Patents Examined by Timothy X Pham
  • Patent number: 11567169
    Abstract: A radar system is provided that includes a radar monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC). The radar MMIC includes a plurality of radar signal channels; and at least one sensor configured to measure a physical parameter related to a temperature of the radar MMIC, and to generate sensor data corresponding to measured values of the physical parameter; and a controller configured to receive the sensor data from the at least one sensor, and to determine a channel operation of the plurality of radar signal channels, including selectively disabling at least a first radar signal channel of the plurality of radar signal channels and selectively enabling at least a second radar signal channel of the plurality of radar signal channels based on the measured values.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2023
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies AG
    Inventors: Francesco Lombardo, George Efthivoulidis, Rainer Findenig, Alexander Melzer
  • Patent number: 11567173
    Abstract: A system for increasing lidar sensor coverage for use by a vehicle is described herein. The system includes a two lidar sensors oriented to emit light beams toward a surface proximate the vehicle. The system also includes at least one mirror associated with each lidar sensor configured to reflect light beams emitted away from the surface. The at least one mirror reflects the light beams toward the surface, thereby increasing lidar sensor coverage associated with the respective lidar sensor. The lidar sensors receive lidar returns, either directly from the surface or reflected off the mirror and may generate sensor data associated with an area proximate the vehicle. A vehicle computing system controls the vehicle based in part on the sensor data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2023
    Assignee: Caterpillar Paving Products Inc.
    Inventors: Todd A. Impola, Timothy M. O'Donnell
  • Patent number: 11555909
    Abstract: A radar system for air volume surveillance, the radar having a transmitter and receiver with separate antennas. The receiver aperture being relatively large compared with the transmitter aperture such that the receiving beam is narrower than the transmitting beam, which itself is relatively small compared with the volume to be surveyed. Multiple receiving beams can be configured so that collectively they substantially match the angular volume of the transmitting beam; and in which the transmitter is arranged, when operating, to transmit a signal with a duty cycle greater than fifty percent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2023
    Assignee: LEONARDO UK LTD.
    Inventors: Anthony Kinghorn, Christopher Mountford
  • Patent number: 11550051
    Abstract: An apparatus and a method for estimating rainfall of hail and rain using a dual-polarization weather radar improve accuracy of classification of hail and rain zones and estimation of rainfall intensity by classifying hail and rain zones using a distribution of horizontal reflectivity and differential reflectivity of radar observation values, discriminating between a convective zone and a stratiform zone depending on reflection intensity, and applying a dual-polarization-based rainfall estimating relational equation for each type in a weighted mean technique.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2023
    Assignee: KOREA METEOROLOGICAL ADMINISTRATION
    Inventors: Young A Oh, Mi Kyung Suk, Sung Hwa Jung, Hae Lim Kim
  • Patent number: 11543516
    Abstract: Radio frequency (RF)-based ranging and imaging in a wireless communications circuit, particularly for a wireless communications system (WCS) is provided. The wireless communications circuit includes an antenna circuit configured to radiate an RF probing signal in a number of directions in a wireless communications cell and receives a number of RF reflection signals corresponding to the RF probing signal. A radar signal processing (RSP) circuit is configured to process the RF reflection signals to detect an obstacle(s) in the wireless communications cell and generate a surrounding image that includes the detected obstacle(s). By generating the surrounding image of the wireless communications cell, it may be possible to detect the obstacle(s) that was not accounded for in an initial deployment design. As a result, it may be possible to adjust a remote unit(s) incorporating the wireless communications circuit to improve RF coverage, throughput, and/or capacity in the wireless communications cell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2023
    Assignee: CORNING RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Siddhartha Dhananjaya Kundalkar, Brenndon Byung-Taek Lee, Farhan Aslam Qazi
  • Patent number: 11543490
    Abstract: Disclosed is a method and apparatus for measuring a distance to a target object by using a radar signal in an environment where an obstacle is present. The disclosed method of measuring a distance by using a radar includes: receiving a radar signal reflected from a target object by passing through a target obstacle; estimating material of the target obstacle by using an obstacle material learning result which uses a waveform of a reference radar signal, and by using a waveform of the reflected radar signal; estimating a thickness of the target obstacle by using an obstacle thickness learning result which uses a frequency feature of the reference radar signal, and by using a frequency feature of the reflected radar signal; and calculating a distance to the target object by using a permittivity according to the material of the target obstacle, and the thickness of the target obstacle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2023
    Assignee: WRT LAB CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Sung Ho Cho, Sung Won Yoo, Han Na Ryu
  • Patent number: 11543510
