Vehicle WI-FI sensing with dynamic antenna switching

Abstract

A vehicle WI-FI sensing with dynamic antenna switching is provided. A vehicle system includes a Wi-Fi antenna positioned to focus on different areas of a vehicle, and a Wi-Fi sensor module. The Wi-Fi sensor module includes a Wi-Fi sensor antenna in communication with the Wi-Fi antenna, a control module, a transceiver module in communication with the control module, and a switching device in communication with the control module and the transceiver module. The control module is configured to receive a sensing request for a vehicle, determine a sensing requirement for the Wi-Fi sensor antennas based on the sensing request, control the switching device to sequentially connect the Wi-Fi sensor antennas to the transceiver module based on the sensing requirement, and control the transceiver module to sequentially transmit Wi-Fi signals to one or more Wi-Fi antennas via each connected Wi-Fi sensor antenna. Other example vehicle systems and control methods for Wi-Fi sensing are also disclosed.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The information provided in this section is for the purpose of generally presenting the background of the present disclosure. To the extent described in this section, the work of the presently named inventors, and aspects that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither explicitly nor implicitly admitted to be prior art to the present disclosure.

[0002] The present disclosure relates to vehicle Wi-Fi sensing, and more particularly, to a vehicle system including sequentially connected Wi-Fi sensor antennas for transmitting and receiving Wi-Fi signals. Background Art

[0003] Vehicles typically include a detection system for detecting objects in the vehicle. In some instances, the detection system may rely on sensing technology and / or devices to detect the objects. For example, the detection system may be a Wi-Fi Child Presence Detection (CPD) system that detects children in the vehicle through Wi-Fi sensing. In such an example, the Wi-Fi CPD system may detect activity in the vehicle, such as biological activity (e.g., breathing, etc.), movement, etc., via transmitted and received Wi-Fi signals, and then associate the detected activity with the presence of a child. Summary of the Invention

[0004] A vehicle system for Wi-Fi sensing in a vehicle includes multiple Wi-Fi antennas positioned to focus on different areas of the vehicle, and a Wi-Fi sensor module. The Wi-Fi sensor module includes multiple Wi-Fi sensor antennas in communication with the multiple Wi-Fi antennas, a control module, a transceiver module in communication with the control module, and a switching device in communication with the control module and the transceiver module. Each of the multiple Wi-Fi sensor antennas has at least one antenna characteristic that differs from another Wi-Fi sensor antenna. The control module is configured to receive a sensing request for the vehicle, determine a sensing requirement for the Wi-Fi sensor antenna based on the sensing request, and control the switching device to sequentially connect the Wi-Fi sensor antennas to the transceiver module based on the sensing requirement. The multiple Wi-Fi sensor antennas are sequentially connected to the transceiver module one at a time. The control module is also configured to control the transceiver module to sequentially transmit Wi-Fi signals to one or more Wi-Fi antennas via each connected Wi-Fi sensor antenna.

[0005] In other features, the control module is configured to determine the sensing requirement based on the sensing request and antenna characteristics of the Wi-Fi sensor antenna.

[0006] In other features, the control module is configured to adjust a transmit power of at least one of the sequentially connected Wi-Fi sensor antennas.

[0007] In other features, the control module is configured to receive the one or more reflected signals via the Wi-Fi sensor antenna and determine channel state information based on the one or more reflected signals.

[0008] In other features, the vehicle system further includes an alarm module in communication with the control module, and the control module is configured to detect movement in the vehicle based on the CSI and transmit an alarm signal indicative of the detected movement to the alarm module.

[0009] In other features, the alert module is configured to generate a vehicle signal indicative of the detected movement in response to the alert signal.

[0010] In other features, the antenna characteristics include at least one of radiation pattern, gain, and directivity.

[0011] In other features, the Wi-Fi antenna includes at least a first Wi-Fi antenna positioned to be focused on a front cabin portion of the vehicle, and a second Wi-Fi antenna positioned to be focused on a rear cabin portion of the vehicle.

[0012] In other features, the control module is configured to determine whether the vehicle is parked, and in response to determining that the vehicle is parked, control the switching device to sequentially connect the Wi-Fi sensor antennas to the transceiver modules based on the sensing requirements.

[0013] In other features, the control module is configured to control the switching device to sequentially connect each Wi-Fi sensor antenna to the transceiver module based on the sensing requirements within a defined time period.

[0014] In other features, the defined time period is less than ten seconds.

[0015] In other features, the Wi-Fi antenna includes at least one auxiliary Wi-Fi antenna configured for use with a sensing application external to the vehicle, and the control module is configured to control the transceiver module to transmit a Wi-Fi signal to the auxiliary Wi-Fi antenna after each Wi-Fi sensor antenna has been connected to the transceiver module.

[0016] In other features, a vehicle includes a vehicle system.

[0017] A control method for performing Wi-Fi sensing using a Wi-Fi sensor module is disclosed. The Wi-Fi sensor module includes a switching device, a transceiver module, and multiple Wi-Fi sensor antennas that communicate with multiple Wi-Fi antennas, wherein the multiple Wi-Fi antennas are positioned to focus on different areas of the vehicle. The control method includes receiving a sensing request for the vehicle, determining sensing requirements for the Wi-Fi sensor antenna based on the sensing request, and controlling the switching device to sequentially connect the Wi-Fi sensor antenna to the transceiver module based on the sensing requirements. One of the multiple Wi-Fi sensor antennas is sequentially connected to the transceiver module at a time, and each of the multiple Wi-Fi sensor antennas has at least one antenna characteristic that is different from another Wi-Fi sensor antenna. The control method also includes controlling the transceiver module to sequentially transmit Wi-Fi signals to one or more Wi-Fi antennas via each connected Wi-Fi sensor antenna.

[0018] In other features, determining the sensing requirement includes determining the sensing requirement based on the sensing request and antenna characteristics of the Wi-Fi sensor antenna.

[0019] In other features, the control method further includes adjusting a transmit power of at least one of the sequentially connected Wi-Fi sensor antennas.

[0020] In other features, the control method further includes receiving one or more reflected signals via the Wi-Fi sensor antenna, determining a CSI based on the one or more reflected signals, detecting movement in the vehicle based on the CSI, and generating a vehicle signal based on the detected movement.

[0021] In other features, the antenna characteristics include at least one of radiation pattern, gain, and directivity.

[0022] In other features, the control method further includes determining whether the vehicle is parked.

[0023] In other features, controlling the switching device to sequentially connect the Wi-Fi sensor antennas to the transceiver modules based on the sensing requirement includes controlling the switching device to sequentially connect the Wi-Fi sensor antennas to the transceiver modules in response to determining that the vehicle is parked.

[0024] In other features, the Wi-Fi antenna includes at least one auxiliary Wi-Fi antenna configured for use with sensing applications external to the vehicle.

[0025] In other features, the control method further includes controlling the transceiver module to transmit the Wi-Fi signal to the auxiliary Wi-Fi antenna after each Wi-Fi sensor antenna has been connected to the transceiver module.

