Dual function vehicular radar, and applications thereof

Abstract

In an embodiment, a radar unit for use in a vehicle is provided. The radar unit includes a plurality of transmit antennas, a plurality of receive antennas, and a switch configured to select from one of a first and second sensing configuration. The first sensing configuration has a first set of transmit antennas from the plurality of transmit antennas and a first set of receive antennas from the plurality of receive antennas. The first sets of receive and transmit antennas are arranged to optimize detection of vehicles in a vicinity of the radar unit. The second sensing configuration has a second set of transmit antennas from the plurality of transmit antennas and a second set of receive antennas from the plurality of receive antennas. The second sets of receive and transmit antennas arranged to optimize detection of vehicle lane assignment.

Description

DUAL FUNCTION VEHICULAR RADAR, AND APPLICATIONS THEREOFCROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 590,156, filed October 13, 2023, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.FIELD

[0002] The field relates to radar.BACKGROUND

[0003] ADAS, or advanced driver assistance systems, are technologies that enhance the safety and convenience of drivers and passengers by providing assistance, warnings, or interventions in various driving scenarios. ADAS can involve features like parking sensors, blind spot monitors, adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assist and self-parking. ADAS rely on various sensors, cameras, radars, lidars, and software to perceive the environment, detect potential hazards, and communicate with the driver or other vehicles. ADAS can help reduce human error, improve traffic flow, lower fuel consumption, and prevent collisions and injuries.

[0004] Autonomous vehicles, also known as self-driving cars, are vehicles that can operate without human intervention or supervision, using sensors, cameras, software, and artificial intelligence to perceive and navigate their environment. Autonomous vehicles have the potential to improve road safety, mobility, efficiency, and environmental sustainability, by reducing human errors, traffic congestion, fuel consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions. Autonomous vehicles can also rely on various sensors, including cameras, radars, and lidars to perceive the environment and detect potential hazards.

[0005] Radar is a system that uses electromagnetic waves to detect and locate objects, such as aircraft, ships, missiles, or terrain. Radar stands for radio detection and ranging, and it works by transmitting pulses of radio waves and receiving the echoes that bounce back from the targets. A transmit antenna is used to transmit the radio waves, and areceive antenna is used to receive the radio waves. The time delay, frequency shift, and direction of the echoes provide information about the distance, speed, and angle of the objects. Radar can operate in different frequency bands, such as microwave, millimeterwave, or terahertz, depending on the desired resolution, range, and penetration.

[0006] An improved radar system is needed for vehicle sensing and control.SUMMARY

[0007] In an embodiment, a radar unit for use in a vehicle is provided. The radar unit includes a plurality of transmit antennas, a plurality of receive antennas, and a switch configured to select from one of a first and second sensing configuration. The first sensing configuration has a first set of transmit antennas from the plurality of transmit antennas and a first set of receive antennas from the plurality of receive antennas. The first sets of receive and transmit antennas are arranged to optimize detection of vehicles in a vicinity of the radar unit. The second sensing configuration has a second set of transmit antennas from the plurality of transmit antennas and a second set of receive antennas from the plurality of receive antennas. The second sets of receive and transmit antennas arranged to optimize detection of vehicle lane assignment. The radar unit further includes an RF chip and a processor. The RF chip is configured to generate a waveform for transmission on the first set of transmit antennas when the switch selects the first sensing configuration and on the second set of transmit antennas when the switch selects the second sensing configuration. The processor is configured to compare the waveform with a received signal to detect a target. The received signal is received from the second set of receive antennas when the switch selects the first sensing configuration and is received from the second set of receive antennas when the switch selects the second sensing configuration.

[0008] In another embodiment, instead of switching between a first and second sensing configuration, the first and second sensing configurations may be combined. In particular, power may be combined to and from antennas in the first and second sensing configurations In this way, the transmission and reception is done in parallel from various segments of the array. The processor can process the inputs as coming from plurality of antenna elements (a joint coherent processing) or to reduce compute complexity and process each array segment or part separately.

[0009] System, device, method and computer program product aspects are also disclosed.

[0010] Further features and advantages, as well as the structure and operation of various aspects, are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is noted that the specific aspects described herein are not intended to be limiting. Such aspects are presented herein for illustrative purposes only. Additional aspects will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art(s) based on the teachings contained herein.DESCRIPTION OF DIAGRAMS

[0011] The features and advantages of the example embodiments described herein will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which this disclosure relates upon reading the following description, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0012] Figures 1A-1B are diagrams illustrating placement of corner (or surround) radar units around a vehicle.

