Radar system for vehicle and vehicle

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of vehicles, particularly provides a radar system for a vehicle and the vehicle, and aims to solve the problems of how to improve radar performance and reduce cost. The system comprises a radar body and a controller, the controller is arranged outside the radar body, the radar body is provided with a signal receiving and transmitting module and a communication module, and the signal receiving and transmitting module is in communication connection with the controller through the communication module; the signal transceiving module is configured to transmit a detection signal to an environment where a vehicle is located and receive an echo signal of the detection signal; the communication module is configured to send the echo signal to the controller and send an instruction of the controller to the radar body; and the controller is configured to generate point cloud data of the environment according to the echo signal, and perform target sensing on the point cloud data to obtain target information in the environment. On the basis, a computing power chip does not need to be arranged in the radar body, the hardware and computing power cost is reduced, and the density of point cloud data and the accuracy of target sensing can be improved through the controller.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of vehicle technology, and in particular to a radar system for a vehicle and a vehicle. Background Art

[0002] Millimeter Wave radar is a key sensor in the Advanced Driving Assistance System. It detects point cloud data in the vehicle's environment and performs target perception on the point cloud data to obtain targets such as obstacles, pedestrians, and vehicles in the environment, and then controls the vehicle's driving based on these targets.

[0003] At present, the detection of point cloud data and target perception are all completed by millimeter-wave radar. Therefore, millimeter-wave radar will integrate components such as antenna arrays, RF chips and computing power chips, use antennas and RF chips to collect environmental data in the environment where the vehicle is located, and then use computing power chips to process the environmental data to generate point cloud data, and perform target perception on the point cloud data. In order to ensure the reliable operation of the computing power chip, it is also necessary to set up peripheral circuits such as power chips, resulting in more integrated components in the radar, which increases the cost of millimeter-wave radar. In order to reduce the cost of millimeter-wave radar, and also considering the size of the millimeter-wave radar and power consumption and heat dissipation during operation, high-performance computing power chips are usually not selected, which may affect the accuracy of point cloud data and target perception. In addition, since there are many integrated components, it will also affect the design of the antenna array, which may reduce the accuracy of data collected by the millimeter-wave radar, and further reduce the accuracy of point cloud data and target perception.

[0004] Accordingly, the art needs a new technical solution to solve the above problems. Summary of the invention

[0005] In order to overcome the above-mentioned defects, the present application is proposed to solve or at least partially solve the technical problem of how to improve the performance of radar and reduce the cost.

[0006] In a first aspect, a radar system for a vehicle is provided, the radar system comprising a radar body and a controller, the radar body being provided with a signal transceiver module, a communication module and a clock module, the controller being provided outside the radar body, the signal transceiver module being communicatively connected with the controller via the communication module;

[0007] The signal transceiver module is configured to: transmit a detection signal to the environment where the vehicle is located, and receive an echo signal of the detection signal, wherein the echo signal is a signal formed by the detection signal being reflected by a target in the environment;

[0008] The communication module is configured to: send the echo signal to the controller through the communication connection, and send the instructions of the controller to the radar body;

[0009] The controller is configured to: generate point cloud data of the environment according to the echo signal, and perform target perception on the point cloud data to obtain target information in the environment.

[0010] In a technical solution of the above radar system, the controller is a central domain controller.

[0011] In a technical solution of the above radar system, the controller is configured to perform target perception on the point cloud data in the following manner:

[0012] Clustering each point cloud in the point cloud data according to first attribute information of each point cloud to obtain at least one point cloud cluster;

[0013] According to the first attribute information of each point cloud in the point cloud cluster, second attribute information of the target represented by the point cloud cluster is obtained.

[0014] In a technical solution of the above radar system, the signal transceiver module is configured to: pre-process the echo signal, and the pre-processed echo signal is sent to the controller via the communication module.

[0015] In a technical solution of the above radar system, the preprocessing includes performing at least one of Fourier transform, anti-interference processing and filtering on the echo signal.

[0016] In a technical solution of the above radar system, the signal transceiver module is configured to: convert the echo signal into a digital signal, and the digital signal is sent to the controller via the communication module;

[0017] The controller is configured to generate the point cloud data according to the digital signal.

[0018] In a technical solution of the above radar system, the signal transceiver module is a radio frequency signal transceiver module, and the detection signal is a millimeter wave.

