Patents by Inventor Wolfgang Doerr

Wolfgang Doerr has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 12130353
    Abstract: A method of determining ego-motion information of a vehicle comprising a radar sensor having a plurality of antenna elements, comprising: acquiring motion spectrum comprising a plurality of data elements, each calculated for a respective one of a plurality of Doppler bin indices and for a respective one of a plurality of spatial bin indices, each spatial bin index indicating a respective angle-of-arrival of a radar return signal at the radar sensor; and determining the ego-motion information by solving a motion equation system comprising equations of motion generated using the motion spectrum data and each relating a respective value indicating a radial velocity, a respective value indicating an angular displacement, and a variable indicating a velocity of the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2024
    Assignee: Aptiv Technologies AG
    Inventors: Stephanie Lessmann, Uri Iurgel, Wolfgang Doerr
  • Publication number: 20240248198
    Abstract: A computer implemented method for estimating a height profile of a road around a vehicle, comprises the following steps carried out by computer hardware components: receiving radar responses captured by a radar sensor mounted on the vehicle; determining an elevation spectrum of the road around the vehicle based on the radar responses; and estimating the height profile based on the elevation spectrum.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 18, 2024
    Publication date: July 25, 2024
    Applicant: Aptiv Technologies AG
    Inventors: Wolfgang DOERR, Jens Westerhoff, Premnaath Sukumar, Javitha J
  • Publication number: 20230408646
    Abstract: A method is provided for determining a mounting position of a radar sensor at a vehicle. The mounting position is defined with respect to a ground plane on which the vehicle is currently located. Radar responses captured by the radar sensor are received, wherein a field of view of the radar sensor covers at least a predefined area of the ground plane. A sequence of characteristics of the radar responses is determined, and the mounting position is determined by performing the operations of optimizing parameters of a predefined model with respect to the sequence of characteristics of the radar responses, and determining the mounting position based on the optimized parameters of the predefined model.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 2, 2023
    Publication date: December 21, 2023
    Inventors: Wolfgang Doerr, Jens Westerhoff
  • Patent number: 11644574
    Abstract: The present disclosure describes systems and techniques for estimating a height of an object by processing wave signals transmitted from a detection device to the object and reflected by the object. In aspects, a detection device transmits wave signals, which propagate via a direct path and an indirect path via reflection over a reflecting surface, to be reflected by the object. Operations include measuring wave signals reflected by the object and generating measurement vectors and producing a spectrum of an estimated elevation angle of the object over the range. Further, the operations include estimating the height of the object from the spectrum. The length of the window can be determined by estimating the range interval covered by a full phase cycle of a phase difference between the direct path and the indirect path from a current value of the range and a current estimate of the height of the object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2023
    Assignee: Aptiv Technologies Limited
    Inventors: Jens Westerhoff, Wolfgang Doerr
  • Publication number: 20220404493
    Abstract: The present disclosure describes systems and techniques for estimating a height of an object by processing wave signals transmitted from a detection device to the object and reflected by the object. In aspects, a detection device transmits wave signals, which propagate via a direct path and an indirect path via reflection over a reflecting surface, to be reflected by the object. Operations include measuring wave signals reflected by the object and generating measurement vectors and producing a spectrum of an estimated elevation angle of the object over the range. Further, the operations include estimating the height of the object from the spectrum. The length of the window can be determined by estimating the range interval covered by a full phase cycle of a phase difference between the direct path and the indirect path from a current value of the range and a current estimate of the height of the object.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 17, 2022
    Publication date: December 22, 2022
    Inventors: Jens Westerhoff, Wolfgang Doerr
  • Publication number: 20220260701
    Abstract: A method is provided for estimating an angle of an object with respect to a vehicle. A transformation of reflected radar signals is calculated, wherein the result of the transformation depends on a range with respect to the vehicle. A long beam vector is generated for respective range bins provided by the transformation by rearranging the result of the transformation such that the respective long beam vector comprises elements of the transformation from radar all receiver elements for each range bin. A reference vector is calculated for each range bin based on a signal model which depends on the motion of the target object relative to the vehicle and which is parameterized regarding the angle of the target object. The long beam vector and the reference vector are correlated, and the angle of the target object is determined based on the correlation result.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 9, 2022
    Publication date: August 18, 2022
    Inventors: Wolfgang Doerr, Uri Iurgel, Stephanie Lessmann
  • Publication number: 20220244372
    Abstract: A method of determining ego-motion information of a vehicle comprising a radar sensor having a plurality of antenna elements, comprising: acquiring motion spectrum comprising a plurality of data elements, each calculated for a respective one of a plurality of Doppler bin indices and for a respective one of a plurality of spatial bin indices, each spatial bin index indicating a respective angle-of-arrival of a radar return signal at the radar sensor; and determining the ego-motion information by solving a motion equation system comprising equations of motion generated using the motion spectrum data and each relating a respective value indicating a radial velocity, a respective value indicating an angular displacement, and a variable indicating a velocity of the vehicle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 28, 2022
    Publication date: August 4, 2022
    Inventors: Stephanie Lessmann, Uri Iurgel, Wolfgang Doerr
  • Publication number: 20220244373
    Abstract: Described is a way to process radar data for a radar sensor mounted on a vehicle to generate motion spectrum data for estimating ego-motion information of the vehicle. Data samples of each of a plurality of radar return signals received at each antenna element of the radar sensor are generated for each antenna element. Respective Doppler-processed data including a plurality of data values is calculated for each Doppler bin index. In generating a set of motion spectrum data, which comprises a plurality of data elements each calculated for a respective Doppler bin index and a respective spatial bin index, data values of the Doppler-processed data calculated for the Doppler bin index are selected to calculate a covariance matrix. A spectral estimation algorithm, which uses the covariance matrix, can determine a spatial spectrum value for each spatial bin index.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 28, 2022
    Publication date: August 4, 2022
    Inventors: Stephanie Lessmann, Wolfgang Doerr
  • Patent number: 11402486
    Abstract: A method includes identifying, from a reflected radar signal, a plurality of single detections corresponding to object surface spots detected by the radar sensor system, wherein the positions of the single detections in a Range-Doppler-map are deter-mined, wherein at least a region of the Range-Doppler map is divided into a plurality of adjacent evaluation regions separated by separation lines, wherein the separation lines extend parallel to one of the range axis and the Doppler axis. For each evaluation region, at least one selected detection is determined which has, among the detections present in the respective evaluation region, an extremal value with respect to the other axis of the range axis and the Doppler axis, and a boundary of the at least one object is determined based on the selected detections.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2022
    Assignee: Aptiv Technologies Limited
    Inventors: Tao Zhang, Honghui Yan, Wolfgang Doerr, Alexander Ioffe
  • Patent number: 11131766
    Abstract: In a method for the recognition of an object by means of a radar sensor system, a primary radar signal is transmitted into an observation space, a secondary radar signal reflected by the object is received, a Micro-Doppler spectrogram of the secondary radar signal is generated, and at least one periodicity quantity relating to an at least essentially periodic motion of a part of the object is determined based on the Micro-Doppler spectrogram. The determining of the at least one periodicity quantity includes the following steps: (i) determining the course of at least one periodic signal component corresponding to an at least essentially periodic pattern of the Micro-Doppler spectrogram, (ii) fitting a smoothed curve to the periodic signal component, (iii) determining the positions of a plurality of peaks and/or valleys of the smoothed curve, and (iv) determining the periodicity quantity based on the determined positions of peaks and/or valleys.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2021
