US5910786A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
On-vehicle radar
Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corp
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Filing: 1998-01-09
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Granted: 1999-06-08
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Expires: 2018-01-09
Abstract
Abstract When a transmitted and received radio wave is scanned, even if, for example, a large vehicle is running on an adjacent lane, a preceding vehicle running on the same lane as an own vehicle can be sensed and tracked continually. An on-vehicle radar comprises a transmitter receiver 6 for transmitting and receiving a radio wave with a relatively high frequency, and a signal processor 10 calculating a relative distance to an object and a relative velocity of the object on the basis of a radio wave transmitted by the transmitter receiver, reflected from the object, and received by the transmitter receiver. The transmitter receiver controls the power of a transmitted radio wave so that when a radio wave is to be transmitted in any transmission direction other than a specified transmission direction, the power of the transmitted radio wave will be made lower than that of a radio wave to be transmitted in the specified transmission direction, or even if the power of a received radio wave is larger than a given value, the power of the transmitted radio wave will not be decayed, and that when a radio wave is to be transmitted in the specified transmission direction, if the power of a received radio wave is larger than the given value, the power of the radio wave transmitted by the transmitter receiver will be decayed.
Inventors
- 👤 Masahiro Watanabe
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-27 12:38
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01S; G01S13/00; G01S13/88; G01S13/93; G01S13/931; G01S13/02; G01S13/06; G01S13/08; G01S13/32; G01S13/34; G01S13/50; G01S13/58; G01S7/00; G01S7/02; G01S7/28; G01S7/285; G01S7/34; G01S13/345; G01S2013/932; G01S2013/9325
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 12
Claim 1
Independent Claim
113 words
An on-vehicle radar, comprising: a transmitting/receiving means for transmitting and receiving a radio wave with a relatively high frequency; and a signal processing means for calculating a relative distance to an object and a relative velocity of the object on the basis of a radio wave which is transmitted by said transmitting/receiving means, reflected from the object, and received by said transmitting/receiving means, wherein said transmitting/receiving means controls the power of a transmitted radio wave so that the power of a radio wave to be transmitted in any transmission direction other than a specified transmission direction will be lower than that of a radio wave to be transmitted in the specified transmission direction.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
113 words
An on-vehicle radar, comprising: a transmitting/receiving means for transmitting and receiving a radio wave with a relatively high frequency; and a signal processing means for calculating a relative distance to an object and a relative velocity of the object on the basis of a radio wave which is transmitted by said transmitting/receiving means, reflected from the object, and received by said transmitting/receiving means, wherein said transmitting/receiving means controls the power of a transmitted radio wave so that the power of a radio wave to be transmitted in any transmission direction other than a specified transmission direction will be lower than that of a radio wave to be transmitted in the specified transmission direction.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
194 words
An on-vehicle radar according to claim 1, wherein said transmitting/receiving means comprises: an antenna for transmitting and receiving a radio wave; a voltage control oscillator for generating a transmitted radio wave; a coupler for receiving the transmitted radio wave generated by said voltage control oscillator and supplying it to said antenna; a power control unit interposed between said coupler and said antenna for controlling the power of a transmitted radio wave to be supplied from said coupler to said antenna so that the power of a radio wave to be transmitted from said antenna in any transmission direction other than the specified transmission direction will be lower than the power of a radio wave to be transmitted in the specified transmission direction; a frequency converter for receiving the transmitted radio wave sent from said coupler and the received radio wave sent from the antenna, and producing a signal whose frequency is equal to or lower than a given frequency; and a gain control unit for receiving an output signal of said frequency converter and controlling the gain of the signal so that the power of the signal will be set to a proper level.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
107 words
An on-vehicle radar according to claim 2, wherein said signal processing means includes: a modulation signal control unit for supplying a modulation signal to said voltage control oscillator; a frequency analyzer for receiving the signal sent from said gain control unit and analyzing the frequency of the signal; and an arithmetic control unit for supplying a control signal to said modulation signal control unit, and calculating a relative distance to an object, which reflects a radio wave transmitted from said antenna so as to emanate a received radio wave, and a relative velocity of the object on the basis of frequency information provided by said frequency analyzer.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
166 words