[0026] The following options are provided:

[0027] 1. A vehicle system for Wi-Fi sensing in a vehicle, the vehicle system comprising:

[0028] Multiple Wi-Fi antennas positioned to focus on different areas of the vehicle; and

[0029] A Wi-Fi sensor module includes a plurality of Wi-Fi sensor antennas in communication with the plurality of Wi-Fi antennas, a control module, a transceiver module in communication with the control module, and a switching device in communication with the control module and the transceiver module, wherein each of the plurality of Wi-Fi sensor antennas has at least one antenna characteristic that is different from another Wi-Fi sensor antenna, and the control module is configured to:

[0030] receiving a sensing request for a vehicle;

[0031] determining a sensing requirement for the Wi-Fi sensor antenna based on the sensing request;

[0032] controlling the switching device to sequentially connect the Wi-Fi sensor antennas to the transceiver module based on the sensing requirement, wherein one of the plurality of Wi-Fi sensor antennas is sequentially connected to the transceiver module at a time; and

[0033] The transceiver module is controlled to sequentially transmit Wi-Fi signals to one or more Wi-Fi antennas via each connected Wi-Fi sensor antenna.

[0034] 2. The vehicle system of claim 1 , wherein the control module is configured to determine the sensing requirement based on the sensing request and antenna characteristics of the Wi-Fi sensor antenna.

[0035] 3. The vehicle system of claim 1 , wherein the control module is configured to adjust a transmission power of at least one of the sequentially connected Wi-Fi sensor antennas.

[0036] 4. The vehicle system of claim 1 , wherein the control module is configured to receive one or more reflected signals via a Wi-Fi sensor antenna and determine channel state information (CSI) based on the one or more reflected signals.

[0037] 5. The vehicle system of claim 4, wherein:

[0038] The vehicle system further includes an alarm module in communication with the control module; and

[0039] The control module is configured to detect movement in the vehicle based on the CSI and transmit an alert signal to the alert module indicative of the detected movement.

[0040] 6. The vehicle system of claim 5, wherein the alarm module is configured to generate a vehicle signal indicative of the detected movement in response to the alarm signal.

[0041] 7. The vehicle system of claim 1 , wherein the antenna characteristics include at least one of a radiation pattern, a gain, and a directivity.

[0042] 8. The vehicle system of claim 1 , wherein the Wi-Fi antenna comprises at least a first Wi-Fi antenna positioned to focus on a front cabin portion of the vehicle, and a second Wi-Fi antenna positioned to focus on a rear cabin portion of the vehicle.

[0043] 9. The vehicle system of claim 1 , wherein the control module is configured to determine whether the vehicle is parked, and in response to determining that the vehicle is parked, control the switching device to sequentially connect the Wi-Fi sensor antennas to the transceiver modules based on a sensing requirement.

[0044] 10. The vehicle system of claim 9, wherein the control module is configured to control the switching device to sequentially connect each Wi-Fi sensor antenna to the transceiver module based on a sensing requirement within a defined time period.

[0045] 11. The vehicle system of claim 10, wherein the defined time period is less than ten seconds.

[0046] 12. The vehicle system of claim 9, wherein:

[0047] The Wi-Fi antenna includes at least one auxiliary Wi-Fi antenna configured for use with sensing applications external to the vehicle; and

[0048] The control module is configured to control the transceiver module to transmit a Wi-Fi signal to the auxiliary Wi-Fi antenna after each Wi-Fi sensor antenna has been connected to the transceiver module.

[0049] 13. A vehicle comprising the vehicle system of claim 1.

[0050] 14. A control method for Wi-Fi sensing using a Wi-Fi sensor module, the Wi-Fi sensor module comprising a switching device, a transceiver module, and a plurality of Wi-Fi sensor antennas communicating with a plurality of Wi-Fi antennas, the plurality of Wi-Fi antennas being positioned to focus on different areas of a vehicle, the control method comprising:

[0051] receiving a sensing request for a vehicle;

[0052] determining a sensing requirement for the Wi-Fi sensor antenna based on the sensing request;

[0053] controlling the switching device to sequentially connect the Wi-Fi sensor antenna to the transceiver module based on the sensing requirement, wherein one of the plurality of Wi-Fi sensor antennas is sequentially connected to the transceiver module at a time, and each of the plurality of Wi-Fi sensor antennas has at least one antenna characteristic that is different from another Wi-Fi sensor antenna; and

[0054] The transceiver module is controlled to sequentially transmit Wi-Fi signals to one or more Wi-Fi antennas via each connected Wi-Fi sensor antenna.

[0055] 15. The control method according to claim 14, wherein determining the sensing requirement comprises determining the sensing requirement based on the sensing request and antenna characteristics of the Wi-Fi sensor antenna.

[0056] 16. The control method according to solution 14, further comprising adjusting the transmission power of at least one Wi-Fi sensor antenna among the sequentially connected Wi-Fi sensor antennas.

[0057] 17. The control method according to claim 14, further comprising:

[0058] receiving one or more reflected signals via a Wi-Fi sensor antenna;

[0059] determining CSI based on the one or more reflected signals;

[0060] detecting movement in the vehicle based on the CSI; and

[0061] A vehicle signal is generated based on the detected movement.

[0062] 18. The control method according to claim 14, wherein the antenna characteristics include at least one of a radiation pattern, a gain, and a directivity.

[0063] 19. The control method according to claim 14, wherein:

[0064] The control method further includes determining whether the vehicle is parked; and

[0065] Controlling the switching device to sequentially connect the Wi-Fi sensor antennas to the transceiver modules based on the sensing requirement includes controlling the switching device to sequentially connect the Wi-Fi sensor antennas to the transceiver modules in response to determining that the vehicle is parked.

[0066] 20. The control method according to claim 14, wherein:

[0067] The Wi-Fi antenna includes at least one auxiliary Wi-Fi antenna configured for use with sensing applications external to the vehicle; and

[0068] The control method further includes controlling the transceiver module to transmit a Wi-Fi signal to the auxiliary Wi-Fi antenna after each Wi-Fi sensor antenna has been connected to the transceiver module.

[0069] Further areas of applicability of the present disclosure will become apparent from the detailed description, claims and drawings.The detailed description and specific examples are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0070] The present disclosure will become more fully understood from the detailed description and accompanying drawings, in which:

[0071] Figure 1 is a block diagram of an example vehicle system according to the present disclosure, the vehicle system including a Wi-Fi sensor module and antenna for Wi-Fi sensing in a vehicle;

[0072] Figure 2 According to the present disclosure, Figure 1 the vehicle systems that are part of the vehicle; and

[0073] Figure 3-4 is a flow chart of an example control process for performing Wi-Fi sensing using a Wi-Fi sensor module according to the present disclosure.