    Abstract: Embodiments are directed to a dynamic radar detection threshold for stateful dynamic frequency selection (DFS). An embodiment of a storage medium includes instructions to operations including estimate a duty time of transmission of wireless signals by an access point, the access point to provide Wi-Fi communication, the wireless signals being communicated on a DFS channel of the access point, adapt, based at least in part on the duty time of transmission, a threshold of radar signals to indicate detection of a radar signal at the access point on the DFS channel, and perform analysis of received wireless signals on the DFS channel at the access point to detect the radar signal using the adapted threshold of radar signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2023
    Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP
    Inventors: Andre Beaudin, Jean-Francois Gagnon, Mathieu Mercier
  • Patent number: 11534085
    Abstract: Provided is a signal processing device capable of distinguishing and measuring a plurality of measurement targets even with simple configuration. The signal processing device including a reception processing unit that receives a response to a predetermined signal transmitted from a transmission antenna, and a determination unit that determines the plurality of measurement targets by a response to a plurality of signals corresponding to a second direction having a predetermined range different from a first direction having a predetermined range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2022
    Assignee: SONY SEMICONDUCTOR SOLUTIONS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shigenori Uchida, Kenichi Kawasaki, Hiroyuki Yamagishi
  • Patent number: 11536802
    Abstract: A radar sensor head for a radar system. The radar sensor head includes at least one transmitting antenna for generating and at least one receiving antenna for receiving radar waves; a preprocessing unit for defined preprocessing of received data; an interface for connecting the radar sensor head to a data line; and a calibration data unit for at least partially calibrating the transmitting antenna and/or the receiving antenna, calibration data for the transmitting antenna and the receiving antenna being stored using the calibration data unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2022
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Marcel Mayer, Michael Schoor
  • Patent number: 11531088
    Abstract: In various examples, a deep neural network(s) (e.g., a convolutional neural network) may be trained to detect moving and stationary obstacles from RADAR data of a three dimensional (3D) space. In some embodiments, ground truth training data for the neural network(s) may be generated from LIDAR data. More specifically, a scene may be observed with RADAR and LIDAR sensors to collect RADAR data and LIDAR data for a particular time slice. The RADAR data may be used for input training data, and the LIDAR data associated with the same or closest time slice as the RADAR data may be annotated with ground truth labels identifying objects to be detected. The LIDAR labels may be propagated to the RADAR data, and LIDAR labels containing less than some threshold number of RADAR detections may be omitted. The (remaining) LIDAR labels may be used to generate ground truth data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2022
    Assignee: NVIDIA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Alexander Popov, Nikolai Smolyanskiy, Ryan Oldja, Shane Murray, Tilman Wekel, David Nister, Joachim Pehserl, Ruchi Bhargava, Sangmin Oh
  • Patent number: 11531098
    Abstract: A radar image processing device performs determination of a pixel including a ghost image and changes the value of the pixel which is determined to include the ghost image on a radar image the focus of which has been changed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2022
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Noboru Oishi, Kazuhiko Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 11525888
    Abstract: A self-diagnosis device of a radar system or a phased-array antenna module including a general-purpose multi-channel IC and a transmission phase shifter IC having a plurality of transmission output terminals and reception terminals is configured to perform a self-diagnosis of the transmission phase shifter by utilizing a signal that is generatable by the general-purpose multi-channel IC, which is enabled by a built-in self-test circuit that (A) generates a self-diagnosis monitor signal converted into a low frequency band, which is a mixture of (i) a self-diagnosis signal generated from (a) a third output signal and a fourth output signal output in sync from same PLL with (b) a first output signal to be supplied to a reception frequency converter of the general-purpose multi-channel IC, and (ii) a composite signal of the transmission channel, and (B) analyzes a phase of the self-diagnosis monitor signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2022
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventor: Masato Kohtani
  • Patent number: 11520037
    Abstract: Techniques for updating data operations in a perception system are discussed herein. A vehicle may use a perception system to capture data about an environment proximate to the vehicle. The perception system may receive state data stored in cyclic buffer of globally registered detection and occasionally converted to gridded point cloud in a local reference frame. The two-dimensional gridded point cloud may be processed using one or more neural networks to generate semantic data associated with a scene or physical environment surrounding the vehicle such that the vehicle can make environment aware operational decisions, which may improve reaction time(s) and/or safety outcomes of the autonomous vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2022
    Assignee: Zoox, Inc.
