radar device can be expanded using the plurality of radar modules disposed to form a predetermined angle.
Although the present invention has been described above using embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, the present invention is not limited thereto. The present invention should be interpreted as including various modified embodiments that may be evidently derived from the above embodiments by one of ordinary skill in the art. The claims below are intended to include such modified embodiments.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
10-2021-0030581 | Mar 2021 | KR | national |