[0074] Among the drawings, reference numerals may be repeated to identify similar and / or identical elements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0075] A vehicle may include a detection system for detecting objects in the vehicle based on Wi-Fi sensing. In such an example, a Wi-Fi sensing device may transmit a signal to an antenna in the vehicle and receive the reflected signal to detect activity in the vehicle. Often, the spatial coverage of the signal does not adequately cover desired areas in the vehicle, such as the rear cabin of the vehicle where children may be present. In addition, external interference, such as noise in the vehicle, may degrade the signal and / or its spatial coverage. In some instances, insufficient spatial coverage of the signal and / or external interference may result in missed detections (e.g., failure to detect an object such as a child) and / or false positive detections.

[0076] Vehicle systems and methods according to the present disclosure provide a solution for focused Wi-Fi sensing in a vehicle using communication signals to accurately detect motion and / or objects in the vehicle. For example, and as further explained herein, the vehicle systems and methods herein use dynamic switching between Wi-Fi antennas with different antenna characteristics (e.g., radiation patterns, etc.), and in some instances, dynamic power transmission control, to ensure sufficient and focused sensing coverage of areas of interest inside and / or outside the vehicle. In such examples, dynamic control of Wi-Fi sensor antennas and strategic positioning of communication Wi-Fi antennas can improve the spatial coverage and sensing signal-to-noise ratio of wireless signals, thereby reducing missed detections. In addition, the dynamic control and positioning of antennas enable focused sensing, thereby reducing false positives. For example, without focused sensing, if the signal leaks outside the vehicle, the improved spatial coverage and signal-to-noise ratio may lead to false positives and cause the detection of unwanted motion and / or objects. In some examples, Wi-Fi sensing can be implemented by utilizing low-cost Wi-Fi hardware (e.g., Wi-Fi chips without multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) capabilities).

[0077] Now refer to Figure 1 , a block diagram of an example vehicle system 100 for Wi-Fi sensing in a vehicle is presented. Figure 1 As shown, the vehicle system 100 generally includes a Wi-Fi sensor module 102, a plurality of Wi-Fi antennas 104, 106, 108, and an optional alarm module 122. In this example, the Wi-Fi sensor module 102 includes a control module 110, a transceiver module 112 in communication with the control module 110, a switching device 114 in communication with the control module 110 and the transceiver module 112, and a plurality of Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, 120 in communication with the Wi-Fi antennas 104, 106, 108.

[0078] although Figure 1The vehicle system 100 is shown as including specific modules and / or antennas, but it should be understood that the vehicle system 100 and / or other systems herein may include one or more other modules and / or antennas (e.g., having the same or different functionality) if desired. For example, while the vehicle system 100 is described and illustrated as having three Wi-Fi antennas 104, 106, 108 and three Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, 120, the vehicle system 100 may include more or fewer Wi-Fi antennas and / or Wi-Fi sensor antennas. Furthermore, while the vehicle system 100 is illustrated as including one Wi-Fi sensor module 102 typically located within the vehicle, it should be understood that the Wi-Fi sensor module 102 may be located outside the vehicle and / or the vehicle system 100 may include another Wi-Fi sensor module located outside the vehicle. Furthermore, the vehicle system 100 is illustrated as including multiple separate modules. In other embodiments, any combination of modules (e.g., the control module 110, the transceiver module 112, the alarm module 122, etc.) and / or their functionality may be integrated into one or more modules.

[0079] In various embodiments, Figure 1 The vehicle system 100 may be employed in any suitable vehicle, such as an electric vehicle (e.g., a pure electric vehicle, a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, etc.), an internal combustion engine vehicle, etc. In addition, the vehicle system 100 may be applicable to autonomous vehicles, semi-autonomous vehicles, etc. For example, Figure 2 Depicts including Figure 1 The vehicle 200 includes a Wi-Fi sensor module 102 and Wi-Fi antennas 204, 206, 208, 210, 212, 214, 216 that communicate with the Wi-Fi sensor module 102. In such an example, the Wi-Fi antennas 204, 206, 208, 210, 212, 214, 216 can communicate with Figure 1 The Wi-Fi antennas 104, 106, 108 are similar and operate in a similar manner.

[0080] Continue to refer Figure 1, the Wi-Fi sensor module 102 and the Wi-Fi antennas 104, 106, 108 may be any suitable devices. For example, the Wi-Fi sensor module 102 may be a standalone IoT device having its own Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, 120. In such an example, the transceiver module 112 of the Wi-Fi sensor module 102 may include transmitter and receiver components for generating wireless signals for transmission to the Wi-Fi antennas 104, 106, 108 via the Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, 120, and receiving wireless signals from the Wi-Fi antennas 104, 106, 108 via the Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, 120. In addition, the switching device 114 may be any suitable device, such as an RF switch, etc., for selecting the antennas in the transceiver module 112 and the Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, 120 and the corresponding matching networks ( Figure 1 Signals are routed between (not shown).

[0081] In some examples, characteristics associated with transceiver module 112 and / or the vehicle's Wi-Fi can be adjustable as desired. For example, each Wi-Fi antenna 104, 106, 108 associated with the vehicle's Wi-Fi can include or communicate with a transceiver module that operates in a similar manner to transceiver module 112 and its associated Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, 120.

[0082] For example, the transceiver module 112 may include a power converter for adjusting the transmit power of the Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, and 120, as further explained herein. Furthermore, in various embodiments, the sensitivity of the receiver in the transceiver module 112 may be adjusted. By adjusting the sensitivity of the receiver, the sensitivity threshold for incoming signals may be controlled. For example, lowering the sensitivity threshold may make the receiver more selective (e.g., detecting only signals above a certain amplitude or signal-to-noise ratio). This may help filter out weaker signals from targets outside the vehicle and focus the radar's attention on stronger signals originating from targets within one or more desired areas within the vehicle.

[0083] Similarly, the transmit power and / or sensitivity associated with each Wi-Fi antenna 104, 106, 108 can be adjusted as desired. This can be accomplished in a manner similar to that described above with respect to the transceiver module 112. For example, the transceiver modules associated with the Wi-Fi antennas 104, 106, 108 can be controlled to adjust the transmit power and / or adjust the sensitivity of each Wi-Fi antenna 104, 106, 108.

[0084] In addition, Wi-Fi antennas 104, 106, 108 (and Figure 2 The Wi-Fi antennas 204, 206, 208, 210, 212, 214, 216) can be local antennas in the vehicle (e.g., vehicle Wi-Fi antennas). In various embodiments, the Wi-Fi antennas are mounted on the vehicle and can be regionalized / focused on an area of ​​interest relative to the vehicle. Additionally and / or alternatively, the Wi-Fi antennas mounted on the vehicle can be regionalized / focused on an area of ​​interest outside the vehicle.

[0085] In some examples, the Wi-Fi antenna can be part of a communication module built into the vehicle's wireless communication system that supports connectivity for other purposes (e.g., sharing the Internet, etc.). In such an example, the Wi-Fi sensor module 102 communicates with the vehicle's built-in Wi-Fi antenna (e.g., Figure 1 Wi-Fi antennas 104, 106, 108, Figure 2 204, 206, 208, 210, 212, 214, 216, etc.) to perform Wi-Fi sensing.