[0013] Figures 2A-2E are diagrams illustrating various cross road intersection situations where comer radar units may be useful.

[0014] Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating an application requiring lane assignments where corner radar units may be useful.

[0015] Figure 4A illustrates a parking application where comer radar units may be useful.

[0016] Figure 4B illustrates a dense urban application where corner radar units may be useful.

[0017] Figure 5 is a block diagram of a radar unit that can switch between several different hardware or software configurations for different sensing functions.

[0018] Figure 6 is a block diagram of a radar array topology with multiple different hardware configurations for different sensing functions.

[0019] Figure 7 is a block diagram of a radar array topology with multiple different hardware configurations for different sensing functions.

[0020] Figure 8 is a diagram illustrating trilateration to improve resolution in vehicular radar.

[0021] Figure 9 is an example embedded system to implement aspects of embodiments.

[0022] In the drawings, like reference numbers generally indicate identical or similar elements. Additionally, generally, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the drawing in which the reference number first appears.

[0023] Aspects of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] In automotive applications, radars are usually positioned to view a vehicle’s forward direction, to view from a corner of a vehicle, and to view a 360 degree surround of a vehicle. Radar visibility from a comer of a vehicle or from a 360 degree surround of a vehicle is useful in at least two different scenarios.

[0025] First, such radars may need to sense close proximity of the vehicle, such as within 20 meters. Sensing close proximity of the vehicle is useful to allow for autonomous parking. In autonomous parking, a vehicle may start moving from a stop position and radars may be needed for sensing objects and road users that can be static or moving around the vehicle while the vehicle is parking. Second, corner and 360 degrees surround automotive radar units may need to sense highly dynamic objects. This is particularly useful where an ADAS or autonomous vehicle may be needed for sensing crossing traffic in a junction, change lane, and overtake traffic.

[0026] These two tasks are very different from one another and impose conflicting requirements on an automotive radar unit. Some current automotive radar units are not optimized for either situation. The result is many units either compromise performance or are costly more than necessary. Sometimes two different units positioned side-by-side may be used, but this adds to cost.

[0027] To deal with this, embodiments here relate to a dual function corner radar design. The antenna array, and possibly algorithms, are switched between the functions. The functions can be assigned per vehicle's speed, or possibly the environment and intended trajectory.

[0028] Figures 1 A-B are diagrams illustrating placement of corner (or side) radar units around a vehicle 100. Figure 1 A illustrates a top down diagram of vehicle 100 and figure IB illustrates a side view of vehicle 100. Vehicle 100 includes a front facing radar unit 104 and corner / side radar units 102A-F.

[0029] One way of positioning radar units, such as front facing radar unit 104 and corner / side radar units 102A-F, is to mount them on the dashboard or windshield, facing forward. Another way of positioning radar units in vehicles is to install them in the frontor rear bumper, grille, or license plate. This provides a discreet and stable location for the radar unit, as well as a lower profile that reduces drag and wind noise.

[0030] Front facing radar unit 104 is facing forward on vehicle 100. Front facing radar unit 104 may be positioned toward vehicle 100’s center. In this way, front facing radar unit 104 is positioned to detect objects in front of vehicle 100. In contrast, comer radar units 102A-D are sensors that are mounted on the front and rear corners of a vehicle. Corner radar units 102A-B are on the front corners of vehicle 100, and corner radar units 102C-D are mounted on the rear corners of vehicle 100. Alternatively or additionally, vehicle 100 may include side radar units 102E-F. Comer radar units 102A-D and side radar units 102E-F may have a field of view that detects objects that are not directly in front of or behind the vehicle, but are approaching from the side or diagonally. Corner radar units 102A-D, side radar units 102E-F, and front radar 104 may together have a field of view that covers the entire surroundings of vehicle 100.

