Ultrasonic echo signal processing method, ultrasonic sensor chip and system

Abstract

The invention provides an ultrasonic echo signal processing method, an ultrasonic sensor chip and a system. The method comprises the steps that one or more types of mark points are determined in ultrasonic echo signals, mark point information is extracted, and the mark point information comprises data and timestamps of the mark points; according to the types of the mark points, the mark point information is stored in a storage module, and the storage mode enables the mark point information of the same type to be recognized and read; and receiving a reading instruction, and transmitting the mark point information of the type corresponding to the reading instruction to an upper computer. According to the method provided by the invention, the data transmission efficiency is improved and the unnecessary data volume is reduced by optimizing the storage and transmission of the mark point information, so that the application effect of the ultrasonic sensor in the automotive electronics is improved. By means of the method, the upper computer can rapidly obtain needed information, and more accurate obstacle judgment is achieved.

Description

[0001] This application claims the priority of the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on August 8, 2024, with application number 202411087663.1 and application name “Ultrasonic Sensor Chip and System”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference in this application. Technical Field

[0002] The present application relates to ultrasonic detection technology, and in particular to an ultrasonic echo signal processing method, an ultrasonic sensor chip and a system. Background Art

[0003] In recent years, with the increasing requirements for environmental recognition accuracy, more and more ultrasonic systems have been applied to vehicles to identify and classify surrounding obstacles. Ultrasonic sensor technology is a non-destructive, non-contact detection technology. Its principle is that after the ultrasonic transducer emits ultrasonic waves, the ultrasonic sensor receives the ultrasonic echo signal reflected by the object being measured. When an echo greater than the threshold is found in the receiving stage, this echo is considered to be an obstacle echo. The ultrasonic sensor chip sends the received echo signal to the host computer (such as the Electronic Control Unit, ECU for short), so that the host computer can determine the distance of the obstacle. However, with the popularization and promotion of technologies and applications such as autonomous driving, unmanned driving, assisted driving, and automatic parking, it is no longer enough to just know whether there are obstacles. More abundant data is needed for obstacle judgment, such as obstacle type, obstacle distribution, obstacle height, etc. Therefore, the ultrasonic transducer chip cannot be limited to transmitting data on the presence or absence of obstacles to the host computer, but also needs to transmit more information to meet more abundant functional requirements.

[0004] However, the echo signal contains a large amount of data. In the prior art, all echo signals are often directly transmitted to the host computer, which takes a long time to transmit and results in low data transmission efficiency. Therefore, a method and system are needed to transmit more useful information to the host computer while avoiding the transmission of too much data as much as possible. Summary of the invention

[0005] The present application provides an ultrasonic echo signal processing method, an ultrasonic sensor chip and a system, which are used to reduce the amount of transmission data of the ultrasonic echo signal and improve the transmission efficiency of the ultrasonic echo signal.

[0006] On the one hand, the present application provides an ultrasonic echo signal processing method, comprising:

[0007] Determine one or more types of marker points in the ultrasonic echo signal, and extract marker point information, wherein the marker point information includes marker point data and a timestamp;

[0008] According to the type of the marker point, the marker point information is stored in a storage module in a storage manner so that the marker point information of the same type can be identified and read;

[0009] Receive a read instruction, and transmit the marker point information of the type corresponding to the read instruction to the host computer.

[0010] In a possible implementation, when the read instruction corresponds to multiple types of marker points, the receiving of the read instruction and the transmission of marker point information of the type corresponding to the read instruction to the host computer include:

[0011] If the read instruction corresponds to multiple types of marker points, the next type of marker point information is transmitted after the transmission of one type of marker point information is completed;

[0012] If the read instruction corresponds to only one type of mark point, then the information of this type of mark point is directly transmitted to the host computer.

[0013] In a possible implementation, when the read instruction corresponds to multiple types of marker points, transmitting the marker point information of the type corresponding to the read instruction to the host computer includes:

[0014] The marker point information of the type corresponding to the read instruction is transmitted to the host computer, and identification information of starting or ending transmission of different types of marker points is sent to the host computer, wherein the identification information is used to indicate the starting point or end point of transmission of a type of marker point information.

[0015] In a possible implementation, the identification information includes a start mark and / or an end mark for transmission of each type of marker point information;

[0016] Alternatively, the identification information includes length information of each type of landmark point information.

[0017] In a possible implementation, storing the marker point information in a storage module according to the type of the marker point includes:

[0018] Each type of marker point information is stored in a corresponding exclusive storage area, wherein the storage module is provided with at least one exclusive storage area, and each exclusive storage area corresponds to a marker point type.

[0019] In a possible implementation, the marker point types include maximum value points, minimum value points, upper crossing points, and lower crossing points.

[0020] In a possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0021] The size of each exclusive storage area is determined according to the number of occurrences of each type of marker point; wherein the exclusive storage area corresponding to the marker point type with a small number of occurrences is smaller than the exclusive storage area corresponding to the marker point type with a large number of occurrences; and the exclusive storage area corresponding to the minimum point is the smallest exclusive storage area among the exclusive storage areas.

[0022] In a possible implementation, when each type of landmark information is stored, an identifier is also correspondingly stored, and the identifier is used to indicate the type of the landmark.

[0023] In a possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0024] Acquire threshold information, the threshold information including thresholds corresponding to each time stamp in the marker point information; and store the threshold information in a storage module;

[0025] A read instruction is received, and the threshold information is transmitted to a host computer.

[0026] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: if the data of the marker point is smaller than a threshold value corresponding to the timestamp of the marker point, or the difference between the data of the marker point and the threshold value corresponding to the timestamp of the marker point is greater than a specified value, then the marker point information is not stored or transmitted.

[0027] In a possible implementation manner, storing the marker point information in a storage module includes:

[0028] Store each landmark point information in random timestamp order;

[0029] Alternatively, the information of each marker point is stored in the storage module in the order of the timestamps of the marker points.

[0030] In a possible implementation, the transmitting of the marker point information of the type corresponding to the read instruction to the host computer includes:

[0031] Transmitting the marker point information of the type corresponding to the read instruction to the host computer according to the order of the physical addresses of the marker point information in the storage module;

[0032] Alternatively, the marker point information of the type corresponding to the read instruction is transmitted to the host computer in the order of the timestamps of the marker points.

[0033] In a possible implementation, storing the information of each marker point in the storage module in the order of the timestamps of the marker points includes:

[0034] Store each marker point information in the storage module in a first-in-first-out order;

[0035] The method of transmitting the marker point information of the type corresponding to the read instruction to the host computer according to the order of the timestamps of the marker points includes:

[0036] The mark point information of the type corresponding to the read instruction is transmitted to the host computer in a first-in-first-out order.