[0086] exist Figure 1 In the example of FIG. 1 , the Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, 120 of the Wi-Fi sensor module 102 may include different antenna characteristics. For example, the different antenna characteristics of the Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, 120 may include at least one of radiation pattern, gain, and directivity. For example, each Wi-Fi sensor antenna 116, 118, 120 may have a unique radiation pattern, gain, and / or directivity that is different from the other Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, 120. In this way, each Wi-Fi sensor antenna 116, 118, 120 may be selected for use in the vehicle based on its unique antenna characteristics to achieve a desired radiation pattern (e.g., spatial coverage) for the vehicle system 100. As an example, Wi-Fi sensor antenna 116 may have a different radiation pattern than other Wi-Fi sensor antennas 118 , 120 , Wi-Fi sensor antenna 118 may have a different gain than Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116 , 120 , Wi-Fi sensor antenna 120 may have a different directivity than Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116 , 118 , etc. In some examples, Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116 , 118 , 120 may have controllable parameters, such as orientation, radiation pattern, etc.

[0087] In various embodiments, the Wi-Fi antennas 104, 106, 108 may be positioned to focus on different areas of the vehicle (eg, all sensing areas of interest). Figure 2 As shown, the Wi-Fi antennas 204, 206 are positioned to focus on the rear passenger side cabin portion of the vehicle 200 and are generally used to sense in the area 218 in the vehicle 200. Similarly, Figure 2 The Wi-Fi antennas 208, 210 are positioned to be focused on the rear driver-side cabin portion of the vehicle 200 and are generally used for sensing in an area 220 in the vehicle 200. The Wi-Fi antennas 212, 214 are positioned to be focused on the front cabin portion of the vehicle 200 and are generally used for sensing in an area 222 in the vehicle 200. In addition, and as further explained below, the Wi-Fi antenna 216 can be employed in conjunction with sensing applications outside the vehicle 200. In such an example, the Wi-Fi antenna 216 can be used for sensing in an area 224 outside the vehicle 200.

[0088] In some examples, the determination can be based on different factors. Figure 1 The placement of the Wi-Fi antennas 104, 106, 108 in the vehicle. For example, based on the antenna characteristics of the Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, 120, the corresponding sensing signal-to-noise ratio (SSNR), etc., each Wi-Fi antenna 104, 106, 108 can be strategically positioned to focus on different areas of the vehicle. In some examples, the positions of the Wi-Fi antennas 104, 106, 108 can be optimized for communication purposes rather than sensing purposes. In other examples, the positions of the Wi-Fi antennas 104, 106, 108 can be optimized for both communication and sensing. The positions of the Wi-Fi antennas 104, 106, 108 can be determined in a similar manner. Figure 2 Placement of Wi-Fi antennas 204 , 206 , 208 , 210 , 212 , 214 , 216 in vehicle 200 .

[0089] For example, the SSNR metric can be utilized to determine the sensing capability of the vehicle system 100. For example, in Wi-Fi sensing, the dynamic signal reflected from the target contains the motion sensing information required for detection purposes. In other words, the static signal (e.g., the line-of-sight direct signal from the Wi-Fi antennas 104, 106, 108 and the reflection from the vehicle walls or other static components of the vehicle) does not contain information about the target to enable detection and tracking of the target. Thus, in such Wi-Fi sensing, the SSNR can be defined as the ratio of the power of the dynamic signal reflected from the target of interest to the combined power of thermal noise, RF interference, and other dynamic objects of no interest. Assuming there is only one target of interest (e.g., a sleeping child present in the car), the sensing capability of the vehicle system 100 can be related to the distance between the transceivers (e.g., between one of the Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, 120 and one of the Wi-Fi antennas 104, 106, 108) and the distance from the target to the transceiver. This relationship is shown in the following equation (1), where γ D is the distance between transceivers (e.g. Figure 1 The distance between the Wi-Fi sensor antenna 118 and the Wi-Fi antenna 106), γ R is the distance between the target and the vehicle transceiver (e.g., the distance between the target 124 and the Wi-Fi antenna 106), and γ T is the distance between the target and the Wi-Fi sensor transceiver (e.g., the distance between the target 124 and the Wi-Fi sensor antenna 118). In such an example, γ T represents the distance that the dynamic signal reflected from the target 124 travels to the Wi-Fi sensor antenna 118 .

[0090] Equation (1)

[0091] In such an example, a combination of different types of Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, 120 with different antenna characteristics (e.g., radiation patterns, gain, and directivity) can be employed to reach all sensing areas of interest. The SSNR metric can then be utilized to optimize the placement of each Wi-Fi antenna 104, 106, 108 for a specific sensing application (e.g., CPD applications, occupant presence and motion applications, safety applications, etc.). Thus, by enabling sensing across multiple different antenna links between the Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, 120 and the Wi-Fi antennas 104, 106, 108 (via the switching device 114), sensing coverage can be controlled by supplementing the sensing capabilities of each antenna link. In some embodiments, sensing coverage can be further controlled through antenna placement, antenna designs with different radiation patterns, directivities, and gains, and transmit power control on each specific link.

[0092] In various embodiments, the control module 110 may receive a sensing request for the vehicle. For example, the sensing request may be provided to the control module 110 by a specific sensing application in the vehicle (e.g., a CPD application in the vehicle, an occupant presence and motion application, a safety application, etc.). For example, the sensing application may request, for example, one or more specific areas or all areas in the vehicle (e.g., Figure 2 In such an example, the N sensing rounds may represent a defined number of cycles in which each Wi-Fi antenna in a particular area is utilized. Figure 2 If N sensing wheels equals four and the particular area in the vehicle is area 218 , the Wi-Fi sensor module 102 performs four cycles, each cycle including sequential signal transmissions to each Wi-Fi antenna 204 , 206 .

[0093] The control module 110 may then determine the sensing requirements for the Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, and 120. In various embodiments, the sensing sequence requirements may be determined based on, for example, the received sensing request. In other examples, the sensing sequence requirements may be determined based on the received sensing request and the antenna characteristics of the Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, and 120. For example, the control module 110 may implement a defined algorithm specific to a particular vehicle (e.g., vehicle manufacturer, brand, model, etc.) to determine the optimal combination and switching order of Wi-Fi sensor antennas to be utilized and their respective parameters (e.g., radiation pattern, transmit power, etc.) to achieve the desired coverage. In such an embodiment, the algorithm may take into account the received sensing request and the specific characteristics of each antenna.

[0094] In some examples, the sensing requirements may relate to various parameters for completing the received sensing request. For example, the sensing requirements determined by the control module 110 may include an antenna switching schedule. In such an example, the antenna switching schedule may include a defined sequence for selectively connecting one of the Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, 120 to the transceiver module 112 and then linking the selected Wi-Fi sensor antenna to one or more of the Wi-Fi antennas 104, 106, 108. In other examples, the defined sequence may provide for selectively connecting one of the Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, 120 to the transceiver module 112 and then enabling the selected Wi-Fi sensor antenna to communicate with all of the Wi-Fi antennas 104, 106, 108. In such an example, each Wi-Fi antenna 104, 106, 108 may communicate with the selected Wi-Fi sensor antenna sequentially (e.g., one at a time) or simultaneously.

[0095] Furthermore, the sensing requirements determined by the control module 110 may include, for example, transmit power (Tx power) control parameters for each antenna link in an antenna switching schedule. In such an example, the transmit power provided to each connected Wi-Fi sensor antenna 116, 118, 120 may be adjustable to change the radiation pattern of the Wi-Fi sensor antenna 116, 118, 120. In some examples, the transmit power for each antenna link may be the same, or at least one antenna link may have a different transmit power. Furthermore, in an embodiment, the determined sensing requirements may include sampling criteria, such as a sensing interval and / or a sensing time slot for each Wi-Fi sensor antenna 116, 118, 120. In such an example, the sensing interval may define how quickly sensing is completed for each Wi-Fi sensor antenna 116, 118, 120, and the sensing time slot may define how long sensing occurs in a particular area of ​​the vehicle.

[0096] Furthermore, sensing may occur when Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, 120 transmit signals and Wi-Fi antennas 104, 106, 108 receive signals, and also when Wi-Fi antennas 104, 106, 108 transmit signals and Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, 120 receive signals. As such, transmit power (Tx power) control parameters and / or sensitivity control aspects associated with Wi-Fi antennas 104, 106, 108 may be adjusted based on, for example, sensing requirements, as explained herein.

[0097] Next, the control module 110 can instantiate a sensing request based on the determined sensing requirements. For example, the determined antenna switching schedule can be implemented to sequentially connect one of the Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, 120 to the transceiver module 112, and then link the selected Wi-Fi sensor antenna to one or more (and sometimes all) of the Wi-Fi antennas 104, 106, 108. In such an example, the control module 110 can control the switching device 114 (e.g., via the control signal 126) to sequentially connect the Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, 120 to the transceiver module 112 based on the sensing requirements. In such an example, the Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, 120 are sequentially connected to the transceiver module 112 one at a time.

[0098] The control module 110 may then control the transceiver module 112 to sequentially transmit Wi-Fi signals to one or more (and sometimes all) of the Wi-Fi antennas 104, 106, 108 via each connected Wi-Fi sensor antenna 116, 118, 120. For example, once the transceiver module 112 is connected to one of the Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, 120, the transceiver module 112 may transmit Tx signals to one or more of the Wi-Fi antennas 104, 106, 108 linked to that Wi-Fi sensor antenna. Then, once the next of the Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, 120 is connected, the transceiver module 112 may transmit Tx signals to one or more of the Wi-Fi antennas 104, 106, 108 linked to it, and so on. This switching between the Wi-Fi sensor antennas 104 , 106 , 108 and signal transmission to one or more Wi-Fi antennas 116 , 118 , 120 may occur until the N sensing rounds of the sensing request are complete.

[0099] In some examples, control module 110 can change other parameters of Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, 120, such as orientation and / or radiation pattern. For example, control module 110 can adjust the transmit power (Tx power) of at least one of the sequentially connected Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, 120 to change the radiation pattern of the Wi-Fi sensor antenna. This adjustment can be based on the transmit power control parameters of the sensing requirements determined as explained above. In such an example, control module 110 can transmit a signal to transceiver module 112, causing transceiver module 112 to adjust the transmit power provided to the connected Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, 120 (via switching device 114). In various embodiments, transceiver module 112 can control its power converter (e.g., power amplifier, etc.) to adjust the transmit power.

[0100] Furthermore, in some examples, the control module 110 can change the receive sensitivity associated with the Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, 120 to filter out weak signals, as explained above. Furthermore, and as explained above, the transmit power (Tx power) and / or receive sensitivity associated with the Wi-Fi antennas 104, 106, 108 can be adjusted as desired.

[0101] Furthermore, in some examples, the instantiation of the sensing request may occur only when one or more vehicle conditions apply. For example, the determined antenna switching schedule may be implemented only when the vehicle is parked. In such an example, the control module 110 may determine whether the vehicle is parked. In some embodiments, this determination may be made based on, for example, sensed parameters (e.g., parameters associated with the vehicle's transmission, speed sensor, etc.), received signals indicating that the vehicle is parked, etc. Then, in response to determining that the vehicle is parked, the control module 110 may continue to control the switching device 114 to sequentially connect the Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, 120, as explained above.

[0102] In various embodiments, the sequential connection of Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, and 120 to transceiver module 112 can occur within a defined time period. For example, as explained above, the sensing requirements can define specific sampling criteria. Control module 110 can control switching device 114 to sequentially connect Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, and 120 to transceiver module 112 within a defined time period based on the sampling criteria. In some examples, the defined time period can be any suitable time period based on, for example, how fast the sensing should be performed, what the sensing criteria are, etc. In various embodiments, the defined time period can be any suitable amount of time. In some examples, the defined time period can be, for example, less than approximately 10 seconds, greater than approximately 3 seconds, etc.

[0103] In some embodiments, Figure 1 The vehicle system 100 can implement an external Wi-Fi sensing application after the sensing request is completed. For example and with reference to Figure 2, Wi-Fi antenna 216 can be an auxiliary Wi-Fi antenna for use with sensing applications external to vehicle 200 (e.g., security applications, such as theft applications, etc.). In such an example, after a sensing request is completed (e.g., after each of Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, 120 has been connected to transceiver module 112), control module 110 of Wi-Fi sensor module 102 can control transceiver module 112 to transmit a Wi-Fi signal to Wi-Fi antenna 216 (or an auxiliary Wi-Fi antenna). In other examples, transceiver module 112 can be controlled to transmit a Wi-Fi signal to one or more of Wi-Fi antennas 104, 106, 108, and the signal is focused on an area external to the vehicle (e.g., area 224). With this configuration, Wi-Fi signals to Wi-Fi antenna 216 and / or one of the other Wi-Fi antennas can be used for external sensing. For example, Wi-Fi signals can be used to activate cameras, motion sensors, etc. to detect movement in area 224 outside of vehicle 200 (e.g., when vehicle 200 is parked). For example, area 224 can include areas of interest, such as a truck bed, chassis, wheel wells, etc. In some examples, external sensing applications (e.g., security applications, etc.) can utilize information from external sensing and coordinated modeling with cameras in areas of interest to determine theft capabilities, etc.

[0104] Although Figure 2 The vehicle 200 is shown as including only one auxiliary Wi-Fi antenna, but it should be understood that the vehicle 200 may include more auxiliary Wi-Fi antennas for use by one or more sensing applications external to the vehicle 200.

[0105] Continue to refer Figure 1 , the Wi-Fi sensor module 102 may receive a signal after transmitting a Wi-Fi signal to one or more of the Wi-Fi antennas 104, 106, 108. For example, after transmitting a Wi-Fi signal once via one of the Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, 120, the Wi-Fi sensor antenna may receive a signal (e.g., a static signal) and / or one or more reflected signals directly from one or more of the linked Wi-Fi antennas 104, 106, 108. For example, when Figure 1When Wi-Fi sensor antenna 118 transmits a Wi-Fi signal, Wi-Fi antenna 106 (and other Wi-Fi antennas) may receive the Wi-Fi signal and then transmit a signal having a radiation pattern that causes the signal to pass directly to Wi-Fi sensor antenna 118 (e.g., a static signal) and pass to other objects in the vehicle, such as walls, children, etc. In this example, the signal from Wi-Fi antenna 106 may be directed toward target 124. In this case, a reflected signal (e.g., a dynamic signal) is generated from the interaction with target 124 and received by Wi-Fi sensor antenna 118, as shown in FIG. Figure 1 A similar reflected signal can be obtained by Figure 1 Other linked antennas in the vehicle system 100 receive.

[0106] In some examples, the Wi-Fi sensor module 102 can be paired with and / or have previously been paired with a Wi-Fi signal from a Wi-Fi antenna associated with one or more external non-vehicle devices (e.g., a cellular phone). In such an example, the Wi-Fi sensor module 102 can receive a ping or CSI communication from the non-vehicle device and look for distortion and perform target detection based on the ping or CSI communication from the non-vehicle device. In this way, the external non-vehicle device can provide similar functionality to the Wi-Fi antennas 104, 106, 108 and be implemented as a non-local antenna.

[0107] The control module 110 may then process the received reflected signals to detect possible targets of interest (e.g., children). For example, the reflected signals may be received by the control module 110 via the Wi-Fi antennas 104, 106, 108 and the transceiver module 112. The control module 110 may then determine channel state information (CSI) based on the received reflected signals.

[0108] For example, the control module 110 can analyze received reflected signals to detect changes in mobile objects, which can be tracked by processing the CSI of the Wi-Fi packets of the received reflected signals. In such examples, Wi-Fi sensing uses existing Wi-Fi signals to detect events or changes in the environment through CSI calculated for each Wi-Fi packet at the physical (PHY) layer. In various embodiments, different techniques can be used to estimate CSI, such as in-band sensing and inter-band sensing. In-band sensing can be performed in connected mode and passive mode. In connected mode, a Wi-Fi device (e.g., Wi-Fi sensor module 102) connects to another Wi-Fi device in a (STA / AP) configuration. In this scenario, CSI can be estimated at both ends while the devices communicate with each other. In passive mode, a Wi-Fi device (e.g., Wi-Fi sensor module 102) passively listens for preamble frames on a given channel that can be used for CSI estimation. For inter-band sensing, another device (e.g., a converter device) is used to up-convert / down-convert signals from one frequency band to another, while simultaneously sensing the intermediate channel for CSI estimation.

[0109] CSI can be processed to detect changes from moving objects and, therefore, potential targets of interest. For example, CSI is a time-varying, complex-valued signal with a static component and a dynamic component. The static component corresponds to all non-user multipath reflections (e.g., crest factor reduction (CFR) when there is no interference due to movement in the environment), and the dynamic component corresponds to changes due to motion in the environment. In such an example, the CSI time series signal can be processed into a simplified quantity that can then be used to detect motion and trigger recording.

[0110] For example, the CSI time series signal can undergo signal processing for low-fidelity motion markers to isolate dynamic components. As an example, the static component of the signal can be removed by differentiating the CSI signal over time (e.g., taking the first-order difference of consecutive CSI values). The amplitude of the differentiated CSI values ​​can then be used to remove the noise phase, allowing processing to focus only on the amplitude of the signal (rather than the noise). Next, the norm (e.g., the square root of the sum of squares) of the CSI amplitude values ​​corresponding to all available Wi-Fi subcarriers (subfrequencies) can be determined. The norm values ​​obtained over time (moving median and moving average) can then be filtered to obtain a time-averaged norm signal. If the norm signal changes by more than a threshold (e.g., changes three times within a 3-second window, etc.), an alarm can be triggered, a camera can be triggered to start recording, etc.

[0111] In various embodiments, the vehicle system 100 may utilize multiple channels for higher bandwidth sensing. For example, a Wi-Fi module (e.g., Figure 1The Wi-Fi sensor module 102 can operate in (a) multiple channels (e.g., channels 6 and 11 in the 2.4 GHz band) and (b) multiple center frequency bands (e.g., 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 6 GHz). In such an example, each possible combination of frequency bands and channels gives access to a specific bandwidth that can be used for sensing. Since many in-cabin Wi-Fi sensing applications do not have real-time requirements, these different combinations can be analyzed in a timely manner. For example, in a CPD application, a time period of 10-20 seconds may be provided to acquire a signal and make a decision. This time period provides sufficient time to sample using signals across multiple frequency bands and channels. In addition, bandwidth directly affects spatial resolution. For example, a 20 MHz channel can put multiple spatial reflections into a single bin compared to a 100 MHz channel. For each transmit / receive pair, the communication / sensing channel can be switched via a channel switch announcement (CSA) message in the Wi-Fi standard.

[0112] In such an example, the CSI samples from adjacent Wi-Fi channels can be stitched together and then converted from the frequency domain to a power delay profile (PDF) in the time domain. As an example, this can be done by applying an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to the combined CSI information. Some interpolation along the frequency domain may be required to achieve this stitching. In such an example, the X-axis (time) of each PDF can provide the signal's time to arrival at the receiver (e.g., Figure 1 The PDF is constructed by sampling the CSI across multiple Wi-Fi bands and channels to determine the different delays of the path traveled by the CSI before one of the Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, 120. With this configuration, sampling the CSI across multiple Wi-Fi bands and channels increases the temporal resolution of the PDF, which in turn helps identify more delay bins or "paths" to find the target signal of interest.

[0113] In some examples, when multiple sensing rounds are performed, a 2D time series of multiple PDFs can be obtained. In such an example, each PDF can be equivalent to a path corresponding to, for example, a respiratory signal. In various embodiments, these time series of PDFs can then be further processed to find signals of interest (e.g., by applying a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) across time to calculate a spectrogram to obtain Doppler). In some examples, to remove the effects of static reflections, the average value of each delay bin can be subtracted from the time series of each delay bin. In addition,

[0114] In some examples, the dimensionality of the time series can be reduced by employing techniques such as principal component analysis (PCA). In such examples, the time series corresponding to each delay bin can be sorted and removed based on a metric (e.g., its variance, power, skewness, kurtosis, etc.).

[0115] Continue to refer Figure 1 In some embodiments, vehicle signals (e.g., visual / audio warnings, messages, etc.) may be generated based on the CSI in response to detecting motion and / or objects in the vehicle. For example, Figure 1 The control module 110 or another suitable control module external to the Wi-Fi sensor module 102 can detect motion in the vehicle based on the CSI, as explained above. Upon detection, the control module 110 can transmit an alert signal 130 indicating the detected motion to the alert module 122. Then, in some embodiments, the alert module 122 can generate and output a vehicle signal indicating the detected motion in response to the alert signal 130.

