Systems, methods, and apparatus for living object protection having extended functionality in wireless power transfer applications

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10012725-B2
Application number	US-201514817813-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 4, 2015
Priority date	Dec 19, 2014
Publication date	Jul 3, 2018
Grant date	Jul 3, 2018

Abstract

Systems, methods, and apparatus for living object protection having extended functionality in wireless power transfer applications are provided. In one aspect, an apparatus for detecting objects in a detection area near a wireless power transfer system is provided. The apparatus comprises a plurality of radar transceivers integrated into a wireless power transmitter, each transceiver configured to transmit and receive radar signals. The apparatus comprises at least one processor configured to receive radar data from the plurality of radar transceivers. The processor is configured to compare responses in the received radar data from each of the plurality of radar transceivers. The processor is configured to determine a presence of a vehicle at a first distance from the plurality of radar transceivers based at least in part on a correlation of the responses in the received radar data from each of the plurality of radar transceivers. The processor is configured to filter portions of the received radar data corresponding to movement within a predetermined range of distances from the plurality of radar transceivers that includes the first distance.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for detecting objects in a detection area near a wireless power transfer system, the apparatus comprising:
a plurality of radar transceivers, each transceiver configured to transmit and receive radar signals; and
at least one processor configured to:
receive radar data from the plurality of radar transceivers,
compare responses in the received radar data from each of the plurality of radar transceivers,
determine respective underbody height values of a vehicle at a first distance from the plurality of radar transceivers based at least in part on the responses in the received radar data from each of the plurality of radar transceivers, and
filter portions of the received radar data corresponding to movement within a predetermined range of distances from the plurality of radar transceivers that includes the first distance when further detecting objects in the detection area.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a correlation of the responses in the received radar data from each of the plurality of radar transceivers comprises a correlation in a time of reception of the responses in the received radar data from each of the plurality of radar transceivers.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first distance corresponds to the underbody height of the vehicle, and the processor is further configured to:
average the respective underbody height values for each of the plurality of radar transceivers.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine a position of the vehicle based on a radar signal received by the plurality of radar transceivers from a radar transponder fixed to the vehicle.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the processor is configured to determine the position of the vehicle by:
receiving the radar signal from the radar transponder at each of the plurality of radar transceivers,
determining a respective distance between the radar transponder and each of the plurality of radar transceivers based on at least one characteristic of the received radar signal, and
determining the position of the vehicle based at least in part on the respective determined distances between the radar transponder and each of the plurality of radar transceivers.

6. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the received radar signal comprises a modulated version of a radar signal transmitted from at least one of the plurality of radar transceivers.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to receive a message comprising an identifier of the vehicle from a radar transponder fixed to the vehicle.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
detect a predetermined physical gesture based on the received radar data from at least one of the plurality of radar transceivers, and
reduce a level of wireless power transferred by the wireless power transfer system in response to detecting performance of the predetermined physical gesture.

9. A method for detecting objects in a detection area near a wireless power transfer system, the method comprising:
receiving radar data from a plurality of radar transceivers,
comparing responses in the received radar data from each of the plurality of radar transceivers,
determining respective underbody height values of a vehicle at a first distance from the plurality of radar transceivers based at least in part on the responses in the received radar data from each of the plurality of radar transceivers, and
filtering portions of the received radar data corresponding to movement within a predetermined range of distances from the plurality of radar transceivers that includes the first distance when further detecting objects in the detection area.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein a correlation of the responses in the received radar data from each of the plurality of radar transceivers comprises a correlation in a time of reception of the responses in the received radar data from each of the plurality of radar transceivers.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the first distance corresponds to an underbody height of the vehicle, and further comprising:
averaging the respective underbody height values for each of the plurality of radar transceivers.

12. The method of claim 9 , further comprising determining a position of the vehicle based on a radar signal received by the plurality of radar transceivers from a radar transponder fixed to the vehicle.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein determining the position of the vehicle comprises:
receiving the radar signal from the radar transponder at each of the plurality of radar transceivers,
determining a respective distance between the radar transponder and each of the plurality of radar transceivers based on at least one characteristic of the received radar signal, and
determining the position of the vehicle based at least in part on the respective determined distances between the radar transponder and each of the plurality of radar transceivers.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the received radar signal comprises a modulated version of a radar signal transmitted from at least one of the plurality of radar transceivers.

15. The method of claim 9 , further comprising receiving a message comprising an identifier of the vehicle from a radar transponder fixed to the vehicle.

16. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
detecting a predetermined physical gesture based on the received radar data from at least one of the plurality of radar transceivers, and
reducing a level of wireless power transferred by the wireless power transfer system in response to detecting performance of the predetermined physical gesture.

17. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium comprising code that, when executed, causes an apparatus to:
receive radar data from a plurality of radar transceivers,
compare responses in the received radar data from each of the plurality of radar transceivers,
determine respective underbody height values of a vehicle at a first distance from the plurality of radar transceivers based at least in part on the responses in the received radar data from each of the plurality of radar transceivers, and
filter portions of the received radar data corresponding to movement within a predetermined range of distances from the plurality of radar transceivers that includes the first distance when further detecting objects in the detection area.

18. The medium of claim 17 , wherein a correlation of the responses in the received radar data from each of the plurality of radar transceivers comprises a correlation in a time of reception of the responses in the received radar data from each of the plurality of radar transceivers.

19. The medium of claim 17 , wherein the first distance corresponds to an underbody height of the vehicle, and the code, when executed, further causes the apparatus to:
averaging the respective underbody height values for each of the plurality of radar transceivers.

20. The medium of claim 17 , wherein the code, when executed, further causes the apparatus to determine a position of the vehicle based on a radar signal received by the plurality of radar transceivers from a radar transponder fixed to the vehicle.

21. The medium of claim 20 , wherein the code, when executed, further causes the apparatus to determine the position of the vehicle by:
receiving the radar signal from the radar transponder at each of the plurality of radar transceivers,
determin

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Sieber Lukas
• Ombach Grzegorz Krzysztof
• Widmer Hans Peter
• Bittner Markus
• Dimke Bernward
• Chopra Swagat

Classifications

• B60L53/66

  Data transfer between charging stations and vehicles · CPC title

• G01S13/878

  Combination of several spaced transmitters or receivers of known location for determining the position of a transponder or a reflector (G01S13/874 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G01S13/88 Primary

  Radar or analogous systems specially adapted for specific applications (electromagnetic prospecting or detecting of objects, e.g. near-field detection, G01V3/00) · CPC title

• G01S13/751

  wherein the responder or reflector radiates a coded signal · CPC title

• B60L53/12

  Inductive energy transfer · CPC title