[0037] On the other hand, the present application provides an ultrasonic sensor chip, which is used to be electrically connected to an ultrasonic sensor, drive the ultrasonic sensor to transmit an ultrasonic signal, and receive an ultrasonic echo signal formed by the ultrasonic signal, and is used to perform the ultrasonic signal processing method as described above; the chip includes:

[0038] An extraction module, used to extract one or more types of landmark points from the ultrasonic echo signal, wherein each landmark point corresponds to a timestamp;

[0039] A storage module, used for storing the information of the landmarks, and the storage method enables the landmarks of the same type to be identified and read;

[0040] The transmission module is used to receive a read instruction and transmit the marker point information of the type corresponding to the read instruction to the host computer.

[0041] In a possible implementation, the transmission module is specifically configured to:

[0042] If the read instruction corresponds to multiple types of marker points, the next type of marker point information is transmitted after the transmission of one type of marker point information is completed;

[0043] If the read instruction corresponds to only one type of mark point, then the information of this type of mark point is directly transmitted to the host computer.

[0044] In a possible implementation, the transmission module is further configured to:

[0045] When the read instruction corresponds to multiple types of marker points, the marker point information of the type corresponding to the read instruction is transmitted to the host computer, and identification information for starting or ending transmission of different types of marker points is sent to the host computer, and the identification information is used to indicate the starting point or end point of the transmission of one type of marker point information.

[0046] In a possible implementation manner, the identification information includes a start mark and / or an end mark for transmission of each type of landmark point information.

[0047] In a possible implementation manner, the identification information includes length information of each type of landmark information.

[0048] In a possible implementation, the storage module is provided with at least one exclusive storage area, and each exclusive storage area corresponds to a marker point type;

[0049] The storage module is also used to store each type of landmark information in a corresponding exclusive storage area.

[0050] In a possible implementation, the marker point types include maximum value points, minimum value points, upper crossing points, and lower crossing points.

[0051] In a possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0052] The size of each exclusive storage area is determined according to the number of occurrences of each type of marker point; wherein the exclusive storage area corresponding to the marker point type with a small number of occurrences is smaller than the exclusive storage area corresponding to the marker point type with a large number of occurrences; and the exclusive storage area corresponding to the minimum point is the smallest exclusive storage area among the exclusive storage areas.

[0053] In a possible implementation, the storage module is further used to:

[0054] When storing each type of marker point information, an identifier is also stored correspondingly, and the identifier is used to indicate the type of the marker point.

[0055] In a possible implementation, the extraction module is further used to:

[0056] Acquire threshold information, where the threshold information includes a threshold corresponding to each time stamp in the marker point information;

[0057] The storage module is further used to store the threshold information;

[0058] The transmission module is also used to receive a read instruction and transmit the threshold information to a host computer.

[0059] In a possible implementation, the storage module is further configured to not store the marker point information if the data of the marker point is smaller than a threshold value corresponding to a timestamp of the marker point, or if the difference between the data of the marker point and the threshold value corresponding to a timestamp of the marker point is greater than a specified value;

[0060] Alternatively, the transmission module is further used to not transmit the marker point information if the data of the marker point is smaller than a threshold corresponding to the timestamp of the marker point, or the difference between the data of the marker point and the threshold corresponding to the timestamp of the marker point is greater than a specified value.

[0061] In a possible implementation, the storage module is further used to:

[0062] Store each landmark point information in random timestamp order;

[0063] Alternatively, the information of each marker point is stored in the order of the timestamps of each marker point.

[0064] In a possible implementation, the storage module is further used to:

[0065] Transmitting the marker point information of the type corresponding to the read instruction to the host computer according to the order of the physical addresses of the marker point information in the storage module;

[0066] Alternatively, the chip further comprises: a sorting module; the sorting module is used to sort the marker point information of the type corresponding to the read instruction according to the order of the timestamps of the marker points;

[0067] The transmission unit is also used to transmit the sorted marker point information of the corresponding type of the read instruction to the host computer.

[0068] In a possible implementation, the storage module is further used to:

[0069] Store the information of each landmark point in a first-in-first-out order;

[0070] The transmission module is further used for:

[0071] The mark point information of the type corresponding to the read instruction is transmitted to the host computer in a first-in-first-out order.

[0072] In yet another aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an ultrasonic sensor system, comprising a host computer and the ultrasonic sensor chip as described above;

[0073] The host computer is used to send a read instruction to the ultrasonic sensor information and perform obstacle judgment based on the mark point information sent by the ultrasonic sensor chip.

[0074] In the ultrasonic echo signal processing method, ultrasonic sensor chip and system provided by the present application, by extracting the landmark point information of the ultrasonic echo signal, the characteristics of the ultrasonic echo signal can be accurately reflected while the ultrasonic echo signal is effectively compressed, and the amount of data transmitted is small but the amount of information is large, effectively reducing the amount of data transmission, thereby improving the transmission efficiency of the ultrasonic echo signal; and, by storing the landmark point information according to the landmark point type, it is possible to conveniently identify and read the landmark point information of the same type, and when the host computer requests to read a certain type or several types of landmark point information, the landmark point information of the type required by the host computer is transmitted to the host computer, further improving the transmission efficiency of the ultrasonic echo signal, thereby effectively shortening the transmission time of the ultrasonic echo signal, reducing the communication bandwidth occupancy, and reducing the requirements for the memory and computing power of the host computer, effectively improving the system performance. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0075] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the present application and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the present application.

[0076] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a process flow of an ultrasonic echo signal processing method provided in an embodiment of the present application is exemplarily shown in FIG.

[0077] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of a data curve of an ultrasonic echo signal provided in an embodiment of the present application is exemplarily shown in FIG.

[0078] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of a marker point provided in an embodiment of the present application is exemplarily shown in FIG.

[0079] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the structure of a storage module provided in an embodiment of the present application is exemplarily shown in FIG.

[0080] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the structure of another storage module provided in an embodiment of the present application is exemplarily shown in FIG.

[0081] Figure 6 The schematic diagram of the structure of the ultrasonic sensor chip provided in the embodiment of the present application is exemplarily shown in FIG.

[0082] The above drawings have shown clear embodiments of the present application, which will be described in more detail later. These drawings and text descriptions are not intended to limit the scope of the present application in any way, but to illustrate the concept of the present application to those skilled in the art by referring to specific embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0083] Exemplary embodiments will be described in detail herein, examples of which are shown in the accompanying drawings. When the following description refers to the drawings, the same numbers in different drawings represent the same or similar elements unless otherwise indicated. The implementations described in the following exemplary embodiments do not represent all implementations consistent with the present application. Instead, they are merely examples of devices and methods consistent with some aspects of the present application as detailed in the appended claims.

[0084] It should be clear that the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in the field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0085] In the description of this application, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features. In the description of this application, the meaning of "plurality" is two or more, unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0086] The terms used in the embodiments of the present application are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the present application. The singular forms "a", "said" and "the" used in the embodiments of the present application and the appended claims are also intended to include plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates other meanings.

[0087] It should be understood that the term "and / or" used in this article is only a description of the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. In addition, the character " / " in this article generally indicates that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship.

[0088] In recent years, with the increasing requirements for environmental recognition accuracy, more and more ultrasonic systems have been applied to vehicles to identify and classify surrounding obstacles. Ultrasonic sensor technology is a non-destructive, non-contact detection technology. Its principle is that after the ultrasonic transducer emits ultrasonic waves, the ultrasonic sensor receives the ultrasonic echo signal reflected by the object being measured. When an echo greater than the threshold is found in the receiving stage, this echo is considered to be an obstacle echo. The ultrasonic sensor chip sends the received echo signal to the host computer (such as ECU), so that the host computer can determine the distance of the obstacle. However, with the popularization and promotion of technologies and applications such as autonomous driving, unmanned driving, assisted driving, and automatic parking, it is no longer enough to just know whether there are obstacles. More abundant data is needed for obstacle judgment, such as obstacle type, obstacle distribution, obstacle height, etc. Therefore, the ultrasonic transducer chip cannot be limited to transmitting data on the presence or absence of obstacles to the host computer, but also needs to transmit more information to meet more abundant functional requirements.

[0089] However, the echo signal contains a large amount of data. In the prior art, all echo signals are often directly transmitted to the host computer, which takes a long time to transmit and results in low data transmission efficiency. Therefore, a method and system are needed to transmit more useful information to the host computer while avoiding the transmission of too much data as much as possible.

[0090] In order to solve the above technical problems, the embodiments of the present application provide an ultrasonic echo signal processing method, an ultrasonic sensor chip and a system. By extracting the landmark point information of the ultrasonic echo signal, the characteristics of the ultrasonic echo signal can be accurately reflected while the ultrasonic echo signal is effectively compressed. The amount of data transmitted is small and the amount of information is large, which effectively reduces the amount of data transmission, thereby improving the transmission efficiency of the ultrasonic echo signal; the landmark point information is stored in a storage module according to the landmark point type, and the landmark point information of the same type can be easily identified and read. When the host computer requests to read a certain type or several types of landmark point information, the landmark point information of the type required by the host computer is transmitted to the host computer, thereby further improving the transmission efficiency of the ultrasonic echo signal.

[0091] The technical solution of the present application is illustrated below with specific embodiments. The following specific embodiments can be combined with each other, and the same or similar concepts or processes may not be described in detail in some embodiments.

[0092] Figure 1 The following is a flow chart of an ultrasonic echo signal processing method provided in an embodiment of the present application. The execution subject of the method may be an ultrasonic sensor chip. Figure 1 As shown, the method includes:

[0093] S101, determining one or more types of landmark points in an ultrasonic echo signal, and extracting landmark point information, where the landmark point information includes landmark point data and a timestamp;

[0094] S102, storing the marker point information in a storage module according to the type of the marker point, and storing the marker point information in a manner such that the marker point information of the same type can be identified and read;

[0095] S103, receiving a read instruction, and transmitting the marker point information of the type corresponding to the read instruction to the host computer.

[0096] In a specific implementation, the ultrasonic sensor chip is electrically connected to the ultrasonic sensor, and the ultrasonic sensor chip drives the ultrasonic sensor to transmit an ultrasonic signal and receives an ultrasonic echo signal formed by the ultrasonic signal. Figure 2 Schematic diagram of a data curve of an ultrasonic echo signal provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 2As shown, the horizontal axis of the data curve of the ultrasonic echo signal represents time or a parameter converted into distance, and the vertical axis represents the intensity or height of the ultrasonic echo. Segment S1 generally represents the driving stage (this is the time when the driving signal or excitation signal is emitted, and the signal is used to drive the ultrasonic transducer), segment S2 represents the aftershock stage (this is the signal of the aftershock, and the signal is the oscillation signal generated by the ultrasonic transducer that cannot stop immediately), and segment S3 represents the receiving stage (this is the echo signal, indicating that this section of the signal is used for ranging, used to determine whether there are obstacles or what type of obstacles, etc.); in the driving stage, the ultrasonic transducer is still in the driving stage, and the obstacle echo at this stage has not been transmitted back to the ultrasonic transducer at the receiving end, or even if it is transmitted back, it will be submerged in the driving signal, so the presence of obstacles cannot be determined at this stage; in the aftershock stage, due to the characteristics of the ultrasonic transducer, it cannot stop immediately after the driving stage ends, and it needs to oscillate for a period of time, and the intensity of this oscillation is also very large at the beginning, and then gradually decreases. Generally, after it is reduced to a certain extent, the subsequent signal can be used to determine whether there is an obstacle echo. In the aftershock stage, there are many ways to reduce the oscillation time of aftershocks. At the same time, there are some methods that can determine whether there is an obstacle in the aftershock stage. Therefore, the time and intensity of the aftershock stage vary according to the specific design circuit and processing method. The embodiment of the present application does not limit this here, and only uses a conventional method to describe it for easy understanding; in the receiving stage, because the aftershock has been reduced to a certain extent, if a signal higher than the threshold is received afterwards, it will generally be considered that an obstacle echo has appeared, thereby judging the distance of the obstacle; however, in practice, it is not considered that there is an obstacle echo as long as it is higher than the threshold. There may be some signal interference, jitter, etc. If the width exceeding the threshold is too narrow, it may be filtered out or not considered that there is an obstacle echo. It depends on the specific processing method. The embodiment of the present application does not limit this here, and only uses a conventional method to describe it for easy understanding; in addition, the threshold values ​​shown in the accompanying drawings are basically the same, but in practice, the threshold value size can be constant or dynamically changing, and it varies with time. The embodiment of the present application does not limit this here, and only uses a conventional method (the threshold value is always the same) to describe it for easy understanding. Here, various signals are processed into envelope curves, and the height of the envelope curve represents the strength of the signal at this time.

[0097] Based on the data curve of the ultrasonic echo signal, the host computer can process and analyze the data. Taking ultrasonic ranging as an example, when an echo greater than the threshold is found in the receiving stage, the echo is considered to be an obstacle echo, so that the host computer can determine the distance of the obstacle. Furthermore, the host computer can also judge and analyze the obstacle type, obstacle distribution, obstacle height, etc. based on the data curve of the ultrasonic echo signal.

[0098] Exemplarily, the host computer may include but is not limited to an ECU and the like.

[0099] Since there is a lot of noise in the ultrasonic echo signal, and as mentioned above, the driving signal in the driving stage cannot be used for obstacle judgment, and at least part of the aftershock signal in the aftershock stage cannot be used for obstacle judgment, some data can be discarded to reduce the amount of data transmission, and only the mark point information of the ultrasonic echo signal is used to reflect the curve characteristics of the entire ultrasonic echo signal. The mark point information of the mark point includes at least: a timestamp used to characterize the appearance of the mark point and the data strength of the mark point, and the data strength of the mark point is used to indicate the strength of the echo signal.

[0100] In a possible implementation manner, the type of the marker point includes an extreme point of the data curve and / or an intersection point between the data curve and a threshold curve. Figure 3 A schematic diagram of a marker point provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 3 As shown, from Figure 2 The mark points extracted from the data curve shown may include but are not limited to the following: undercrossing intersection points (mark points 1, 6, 9), that is, the points where the echo data curve intersects the threshold curve from high to low, and their set is called the undercrossing point curve; overcrossing intersection points (mark points 2, 7), that is, the points where the echo data curve intersects the threshold curve from low to high, and their set is called the overcrossing point curve; maximum value points (mark points 3, 5, 8), that is, the maximum value points after the echo data curve is higher than the threshold, and their set is the maximum value curve; minimum value (mark point 4), that is, the minimum value points after the echo data curve is higher than the threshold, and their set is the minimum value curve; in addition, there is no need to distinguish between the overcrossing intersection points and the undercrossing intersection points, both of which are points equal to the threshold, so the overcrossing intersection points and the undercrossing intersection points can be considered as threshold points (mark points 1, 2, 6, 7, 9). The points below the threshold are basically noise or interference, and have no substantial effect on obstacle judgment. For the points above the threshold curve, selecting some marker points can also restore the changing trend of the curve. Therefore, selecting representative marker points to transmit to the host computer can greatly reduce the amount of data transmitted, and it does not affect the host computer's use of the data curve of the ultrasonic echo signal to achieve more functional processing.

[0101] It should be noted that the under-crossing intersection point, the over-crossing intersection point, the threshold point, the maximum point and the minimum point can be taken as defined above, or can be taken near the above-defined values. For example, the under-crossing intersection point is not necessarily the point where the echo data curve intersects the threshold curve from high to low, that is, the equal point, and there can be a certain deviation before and after. Similarly, the over-crossing intersection point is not necessarily the point where the echo data curve intersects the threshold curve from low to high, that is, the equal point, and there can be a certain deviation before and after; similarly, the threshold point is not necessarily the intersection point of the echo data curve and the threshold curve point, that is, the equal point, and there can be a certain deviation before and after. Similarly, the maximum value is not necessarily the maximum point after the echo data curve is higher than the threshold, and there can be a certain deviation before and after; the minimum value is not necessarily the minimum point after the echo data curve is higher than the threshold, and there can be a certain deviation before and after. This depends on factors such as design requirements and sampling rate. Therefore, the under-crossing intersection point, the over-crossing intersection point, the threshold point, the maximum value and the minimum value, as well as the points near these points, are all within the protection scope of the embodiments of the present application.

[0102] In addition, the marker point can also be other marker points or include other marker points, such as the intermediate intensity point between the intersection point and the minimum value as the marker point, the intermediate intensity between the minimum value point and the minimum value point as the marker point, the intermediate intensity between the minimum value point and the maximum value point as the marker point, the intermediate intensity between the maximum value point and the intersection point under the intersection point as the marker point, etc., which is not necessarily the intermediate intensity, but can be an intensity point of any proportion. The selection basis of the marker point is to be able to characterize the contour and characteristics of the echo data curve, and it is not mandatory to be a certain type of marker point. The information carried by the marker point can also be various, as long as it can represent the obstacle echo characteristics, and the host computer can use these characteristics to make obstacle judgments, all can be used as marker points. Such as area, shape, threshold, etc. It can be a parameter or a combination of multiple parameters. However, the embodiment of the present application preferentially adopts the intersection point under the intersection point, the intersection point on the intersection point, the maximum value and the minimum value or the threshold point, the maximum value point and the minimum value point. Such marker points do not need to be converted again, which can simplify data processing.

[0103] After the marker point information is extracted, each marker point information is stored in the storage module according to the preset storage method and the type of the marker point, so that the ultrasonic sensor chip can identify and read the same type of marker point data. When the host computer requests to read the marker point information, the marker point information corresponding to the read instruction is sent to the host computer according to the read instruction sent by the host computer. In actual applications, the host computer can request to read a certain type, several types or all types of marker point information. Accordingly, the ultrasonic sensor chip supports the transmission of a certain type, several types or all types of marker point information corresponding to the read instruction to the host computer. The ultrasonic sensor chip can parse the read command, determine which type or types of marker point information the host computer needs, and read the corresponding marker point information from the storage module according to the parsed command and transmit it to the host computer, thereby meeting more flexible application scenarios.

[0104] In addition, in order to be more flexibly adapted to more application scenarios or to further reduce the amount of data transmission, the ultrasonic sensor chip is configurable and the configuration method can also be diverse.

[0105] One configuration method is: the host computer configures the ultrasonic sensor chip according to different application requirements. The ultrasonic sensor chip extracts and stores the sensor information according to the type or types of marker information required. The advantage of this is that the ultrasonic sensor chip does not need to extract and store all marker information, effectively saving data processing time and storage space. It is also relatively simple to receive marker point reading instructions. As long as the reading instruction is received, the extracted marker point information can be transmitted to the host computer. There is no need to determine what type of marker point information is read by the reading instruction, which simplifies the entire data processing process.

[0106] Another configuration method is: the ultrasonic sensor chip will extract all types of marker point information and store it. When receiving a read command from the host computer that requires all marker points, the information of all marker points will be transmitted to the host computer; when receiving a read command from the host computer that requires reading a certain marker point, the information of the marker point will be transmitted to the host computer; when receiving a read command from the host computer that requires reading several marker points, the information of these marker points will be transmitted to the host computer. Therefore, the ultrasonic sensor chip will process all marker point information and transmit the corresponding marker point information according to the actual needs of the host computer, so that it can adapt to different application requirements of the host computer and be more flexible to use. Moreover, sending the corresponding marker point information according to specific application requirements can also effectively adjust the bandwidth occupancy. When only one or several types of marker point information are required, the data transmission volume can also be effectively reduced. The host computer specifies the type of marker point information to be read according to its own needs, which effectively improves the flexibility of ultrasonic echo signal transmission and processing.

[0107] It is understandable that when transmitting the information of the marker point, in addition to the time information and intensity information described above, any other information used to determine the characteristics of the ultrasonic echo may also be used.

[0108] In an embodiment of the present application, by extracting the marker point information of the ultrasonic echo signal, the characteristics of the ultrasonic echo signal can be accurately reflected while the ultrasonic echo signal is effectively compressed. The amount of data transmitted is small but the amount of information is large, which effectively reduces the amount of data transmission, thereby improving the transmission efficiency of the ultrasonic echo signal; and, by storing the marker point information according to the marker point type, it is possible to easily identify and read the marker point information of the same type, and when the host computer requests to read a certain type or several types of marker point information, the marker point information of the type required by the host computer is transmitted to the host computer, thereby further improving the transmission efficiency of the ultrasonic echo signal. Therefore, the transmission time of the ultrasonic echo signal can be effectively shortened, the communication bandwidth occupancy can be reduced, and the requirements for the memory and computing power of the host computer can be reduced, thereby effectively improving the system performance.

[0109] In a possible implementation, receiving a read instruction and transmitting the marker point information of a type corresponding to the read instruction to a host computer includes:

[0110] If the read instruction corresponds to multiple types of markers, the next type of marker information will be transmitted after the transmission of one type of marker information is completed;

[0111] If the read instruction only corresponds to one type of mark point, then the information of this type of mark point is directly transmitted to the host computer.

[0112] In a specific implementation, the ultrasonic sensor chip can classify and transmit the marker point information to the host computer. When the host computer only needs one type of marker point information, such as the maximum value point, in such a scenario, when the host computer sends a read instruction, the ultrasonic sensor chip only needs to transmit all the marker point information of the maximum value point to the host computer. When the host computer only needs multiple types of marker point information, such as the maximum value MAX, the minimum value MIN, the value TLH that crosses the threshold from low to high, the value THL that crosses the threshold from high to low, or any combination of at least two marker point types, when receiving the read instruction sent by the host computer, it is necessary to first transmit all the marker point information of category A to the host computer, and then transmit all the marker point information of category B to the host computer, and then transmit all the marker point information of category C to the host computer... and so on, until all the marker point information corresponding to the read instruction is transmitted to the host computer, so as to avoid confusion of the type of marker point information by the host computer.

[0113] It should be noted that when transmitting a certain type of data, it can be transmitted in segments or all at once, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0114] Among them, in order to facilitate the host computer to determine the type of marker information, various types of marker information can be transmitted in sequence according to the specified transmission rules. The data transmission rules include the transmission order of various types of marker information, that is, what type of marker information is transmitted first and what type of marker information is transmitted next. Therefore, the host computer can determine what type of marker information is transmitted at this time according to the data transmission rules and the order of data transmission, so as to be used for obstacle judgment.

[0115] In a possible implementation, transmitting the marker point information of the type corresponding to the read instruction to the host computer includes:

[0116] The mark point information of the corresponding type of the read instruction is transmitted to the host computer, and the identification information of the start or end transmission of different types of mark points is sent to the host computer, and the identification information is used to indicate the starting point or end point of the transmission of a type of mark point information.

[0117] Exemplarily, the identification information includes a start mark and / or an end mark for transmitting each type of landmark information.

[0118] In one embodiment, when the ultrasonic sensor chip sends various types of marker point information to the upper computer in sequence, it can send a start mark to the upper computer before each type of marker point information is transmitted, and / or send an end mark to the upper computer after each type of marker point information is transmitted, so that the upper computer can determine the start and / or end of the transmission of a type of marker point information according to the start mark and / or the end mark. Specifically, when the ultrasonic sensor receives a read instruction sent by the upper computer, the ultrasonic sensor chip first transmits all the marker point information of category A to the upper computer according to the specified rules, then transmits all the marker point information of category B to the upper computer, and then transmits all the marker point information of category C to the upper computer... Then, after each type of marker point data is transmitted, an end mark will be attached, and the upper computer knows through the end mark that the marker point information of category A has been transmitted, and the next to be transmitted is the marker point information of category B; similarly, the marker point information of category B is also attached with an end mark after transmission, indicating that the marker point information of category B has been transmitted, and the next to be transmitted is the marker point information of category C. According to the specified rules, the host computer knows that the first transmitted is the A-type mark point information, the second is the B-type mark point information, and the last is the C-type mark point information. It can judge the end of one type of mark point and the beginning of another type of mark point transmission through the end point mark in the transmission process, so as to determine the type of mark point information and make obstacle judgments based on the various types of mark point information. The implementation method is relatively simple. Here, the end mark can also be changed to the start mark to indicate the beginning of a type of data, or it can have both the start mark and the end mark. There is no restriction here, but there must be at least one mark symbol, and the host computer can use this mark symbol to judge whether a new type of data transmission is started.

[0119] Exemplarily, the identification information includes length information of each type of landmark information.

[0120] In another embodiment, the ultrasonic sensor chip can send the length information of various types of marker point information to the host computer in advance, so that the host computer can divide the received marker point information according to the length information and determine the starting point or end point of each type of marker point information transmission. Specifically, when the ultrasonic sensor chip receives the read instruction sent by the host computer, it will reply to the host computer with the quantity information of each type of data, such as 10 type A marker point information, 5 type B marker point information, and 6 type C marker point information. Then the ultrasonic sensor transmits type A marker point information, type B marker point information, and type C marker point information to the host computer until the transmission is completed. The advantage of first informing the host computer how many marker points of the corresponding type there are, and then transmitting the data is that because the number of marker points of each type is different, then, after each type of marker point information is transmitted, the host computer must be informed that the transmission of this type of marker point information is completed, so as to transmit the next type of marker point information. Then, both the chip end and the host computer end need to increase the data processing and judgment process, and the process is more complicated. In addition, a data transmission end flag must be sent once each type of data transmission ends, which will also increase the amount of data. In some cases, some protocols reply data according to the specified length when replying data. For example, if the DSI3 protocol sends an end mark every time a type of marker information is transmitted, the way the DSI3 protocol replies to data needs to be greatly modified. Therefore, before the marker information is transmitted, first inform the host computer of how many markers of each type there are, and then transmit the marker information one by one. No matter how many or few marker information of any type there are, they can be transmitted together, transmitted uninterruptedly, or transmitted out in packets of data according to the protocol format and the specified length. The host computer determines which data node the received marker information is Class A data, which data node is Class B data, and the rest is Class C data through the length information. The entire implementation logic is relatively simple, and there is no need to make too many modifications to the existing protocol method, and it is more compatible. Of course, you can also transmit the marker information one by one, and then inform the host computer how many markers of each type there are.

[0121] The host computer is informed of the length information or start / end mark of each type of mark point information. The host computer can determine the start and end points of each type of data. Therefore, the information that identifies the starting and end points of each type of data is called identification information for the start or end transmission of different types of mark points, referred to as identification information.

[0122] In a possible implementation, according to the type of the landmark point, the landmark point information is stored in the storage module, including:

[0123] Each type of landmark information is stored in a corresponding exclusive storage area, wherein the storage module is provided with at least one exclusive storage area, and each exclusive storage area corresponds to a landmark type.

[0124] In a specific implementation, when there are multiple types of marker point information to be stored, the storage module can be divided into multiple exclusive storage areas, and different exclusive storage areas are used to store different types of marker point information, and the same type of marker point information is stored in the same exclusive storage area. When receiving a read instruction from the host computer, the ultrasonic sensor chip only needs to send the data in the exclusive storage area where the marker point type corresponding to the read instruction is located to the host computer, so as to facilitate the management and reading of various types of marker point information. In order to facilitate the host computer to know the type of marker point information sent, identification information can also be sent to the host computer.

[0125] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a storage module proposed in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 4 As shown, the storage module is divided into storage area 1, storage area 2, storage area 3, storage area 4...storage area n. Among them, storage area 1 is used to store the mark point information of the maximum value point, storage area 2 is used to store the mark point information of the minimum value point, storage area 3 is used to store the mark point information of the upper intersection point, and storage area 4 is used to store the mark point information of the lower intersection point. In other specific areas, threshold information at different times or other required information can also be stored. Each storage area may include multiple mark point information units, each mark point information unit is used to store a mark point information, and can be divided into a data unit and a timestamp unit. The data unit is used to store the data of the mark point, such as the strength data MAX1 of a maximum value point, and the timestamp unit is used to store the timestamp of the mark point, such as the timestamp ta1 of a maximum value point.

[0126] In a possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0127] The size of each exclusive storage area is determined according to the number of occurrences of each type of marker point; wherein the exclusive storage area corresponding to the marker point type with a small number of occurrences is smaller than the exclusive storage area corresponding to the marker point type with a large number of occurrences.

[0128] The inventor discovered that during the echo signal processing, some marker points appear less frequently and some marker points appear more frequently. If the storage space of the storage module is evenly divided among each type of marker points, waste will occur. Therefore, the storage space can be dynamically adjusted according to the frequency of appearance of the marker points, and the exclusive storage area corresponding to the marker point type with less appearance times may be smaller than the exclusive storage area corresponding to the marker point type with more appearance times.

[0129] Exemplarily, the types of marker points include maximum value points, minimum value points, upper crossing points and lower crossing points, and the exclusive storage area corresponding to the minimum value point is the smallest exclusive storage area among all exclusive storage areas.

[0130] Since the occurrence frequency of the minimum point is the lowest, the exclusive storage area corresponding to the minimum point can be configured as the smallest exclusive storage area.

[0131] By setting up a dedicated storage area for each type of marker point and dynamically adjusting the storage space according to the frequency of the marker point, the waste of storage space is effectively avoided, and the storage efficiency and management convenience are improved. At the same time, the marker point type with less occurrence frequency uses a smaller dedicated storage area, which ensures the response speed and performance of the system during the echo signal processing process, and enhances the flexibility of the system to meet the needs of different application scenarios.

[0132] In a possible implementation, when each type of landmark information is stored, an identifier is also correspondingly stored, and the identifier is used to indicate the type of the landmark.

[0133] In a specific implementation, the storage method of the marker point information can be to partition the storage module, and different exclusive storage areas store different types of marker point information, or the storage module can be partitioned, but each marker point information unit carries an identifier, and the identifier indicates the type of marker point information stored in the feature unit. When a certain type of marker point information is to be transmitted to the host computer, the corresponding type of marker point information is obtained through the identifier, so that the marker point information of this type is transmitted to the host computer. The advantage of this method is that the storage is more flexible, and there is no need to open up a dedicated storage area for each type of marker point separately, because in some cases there are many marker points of some types and few marker points of some types, and there may be too much storage space to waste or too little storage space to be insufficient, resulting in data overflow. This method of not specifying the division of storage space can flexibly utilize the space of the storage module to meet the storage requirements of different echo signals. However, each marker point information unit needs an identifier to represent it, which requires a larger amount of data than another storage method.

[0134] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of another storage module proposed in the embodiment of the present application. Figure 5 As shown, the identifier may include EVT1, EVT2, EVT3, and EVT4, where EVT1 indicates that the marker point type is a maximum point, EVT2 indicates that the marker point type is a minimum point, EVT3 indicates that the marker point type is an upper crossing point, and EVT4 indicates that the marker point type is a lower crossing point, etc. When the host computer wants to read a specific type of marker point information, the ultrasonic sensor chip can determine all specific types of marker point information according to the identifier and transmit it to the host computer.

[0135] Of course, the data storage methods are not limited to the two methods mentioned above, but can also be many, such as the pointer chain method, which connects the same type of marker point information in series. As long as the ultrasonic sensor chip can extract the same type of marker point information according to the storage method and send it to the host computer, it is within the protection scope of the embodiments of this application.

[0136] In a possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0137] Acquire threshold information, the threshold information including thresholds corresponding to each time stamp in the marker point information; and store the threshold information in a storage module;

[0138] Receive read instructions and transmit threshold information to the host computer.

[0139] Further, according to each time stamp in the marker point information, the threshold corresponding to each time stamp is determined, each time stamp corresponds to a threshold, the threshold information is obtained, and stored in the storage module. When the storage module is divided into multiple exclusive storage areas, the threshold information can be stored in one of the exclusive storage areas. Figure 4 As shown, the storage area n stores threshold information, and the storage area n also includes multiple marker point information units. Each marker point information unit stores a threshold and a corresponding timestamp, wherein the threshold corresponding to the timestamp td1 is VTH1, the threshold corresponding to tb1 is VTH2, the threshold corresponding to tc1 is VTH3, and the threshold corresponding to ta1 is VTH4. When the host computer requests to read the ultrasonic echo signal, the threshold information can also be sent to the host computer, and the host computer can perform corresponding processing such as restoring the threshold curve according to its own needs. Alternatively, the marker point information unit may include a data unit, a timestamp unit, and a threshold unit, and the threshold corresponding to the timestamp of the marker point is stored in the threshold unit.

[0140] In one possible implementation, the method also includes: if the data of the marker point is smaller than a threshold value corresponding to the timestamp of the marker point, or the difference between the data of the marker point and the threshold value corresponding to the timestamp of the marker point is greater than a specified value, then the marker point information is not stored or transmitted.

[0141] In the specific implementation, when the intensity of the echo signal is lower than the threshold, it is generally considered that there is no obstacle, and the judgment of the obstacle is not very meaningful. Therefore, the information of the mark point whose data is less than the threshold may not be stored, or the information of the mark point whose data is less than the threshold may not be transmitted, so as to improve the validity of the data received by the host computer. In addition, when the difference between the intensity of the echo signal and the threshold corresponding to the timestamp of the mark point is too large, it may be that the data is abnormal due to noise interference. Therefore, the information of the mark point whose data difference with the threshold is greater than the specified value may not be stored, or the information of the mark point whose data difference with the threshold is greater than the specified value may not be transmitted, so as to improve the reliability of the data received by the host computer, so that the system can more accurately identify and classify obstacles and enhance the vehicle's environmental perception ability.

[0142] In a possible implementation, storing the landmark information in a storage module includes:

[0143] Store each landmark point information in random timestamp order;

[0144] Alternatively, the marker point information is stored in the storage module in the order of the timestamps of the marker points.

[0145] In a specific implementation, when the marker point information is stored in the storage module, each marker point information can be stored in the order of timestamps, which can simplify data management and storage logic, so that the data is arranged in time order, which helps to accurately reconstruct the signal waveform, improve real-time performance and response speed, and ensure data integrity, reducing the risk of data loss or misalignment. In addition, each marker point information can also be stored in a random timestamp order to improve storage flexibility.

[0146] In a possible implementation, transmitting the marker point information of the type corresponding to the read instruction to the host computer includes:

[0147] According to the order of the physical addresses of the respective marker point information in the storage module, the marker point information of the corresponding type of the read instruction is transmitted to the host computer;

[0148] Alternatively, the marker point information of the type corresponding to the read instruction is transmitted to the host computer in the order of the timestamps of the marker points.