    Inventors: Anton Mario Bongio Karrman, Cooper Stokes Sloan, Chuang Wang, Joshua Kriser Cohen, Yassen Ivanchev Dobrev, Jifei Qian
  • Patent number: 11520005
    Abstract: Disclosed are a pulse radar apparatus that detects a position and a motion of a target, and an operating method thereof. The pulse radar apparatus includes a clock signal generator that outputs a transmission clock signal and a reception clock signal, a transmitter that generates a first signal, a receiver that receives an echo signal and the reception clock signal, and generates a second signal, and a signal processor that converts the second signal into a digital signal and analyzes the digital signal. The clock signal generator controls a transmission-to-reception clock delay, and generates a synchronization signal. The signal processor converts the digital signal into a representative value and analyzes the second signal using the representative value. The representative value is one of an accumulated sum of the digital signal in a time duration between synchronization signals and an average value of the digital signal in the time duration between synchronization signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2022
    Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
    Inventors: Pil Jae Park, Bon Tae Koo, Seongdo Kim
  • Patent number: 11513214
    Abstract: Examples disclosed herein relate to radar systems to coordinate detection of objects external to the vehicle and distractions within the vehicle. A method of environmental detection with a radar system includes detecting an object in an external environment of a vehicle with the radar system positioned on the vehicle. The method includes determining a distraction metric from measurements of user activity obtained within the vehicle with the radar system. The method includes adjusting one or more detection parameters of the radar system based at least on the detected object and the distraction metric. Other examples disclosed herein relate to a radar sensing unit for a vehicle that includes an internal distraction sensor, an external object detection sensor, a coordination sensor and a central controller for internal and external environmental detection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2022
    Assignee: Metawave Corporation
    Inventors: Maha Achour, Chiarra Pelletti, Sandra Lynn Godsey
  • Patent number: 11506781
    Abstract: An apparatus for correcting an error of a radar sensor for a vehicle and a method thereof can correct a target measurement error of the radar sensor installed inside a bumper of the vehicle based on target information obtained from a camera image. The apparatus includes: a radar sensor that is installed inside a bumper of the vehicle to detect a target, a camera that photographs a surrounding image of the vehicle, and a controller that corrects a target detection error of the radar sensor based on target information obtained from an image photographed by the camera.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2022
    Assignees: HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY, KIA MOTORS CORPORATION
    Inventor: Dong Ju Lee
  • Patent number: 11486966
    Abstract: Disclosed is a technique for processing signals received from a radar and, in particular, a technique for tracking a target on the basis of detected target candidate signals. The proposed invention introduces a recurrent neural network with a memory function in order to find a target signal from signals with noise and fake signals mixed therein. This recurrent neural network is trained to have a maximum of Q tracking buffers therein. According to an additional aspect, it is possible to increase tracking accuracy through a serial connection of the recurrent neural network. According to an additional aspect, it is possible to track multiple targets through a parallel connection of the recurrent neural network.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2022
    Assignee: SMART RADAR SYSTEM, INC.
    Inventor: Jong Il Kim
  • Patent number: 11486963
    Abstract: A MIMO target emulation system for testing a mmWave radar sensor having multiple radar transmitters and receivers includes a coupling probe antenna array for receiving radar signals from the radar transmitters and for sending emulated target echo signals to the radar receivers; emulator receivers for down converting and digitizing the radar signals; a processing unit that decouples the digital radar signals, retrieves target parameters corresponding to emulated targets, generates emulated target echo signals corresponding to the targets in response to the decoupled digitized radar signals using the target parameters, and pre-decoupling the emulated target echo signals; and emulator transmitters for performing digital to analog conversion of the emulated target echo signals and up converting frequencies of the analog emulated target echo signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2022
    Assignee: Keysight Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Hong-Wei Kong
  • Patent number: 11483703
    Abstract: A portable device accessory includes an attachment mechanism, a hinge member, and a privacy shield. The attachment mechanism is for attaching the accessory to a rear face of the portable device. The rear face is opposite a front face of the portable device. The front face includes the screen of the portable device. The hinge member is pivotably attached to the attachment mechanism. The privacy shield is pivotably attached to the hinge member and movable between a storage position and a blocking position. When the privacy shield is in the blocking position, the privacy shield extends over the front face of the portable device and blocks at least a portion of the screen. When the privacy shield is in the storage position, the privacy shield extends over the rear face of the portable device and is positioned proximate to the attachment mechanism.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2022
    Assignee: ConfiVox Inc.
    Inventor: John David Lee
  • Patent number: 11480662
    Abstract: The techniques of this disclosure enable lidar systems to operate as fast-scanning FMCW lidar systems. The fast-scanning lidar system alternates chirp patterns frame by frame as a way to increase scanning speed, without adding additional hardware. Each consecutive pair of frames includes a frame with a long chirp pattern with multiple chirps and a frame with a short chirp pattern with as few as a single chirp, which is derived from the long chirp pattern assuming a constant object velocity between frames. The chirp pattern applied to each pixel is consistent within each frame but different from one frame to the next. The combined duration of two consecutive frames is less than the combined duration of two consecutive frames of a traditional FMCW lidar system that uses the same chirp pattern from one frame to the next. The shorter duration increases frame rate, scanning speed, or overall throughput of the fast-scanning lidar system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2022
    Assignee: Aptiv Technologies Limited
    Inventors: Geng Fu, Ali Haddadpour, Denis Rainko, Roman Dietz