[0116] In addition, in some examples, the control module 110 can detect objects, such as inactive objects in the vehicle. For example, the control module 110 can detect inactive objects based on CSI. In such examples, the CSI can be processed to detect inactive objects. For example, if, for example, an area including inactive objects has been pre-calibrated, an inactive object (such as a person sitting still) can be detected. In such an example, the CSI can be known when the object is not present. Then, when the object is present, additional CSI (together with the known CSI) can be subsequently obtained and used to detect the object (for example, there is now something in the area). In some examples, a person's posture can be detected even if there is no movement through pre-calibration and training (for example, based on machine learning). Then, once detection is performed, the control module 110 can transmit an alarm signal 130 indicating the detected object to the alarm module 122. As explained above, the alarm module 122 can then generate and output a vehicle signal.

[0117] Figure 3-4 Shown Figure 1 Example control processes 300, 400 that may be employed by the vehicle system 100. Specifically and as further explained below, Figure 3-4 The control process 300, 400 involves using Figure 1 The Wi-Fi sensor module 102 is relative to the vehicle (e.g., Figure 2 Although the example control processes 300, 400 are relative to Figure 1 The vehicle system 100 is described with reference to FIG. 1 , but either of the control processes 300 , 400 may be employed by another suitable system.

[0118] exist Figure 3In the control process 300, the control module 110 of the Wi-Fi sensor module 102 determines whether the vehicle is parked. For example, and as explained above, the control module 110 makes this determination based on sensed parameters (e.g., parameters associated with the vehicle's transmission, speed sensor, etc.), received signals indicating that the vehicle is parked, etc. If no (the vehicle is not parked), control returns to 302. If yes (the vehicle is parked), control proceeds to 304.

[0119] At 304, the control module 110 activates in-cabin Wi-Fi sensing. For example, during this implementation, the control module 110 may receive a sensing request for the vehicle (e.g., from a sensing application), determine sensing requirements (e.g., an ordered switching sequence, transmit power adjustment, etc.) for the Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, 120 and / or Wi-Fi antennas 104, 106, 108 of the Wi-Fi sensor module 102, control the switching device 114 to sequentially connect the Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, 120 to the transceiver module 112 based on the sensing requirements, and control the transceiver module 112 to sequentially transmit Wi-Fi signals to one or more of the Wi-Fi antennas 104, 106, 108 via each connected Wi-Fi sensor antenna. In various embodiments, the implemented in-cabin Wi-Fi sensing may last for any suitable period of time, such as between approximately 3 seconds and approximately 10 seconds. Control then proceeds to 306.

[0120] At 306, the control module 110 determines whether the sensing request for the vehicle has been completed. For example, as explained above, the sensing request may include a specific number of sensing rounds. Once the necessary sensing rounds have been completed, the sensing request may be completed. If the sensing rounds have not been completed at 306, control returns to 304. If yes at 306, control proceeds to 308.

[0121] At 308, the control module 110 implements sensing outside the vehicle. For example, and as explained above, the vehicle system 100 can implement an external Wi-Fi sensing application after the sensing request is completed. In such an example, the control module 110 of the Wi-Fi sensor module 102 can control the transceiver module 112 to transmit a Wi-Fi signal to a Wi-Fi antenna (e.g., an auxiliary Wi-Fi antenna) for external sensing. For example, the Wi-Fi signal to the Wi-Fi antenna can be used to activate a camera, motion sensor, etc. to detect movement outside the vehicle. Control then proceeds to 310, where the control module 110 determines whether external sensing is complete. If not, control returns to 308. Otherwise, control ends.

[0122] exist Figure 4In the embodiment of the present invention, the control process 400 begins at 402, where the control module 110 of the Wi-Fi sensor module 102 receives a sensing request for the vehicle. In various embodiments, the sensing request can be received from a sensing application in the vehicle (e.g., a CPD application, a passenger presence and motion application, a safety application, etc.), and the sensing request includes N sensing wheels, as explained above. Control then proceeds to 404.

[0123] At 404, the control module 110 determines sensing requirements for the Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, 120 and / or the Wi-Fi antennas 104, 106, 108 of the Wi-Fi sensor module 102. For example, and as explained above, the sensing sequence requirements may be determined based on the received sensing request and antenna characteristics of the Wi-Fi sensor antennas 116, 118, 120 and / or the Wi-Fi antennas 104, 106, 108. In some examples, the sensing requirements may relate to various parameters for completing the received sensing request, such as antenna switching schedules, transmit power adjustments, sampling criteria, etc., as explained above. Control then proceeds to 406, where the control module 110 instantiates the sensing request and its sensing round.

[0124] At 408, as explained above, the control module 110 implements Wi-Fi sensing using the linked Wi-Fi sensor antenna and one or more Wi-Fi antennas according to the sensing requirements. Control then proceeds to 410 and 412. At 410, the control module 110 receives one or more reflected signals via the linked Wi-Fi sensor antenna and the transceiver module 112. Then, at 412, the control module 110 determines whether any more links exist. If the answer is yes at 412, control proceeds to 414, where the control module 110 implements Wi-Fi sensing using the next linked Wi-Fi sensor antenna according to the sensing requirements. Control then returns to 410. If the answer is no at 412, control proceeds to 416.

[0125] At 416, the control module 110 determines CSI from the received reflected signal, as explained herein. Control then proceeds to 418, where the control module 110 may transmit the CSI to (or share the CSI with) the sensing application that originally provided the sensing request. Control then ends.

[0126] The foregoing description is merely illustrative in nature and is in no way intended to limit the present disclosure, its application or use. The broad teachings of the present disclosure can be implemented in various forms. Therefore, although the present disclosure includes specific examples, the true scope of the present disclosure should not be so limited, because other modifications will become apparent after studying the drawings, the description and the appended claims. It should be understood that one or more steps in the method can be performed in a different order (or concurrently) without changing the principles of the present disclosure. In addition, although each embodiment is described above as having certain features, any one or more of those features described with respect to any embodiment of the present disclosure can be implemented in the features of any other embodiment and / or combined with the features of any other embodiment, even if the combination is not explicitly described. In other words, the described embodiments are not mutually exclusive, and the permutation of one or more embodiments with each other is still within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0127] Spatial and functional relationships between elements (e.g., between modules, circuit elements, semiconductor layers, etc.) are described using various terms, including "connected," "engaged," "coupled," "adjacent," "next to," "on top of," "above," "below," and "disposed." Unless explicitly described as "direct," when describing a relationship between a first and a second element in the above disclosure, the relationship can be a direct relationship with no other intervening elements between the first and second elements, but can also be an indirect relationship with one or more intervening elements (spatially or functionally) between the first and second elements. As used herein, the phrase at least one of A, B, and C should be construed to mean a logical (A or B or C), using a non-exclusive logical OR, and should not be construed to mean "at least one of A, at least one of B, and at least one of C."