    Assignee: Aptiv Technologies Limited
    Inventors: Honghui Yan, Tao Zhang, Wolfgang Doerr, Alexander Ioffe
  • Patent number: 10989809
    Abstract: A vehicle-based method of determining the extent to which a target object is a single scatterer, said vehicle including a radar system including a radar transmit element, adapted to send a radar signal towards said target object, and an antenna receive array comprising a plurality M of a receive elements, providing a corresponding plurality of N radar receive channels, and adapted to receive radar signals reflected from said target object, said method comprising: a) transmitting a radar signal from said radar transmit element to said target object; b) receiving the reflected signal of the signal transmitted in step a) from the target object at said plurality of receiver elements; c) for each antenna element or channel, processing the received signal to provide amplitude or power data in the frequency domain; d) with respect to the data in step c), for each receive element/channel, determining the frequency with the maximum amplitude or power; e) determining the degree of variability of the results of step d)
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2021
    Assignee: Aptiv Technologies Limited
    Inventors: Alexander Ioffe, Konstantin Statnikov, Wolfgang Doerr
  • Patent number: 10929653
    Abstract: A method for the recognition of a moving pedestrian by means of a radar sensor system includes the steps of transmitting a primary radar signal into an observation space and of receiving a secondary radar signal reflected by the moving pedestrian. The secondary radar signal is processed, wherein the processing of the secondary radar signal includes the steps of generating a Micro-Doppler spectro-gram of the secondary radar signal, determining, based on the Micro-Doppler spectrogram, an observed bulk speed of the moving pedestrian, determining, based on the Micro-Doppler spectrogram, at least one gait cycle parameter of the moving pedestrian and determining, based on the determined observed bulk speed and the determined gait cycle parameter, an illumination angle between a moving direction of the moving pedestrian and the line of sight.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 23, 2021
    Assignee: Aptiv Technologies Limited
    Inventors: Honghui Yan, Tao Zhang, Wolfgang Doerr, Alexander Ioffe
  • Patent number: 10830874
    Abstract: A vehicle-based method to determine the suitability of an object in the vicinity of a vehicle as a suitable positional landmark, comprising the steps of: a) emitting a plurality of radar signals from a vehicle; b) detecting the radar returns from said emitted radar signals reflected by said object; c) analyzing at least one parameter of at least one radar return to determine the extent to which said object is a stationary object; d) analyzing at least one parameter of at least one radar return to determine the extent to which said object is a single scatterer; e) analyzing at least one parameter of a plurality of radar returns to determine the extent to which said parameter varies with the azimuthal angle between said vehicle and said object, f) determining the suitability of said landmark for the results of steps c), d) and e).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2020
    Assignee: Aptiv Technologies Limited
    Inventors: Alexander Ioffe, Wolfgang Doerr, Uri Iurgel, Konstantin Statnikov, Honghui Yan
  • Publication number: 20200319300
    Abstract: A vehicle-based method to determine the suitability of an object in the vicinity of a vehicle as a suitable positional landmark, comprising the steps of: a) emitting a plurality of radar signals from a vehicle; b) detecting the radar returns from said emitted radar signals reflected by said object; c) analyzing at least one parameter of at least one radar return to determine the extent to which said object is a stationary object; d) analyzing at least one parameter of at least one radar return to determine the extent to which said object is a single scatterer; e) analyzing at least one parameter of a plurality of radar returns to determine the extent to which said parameter varies with the azimuthal angle between said vehicle and said object, f) determining the suitability of said landmark for the results of steps c), d) and e).