[0031] Figures 2A-E are diagrams illustrating various cross road intersection situations where comer radar units may be useful. Each of these situations illustrate objects that are very dynamic. For example, figure 2A illustrates vehicle 202 at an intersection with a stop sign. Vehicle 204 is traveling through the intersection orthogonally. Because vehicle 204 may be traveling very quickly, vehicle 202 needs to be able to detect vehicle 204 at a large range to properly yield the right-of-way and avoid an accident. Figure 2B shows an intersection with three vehicles — vehicles 212, 214, and 216 — coming from different directions. Vehicle 212 is making a left turn while vehicles 214 and 216 are passing through the intersection from different directions. Figure 2C shows two streets merging with three vehicles — vehicles 222, 224, and 226. Vehicle 224 is seeking to merge into a lane occupied by vehicle 226. Figure 2D shows two “T” intersections with three vehicles — vehicles 232, 234, and 236. Vehicle 234 is turning left while vehicle 232 is oncoming. Vehicles 232 and 236 are in opposite lanes driving in opposite directions. Figure 2E shows also two streets merging with three vehicles — vehicles 244, 242, and 246. Vehicle 246 is merging into the lane occupied by vehicle 242, and vehicle 244 is in an adjacent lane traveling in the same direction.

[0032] In each of the situations depicted in Figures 2A-E, it is important for a vehicle to understand the other vehicles that may be in the vehicle’s lane or in the next lane. Similarly, Figure 3 is a diagram 300 illustrating highway traffic where radar units areneeded to determine lane assignments. To be effective for assigning lanes for vehicles in the situations depicted in Figures 2A-E and Figure 3, a radar unit needs to be optimized to detect small, dynamic objects.

[0033] The optimization needed for the situations in Figures 2A-E and Figure 3 is very different than what is needed in Figures 4A-B. Figure 4A illustrates parallel parking 400. This is at a slow speed, but a close range and high resolution is needed.

[0034] Figure 4B illustrates a dense urban application 450 where comer radar units may be useful. It shows automobiles surrounded by many motorbikes. Again, this is a situation where a high-resolution at a close range is needed, but objects are moving at a relatively slow speed.

[0035] To deal with these different scenarios, Figure 5 is a block diagram of a radar unit 500 that can switch between several different hardware or software configurations for different sensing functions. Radar unit 500 includes a plurality of sensing configurations 512A-C. Radar unit 500 includes a switch 504 to select between the plurality of sensing configurations and shared components 506 that are used regardless of what sensing configuration is in use. Additionally, radar unit 500 may include a control module 502 with higher level logic to drive switch 504. Each of these components is discussed below.

[0036] Each of the plurality of sensing configurations 512A-C includes a respective set 514A-C of radar unit 500’ s transmit antennas, also referred to transmit elements, a respective set 516A-C of the receive antennas, also referred to receive elements, and a respective processing module 518A-C. Each respective sensing configuration 512A-C is adapted to a particular situation. While figure 5 shows three such sensing configurations for illustrative purposes, any number two or more may be used. For example, in one embodiment, radar unit 500 may include a sensing configuration 512A that is optimized for detection of objects (such as vehicles) in vicinity of the radar unit and a sensing configuration 512B that is optimized for detection of vehicle lane assignment.

[0037] Each transmit element set 514A-C is a set of transmit antennas incorporated into radar unit 500. Each transmit antenna converts electrical signals into electromagnetic waves and radiates them in a desired direction. The transmit antenna can have various shapes and configurations, depending on the frequency, polarization, and waveform of the radar signal, and the scanning or steering mechanism of the antenna beam. Example transmit antennas include parabolic reflectors, horn antennas, slot antennas, phasedarrays, frequency-scanning arrays, and mmWave MIMO radar array. Each transmit element set 514A-C may have an array topology configured to the particular purpose it is designed for. The respective transmit element set 514A-C can share a common antenna. In other words, a single transmit antenna may be in multiple transmit element sets 514A- C.

[0038] Each receive element set 516A-C is a set of receive antennas incorporated into radar unit 500. Each receive antenna captures the reflected or scattered electromagnetic waves from the targets and converts them into electrical signals for further processing. Receive antennas can have different shapes, sizes, orientations, gain, and polarization depending on the radar application, frequency, and performance requirements. As with the transmit antennas, the respective receive element set 516A-C can share a common antenna. In other words, a single receive antenna may be in multiple receive element sets 514A-C.

[0039] Each processing module 518A-C conducts processing needed for that specific sensor configuration. For example, processing module 518A in sensor configuration 512A may be needed to optimize detection of vehicles in vicinity of the radar unit and may implement synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) techniques. Synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) virtually extends aperture of the radar unit. As the vehicle moves, syntheticaperture radar (SAR) records the changing phase and amplitude of the echoes, which contain information about the target's location and reflectivity. In this example, processing module 518A combines the echoes from different positions. By combining the echoes from different positions, processing module 518A can synthesize a large virtual antenna array, or aperture, that improves the resolution and quality of the image. Each processing module 518A-C may be implemented in hardware, software, or any combination there.

[0040] In another example, processing module 518A-C may change the transmit parameters according to the particular configuration. For example, processing module 518A-C may change pulse width, waveform, frame, polarization or output power structure of the transmit signal.

[0041] In yet another example, processing module 518A may use trilateration techniques with another radar unit mounted on the vehicle to increase resolution in the azimuth dimension. This example is described in greater detail with respect to Figure 8.

[0042] Switch 504 is configured to switch between the sensing configurations 512A-C. Switch 504 may switch between sensor configurations 512A-C using any of a plurality of each of different techniques. In a first embodiment, switch 504 constantly toggles between functions at a constant frequency. For example, switch 504 may switch between sensing configurations 512A-C in a round robin fashion. It may switch between sensing configurations 512A-C by utilizing sensing configurations 512A-C for a constant period of time. The time period for each sensing configurations 512A-C may be equal or unequal. It also may vary based on inputs from control module 502.

[0043] Control module 502 may alter how switch 504 toggles between sensing configurations 512A-C. For example, control module 502 may alter the amount of time switch 504 has with each of sensing configurations 512A-C before switching to another of sensing configurations 512A-C. In another example, control module 502 may merely instruct switch 504 to toggle to one of sensing configurations 512A-C. Control module 502 controls switch 504 based on vehicle velocity (e.g., speed), data on the environment (e.g., map information), side information (e.g., whether or the degree to which objects are detected on the side of the vehicle, such as using radar), and weather conditions.

[0044] Finally, radar unit 500 includes shared components 506 that are used regardless of which sensing configuration 512A-C is selected by switch 504. Shared components 506 includes a radar processor 508 and RF chip 510. RF chip 510 configured to generate a waveform for transmission for the set of transmit antennas selected by switch 504.

[0045] Radar processor 508 is configured to compare the waveform generated by RF chip 510 with a received signal to detect a target. The received signal is received from the set of receive antennas selected by switch 504. By comparing the waveform generated by RF chip 510, processor 508 can identify an azimuth, elevation, range, and Doppler value of a target. In addition, processor 508 may be able to identify a radar cross-section of the target as well. As described above, the data generated by processor 508 may be used to control the vehicle, for example to drive the vehicle autonomously or to provide advanced driver assistance.

[0046] As mentioned in one embodiment, radar unit 500 may include a sensing configuration 512A that is optimized for detection of vehicles in vicinity of the radar unit and a sensing configuration 512B that is optimized for detection of vehicle laneassignment. Each of these is described in turn and specific examples of the configurations are provided below with respect to figures 6 and 7.

[0047] Sensing configuration 512A includes a set of transmit antennas 514A and a set of receive antennas 516A being arranged to optimize detection of vehicles in a vicinity of the radar unit. To provide a good elevation resolution in a short range, sensing configuration 512A uses a coarse azimuth array in the radar unit design. The coarse azimuth array includes a set of transmit antennas 514A that is perhaps arranged vertically in one dimension. As will be discussed below, a poorer azimuth resolution may be compensated using SAR and trilateration. The antenna element may have a wide field of view in both elevation and azimuth directions in this use case. The transmit antenna set 514A produces a larger aperture and are arranged more sparsely than the second set of transmit antennas in the elevation dimension. The antenna gain in sensing configuration 512A may be lower than in 512B. This may be satisfactory because sensing configuration 512A is for detecting targets in very short ranges and the reflections in short range tend to have better signal to noise ratio.

[0048] The set of receive antennas 516A may include two receive elements arranged away from one another and to improve the virtual array resolution in the azimuth direction. A virtual array in a radar is a synthetic array that is formed by combining the signals from multiple transmit and receive elements that are spatially separated. A virtual array can have a larger aperture and more degrees of freedom than a physical array, enabling higher resolution and better target detection and estimation. A virtual array can also adapt to different scenarios and environments by changing transmit and receive beamforming patterns.

[0049] A MIMO radar is a type of radar that uses multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) techniques to generate and process the signals from a virtual array. A MIMO radar can transmit orthogonal waveforms from each transmit element, creating a diversity gain and a spatial multiplexing gain. The diversity gain improves the signal-to-noise ratio and the robustness to interference and clutter, and the spatial multiplexing gain increases the number of independent channels and the information capacity. In this way, sensing configuration 512A may utilize MIMO radar to extend the virtual antenna area in the elevation dimension.

[0050] Sensing configuration 512A also includes processing module 518A. Processing module 518A may use a coherent processing, or a non-coherent one, through a fusion unit. Additionally or alternatively, processing module 518A may use Trilateration, Kalman or particle filter, machine learning, or any other similar algorithm to process the received signals from receive antenna set 516A.

[0051] Sensing configuration 512B includes a set of transmit antennas 514B and a set of receive antennas 516B being arranged to optimize detection lane assignment of vehicles. The transmit antenna set 514B has a narrower field of view than the transmit antenna set 514A. Moveover, the respective transmit antennas in the transmit antenna set 514B may have a greater gain than respective transmit antennas in the transmit antenna set 514A.

[0052] Sensing configuration 512B may produce greater sidelobes than the sensing configuration 512A. Sidelobes are the lobes (local maxima) of the far field radiation pattern of an antenna or other radiation source that are not the main lobe reflected from the target. Sidelobes are generally undesirable in radar applications, because they can cause interference, clutter, false alarms, or reduced sensitivity. However, sensing configuration 512B may be able to cope with the greater sidelobes because the objects sought to be detected in this configuration are generally dynamic. Because the objects are dynamic, they have Doppler values that can be used to resolve an object of low SNR in spite an increased sidelobes’ level. Object detection and resolution may be executed, for example, by processing module 518B.

[0053] As an alternative embodiment, switch 504 may be replaced with combiner that combines the various sensing configurations. In this example, the various sensing configurations may run in parallel. The combiner may, for example, be an AND or OR function. In this way, power may be combined to and from antennas in the first and second sensing configurations. In this way, the transmission and reception is done in parallel from various segments of the array. Radar processor 508 can process the inputs as coming from plurality of transmit antenna elements 514A-C (a joint coherent processing), or to reduce compute complexity and process each array segment or part separately.

[0054] Figure 6 is a block diagram of a radar array 600 with multiple different hardware configurations for different sensing functions. Radar array 600 is an example array that can be used in radar unit 500. Radar array 600 is a conformal array in that it includes a flat array antenna designed to conform or follow a prescribed shape, in this example arectangle. It may also be a curving shape, such as a corner of a vehicle. As described above, radar array 600 supports two sensing configurations: sensing configuration 512A and sensing configuration 512B.

[0055] With respect to sensing configuration 512A (vehicle vicinity), radar array 600 illustrates transmit antennas set 514A as including eight antennas: 514A-1 — 514A-8. And, radar array 600 illustrates receive antennas set 516A as arrays including two subarray antennas: 516A-1 and 516A-2. As described above, in this example, transmit antennas 514A-1 — 514A-8 are arranged one dimensionally in the elevation direction.

[0056] Receive antennas 516A-1 and 516A-2 are arranged away from one another to improve the virtual array resolution in the azimuth direction. Within the conformal design of radar array 600, receive antennas 516A-1 and 516A-2 are arranged away from transmit antennas 514A-1 — 514A-8 to avoid or minimize Tx leakage. Radar leakage is the unwanted emission of electromagnetic waves from a radar transmitter to the receiver, without reflection from a target.

[0057] With respect to sensing configuration 512B (lane assignment), radar array 600 illustrates transmit antennas set 514B as including eight antennas: 514B-1 — 514B-8. And, radar array 600 illustrates receive antennas set 516B as including two sub-array antennas: 516B-1 and 516B-2. In one embodiment, receive sub-array antennas 516B-1 and 516B-2 may be combined to a single, larger antenna array. As described above, in this example, transmit antennas 514A-1 — 514A-8 are arranged one dimensionally in the elevation direction. Within the conformal design of radar array 600, receive antennas 516B-1 and 516B-2 are arranged away from transmit antennas 514B-1 — 514B-8 to avoid or minimize Tx leakage.

[0058] As mentioned, the same transmit or receive antenna may be used in several different sensing configurations. This is illustrated in figure 6 as transmit antenna 514A-4 in sensing configuration 512A is the same as transmit antenna 514B-8 in sensing configuration 512B. And, receive antenna 516A-2 in sensing configuration 512A is the same as receive antenna 516B-2 in sensing configuration 512B.

[0059] Additionally or alternative, the transmit element set 514A may have a polarization that is different from the transmit element set 514B. In this way, different sensing configurations may exhibit different polarizations. This may provide advantages in, for example, avoiding interference.

[0060] In, for example, embodiments where the arrays are virtual, a skilled artisan would recognize that receive elements and transmit elements are interchangeable.

[0061] Figure 7 is a block diagram of a radar array 700 with multiple different hardware configurations for different sensing functions. Radar array 700 is an example array that can be used in radar unit 500. Radar array 700 is a non-conformal array also facing different directions for the different functions. Radar array 700 includes a rear panel 702 and a side panel 704.

[0062] Rear panel 702 may be located in a rear corner of a vehicle. Returning to figure 1, Rear panel 702 may be located at 102C or 102D. Side panel 704 facing to the side of the vehicle and may be located at 102E or 102F respectively. Alternative rear panel 702 and Side panel 704 may be placed adjacent to one another at a corner of a vehicle.

[0063] For sensing configuration 512B (lane assignment), rear panel 702 may include all transmit antennas. In particular, rear panel 702 includes all of the transmit antennas 514B- 1 — 514B-7 and all of the receive elements for sensing configuration 512B, which in this example is a single antenna 516B-1. Transmit antennas 514B-1 — 514B-7 and receive antenna 516B-1 may have a boresight directed backwards from the vehicle. A boresight of an directional antenna is the principal axis where the directional antenna exhibits its highest gain, resulting in maximum radiated power. As illustrated in figure 7, receive antenna 516B-1 is positioned away from transmit antennas 514B-1 — 514B-7 on rear panel 702 to avoid leakage.

[0064] For sensing configuration 512A (vehicle vicinity), transmit antennas 514A-1 — 514A-8 and receive antennas 516A-1 — 516A-2 are distributed among rear panel 702 and side panel 704. Rear panel 702 includes transmit antennas 514A-1 — 514A-4 aligned one dimensionally in the vertical elevation direction and includes receive antenna 516A-1 positioned away from transmit antennas 514A-1 — 514A-4 to avoid leakage. Transmit antennas 514A-1 — 514A-4 and receive antenna 516A-1 may have a boresight facing backwards.

[0065] Side panel 700 includes transmit antennas 514A-5 — 514A-8 aligned one dimensionally in the vertical elevation direction and includes receive antenna 516A-2. Transmit antennas 514A-5 — 514A-8 and receive antenna 516A-2 may have a boresight facing sideways from the vehicle.

[0066] Figure 8 is a diagram 800 illustrating radar trilateration in corner radar. In particular, diagram 800 illustrates vehicle 100 with corner radar units 102B and 102C. They each substantially and simultaneously detect a target 802. In particular, radar unit 102B makes a detection at azimuth angle 804 and at range 808. Radar unit 102C makes a detection at azimuth angle 806 and at range 810. The resulting spherical coordinates are similar enough to infer that the same object is being simultaneously detected by both radar units 102B and 102C. Thus, trigonometry may be used to adjust the coordinates of target 802, improving resolution.

[0067] Returning to Figure 5, processing modules 518A-C, switch 504, control module 502, and radar processor 508 may be implemented on a product of manufacture 900

[0068] Reference is made to Fig. 9 which schematically illustrates a product of manufacture 900, in accordance with some demonstrative aspects. Product 900 may include one or more tangible computer-readable (“machine-readable”) non-transitory storage media 902, which may include computer-executable instructions, e.g., implemented by logic 904, operable to, when executed by at least one computer processor, enable the at least one computer processor to implement one or more operations and / or functionalities described with reference to any of the Figs. 1-8, and / or one or more operations described herein. The phrases “non-transitory machine-readable medium” and “computer-readable non-transitory storage media” may be directed to include all machine and / or computer readable media, with the sole exception being a transitory propagating signal.

[0069] In some demonstrative aspects, product 900 and / or machine-readable storage media 902 may include one or more types of computer-readable storage media capable of storing data, including volatile memory, non-volatile memory, removable or nonremovable memory, erasable or non-erasable memory, writeable or re-writeable memory, and the like. For example, machine-readable storage media 902 may include, RAM, DRAM, Double-Data-Rate DRAM (DDR-DRAM), SDRAM, static RAM (SRAM), ROM, programmable ROM (PROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory (e.g., NOR or NAND flash memory), content addressable memory (CAM), polymer memory, phasechange memory, ferroelectric memory, silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS) memory, a disk, a hard drive, and the like. The computer-readable storage media mayinclude any suitable media involved with downloading or transferring a computer program from a remote computer to a requesting computer carried by data signals embodied in a carrier wave or other propagation medium through a communication link, e.g., a modem, radio or network connection.