[0019] In a technical solution of the above radar system, the controller is configured to: calibrate the external parameters of the radar body.

[0020] In a technical solution of the above radar system, the external parameter includes an installation angle of the radar body on the vehicle.

[0021] In a technical solution of the above radar system, the controller is a central domain controller, the vehicle is provided with a chassis domain controller, and the central domain controller is communicatively connected with the chassis domain controller;

[0022] The central domain controller is configured to:

[0023] Obtaining status information of the vehicle provided by the chassis domain controller;

[0024] If it is determined according to the state information that the vehicle is in a stable driving state, the posture of a stationary target in the environment where the vehicle is located is acquired according to the point cloud data, and the installation angle is calibrated according to the posture.

[0025] In a technical solution of the above radar system, the controller is configured to: synchronize the time used by the radar body through the clock module according to the time provided by a preset time source.

[0026] In a technical solution of the above radar system, the controller is a central domain controller, the vehicle is provided with a vehicle domain controller, and the central domain controller is communicatively connected with the vehicle domain controller;

[0027] The central domain controller is configured to perform functional upgrades on the radar body according to upgrade instructions of the vehicle domain controller.

[0028] In a second aspect, a vehicle is provided, wherein the vehicle is provided with the radar system for a vehicle provided in the first aspect.

[0029] Solution 1. A radar system for a vehicle, characterized in that the radar system comprises a radar body and a controller, the radar body is provided with a signal transceiver module, a communication module and a clock module, the controller is arranged outside the radar body, and the signal transceiver module is communicatively connected with the controller through the communication module;

[0030] The signal transceiver module is configured to: transmit a detection signal to the environment where the vehicle is located, and receive an echo signal of the detection signal, wherein the echo signal is a signal formed by the detection signal being reflected by a target in the environment;

[0031] The communication module is configured to: send the echo signal to the controller through the communication connection, and send the instructions of the controller to the radar body;

[0032] The controller is configured to: generate point cloud data of the environment according to the echo signal, and perform target perception on the point cloud data to obtain target information in the environment.

[0033] Solution 2. The radar system according to Solution 1 is characterized in that:

[0034] The controller is a central domain controller.

[0035] Solution 3. The radar system according to Solution 1 is characterized in that the controller is configured to perform target perception on the point cloud data in the following manner:

[0036] Clustering each point cloud in the point cloud data according to first attribute information of each point cloud to obtain at least one point cloud cluster;

[0037] According to the first attribute information of each point cloud in the point cloud cluster, second attribute information of the target represented by the point cloud cluster is obtained.

[0038] Solution 4. The radar system according to Solution 1 is characterized in that the signal transceiver module is configured to: preprocess the echo signal, and the preprocessed echo signal is sent to the controller via the communication module.

[0039] Solution 5. The radar system according to Solution 4 is characterized in that the preprocessing includes performing at least one of Fourier transform, anti-interference processing and filtering on the echo signal.

[0040] Solution 6. The radar system according to Solution 1 is characterized in that the signal transceiver module is configured to: convert the echo signal into a digital signal, and the digital signal is sent to the controller via the communication module;

[0041] The controller is configured to generate the point cloud data according to the digital signal.

[0042] Solution 7. The radar system according to Solution 1 is characterized in that the signal transceiver module is a radio frequency signal transceiver module, and the detection signal is a millimeter wave.

[0043] Solution 8. The radar system according to Solution 1 is characterized in that the controller is configured to calibrate the external parameters of the radar body.

[0044] Solution 9. The radar system according to Solution 8 is characterized in that the external parameters include the installation angle of the radar body on the vehicle.

[0045] Solution 10. The radar system according to Solution 9, characterized in that the controller is a central domain controller, the vehicle is provided with a chassis domain controller, and the central domain controller is communicatively connected with the chassis domain controller;

[0046] The central domain controller is configured to:

[0047] Obtaining status information of the vehicle provided by the chassis domain controller;

[0048] If it is determined according to the state information that the vehicle is in a stable driving state, the posture of a stationary target in the environment where the vehicle is located is acquired according to the point cloud data, and the installation angle is calibrated according to the posture.

[0049] Solution 11. The radar system according to Solution 1 is characterized in that the controller is configured to: synchronize the time used by the radar body through the clock module according to the time provided by a preset time source.

