Vehicle and method of controlling the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12495249-B2
Application number	US-202318244824-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 11, 2023
Priority date	Oct 12, 2022
Publication date	Dec 9, 2025
Grant date	Dec 9, 2025

Abstract

A vehicle includes an audio device including a radio tuner configured for receiving radio frequency signals, a radar configured for detecting radar data of a rear seat passenger, and a controller electrically connected to the radar, wherein the controller is configured to determine, in response that a radio broadcast is being played in the audio device, whether the rear seat passenger is sleeping based on the radar data detected by the radar, switch, if the rear seat passenger is sleeping, a radio mode from a normal playback mode to a sleep assistance mode, and change, in the sleep assistance mode, at least one of radio frequency and radio sound quality through the radio tuner.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A vehicle, comprising:
an audio device including a radio tuner configured for receiving radio frequency signals; a radar configured for detecting radar data of a rear seat passenger in the vehicle; and a controller electrically connected to the radar and the audio device; wherein the controller is configured to:
determine, in response that a radio broadcast is being played in the audio device, whether the rear seat passenger is sleeping based on the radar data detected by the radar;
switch, in response that the rear seat passenger is sleeping, a radio mode from a normal playback mode to a sleep assistance mode; and
change, in the sleep assistance mode, radio sound quality through the radio tuner or change, in the sleep assistance mode, radio frequency and the radio sound quality through the radio tuner,
wherein the vehicle includes a radio sound quality mode including a noise minimization mode, to change the radio sound quality,
wherein the controller is configured to change, in the sleep assistance mode, the radio sound quality mode to the noise minimization mode, and
wherein the noise minimization mode includes multiple modes of which tuning parameters of the radio tuner are set differently to minimize noise.

2 . The vehicle of claim 1 ,
wherein the radar data includes biometric change characteristics including at least one of heart rate, respiration rate, and movement of the rear seat passenger, and wherein the controller is further configured to:
generate a biometric change indicator indicating the biometric change characteristics of the radar data,
compare the biometric change indicator with a preset sleep pattern indicator, and
conclude that the rear seat passenger is sleeping in response to the comparison result matching a preset value or more than the preset value.

3 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the radar is one of an impulse-radio ultra wideband (IR-UWB) sensor, a frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) radar, and a Doppler radar.

4 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to control, in the sleep assistance mode, at least one of a frequency and a tuning parameter of the radio tuner.

5 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein in the sleep assistance mode, the controller is further configured to obtain a radio frequency of the radio broadcast being played, and in response that the obtained radio frequency does not match a pre-stored radio frequency, change a current radio frequency to the pre-stored radio frequency.

6 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein in the sleep assistance mode, the controller is further configured to obtain a radio frequency of the radio broadcast being played, determine whether the radio frequency needs to be changed based on the obtained radio frequency, and upon concluding that the radio frequency needs to be changed, change a current radio frequency to a radio frequency of a radio broadcast conducive to sleep.

7 . The vehicle of claim 6 , wherein the radio frequency of the radio broadcast conducive to sleep is one of a radio frequency searched according to preset conditions from a schedule for the radio broadcast, a radio frequency stored by a user, or a radio frequency recommended according to big data analysis.

8 . The vehicle of claim 1 ,
wherein the radio sound quality mode includes an original sound emphasis mode and an original sound/noise balance mode.

9 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein in the sleep assistance mode, the controller is further configured to obtain a currently set radio sound quality mode, and in response that the obtained radio sound quality mode does not match the noise minimization mode, change the currently set radio sound quality mode to the noise minimization mode.

10 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein in the sleep assistance mode, the controller is further configured to obtain a currently set radio sound quality mode and an electric field strength of the radio tuner, and change the currently set radio sound quality mode to the noise minimization mode based on the obtained radio sound quality mode and the electric field strength of the radio tuner.

11 . The vehicle of claim 8 , wherein the noise minimization mode includes a soft-mute mode, a high-cut mode, and a stereo blend mode of which the tuning parameters of the radio tuner are set differently to minimize noise.

12 . The vehicle of claim 11 , wherein in the sleep assistance mode, the controller is further configured to change the noise minimization mode to one of the soft-mute mode, the high-cut mode, and the stereo blend mode based on an electric field strength of the radio tuner.

13 . The vehicle of claim 11 , wherein the tuning parameters include at least one of electric field strength, ultrasonic noise, and gain of the radio tuner.

14 . The vehicle of claim 11 , wherein in the sleep assistance mode, the controller is further configured to apply the original sound emphasis mode to a first row seat speaker and one of the soft-mute mode, the high-cut mode, and the stereo blend mode to a rear row seat speaker in which the rear seat passengers are sleeping.

15 . The vehicle of claim 14 ,
wherein the radio tuner includes at least one first radio tuner provided to correspond to the first row seat speaker and at least one second radio tuner provided to correspond to the rear row seat speaker, and wherein in the sleep assistance mode, the controller is further configured to change a tuning parameter of the first radio tuner to a value corresponding to the original sound emphasis mode and a tuning parameter of the second radio tuner to a value corresponding to one of the soft-mute mode, the high-cut mode, and the stereo blend mode.

16 . A method of controlling a vehicle including a radio turner for receiving radio frequency signals, the method comprising:
detecting, by a controller, in response that a radio broadcast is being played, radar data of a rear seat passenger in the vehicle through a radar, determining, by the controller, based on the detected radar data, whether the rear seat passenger is sleeping; switching, by the controller, in response that the rear seat passenger is sleeping, a radio mode from a normal playback mode to a sleep assistance mode; and changing, by the controller, radio sound quality through the radio tuner in the sleep assistance mode or changing, by the controller, radio frequency and the radio sound quality through the radio tuner in the sleep assistance mode, wherein the vehicle includes a radio sound quality mode including a noise minimization mode, to change the radio sound quality, wherein the changing of the radio quality includes changing the radio sound quality mode to the noise minimization mode, and wherein the noise minimization mode includes multiple modes of which tuning parameters of the radio tuner are set differently to minimize noise.

17 . The method of claim 16 ,
wherein the radar data includes biometric change characteristics including at least one of heart rate, respiration rate, and movement of the rear seat passenger, and wherein the determining whether the rear seat passenger is sleeping includes:
generating a biometric change indicator indicating the biometric change characteristics of the detected radar data,
comparing the biometric change indicator with a preset sleep pattern indicator, and
concluding that the rear seat passenger is sleeping in response to the comparison result matching a preset value or more than the preset value.

18 . The method of claim 16 ,

Assignees

• Hyundai Motor Co Ltd
• Kia Corp

Inventors

• Kwon Ohyun
• Yu Jaekyu

Classifications

• H04S7/303

  Tracking of listener position or orientation · CPC title

• A61B5/4809

  Sleep detection, i.e. determining whether a subject is asleep or not · CPC title

• B60R21/01512 Primary

  Passenger detection systems · CPC title

• H04R2499/13

  Acoustic transducers and sound field adaptation in vehicles · CPC title

• B60W2540/221

  Physiology, e.g. weight, heartbeat, health or special needs · CPC title