An on-vehicle radar, comprising: a transmitting/receiving means for transmitting and receiving a radio wave with a relatively high frequency; and a signal processing means for calculating a relative distance to an object and a relative velocity of the object on the basis of a radio wave which is transmitted by said transmitting/receiving means, reflected from the object, and received by said transmitting/receiving means, wherein said transmitting/receiving means controls the power of a transmitted radio wave so that when a radio wave is to be transmitted in any transmission direction other than a specified transmission direction, even if the power of a received radio wave is larger than a given value, the power of the transmitted radio wave will not be decayed, and that when a radio wave is to be transmitted in the specified transmission direction, if the power of a received radio wave is larger than the given value, the power of the radio wave to be transmitted by the transmitting/receiving means will be decayed.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
166 words
An on-vehicle radar, comprising: a transmitting/receiving means for transmitting and receiving a radio wave with a relatively high frequency; and a signal processing means for calculating a relative distance to an object and a relative velocity of the object on the basis of a radio wave which is transmitted by said transmitting/receiving means, reflected from the object, and received by said transmitting/receiving means, wherein said transmitting/receiving means controls the power of a transmitted radio wave so that when a radio wave is to be transmitted in any transmission direction other than a specified transmission direction, even if the power of a received radio wave is larger than a given value, the power of the transmitted radio wave will not be decayed, and that when a radio wave is to be transmitted in the specified transmission direction, if the power of a received radio wave is larger than the given value, the power of the radio wave to be transmitted by the transmitting/receiving means will be decayed.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
175 words
An on-vehicle radar according to claim 4, wherein said transmitting/receiving means comprises: an antenna for transmitting and receiving a radio wave; a voltage control oscillator for generating a transmitted radio wave; a coupler for receiving the transmitted radio wave generated by said voltage control oscillator and supplying it to said antenna; a frequency converter for receiving the transmitted radio wave sent from said coupler and a received radio wave sent from said antenna, and producing a signal whose frequency is equal to or lower than a given frequency; and a gain control unit for receiving the output signal sent from said frequency converter and controlling the gain of the signal so that the power of the signal will be set to a proper level, wherein said gain control unit gives control so that when a radio wave is received by said antenna in any reception direction other than a specified reception direction, even if the power of the received radio wave is relatively high, the gain of the received radio wave will not be reduced.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
189 words
An on-vehicle radar according to claim 5, wherein said signal processing means comprises: a modulation signal control unit for supplying a modulation signal to said voltage control oscillator; a frequency analyzer for receiving a signal sent from said gain control unit and analyzing the frequency of the signal; and an arithmetic control unit for supplying a control signal to said modulation signal control unit, calculating a relative distance to an object, which reflects a radio wave transmitted from said antenna so as to generate a received radio wave, and a relative velocity of the object on the basis of frequency information provided by said frequency analyzer, and sending a control signal to said gain control unit so that when a radio wave is to be transmitted from said antenna in any direction other than the specified transmission direction, even if the power of a received radio wave is relatively high, the gain control unit will not newly apply a decay, and that only when a radio wave is to be transmitted in the specified transmission direction, the gain control unit will judge whether or not to apply a decay.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
64 words
An on-vehicle radar according to claim 4, further comprising a specified direction setting means for detecting a lane on which an own vehicle having said on-vehicle radar mounted therein is running, and outputting a signal indicating the result of the detection to said signal processing means, wherein the specified transmission direction is the direction of the lane on which the own vehicle is running.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
35 words
An on-vehicle radar according to claim 7, wherein said specified direction setting means comprises a steering sensor for detecting an angle of steering at which said vehicle having said on-vehicle radar mounted thereon is steered.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
31 words
An on-vehicle radar according to claim 7, wherein said specified direction setting means comprises a camera for imaging a view in front of the vehicle having said on-vehicle radar mounted thereon.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
34 words
An on-vehicle radar according to claim 4, further comprising a transmission/reception direction control means for controlling a scanning direction in which a transmitted and received radio wave sent from said transmitting/receiving means is scanned.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2002-06-07 | 2002-12-07 | 2003-06-08 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2006-06-07 | 2006-12-07 | 2007-06-08 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2010-06-07 | 2010-12-07 | 2011-06-08 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |