Ultrasonic Sensor Bus Addressing via Signal Timing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional ultrasonic-based driver assistance systems for vehicles lack a sensor bus implementation due to complexity and require point-to-point connections for data transmission, making it difficult to uniquely address and geographically locate structurally identical sensors, which is essential for precise distance calculation and display control.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that utilize a sensor bus (e.g., LIN, PSI) to assign unique logical and geographic addresses to ultrasonic distance measuring device units by emitting ultrasonic pulses in a predetermined sequence, allowing for reliable and efficient address assignment based on receiving properties, eliminating the need for additional hardware and enabling automatic identification of units.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If point-to-point connections are used for data transmission between sensors and control unit, then reliable data transmission is achieved, but device complexity and cable harness requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple individual point-to-point connections are merged into a single sensor bus (LIN bus) that carries data from all transmitting and receiving units to the control unit. This reduces the number of cables and connectors while maintaining reliable communication through the bus structure with unique addressing for each sensor.
Solution Approach 2:
The sensor bus serves as a universal communication medium for all transmitting and receiving units in the system. Instead of dedicated cables for each sensor, the single LIN bus handles data transmission from multiple sensors simultaneously, reducing harness complexity while maintaining reliability through protocol-based communication.
2Ease of manufacture
If structurally identical sensors are used in the system, then manufacturing cost is reduced, but unique identification and geographic addressing of individual sensors becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
Each transmitting and receiving unit is pre-assigned a unique identifier during the manufacturing process. This preliminary action ensures that even though the sensors are structurally identical, they have unique electronic identities that facilitate easy identification and geographic addressing when installed in the system, without requiring post-manufacturing customization.
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit acts as an intermediary that uses the unique identifiers from sensors to determine their geographic positions in the bumper. By mediating between the identical sensors and the addressing requirement, the control unit maps sensor identifiers to physical locations, enabling precise distance calculation and display control without modifying the sensors themselves.
3Device complexity
If a sensor bus system is implemented without additional hardware effort, then device complexity is reduced, but reliable addressing of transmitting and receiving units becomes challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs self-addressing by automatically determining the geographic position of each transmitting and receiving unit based on their unique identifiers and signal characteristics. This self-service approach eliminates the need for manual configuration or additional addressing hardware, reducing device complexity while ensuring reliable addressing through automated detection and mapping.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach simplifies the implementation of a sensor bus, reduces cable harness lines, allows for the use of structurally identical units with unique electronic identifiers, and ensures accurate signal assignment and command processing, improving system reliability and speed while tolerating measurement disturbances.
Implementation Method 1
transmitting and receiving units for transmitting signals and receiving the echoes thrown back by an external object
Implementation Method 2
receiving the echoes thrown back by an external object
Implementation Method 3
measuring the runtime of a signal that is transmitted between master and slave on the bus
Data Source
Figure 1~2a
Figure 2b~3
Figure 4~5
AI summary
The invention proposes a system for addressing a plurality of transmitting and receiving units (1) of an ultrasonic distance measuring device, which system comprises an address allocation device (AZ) for allocating a unique address to each of the transmitting and receiving units (1) either on the basis of a difference in a receiving property of the reception of ultrasonic pulses emitted by the transmitting and receiving units (1) in an external receiving unit (E) or on the basis of a difference in a receiving property of the transmitting and receiving units (1) between one another with respect to the ultrasonic signals emitted by an external transmitting unit (S).