[0128] In a diagram, the direction of an arrow generally indicates the flow of information (such as data or instructions) of interest to the diagram. For example, when component A and component B exchange various information, but the information transmitted from component A to component B is relevant to the diagram, an arrow may point from component A to component B. This unidirectional arrow does not mean that no other information is transmitted from component B to component A. In addition, for information transmitted from component A to component B, component B may send a request for the information or an acknowledgment of receipt to component A.

[0129] In this application, including the definitions below, the term "module" or the term "controller" may be replaced with the term "circuit". The term "module" may refer to part of or include the following: an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC); a digital, analog, or mixed analog / digital discrete circuit; a digital, analog, or mixed analog / digital integrated circuit; a combinational logic circuit; a field-programmable gate array (FPGA); a processor circuit (shared, dedicated, or grouped) that executes code; a memory circuit (shared, dedicated, or grouped) that stores code executed by the processor circuit; other suitable hardware components that provide the described functionality; or a combination of some or all of the above, such as in a system on a chip.

[0130] The module may include one or more interface circuits. In some examples, the interface circuit may include a wired or wireless interface connected to a local area network (LAN), the Internet, a wide area network (WAN), or a combination thereof. The functionality of any given module of the present disclosure may be distributed between multiple modules connected by the interface circuits. For example, multiple modules may allow for load balancing. In another example, a server (also referred to as a remote or cloud) module may perform some functions on behalf of a client module.

[0131] The term code, as used above, may include software, firmware, and / or microcode, and may refer to programs, routines, functions, classes, data structures, and / or objects. The term shared processor circuit encompasses a single processor circuit that executes some or all code from multiple modules. The term group processor circuit encompasses a processor circuit that, in combination with additional processor circuits, executes some or all code from one or more modules. References to multiple processor circuits encompass multiple processor circuits on discrete dies, multiple processor circuits on a single die, multiple cores of a single processor circuit, multiple threads of a single processor circuit, or combinations of the foregoing. The term shared memory circuit encompasses a single memory circuit that stores some or all code from multiple modules. The term group memory circuit encompasses a memory circuit that, in combination with additional memory, stores some or all code from one or more modules.

[0132] The term memory circuit is a subset of the term computer-readable medium. The term computer-readable medium as used herein does not encompass transient electrical or electromagnetic signals propagated through a medium (e.g., on a carrier wave); thus, the term computer-readable medium may be considered to be tangible and non-transitory. Non-limiting examples of non-transitory tangible computer-readable media are non-volatile memory circuits (e.g., flash memory circuits, erasable programmable read-only memory circuits, or mask read-only memory circuits), volatile memory circuits (e.g., static random access memory circuits or dynamic random access memory circuits), magnetic storage media (e.g., analog or digital magnetic tape or hard drives), and optical storage media (e.g., CDs, DVDs, or Blu-ray discs).

[0133] The apparatus and methods described in this application can be implemented in part or in whole by a special-purpose computer, which is created by configuring a general-purpose computer to perform one or more specific functions embodied in a computer program. The functional blocks, flow chart components, and other elements described above serve as software specifications that can be translated into computer programs by a skilled technician or programmer through routine work.

[0134] The computer program includes processor-executable instructions stored on at least one non-transitory tangible computer-readable medium. The computer program may also include or rely on stored data. The computer program may include a basic input / output system (BIOS) that interacts with the hardware of the special-purpose computer, device drivers that interact with specific devices of the special-purpose computer, one or more operating systems, user applications, background services, background applications, etc.

[0135] A computer program may include: (i) descriptive text to be parsed, such as HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), XML (Extensible Markup Language), or JSON (JavaScript Object Notation); (ii) assembly code; (iii) object code generated by a compiler from source code; (iv) source code executed by an interpreter; (v) source code compiled and executed by a just-in-time compiler, etc. By way of example only, source code may be written in a language including C, C++, C#, Objective-C, Swift, Haskell, Go, SQL, R, Lisp, Fortran, Perl, Pascal, Curl, OCaml, HTML5 (Hypertext Markup Language Fifth Revision), Ada, ASP (Active Server Pages), PHP (PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor), Scala, Eiffel, Smalltalk, Erlang, Ruby, Visual Lua, MATLAB, SIMULINK, and The grammar of the language is used to write it.

Claims

1. A vehicle system for Wi-Fi sensing in a vehicle, the vehicle system comprising: Multiple Wi-Fi antennas positioned to focus on different areas of the vehicle; as well as A Wi-Fi sensor module includes a plurality of Wi-Fi sensor antennas in communication with the plurality of Wi-Fi antennas, a control module, a transceiver module in communication with the control module, and a switching device in communication with the control module and the transceiver module, wherein each of the plurality of Wi-Fi sensor antennas has at least one antenna characteristic that is different from another Wi-Fi sensor antenna, and the control module is configured to: receiving a sensing request for a vehicle; determining a sensing requirement for the Wi-Fi sensor antenna based on the sensing request; controlling the switching device to sequentially connect the Wi-Fi sensor antenna to the transceiver module based on the sensing requirement, wherein one of the plurality of Wi-Fi sensor antennas is sequentially connected to the transceiver module at a time; as well as The transceiver module is controlled to sequentially transmit Wi-Fi signals to one or more Wi-Fi antennas via each connected Wi-Fi sensor antenna. 2 . The vehicle system of claim 1 , wherein the control module is configured to determine the sensing requirement based on the sensing request and antenna characteristics of the Wi-Fi sensor antenna. 3 . The vehicle system of claim 1 , wherein the control module is configured to adjust a transmission power of at least one of the sequentially connected Wi-Fi sensor antennas. 4 . The vehicle system of claim 1 , wherein the control module is configured to receive the one or more reflected signals via the Wi-Fi sensor antenna and determine channel state information (CSI) based on the one or more reflected signals.

5. The vehicle system of claim 4, wherein: The vehicle system further includes an alarm module in communication with the control module; and The control module is configured to detect movement in the vehicle based on the CSI and transmit an alert signal to the alert module indicative of the detected movement. 6 . The vehicle system of claim 5 , wherein the alert module is configured to generate a vehicle signal indicative of the detected movement in response to the alert signal.

7. The vehicle system of claim 1, wherein the antenna characteristics include at least one of a radiation pattern, a gain, and a directivity.

8. The vehicle system of claim 1, wherein the Wi-Fi antenna comprises at least a first Wi-Fi antenna positioned to focus on a front cabin portion of the vehicle, and a second Wi-Fi antenna positioned to focus on a rear cabin portion of the vehicle.

9. The vehicle system of claim 1 , wherein the control module is configured to determine whether the vehicle is parked, and in response to determining that the vehicle is parked, control the switching device to sequentially connect the Wi-Fi sensor antennas to the transceiver modules based on the sensing requirement.

10. The vehicle system of claim 9, wherein: The Wi-Fi antennas include at least one auxiliary Wi-Fi antenna configured for use with sensing applications external to the vehicle; and The control module is configured to control the transceiver module to transmit a Wi-Fi signal to the auxiliary Wi-Fi antenna after each Wi-Fi sensor antenna has been connected to the transceiver module.

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