[0050] Solution 12. The radar system according to Solution 1 is characterized in that the controller is a central domain controller, the vehicle is provided with a vehicle domain controller, and the central domain controller is communicatively connected with the vehicle domain controller;

[0051] The central domain controller is configured to perform functional upgrades on the radar body according to upgrade instructions of the vehicle domain controller.

[0052] Solution 13. A vehicle, characterized in that the vehicle is provided with the radar system for a vehicle according to any one of Solutions 1 to 12.

[0053] The above one or more technical solutions of the present application have at least one or more of the following beneficial effects:

[0054] In a technical solution for implementing a radar system for a vehicle provided in the present application, the radar system includes a radar body and a controller, the controller is arranged outside the radar body, a signal transceiver module is communicatively connected to the controller through a communication module, and the radar body is provided with a signal transceiver module, a communication module and a clock module; the signal transceiver module is configured to transmit a detection signal to the environment where the vehicle is located and receive an echo signal of the detection signal, the echo signal is a signal formed by the detection signal being reflected by a target in the environment; the communication module is configured to send the echo signal to the controller through the above-mentioned communication connection, and send the controller's instructions to the radar body; the controller is configured to generate point cloud data of the environment according to the echo signal, and perform target perception on the point cloud data to obtain target information in the environment.

[0055] Through the above implementation scheme, the functions of the radar system can be distributedly deployed in the radar body and the vehicle's controller. The radar body is mainly responsible for sending and receiving signals (i.e., transmitting detection signals and receiving echo signals) and communication (i.e., sending echo signals to the controller), while the controller is responsible for generating point cloud data and target perception. Based on this, there is no need to set a computing power chip and its peripheral circuits for generating point cloud data and target perception in the radar body, reducing the cost of the radar. In addition, the computing power performance of the controller is much higher than that of the computing power chip set in the radar in the prior art. Using the controller to generate point cloud data and perform target perception can significantly improve the density of point cloud data and the accuracy of target perception. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0056] The disclosure of the present application will become easier to understand with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is easy for those skilled in the art to understand that these drawings are only for illustrative purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present application. Among them:

[0057] Figure 1 The main structure of a radar system for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present application is shown in FIG. Figure 1 ;

[0058] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the main structure of a radar body according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0059] Figure 3 The main structure of a radar system for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present application is shown in FIG. Figure 2 ;

[0060] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of a radar in the prior art and the interaction between the radar and a controller on a vehicle;

[0061] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of a radar body and the interaction between the radar body and a controller on a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0062] Some embodiments of the present application are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Those skilled in the art should understand that these embodiments are only used to explain the technical principles of the present application and are not intended to limit the protection scope of the present application.

[0063] The relevant user personal information that may be involved in the various embodiments of this application is strictly in accordance with the requirements of laws and regulations, following the principles of legality, legitimacy and necessity, based on the reasonable purposes of business scenarios, to process the personal information that users actively provide during the use of products / services or generated due to the use of products / services, as well as the personal information obtained with the user's authorization.

[0064] The user personal information processed by this application will vary depending on the specific product / service scenario, and shall be based on the specific scenario in which the user uses the product / service, and may involve the user's account information, device information, driving information, vehicle information or other related information. This application will treat the user's personal information and its processing with a high degree of diligence.

[0065] This application attaches great importance to the security of user personal information and has taken reasonable and feasible security protection measures that meet industry standards to protect user information and prevent personal information from being accessed, disclosed, used, modified, damaged or lost without authorization.

[0066] Here we first explain some terms involved in this application.

[0067] A domain controller can be understood as a computer device used to implement a domain function on a vehicle. A vehicle can be equipped with multiple domain controllers, each of which implements functions in different domains, that is, the domain controllers are divided according to vehicle functions. In the embodiment of the present application, the chassis domain controller can be used to control the transmission system, steering system, braking system, etc. during the driving process of the vehicle, and the vehicle domain controller can perform fault diagnosis, function upgrades, and other management on-board equipment (such as radar on the vehicle).

[0068] The central domain controller can be understood as a computer device used to implement multiple domain functions. For example, the central domain controller can implement the functions of intelligent driving control and cockpit control. Intelligent driving control is to guide the vehicle to drive itself or assist driving when the vehicle is in intelligent driving mode, and cockpit control is to control the devices in the vehicle cockpit (such as display devices, voice devices, etc.).