[0149] In the specific implementation, if the landmark information is stored in the storage module in the order of timestamps, the landmark information required by each host computer can be directly sent to the host computer in a first-in-first-out (FIFO) manner. The landmark information received by the host computer is arranged in the order of timestamps, so it can be directly used for obstacle identification. The host computer does not need additional sorting operations, which helps to accurately reconstruct the signal waveform, improve transmission efficiency, reduce the consumption of computing resources, improve real-time performance and response speed, and thus improve the overall performance of the system.

[0150] If the marker point information is stored in a random order in the storage module, each marker point information can be transmitted to the host computer in the order of the physical address or the specified order. The host computer rearranges the marker point information according to the timestamp information carried in the marker point information, so that the curve features are arranged in chronological order, thereby determining obstacles. This can make the function of the ultrasonic sensor chip simpler, and more content can be handled by the host computer with more powerful processing capabilities.

[0151] When the landmark information is stored in the storage module in disorder, the corresponding landmark information can be transmitted to the host computer according to the time stamp sequence of the landmark information in the storage module. The feature units received by the host computer are sorted, so they can be directly used for obstacle recognition. Figure 4 As shown, assuming td1<tb1<tc1<ta1, the landmark information is extracted in chronological order, and transmitted to the host computer in the order of THL1 / td1—MIN1 / tb1—TLH1 / tc1—MAX1 / ta1. In this way, the information received by the host computer is directly arranged according to time, so a trend curve that first decreases and then increases can be drawn, so that the obstacles can be judged by using this information, which can occupy less processing time and computing power of the host computer, so that the host computer can process more complex data and functions.

[0152] Exemplarily, storing each marker point information in a storage module in the order of the timestamps of each marker point includes:

[0153] Store each marker point information in the storage module in a first-in-first-out order;

[0154] According to the order of the timestamps of each mark point, the mark point information of the corresponding type of the read instruction is transmitted to the host computer, including:

[0155] The mark point information of the corresponding type of the read instruction is transmitted to the host computer in a first-in-first-out order.

[0156] In a specific implementation, the marker point information can be stored and transmitted in a first-in-first-out order, effectively improving the orderliness and reliability of ultrasonic echo signal processing.

[0157] The embodiment of the present application further provides an ultrasonic sensor chip, which is used to be electrically connected to the ultrasonic sensor, drive the ultrasonic sensor to transmit an ultrasonic signal, and receive an ultrasonic echo signal formed by the ultrasonic signal. The chip includes:

[0158] An extraction module, used to extract one or more types of landmark points from the ultrasonic echo signal, wherein each landmark point corresponds to a timestamp;

[0159] A storage module, used for storing the information of the landmarks, and the storage method enables the landmarks of the same type to be identified and read;

[0160] The transmission module is used to receive a read instruction and transmit the marker point information of the type corresponding to the read instruction to the host computer.

[0161] In a possible implementation, the transmission module is specifically configured to:

[0162] If the read instruction corresponds to multiple types of marker points, the next type of marker point information is transmitted after the transmission of one type of marker point information is completed;

[0163] If the read instruction corresponds to only one type of mark point, then the information of this type of mark point is directly transmitted to the host computer.

[0164] In a possible implementation, the transmission module is further configured to:

[0165] When the read instruction corresponds to multiple types of marker points, the marker point information of the type corresponding to the read instruction is transmitted to the host computer, and identification information for starting or ending transmission of different types of marker points is sent to the host computer, and the identification information is used to indicate the starting point or end point of the transmission of one type of marker point information.

[0166] In a possible implementation manner, the identification information includes a start mark and / or an end mark for transmission of each type of landmark point information.

[0167] In a possible implementation manner, the identification information includes length information of each type of landmark information.

[0168] In a possible implementation, the storage module is provided with at least one exclusive storage area, and each exclusive storage area corresponds to a marker point type;

[0169] The storage module is also used to store each type of landmark information in a corresponding exclusive storage area.

[0170] In a possible implementation, the marker point types include maximum value points, minimum value points, upper crossing points, and lower crossing points.

[0171] In a possible implementation, the method further includes:

[0172] The size of each exclusive storage area is determined according to the number of occurrences of each type of marker point; wherein the exclusive storage area corresponding to the marker point type with a small number of occurrences is smaller than the exclusive storage area corresponding to the marker point type with a large number of occurrences; and the exclusive storage area corresponding to the minimum point is the smallest exclusive storage area among the exclusive storage areas.

[0173] In a possible implementation, the storage module is further used to:

[0174] When storing each type of marker point information, an identifier is also stored correspondingly, and the identifier is used to indicate the type of the marker point.

[0175] In a possible implementation, the extraction module is further used to:

[0176] Acquire threshold information, where the threshold information includes a threshold corresponding to each time stamp in the marker point information;

[0177] The storage module is further used to store the threshold information;

[0178] The transmission module is also used to receive a read instruction and transmit the threshold information to a host computer.

[0179] In a possible implementation, the storage module is further configured to not store the marker point information if the data of the marker point is smaller than a threshold value corresponding to a timestamp of the marker point, or if the difference between the data of the marker point and the threshold value corresponding to a timestamp of the marker point is greater than a specified value;

[0180] Alternatively, the transmission module is further used to not transmit the marker point information if the data of the marker point is smaller than a threshold corresponding to the timestamp of the marker point, or the difference between the data of the marker point and the threshold corresponding to the timestamp of the marker point is greater than a specified value.

[0181] In a possible implementation, the storage module is further used to:

[0182] Store each landmark point information in random timestamp order;

[0183] Alternatively, the information of each marker point is stored in the order of the timestamps of each marker point.

[0184] In a possible implementation, the storage module is further used to:

[0185] Transmitting the marker point information of the type corresponding to the read instruction to the host computer according to the order of the physical addresses of the marker point information in the storage module;

[0186] Alternatively, the chip further comprises: a sorting module; the sorting module is used to sort the marker point information of the type corresponding to the read instruction according to the order of the timestamps of the marker points;

[0187] The transmission unit is also used to transmit the sorted marker point information of the corresponding type of the read instruction to the host computer.

[0188] In a possible implementation, the storage module is further used to:

[0189] Store the information of each landmark point in a first-in-first-out order;

[0190] The transmission module is further used for:

[0191] The mark point information of the type corresponding to the read instruction is transmitted to the host computer in a first-in-first-out order.

[0192] The ultrasonic sensor chip provided in the embodiment of the present application is used to execute the ultrasonic echo signal processing method as described above. The specific implementation method is as described above and will not be repeated here.

[0193] The embodiment of the present application also proposes an ultrasonic sensor system, including the host computer and the ultrasonic sensor chip mentioned in the above invention content, and the system may also include an ultrasonic sensor. The ultrasonic sensor system is used to execute the ultrasonic echo signal processing method mentioned above.

