Environment monitoring device in a motor vehicle and method for monitoring the environment using a correlation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9322916-B2
Application number	US-201214119051-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 30, 2012
Priority date	May 21, 2011
Publication date	Apr 26, 2016
Grant date	Apr 26, 2016

Abstract

An environment monitoring device in a motor vehicle having a signal generating device for generating a transmitted signal, at least one ultrasonic transducer for converting electric oscillations into acoustic oscillations and/or vice versa, and an evaluation device which evaluates an electric received signal in order to determine distances to objects in an environment of the motor vehicle, wherein the signal generating device is linked to the at least one ultrasonic transducer so that the ultrasonic transducer emits an ultrasonic transmitted signal into the environment in accordance with the electric transmitted signal, and the evaluation device is connected to the at least one ultrasonic transducer or at least one further ultrasonic transducer in order to receive the electric received signal. Also disclosed is a method for monitoring an environment by using a cross-correlation.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An environment monitoring device in a motor vehicle, comprising:
a signal generating device for generating a transmitted signal;
at least one ultrasonic transducer for converting electric oscillations into acoustic oscillations and/or vice versa;
an evaluating device which evaluates a received signal to determine one or more distances from objects in an environment of the motor vehicle, wherein the signal generating device is linked to the at least one ultrasonic transducer so that the ultrasonic transducer radiates a transmitted ultrasonic signal into the environment in accordance with the electric transmitted signal and the evaluating device is connected to the at least one ultrasonic transducer or at least one further ultrasonic transducer which in each case convert a received echo signal into a received signal for the evaluating device,
wherein the at least one ultrasonic transducer and the at least one further ultrasonic transducer are in each case arranged integrally on a side, facing away from the environment to be monitored of the motor vehicle, of a wall of a bumper, and the emission of the transmitted ultrasonic signal into the environment and the reception of the echo signal from the environment in each case takes place by locally causing the respective vehicle component to oscillate and the evaluating unit comprises a correlation unit which forms a cross-correlation of the transmitted signal with the received signal and is also constructed to determine the one or more distances from the object in the environment by the correlation signal calculated by the correlation function during the correlation, and
wherein the transmitted signal comprises a pulse section and a temporally invariable constant section and the signal generating device is constructed for deriving the pulse section from a time-limited section of a periodic oscillation signal.

2. The environment monitoring device of claim 1 , wherein the signal generating device comprises a modulation device which modulates the period oscillation signal to generate a modulated transmitted signal.

3. The environment monitoring device of claim 2 , wherein a binary signal is used as modulation signal.

4. The environment monitoring device of claim 2 , wherein the modulation device is constructed for carrying out a frequency modulation in which a change between at least two frequencies within the range of the natural frequency of the at least one ultrasonic transducer is effected for generating the pulse section in dependence on the modulation signal.

5. A method for environment monitoring in a motor vehicle, comprising:
generating a transmitted electric signal;
converting the transmitted electric signal into a transmitted ultrasonic signal;
converting a received ultrasonic echo signal into a received signal; and
evaluating the received signal for determining one or more distances from objects in the environment of the motor vehicle,
wherein a vehicle component is excited locally into oscillations on a side facing away from the environment to be monitored by an ultrasonic transducer arranged integrally on the side facing away to emit the transmitted ultrasonic signal into the environment by the vehicle component which has a closed surface, facing the environment, formed without penetrations in the area of the arrangement of the at least one ultrasonic transducer, and the reflected ultrasonic echo signal which causes the vehicle component or another vehicle component to oscillate at least locally by the at least one ultrasonic transducer or by another further ultrasonic transducer arranged integrally on the side of the vehicle component facing away from the environment or on the side of the other vehicle component facing away from the environment is received and converted into the received signal, wherein during the evaluating, a cross-correlation is formed between the received signal and the transmitted signal and in this context a correlation signal is calculated and the one or the several distances from the objects are determined by the correlation signal, and
wherein the transmitted signal is formed from a pulse section and a temporally invariable constant section, wherein the pulse section is derived from at least one time-limited section of a periodic oscillation signal or is generated as such a one.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the transmitted signal is modulated.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein a frequency modulation is carried out in which a change of the frequency between at least two frequencies in the range of the natural frequency of the at least one ultrasonic transducer is effected in dependence on a modulation signal to generate the pulse section of the transmitted signal.

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the signal which is derived from the oscillation signal of the ultrasonic transducer during the transmission of the pulse section of the transmitted signal is used as transmitted signal for the correlation.

9. The environment monitoring device of claim 3 , wherein the modulation signal represents a Barker code, a Gold code or a pseudo random number.

10. The method of claim 5 , wherein the vehicle component is a wall of a bumper.

11. The method of claim 7 , wherein the modulation signal represents a Barker code, a Gold code or a pseudo random number.

Assignees

• Prausse Claudia
• Tanneberger Volkmar
• Max Stephan
• Volkswagen Ag

Inventors

• Prausse Claudia
• Tanneberger Volkmar
• Max Stephan

Classifications

• G01S7/521

  Constructional features · CPC title

• G01S15/32

  using transmission of continuous waves, whether amplitude-, frequency-, or phase-modulated, or unmodulated · CPC title

• G01S15/931 Primary

  of land vehicles · CPC title

• G01S2015/938

  in the bumper area · CPC title

• G01S15/93 Primary

  for anti-collision purposes · CPC title