[0069] An embodiment of a radar system for a vehicle provided by the present application is described below.

[0070] See attached Figure 1 , Figure 1 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the main structure of a radar system for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present application. Figure 1 As shown, the radar system in the embodiment of the present application mainly includes a radar body and a vehicle controller, and the controller is outside the radar body. The controller can be a vehicle controller, that is, the present application can reuse the controller that has been set up in the vehicle itself. The functions of the radar body and the controller in the radar system are described below.

[0071] 1. Explain the radar body.

[0072] The radar body is installed outside the vehicle. The radar body is provided with a signal transceiver module, a communication module and a clock module. The signal transceiver module is communicatively connected with the controller through the communication module.

[0073] The clock module can be configured to provide a clock signal (Clock Signal). Based on the clock signal, each module or each device in the radar body can achieve time synchronization, which is conducive to each module to reliably and accurately realize its own function.

[0074] The signal transceiver module can be configured to: transmit a detection signal to the environment where the vehicle is located, and receive an echo signal of the detection signal. When the detection signal is transmitted to a target in the environment, it can be reflected by the target, and the reflected signal can be understood as an echo signal, that is, the echo signal is a signal formed by the detection signal being reflected by the target in the environment. The target can be any person or object in the environment. The environment where the vehicle is located can be, but is not limited to, scenes such as vehicle driving, parking, and testing.

[0075] The communication module can be configured to send the echo signal to the controller through the above communication connection, and send the controller's instructions to the radar body. The controller's instructions can be used to indicate control operations. After the radar body receives the controller's instructions, it can execute the control operations indicated by the instructions. For example, the controller's instructions can be time synchronization instructions, which are used to instruct the clock module to modify the time used by the radar body to the time provided by the preset time source. It can be seen that through the above communication connection, a two-way interaction between the radar body and the controller is realized.

[0076] The above communication connection can be a wired connection or a wireless connection. When a wired connection is used, the communication module and the controller can be connected through a bus or other cables, and the bus can be a CAN (Controller Area Network) bus, a LIN (Local Interconnect Network) bus, etc. When a wireless connection is used, the communication module and the controller can be connected by short-range wireless communication methods such as WiFi, Bluetooth, and UWB (Ultra Wide Band).

[0077] See attached Figure 2 In some embodiments, the signal transceiver module is a radio frequency signal transceiver module, and the detection signal is a millimeter wave. Figure 2The raw data in is the echo signal received by the RF signal transceiver module, which sends the echo signal to the communication module, and then the communication module sends it to the controller. That is to say, the radar body in this embodiment is a millimeter wave radar, and the radar system using the millimeter wave radar can obtain accurate target perception results under various conditions such as smoke, fog, and dust. In addition, Figure 2 As shown, the radar body is also provided with an antenna array, through which detection signals are sent outwardly and echo signals are received.

[0078] 2. Explain the controller.

[0079] The controller may be configured to: generate point cloud data of the environment according to the echo signal, and perform target perception on the point cloud data to obtain target information in the environment. In some embodiments, the controller may be a central domain controller of the vehicle.

[0080] Point cloud data is a set of discrete points, each of which represents the position and attributes of a reflection source (or target). The position can be a three-dimensional spatial position, and the attributes can include the distance between the reflection source and the radar body, the speed and angle of the reflection source. In this embodiment, a conventional point cloud data generation method can be used to generate point cloud data based on the echo signal, and this embodiment of the application does not specifically limit this.

[0081] When performing target perception on point cloud data, the target represented by each point can be classified and clustered according to the information (position and attributes) of each point in the point cloud data to obtain valid targets, and the valid targets can be tracked. The target information obtained by target perception includes information of valid targets, and the information of valid targets can include the position, speed, angle and distance of the valid targets from the radar body. In this embodiment, conventional target perception methods can be used to perform target perception on point cloud data to obtain target information, and this embodiment of the application does not specifically limit this.

[0082] In some embodiments, the controller may be configured to perform target perception on point cloud data in the following manner: cluster each point cloud according to the first attribute information of each point cloud in the point cloud data to obtain at least one point cloud cluster. One point cloud cluster can represent a target (i.e., the aforementioned valid target). The first attribute information of the point cloud may include the position, speed, angle, etc. of the point cloud. According to the first attribute information of each point cloud in the point cloud cluster, the second attribute information of the target represented by the point cloud cluster is obtained. The second attribute information may include the position, speed, angle, etc. of the target. For example: if the second attribute information is the position of the target, the positions of all point clouds in the point cloud cluster may be obtained, and the position range covered or occupied by these point clouds may be determined according to the positions of all point clouds, and the position of the target represented by the point cloud cluster may be obtained according to the position range. If the second attribute information is the speed of the target, the average speed of all point clouds in the point cloud cluster may be obtained, and the speed of the target represented by the point cloud cluster may be obtained according to the average speed.

[0083] The controller includes at least one processor and a memory communicatively connected to the at least one processor. The memory can store a computer program, and the computer program can be loaded and executed by the processor to implement the above functions of the controller.

[0084] In the above radar system, the radar body mainly includes several hardware such as antenna, signal transceiver module and communication module. There is no computing chip and its peripheral circuit for generating point cloud data and target perception. Instead, the point cloud data and target perception are generated by the controller, which can reduce the hardware and computing power costs of the radar at the same time. Due to the cost of the radar, the computing power chip in the radar usually has low performance and cannot generate high-density point cloud data or obtain high-accuracy target perception results. The computing power performance of the controller (such as the central domain controller) is much higher than the computing power chip set in the radar in the prior art. Using the controller to generate point cloud data and perform target perception can significantly improve the density of point cloud data and the accuracy of target perception. In addition, due to the scale effect of computing power, the unit computing power cost of the controller is significantly lower than the unit computing power cost of the computing power chip in the radar.

[0085] In the field of vehicle technology, radar is a key sensor in vehicle control systems such as Advanced Driving Assistance Systems. Radar is needed to obtain high-density point cloud data and accurate target perception results, thereby improving the reliability of the vehicle control system and ensuring the reliability and safety of vehicle control. In this regard, the radar system provided by this application can utilize the high computing power of the controller to effectively improve the density of point cloud data and the accuracy of target perception.

[0086] In addition, the performance of the antenna receiving and transmitting signals in the radar will also affect the generation of point cloud data. If the performance of the antenna receiving and transmitting signals is poor, high-density point cloud data may not be obtained when generating point cloud data, which will in turn affect the accuracy of target perception. In the radar system provided in the present application, if the computing power chip and its peripheral circuits are not set, the layout space left for the antenna will become larger, so that the antenna arrangement can be flexibly designed to reduce the interference of devices such as the signal receiving and transmitting module in the radar body to the antenna, thereby improving the performance of the antenna receiving and transmitting signals, and further improving the density of point cloud data and the accuracy of target perception. In addition, when there is no need to set the computing power chip and its peripheral circuits, the size of the radar body can also be reduced, which is convenient for installing the radar body on the vehicle.

[0087] The following is a description of an embodiment of the radar system provided by the present application.

[0088] In some embodiments of the present application, the signal transceiver module can be configured to pre-process the echo signal, and send the pre-processed echo signal to the controller through the communication module, that is, the pre-processed echo signal is sent to the controller via the communication module. Pre-processing includes performing at least one of Fourier transform, anti-interference processing and filtering on the echo signal. For example, the echo signal can be subjected to a one-dimensional Fourier transform (1D-FFT). In addition, in the present embodiment, conventional anti-interference processing methods and filtering methods can be used to perform anti-interference processing and filtering on the echo signal, and the present embodiment does not specifically limit this.

[0089] The above-mentioned preprocessing mainly involves simple data processing of the echo signal and does not occupy much computing power. Therefore, even if the above-mentioned preprocessing is performed by the signal transceiver module, it will not increase the computing power pressure and the detection signal can still be reliably sent and the echo signal can still be received.

[0090] In some embodiments of the present application, the signal transceiver module may be configured to convert the echo signal into a digital signal, and send the digital signal to the controller through the communication module, that is, the digital signal is sent to the controller via the communication module. The controller may be configured to generate point cloud data according to the digital signal. The echo signal is an analog signal, and the echo signal can be converted into a digital signal using a conventional analog-to-digital conversion method, which is not specifically limited in the present application.

[0091] The following is a description of an embodiment of the radar system provided by the present application.

[0092] In some embodiments of the present application, the controller can be configured to calibrate the external parameters (ExtrinsicParameters) of the radar body. Specifically, the radar system will be deployed on the vehicle when the vehicle is produced in the vehicle factory. The external parameters of the radar body will be calibrated before the vehicle completes production and leaves the vehicle factory. At this time, the external parameters of the radar body can be calibrated through the controller. After the vehicle leaves the vehicle factory, it will be put into actual driving. After driving for a period of time, the external parameters of the radar body may cause errors due to factors such as interference from the driving environment. During the driving process of the vehicle, the external parameters of the radar body can also be calibrated through the controller to eliminate the error.

[0093] The external parameters of the radar body may include the installation angle of the radar body on the vehicle. If the world coordinate system or the vehicle body coordinate system is used as the target coordinate system, the posture of the radar body in the target coordinate system is obtained. The posture includes the roll angle (roll), pitch angle (pitch) and yaw angle (yaw) of the radar body. The installation angle of the radar body may be the angle of the yaw angle. Calibration of the installation angle may make the angle value of the installation angle less than a preset value. The preset value is a relatively small value, for example, the preset value is 10°.

[0094] See attached Figure 3 In some embodiments, the controller is a central domain controller, and the vehicle is provided with a chassis domain controller, and the central domain controller is communicatively connected with the chassis domain controller. The communication connection may be a wired connection or a wireless connection. When a wired connection is adopted, the central domain controller and the chassis domain controller may be connected via a cable such as a bus, and the bus may be a CAN bus, a LIN bus, etc. When a wireless connection is adopted, a communication connection may be established between the central domain controller and the chassis domain controller by using short-range wireless communication methods such as WiFi, Bluetooth, and UWB ultra-wideband.

[0095] The central domain controller can be configured to obtain the vehicle status information provided by the chassis domain controller. If it is determined that the vehicle is in a stable driving state based on the status information, the posture of the stationary target in the vehicle environment is obtained based on the point cloud data, and the installation angle of the radar body is calibrated based on the posture.

[0096] In some embodiments, the state information may include information describing the state of the vehicle, such as the vehicle speed, yaw rate, and gear position. The gear position may be used to determine whether the vehicle is in a driving state or a stopped state, and the vehicle speed and yaw rate may be used to determine whether the vehicle is in a stable state. When the vehicle is in a stable driving state, a stationary target in the environment where the vehicle is located may be obtained according to the point cloud data, and the installation angle of the radar body may be calibrated using the stationary target as the calibration reference. For example, a stationary target may be obtained according to information such as the angle and radial velocity of the point cloud in the point cloud data, and the installation angle of the radar body may be calibrated according to the stationary target. The installation angle of the radar body may at least affect the angle of the target. If the error of the installation angle is relatively large, the angle of the target may also have a relatively large error. Therefore, the installation angle of the radar body may be calibrated using the angle of the stationary target. In this embodiment, a conventional calibration method may be used to calibrate the installation angle of the radar body using the angle of the stationary target, and this embodiment does not specifically limit this.

[0097] In some embodiments of the present application, the controller can be configured to synchronize the time adopted by the radar body through the clock module according to the time provided by the preset time source. The time adopted by the radar body can be kept consistent with the time of the preset time source through synchronization. In addition, time synchronization can not only ensure the time synchronization between the components in the radar body, but also synchronize the time between the radar body and other systems or devices in the vehicle. In this embodiment, a conventional time synchronization method can be used to synchronize the time of the radar body, and this embodiment does not specifically limit this. For example, a conventional time synchronization protocol can be used to obtain the time provided by the preset time source, and then transmit the time to the radar body to synchronize the time adopted by the radar body. In the prior art, the radar body itself obtains the time provided by the preset time source, and then synchronizes the time adopted by itself according to the time.

[0098] See again the attached Figure 3In some embodiments, the controller is a central domain controller, and the vehicle is provided with a vehicle domain controller, and the central domain controller is connected to the vehicle domain controller in communication. The communication connection can be a wired connection mode or a wireless connection mode. When a wired connection mode is adopted, the central domain controller and the vehicle domain controller can be connected through a cable such as a bus, and the bus can be a CAN bus, a LIN bus, etc. When a wireless connection mode is adopted, a communication connection can be established between the central domain controller and the vehicle domain controller by using short-range wireless communication methods such as WiFi, Bluetooth, and UWB ultra-wideband. The central domain controller can be configured to perform functional upgrades on the radar body according to the upgrade instructions of the vehicle domain controller, such as upgrading the function of the signal transceiver module, upgrading the function of the communication module, and upgrading the function of the antenna; the central domain controller can also be configured to perform functional diagnosis on the radar body to determine whether the function of the radar body fails. In the prior art, when the radar needs to be upgraded, the vehicle domain controller sends an upgrade instruction to the radar, and the radar completes the functional upgrade according to the upgrade instruction; when the radar needs to be diagnosed, the vehicle domain controller sends a diagnostic instruction to the radar, and the radar completes the functional diagnosis according to the diagnostic instruction.

[0099] The following is combined with Figure 4 and attached Figure 5 , the radar in the prior art and the radar system provided by the present application are described, Figure 4 The following is an exemplary illustration of the interaction process between the radar and the controller on the vehicle in the prior art. Figure 5 The interaction process between the radar body provided by the present application and the controller on the vehicle is exemplified, and the controller includes a chassis domain controller, a vehicle domain controller and a central domain controller.

[0100] See attached Figure 4 , the vehicle is equipped with N radars ( Figure 4 The connection method and structure of each radar are the same. Taking radar 1 as an example, radar 1 is provided with a radio frequency chip, a computing chip and an antenna array. The radio frequency chip is used to generate and modulate radio frequency signals, transmit radio frequency signals through the antenna array, and receive echo signals of radio frequency signals through the antenna array. The radio frequency chip converts the echo signals into digital signals. The computing chip generates point cloud data of the environment where the vehicle is located according to the digital signals, and performs target perception on the point cloud data to obtain target information (i.e. Figure 4The computing chip then sends the point cloud data and target perception results to the central domain controller. When the vehicle is in intelligent driving mode, the central domain controller can use the point cloud data and target perception results to control the vehicle's driving, and guide the vehicle to drive itself or assist in driving. In addition, radar 1 is communicated with the chassis domain controller and the vehicle domain controller respectively. The computing chip can obtain the vehicle status information provided by the chassis domain controller, and calibrate the installation angle of the radar during vehicle driving according to the status information; the calibration of the radar installation angle is also completed by the computing chip before the vehicle leaves the factory. The computing chip can upgrade the function of the radar according to the upgrade instructions of the vehicle domain controller, such as upgrading the function of the RF chip and upgrading the function of the computing chip itself. The computing chip is also responsible for synchronizing the time used by the radar according to the time provided by the preset time source.

[0101] It can be seen that the radar in the prior art realizes the generation and modulation of RF signals, the reception of echo signals, the analog-to-digital conversion of echo signals, the generation of point cloud data, target perception, the calibration of radar installation angles, radar function upgrades and time synchronization. These functions consume a lot of computing power, but due to the cost of radar, high-computing chips are often not used, which makes it impossible for radar to obtain high-density point cloud data and high-accuracy target perception results. At the same time, since the radar has a lot of hardware, it will not only increase the hardware cost and size, but also leave less space for antenna arrangement, making the antenna easily interfered by other devices in the radar. In addition, the radar itself completes the function upgrade, function diagnosis, etc., which will also significantly increase the research and development workload of the radar.

[0102] See attached Figure 5 , there are N radar bodies installed on the vehicle ( Figure 5 The connection method and structure of each radar are the same. Taking radar 1 as an example, radar 1 is provided with a radio frequency signal transceiver module, a communication module and an antenna array. The radio frequency signal transceiver module is used to generate and modulate the radio frequency signal (i.e., the detection signal in the aforementioned embodiment), transmit the radio frequency signal through the antenna array, receive the echo signal of the radio frequency signal through the antenna array, and the radio frequency signal transceiver module converts the echo signal into a digital signal (i.e., Figure 5 The central domain controller is used to realize the generation of point cloud data, target perception, calibration of radar installation angle, radar function upgrade and time synchronization, that is, the central domain controller is used to realize most of the functions that the computing chip in the prior art needs to complete. The information that Radar 1 needs to receive from external devices is forwarded by the central domain controller, and Radar 1 is no longer connected to these external devices.