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 21, 2018
    Publication date: October 8, 2020
    Inventors: Alexander Ioffe, Wolfgang Doerr, Uri Iurgel, Konstantin Statnikov, Honghui Yan
  • Publication number: 20190318162
    Abstract: A method for the recognition of a moving pedestrian by means of a radar sensor system includes the steps of transmitting a primary radar signal into an observation space and of receiving a secondary radar signal reflected by the moving pedestrian. The secondary radar signal is processed, wherein the processing of the secondary radar signal includes the steps of generating a Micro-Doppler spectro-gram of the secondary radar signal, determining, based on the Micro-Doppler spectrogram, an observed bulk speed of the moving pedestrian, determining, based on the Micro-Doppler spectrogram, at least one gait cycle parameter of the moving pedestrian and determining, based on the determined observed bulk speed and the determined gait cycle parameter, an illumination angle between a moving direction of the moving pedestrian and the line of sight.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 22, 2019
    Publication date: October 17, 2019
    Inventors: Honghui Yan, Tao Zhang, Wolfgang Doerr, Alexander Ioffe
  • Publication number: 20190317204
    Abstract: A method includes identifying, from a reflected radar signal, a plurality of single detections corresponding to object surface spots detected by the radar sensor system, wherein the positions of the single detections in a Range-Doppler-map are deter-mined, wherein at least a region of the Range-Doppler map is divided into a plurality of adjacent evaluation regions separated by separation lines, wherein the separation lines extend parallel to one of the range axis and the Doppler axis. For each evaluation region, at least one selected detection is determined which has, among the detections present in the respective evaluation region, an extremal value with respect to the other axis of the range axis and the Doppler axis, and a boundary of the at least one object is determined based on the selected detections.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 27, 2019
    Publication date: October 17, 2019
    Inventors: Tao Zhang, Honghui Yan, Wolfgang Doerr, Alexander Ioffe
  • Publication number: 20190310362
    Abstract: In a method for the recognition of an object by means of a radar sensor system, a primary radar signal is transmitted into an observation space, a secondary radar signal reflected by the object is received, a Micro-Doppler spectrogram of the secondary radar signal is generated, and at least one periodicity quantity relating to an at least essentially periodic motion of a part of the object is determined based on the Micro-Doppler spectrogram. The determining of the at least one periodicity quantity includes the following steps: (i) determining the course of at least one periodic signal component corresponding to an at least essentially periodic pattern of the Micro-Doppler spectrogram, (ii) fitting a smoothed curve to the periodic signal component, (iii) determining the positions of a plurality of peaks and/or valleys of the smoothed curve, and (iv) determining the periodicity quantity based on the determined positions of peaks and/or valleys.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 20, 2019
    Publication date: October 10, 2019
    Inventors: Honghui Yan, Tao Zhang, Wolfgang Doerr, Alexander Ioffe
  • Publication number: 20190079180
    Abstract: A vehicle-based method of determining the extent to which a target object is a single scatterer, said vehicle including a radar system including a radar transmit element, adapted to send a radar signal towards said target object, and an antenna receive array comprising a plurality M of a receive elements, providing a corresponding plurality of N radar receive channels, and adapted to receive radar signals reflected from said target object, said method comprising: a) transmitting a radar signal from said radar transmit element to said target object; b) receiving the reflected signal of the signal transmitted in step a) from the target object at said plurality of receiver elements; c) for each antenna element or channel, processing the received signal to provide amplitude or power data in the frequency domain; d) with respect to the data in step c), for each receive element/channel, determining the frequency with the maximum amplitude or power; e) determining the degree of variability of the results of step d)
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 21, 2018
    Publication date: March 14, 2019
    Inventors: Alexander Ioffe, Konstantin Statnikov, Wolfgang Doerr
  • Patent number: 9042507
    Abstract: A sintered fuel pellet for a water nuclear reactor fuel rod including a peripheral wall extending along a central axis and two end faces. At least one of the end faces includes at least a first chamfer extending from the peripheral wall towards the central axis with a first non-zero slope with respect to a plane perpendicular to the central axis and a second chamfer extending from the first chamfer towards the central axis with a second non-zero slope with respect to a plane perpendicular to the central axis, wherein the first slope is different from the second slope.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2015
    Assignee: AREVA NP
    Inventors: Wolfgang Doerr, Andreas Hoff, William Jentzen, Dave Curran, Alain Chotard, Pascal Deydier
  • Patent number: 8302756
    Abstract: A clutch actuation device, particularly for a manual transmission of a vehicle, in particular a commercial vehicle, includes a clutch actuation setting device that can be placed in various settings, based on which a corresponding actuation of the clutch takes place. The clutch actuation setting device is suitable for generating electrical signals as a function of the setting, based on which the clutch is correspondingly actuated. A method controls/regulates such a clutch actuation device, particularly for a manual transmission of a vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2012
    Assignee: KNORR-BREMSE Systeme fuer Nutzfahrzeuge GmbH
    Inventor: Wolfgang Doerr