Sharkfin rf and camera integration

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10618474-B2
Application number	US-201514939808-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 12, 2015
Priority date	Nov 12, 2015
Publication date	Apr 14, 2020
Grant date	Apr 14, 2020

Abstract

A communication assembly may include a first antenna. The communication assembly may further include a housing that houses the first antenna and an electronics enclosure. The housing may include a bottom that may be disposed on a fuselage of a vehicle. The electronics enclosure may include a radio frequency module and a camera module. The electronics enclosure may transmit heat to the fuselage of the vehicle by the bottom of the housing.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A communication assembly, comprising:
a first antenna;
a housing, configured to house the first antenna and an electronics enclosure, comprising a bottom configured to be disposed on a fuselage of a vehicle; and
the electronics enclosure comprising:
a radio frequency (RF) module;
a camera module; and
a communication unit, operably connected to the RF module and the camera module, configured to communicate with a processor,
wherein the processor:
processes radio frequency data collected by the RF module,
processes image data collected by the camera module,
the processing of the radio frequency data and the image data comprising serializing the radio frequency data and the image data to obtain individual packets of processed data,

combines the radio frequency data and the image data to form the individual packets in a single data stream in the process of serializing the radio frequency data and the image data, and
sends, via a single communication link, the individual packets of processed data to an electronic control module (ECU) of the vehicle,
receives, via the single communication link, a command from the ECU,
determines whether the command is addressed to the camera module or the RF module, and
sends, in response to the determining, the command to the camera module or the RF module,

wherein the electronics enclosure is configured to transmit heat to the fuselage of the vehicle by the bottom of the housing.

2. The communication assembly of claim 1 , wherein the electronics enclosure is disposed on the bottom of the housing.

3. The communication assembly of claim 2 , wherein the RF module is disposed adjacent to the bottom of the housing.

4. The communication assembly of claim 2 , wherein the camera module is disposed on the RF module.

5. The communication assembly of claim 4 , wherein the camera module comprises a plurality of metallic tracks configured to prevent transmission of electromagnetic interference generated by the RF module.

6. The communication assembly of claim 2 , wherein the electronics enclosure further comprises:
a first heat transfer device disposed between the RF module and the bottom of the housing.

7. The communication assembly of claim 6 , wherein the electronics enclosure further comprises:
a second heat transfer device disposed between the electronics enclosure and the fuselage of the vehicle.

8. The communication assembly of claim 1 , wherein the electronics enclosure further comprises:
a second antenna disposed on an exterior surface of the electronics enclosure,
wherein the RF module is operably connected to the first antenna and the second antenna,
wherein the RF module is configured to:
transmit a first signal to the first antenna comprising data received from a processor based a first type of the data,
transmit a second signal to the first antenna comprising data received from a processor based a second type of the data.

9. The communication assembly of claim 1 , wherein the camera module is disposed adjacent to the bottom of the housing.

10. The communication assembly of claim 9 , wherein the electronics enclosure further comprises:
a first heat transfer device disposed on the camera module.

11. The communication assembly of claim 9 , wherein the RF module is disposed on the first heat transfer device.

12. The communication assembly of claim 9 , wherein a second heat transfer device is disposed between the electronics enclosure and the bottom of the housing.

13. The communication assembly of claim 10 , wherein the first heat transfer device is a heat pipe.

14. The communication assembly of claim 1 , wherein the housing has a shape of a sharkfin.

Assignees

• Connaught Electronics Ltd

Inventors

• Denny Patrick Eoghan

Classifications

• B60R11/04

  Mounting of cameras operative during drive; Arrangement of controls thereof relative to the vehicle · CPC title

• G07C5/0866 Primary

  the electronic data carrier being a digital video recorder in combination with video camera · CPC title

• B60R2011/0294

  Apparatus with multi-functionalities, e.g. radio and telephone · CPC title

• H04N7/183

  for receiving images from a single remote source · CPC title

• H01Q1/3275

  mounted on a horizontal surface of the vehicle, e.g. on roof, hood, trunk · CPC title