[0103] Through this implementation, the hardware and computing power costs of the radar body can be reduced at the same time, and the high computing power of the central domain controller can be used to generate point cloud data and perceive targets, which can improve the density of point cloud data and the accuracy of target perception. If the computing power chip and its peripheral circuits are not set when the size of the radar body remains unchanged, the layout space left for the antenna will become larger, so that the antenna arrangement can be flexibly designed to reduce the interference of devices such as the signal transceiver module in the radar body to the antenna. When there is no need to set the computing power chip and its peripheral circuits, the size of the radar body can also be reduced, which is convenient for installing the radar body on the vehicle. The central domain controller performs functional upgrades and functional diagnosis on the radar body, which can make the radar body a controlled device of the central domain controller, and complete functional upgrades and functional diagnosis under the control of the central domain controller. When the radar body is developed and designed, it is no longer necessary to consider the radar body itself to complete functional upgrades and functional diagnosis, etc., which reduces the research and development workload of the radar body.

[0104] Another aspect of the present application also provides a vehicle.

[0105] In an embodiment of a vehicle according to the present application, the vehicle is provided with the vehicle radar system described in the above system embodiment. In some embodiments, the vehicle is also provided with a central domain controller, a chassis domain controller, and a vehicle domain controller. For ease of description, only the parts related to the embodiment of the present application are shown. For specific technical details not disclosed, please refer to the system part of the embodiment of the present application.

[0106] So far, the technical solution of the present application has been described in conjunction with an embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings, but it is easy for those skilled in the art to understand that the protection scope of the present application is obviously not limited to these specific embodiments. Without departing from the principles of the present application, those skilled in the art can make equivalent changes or substitutions to the relevant technical features, and the technical solutions after these changes or substitutions will fall within the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A radar system for a vehicle, characterized in that: The radar system includes a radar body and a controller, wherein the radar body is provided with a signal transceiver module, a communication module and a clock module, the controller is arranged outside the radar body, and the signal transceiver module is communicatively connected with the controller through the communication module; The signal transceiver module is configured to: transmit a detection signal to the environment where the vehicle is located, and receive an echo signal of the detection signal, wherein the echo signal is a signal formed by the detection signal being reflected by a target in the environment; The communication module is configured to: send the echo signal to the controller through the communication connection, and send the instructions of the controller to the radar body; The controller is configured to: generate point cloud data of the environment according to the echo signal, and perform target perception on the point cloud data to obtain target information in the environment.

2. The radar system according to claim 1, characterized in that The controller is a central domain controller.

3. The radar system according to claim 1, characterized in that The controller is configured to perform target perception on the point cloud data in the following manner: Clustering each point cloud in the point cloud data according to first attribute information of each point cloud to obtain at least one point cloud cluster; According to the first attribute information of each point cloud in the point cloud cluster, second attribute information of the target represented by the point cloud cluster is obtained.

4. The radar system according to claim 1, characterized in that The signal transceiver module is configured to: pre-process the echo signal, and send the pre-processed echo signal to the controller via the communication module.

5. The radar system according to claim 4, characterized in that The preprocessing includes performing at least one of Fourier transform, anti-interference processing and filtering on the echo signal.

6. The radar system according to claim 1, characterized in that The signal transceiver module is configured to: convert the echo signal into a digital signal, and the digital signal is sent to the controller via the communication module; The controller is configured to generate the point cloud data according to the digital signal.

7. The radar system according to claim 1, characterized in that The signal transceiver module is a radio frequency signal transceiver module, and the detection signal is a millimeter wave.

8. The radar system according to claim 1, characterized in that The controller is configured to calibrate the external parameters of the radar body.

9. The radar system according to claim 8, characterized in that The external parameters include the installation angle of the radar body on the vehicle.

10. The radar system according to claim 9, characterized in that The controller is a central domain controller, the vehicle is provided with a chassis domain controller, and the central domain controller is communicatively connected with the chassis domain controller; The central domain controller is configured to: Obtaining status information of the vehicle provided by the chassis domain controller; If it is determined according to the state information that the vehicle is in a stable driving state, the posture of a stationary target in the environment where the vehicle is located is acquired according to the point cloud data, and the installation angle is calibrated according to the posture.

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