[0070] In some demonstrative aspects, logic 904 may include instructions, data, and / or code, which, if executed by a machine, may cause the machine to perform a method, process and / or operations as described herein. The machine may include, for example, any suitable processing platform, computing platform, computing device, processing device, computing system, processing system, computer, processor, or the like, and may be implemented using any suitable combination of hardware, software, firmware, and the like.

[0071] In some demonstrative aspects, logic 904 may include, or may be implemented as, software, a software module, an application, a program, a subroutine, instructions, an instruction set, computing code, words, values, symbols, and the like. The instructions may include any suitable type of code, such as source code, compiled code, interpreted code, executable code, static code, dynamic code, and the like. The instructions may be implemented according to a predefined computer language, manner or syntax, for instructing a processor to perform a certain function. The instructions may be implemented using any suitable high-level, low-level, object-oriented, visual, compiled and / or interpreted programming language, machine code, and the like.

[0072] Although several embodiments have been described, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the embodiments detailed herein. Accordingly, the specification and figures are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present teachings. The benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element(s) that may cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become more pronounced are not to be construed as critical, required, or essential features or elements of any or all the claims. The invention(s) are defined solely by the appended claims including any amendments made during the pendency of this application and all equivalents of those claims as issued.

[0073] Identifiers, such as “(a),” “(b),” “(i),” “(ii),” etc., are sometimes used for different elements or steps. These identifiers are used for clarity and do not necessarily designate an order for the elements or steps.

[0074] Moreover, in this document, relational terms such as first and second, and the like may be used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. The terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “has”, “having”, “includes”, “including”, “contains”, “containing” or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises, has, includes, or contains a list of elements, does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. An element preceded by “comprises... a”, “has . . . a”, ‘includes ... a”, “contains ...a” does not, without additional constraints, preclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, and / or apparatus that comprises, has, includes, and / or contains the element. The terms “a” and “an” are defined as one or more unless explicitly stated otherwise herein. The terms “approximately”, “about” or any other version thereof, are defined as being close to as understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. A device or structure that is “configured” in a certain way is configured in at least that way, but may also be configured in ways that are not listed. For the indication of elements, a singular or plural forms can be used, but it does not limit the scope of the disclosure and the same teaching can apply to multiple objects, even if in the current application an object is referred to in its singular form.

[0075] The embodiments detailed herein are provided to allow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it is demonstrated that multiple features are grouped together in various embodiments for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment in at least some instances. Thus, the following claims arehereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as separately claimed subject matter

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A radar unit for use in a vehicle, comprising: a plurality of transmit antennas; a plurality of receive antennas; a switch configured to select from one of a first and second sensing configuration, the first sensing configuration having a first set of transmit antennas from the plurality of transmit antennas and a first set of receive antennas from the plurality of receive antennas being arranged to optimize detection of objects in a vicinity of the radar unit, and the second sensing configuration having a second set of transmit antennas from the plurality of transmit antennas and a second set of receive antennas from the plurality of receive antennas being arranged to optimize detection of vehicle lane assignment; an RF chip configured to generate a waveform for transmission on the first set of transmit antennas when the switch selects the first sensing configuration and on the second set of transmit antennas when the switch selects the second sensing configuration; and a processor configured to compare the waveform with a received signal to detect a target, the received signal received from the second set of receive antennas when the switch selects the first sensing configuration, and from the second set of receive antennas when the switch selects the second sensing configuration.

2. The radar unit of claim 1, wherein the second set of transmit antennas produces a larger aperture and is arranged more sparsely than the first set of transmit antennas in an azimuth dimension.

3. The radar unit of claim 2, wherein a characteristic for the first set of transmit antennas and associated waveform are optimized in a first dimension and are not optimized in a second dimension and the characteristic for the second set of transmit antennas and associated waveform are optimized in a second dimension and are not optimized in a first dimension .

4. The radar unit of claim 3, wherein the characteristic is selected from at least of one field of view, antenna gain, and polarization.