[0194] Figure 6 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of an electronic device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The electronic device may be the ultrasonic sensor chip as described above. Figure 6 As shown, the electronic device includes:

[0195] The electronic device includes a processor 291 and a memory 292; it may also include a communication interface 293 and a bus 294. The processor 291, the memory 292, and the communication interface 293 may communicate with each other through the bus 294. The communication interface 293 may be used for information transmission. The processor 291 may call the logic instructions in the memory 292 to execute the method of the above embodiment.

[0196] In addition, the logic instructions in the above-mentioned memory 292 can be implemented in the form of software functional units and can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium when sold or used as an independent product.

[0197] The memory 292 is a computer-readable storage medium that can be used to store software programs and computer executable programs, such as program instructions / modules corresponding to the methods in the embodiments of the present disclosure. The processor 291 executes the software programs, instructions, and modules stored in the memory 292 to perform functional applications and data processing, that is, to implement the methods in the above method embodiments.

[0198] The memory 292 may include a program storage area and a data storage area, wherein the program storage area may store an operating system and an application required for at least one function; the data storage area may store data created according to the use of the terminal device, etc. In addition, the memory 292 may include a high-speed random access memory and may also include a non-volatile memory.

[0199] Corresponding to the above-mentioned embodiment, the embodiment of the present application further provides a computer program product, which includes executable instructions. When the executable instructions are executed on a computer, the computer executes some or all of the steps in the above-mentioned method embodiment.

[0200] In the embodiments of the present application, "at least one" refers to one or more, and "more than one" refers to two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B can represent the existence of A alone, the existence of A and B at the same time, and the existence of B alone. Among them, A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the previous and subsequent associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following" and similar expressions refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b and c can be represented by: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc, where a, b, c can be single or multiple.

[0201] Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various units and algorithm steps described in the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in a combination of electronic hardware, computer software, and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

[0202] Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0203] In several embodiments provided in the present application, if any function is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application is essentially or the part that contributes to the prior art or the part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product is stored in a storage medium, including a number of instructions to enable a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: U disk, mobile hard disk, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), disk or optical disk, etc., various media that can store program codes.

[0204] The above is only a specific implementation of the present application. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, which should be included in the protection scope of the present application. The protection scope of the present application should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

[0205] Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate other embodiments of the present application after considering the specification and practicing the present application. The present application is intended to cover any modification, use or adaptation of the present application, which follows the general principles of the present application and includes common knowledge or customary techniques in the art that are not disclosed in the present application. The specification and examples are intended to be exemplary only, and the true scope and spirit of the present application are indicated by the following claims.

[0206] It should be understood that the present application is not limited to the precise structures that have been described above and shown in the drawings, and that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope thereof. The scope of the present application is limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for processing ultrasonic echo signals, characterized in that: include: Determine one or more types of marker points in the ultrasonic echo signal, and extract marker point information, wherein the marker point information includes marker point data and a timestamp; According to the type of the marker point, the marker point information is stored in a storage module in a storage manner so that the marker point information of the same type can be identified and read; Receive a read instruction, and transmit the marker point information of the type corresponding to the read instruction to the host computer.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The receiving of the read instruction and transmitting the marker point information of the type corresponding to the read instruction to the host computer includes: If the read instruction corresponds to multiple types of marker points, the next type of marker point information is transmitted after the transmission of one type of marker point information is completed; If the read instruction corresponds to only one type of mark point, then the information of this type of mark point is directly transmitted to the host computer.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that When the read instruction corresponds to multiple types of marker points, transmitting the marker point information of the type corresponding to the read instruction to the host computer includes: The marker point information of the type corresponding to the read instruction is transmitted to the host computer, and identification information of starting or ending transmission of different types of marker points is sent to the host computer, wherein the identification information is used to indicate the starting point or end point of transmission of a type of marker point information.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The identification information includes a start mark and / or an end mark for transmitting each type of marker point information; Alternatively, the identification information includes length information of each type of landmark point information.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that According to the type of the marker point, storing the marker point information in a storage module includes: Each type of marker point information is stored in a corresponding exclusive storage area, wherein the storage module is provided with at least one exclusive storage area, and each exclusive storage area corresponds to a marker point type.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that The types of landmark points include maximum value points, minimum value points, upper crossing points and lower crossing points.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The method further comprises: The size of each exclusive storage area is determined according to the number of occurrences of each type of marker point; wherein the exclusive storage area corresponding to the marker point type with a small number of occurrences is smaller than the exclusive storage area corresponding to the marker point type with a large number of occurrences; and the exclusive storage area corresponding to the minimum point is the smallest exclusive storage area among the exclusive storage areas.

8. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that When storing each type of marker point information, an identifier is also stored correspondingly, and the identifier is used to indicate the type of the marker point.

9. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The method further comprises: Acquire threshold information, the threshold information including thresholds corresponding to each time stamp in the marker point information; and store the threshold information in a storage module; A read instruction is received, and the threshold information is transmitted to a host computer.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that The method also includes: if the data of the marker point is smaller than the threshold corresponding to the timestamp of the marker point, or the difference between the data of the marker point and the threshold corresponding to the timestamp of the marker point is greater than a specified value, then the marker point information is not stored or transmitted.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that: The storing of the marker point information in a storage module comprises: Store each landmark point information in random timestamp order; Alternatively, the information of each marker point is stored in the storage module in the order of the timestamps of the marker points.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The step of transmitting the marker point information of the type corresponding to the read instruction to the host computer includes: Transmitting the marker point information of the type corresponding to the read instruction to the host computer according to the order of the physical addresses of the marker point information in the storage module; Alternatively, the marker point information of the type corresponding to the read instruction is transmitted to the host computer in the order of the timestamps of the marker points.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The storing of each marker point information in the storage module according to the order of the timestamps of each marker point includes: Store each marker point information in the storage module in a first-in-first-out order; The method of transmitting the marker point information of the type corresponding to the read instruction to the host computer according to the order of the timestamps of the marker points includes: The mark point information of the type corresponding to the read instruction is transmitted to the host computer in a first-in-first-out order.

14. An ultrasonic sensor chip, used to be electrically connected to an ultrasonic sensor, drive the ultrasonic sensor to transmit an ultrasonic signal, and receive an ultrasonic echo signal formed by the ultrasonic signal, characterized in that: Used to execute the ultrasonic signal processing method according to any one of claims 1 to 13; the chip comprises: An extraction module, used to extract one or more types of landmark points from the ultrasonic echo signal, wherein each landmark point corresponds to a timestamp; A storage module, used for storing the information of the landmarks, and the storage method enables the landmarks of the same type to be identified and read; The transmission module is used to receive a read instruction and transmit the marker point information of the type corresponding to the read instruction to the host computer.

15. An ultrasonic sensor system, characterized in that: It comprises a host computer and the ultrasonic sensor chip as claimed in claim 14; The host computer is used to send a read instruction to the ultrasonic sensor information and perform obstacle judgment based on the mark point information sent by the ultrasonic sensor chip.

Images