5. The radar unit of claim 1, wherein the second sensing configuration is one dimensional in an azimuth dimension.

6. The radar unit of claim 1, wherein use of the first sensing configuration results in greater resolution in an elevation dimension than the second sensing configuration.

7. The radar unit of claim 1, wherein use of the first sensing configuration results in poorer resolution in an azimuth dimension than the second sensing configuration.

8. The radar unit of claim 1, wherein the first set of transmit antennas produces a larger aperture and is arranged more sparsely than the second set of transmit antennas in an elevation dimension.

9. The radar unit of claim 1, wherein the first set of transmit antennas has a narrower field of view than the second set of transmit antennas.

10. The radar unit of claim 9, wherein respective transmit antennas in the first set of transmit antennas have a greater gain than respective transmit antennas in the second set of transmit antennas.

11. The radar unit of claim 1, wherein the first sensing configuration utilizes multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar to extend a virtual antenna area in an elevation dimension.

12. The radar unit of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to, when the first sensing configuration is selected, use synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) techniques to virtually extend aperture of the radar unit as the vehicle moves.

13. The radar unit of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to, when the first sensing configuration is selected, use trilateration techniques with another radar unit mounted on the vehicle to increase resolution in an azimuth dimension.

14. The radar unit of claim 1, whether the switch is configured to iterate between the first and second sensing configurations.

15. The radar unit of claim 1, further comprising: a control module configured to signal the switch to select the first or second sensing configuration.

16. The radar unit of claim 15, wherein the control module is configured to signal the switch to select the first or second sensing configuration based on a velocity of the vehicle.

17. The radar unit of claim 1, wherein the plurality of transmit antennas and the plurality of receive antennas are positioned on an array, and wherein the first set of transmit antennas are positioned on the array away from the first set of receive antennas to avoid Tx leakage.

18. The radar unit of claim 1, wherein the plurality of transmit antennas and the plurality of receive antennas are positioned on an array, and wherein the second set of transmit antennas are positioned on the array away from the second set of receive antennas to avoid Tx leakage.

19. The radar unit of claim 1, wherein the radar unit is configured to be mounted on a corner of the vehicle.

20. The radar unit of claim 1, further comprising: a rear panel facing to the rear of the vehicle; and a side panel facing to the side of the vehicle, wherein the rear panel and the side panel comprise the plurality of transmit antennas and the plurality of receive antennas.

21. The radar unit of claim 20, wherein the rear panel comprises the second set of transmit antennas and the second set of receive antennas.

22. The radar unit of claim 20, wherein the first set of transmit antennas and the first set of receive antennas are distributed among the rear panel and the side panel.

23. A radar unit for use in a vehicle, comprising: a plurality of transmit antennas; a plurality of receive antennas; a combiner configured to combine from one of a first and second sensing configuration, the first sensing configuration having a first set of transmit antennas from the plurality of transmit antennas and a first set of receive antennas from the plurality of receive antennas being arranged to optimize detection of objects in a vicinity of the radar unit, and the second sensing configuration having a second set of transmit antennas from the plurality of transmit antennas and a second set of receive antennas from the plurality of receive antennas being arranged to optimize detection of vehicle lane assignment; an RF chip configured to generate a waveform for transmission to the first and second set of transmit antennas simultaneously; and a processor configured to compare the waveform with a received signal to detect a target, the received signal received from the first set of receive antennas and from the second set of receive antennas.

24. A radar unit for use in a vehicle, comprising: a plurality of transmit antennas; a plurality of receive antennas; a switch configured to select from one of a first and second sensing configuration, the first sensing configuration having a first set of transmit antennas from the plurality of transmit antennas and a first set of receive antennas from the plurality ofreceive antennas being arranged sparsely in a non-uniform manner to optimize detection of objects in a vicinity of the radar unit, and the second sensing configuration having a second set of transmit antennas from the plurality of transmit antennas and a second set of receive antennas from the plurality of receive antennas being arranged to optimize detection of vehicle lane assignment; an RF chip configured to generate a waveform for transmission on the first set of transmit antennas when the switch selects the first sensing configuration and on the second set of transmit antennas when the switch selects the second sensing configuration; and a processor configured to compare the waveform with a received signal to detect a target, the received signal received from the second set of receive antennas when the switch selects the first sensing configuration, and from the second set of receive antennas when the switch selects the second sensing configuration.