TWI732475B - Vehicle lamp system with millimeter wave radar - Google Patents

Abstract

A vehicle lamp system with millimeter wave radar, which mainly arranges a vehicle lamp system on a vehicle carrier, wherein the vehicle lamp system mainly has an optical module and at least one millimeter wave radar module, so The millimeter-wave radar module described can transmit and receive a millimeter-wave signal, so that the vehicle lamp system can perform radar detection through the millimeter-wave signal to generate a row of vehicle information for reference by the driver. Furthermore, the millimeter-wave radar of the present invention The module and the optical module share a reflector and an automotive power system to realize the miniaturization of the automotive lighting system, and the detection of the millimeter-wave radar module can be increased without increasing the number of millimeter-wave radar modules. range.

Description

Vehicle lamp system with millimeter wave radar

The invention relates to a "vehicle lamp system with millimeter wave radar" that shares the light source module and reflector of the vehicle lamp.

With the rise of the Internet of Vehicles and autonomous driving technology, more and more vehicles have begun to introduce on-board radar equipment. The on-board radar can detect the position, distance and speed of objects outside the vehicle. Higher-level people can identify the type of objects or perform based on radar signals. Imaging allows drivers to obtain more driving information for reference. Current vehicle-mounted radar technologies include infrared radar, ultrasonic radar, LiDAR, cameras and mmwave radar. However, millimeter-wave radar is not The weather environment affects and the detection distance is relatively long, so it is a better choice for vehicle radar.

Existing vehicle-mounted radars are often used to assist vehicle ranging applications. Among them, vehicle-mounted radars are often installed at the position of the bumper. This method requires additional installation holes in the bumper, which has greater safety concerns for the structure of the bumper. And as a result, due to space constraints, vehicle-mounted radars generally can only use PCB microstrip antennas to directly emit and receive radio waves, instead of using parabolic antennas with high directivity to increase the gain, so the angle of the radar And the resolution is not easy to improve, and the lack of antenna aperture limits the farthest distance that the radar can detect. Although some inventors have installed the millimeter wave radar in the car lights, please refer to the US Patent No. US8803728B2 "Millimeter wave radar-equipped headlamp" "It discloses a headlamp equipped with millimeter wave radar, which is mainly composed of a lighting device unit, a frame and a millimeter wave radar, and the lighting device unit may include a projection lens, a light source, and a reflector. The projection lens is used to transmit the light generated by the light source out of the car lamp, the light source is used to generate an illumination light source, and the reflector is used to reflect the light generated by the light source and reflect the light To the exterior of the car lights, the light shield is used to block part of the reflected light from the reflector. In addition, the millimeter wave radar may include an antenna module, a millimeter waveguide tube, a millimeter wave reflector, and a control module. Wherein: the antenna module is used to receive millimeter waves, the millimeter waveguide tube is used to transmit millimeter waves, and the millimeter wave mirror can reflect the millimeter waves generated by the millimeter waveguide tube to the outside of the projection lens. The control module described is used to control the antenna module; according to this, this US patent proposes an invention in which a millimeter wave radar is installed in the headlight of a vehicle; there are other references, as follows: (1) Chinese Invention Patent No. CN107887686B "Vehicle Array Radar Antenna and Car Light"; (2) Chinese Invention Patent No. CN109375191A "Method and device for acquiring hyperspace resolution information of common illumination source 3D laser radar and 2D detector"; (3) Chinese Invention Patent No. CN110103810A "Three-dimensional Detection Illumination System and Automobile"; (4) US Invention Patent No. US10421390B2 "LAMP DEVICE"; (5) US Invention Patent No. US8803728B2 "Millimeter wave radar-equipped headlamp"; (6) U.S. Invention Patent No. US2019275923A1 "SENSOR SYSTEM" (7) US Invention Patent No. US20180275269A1 "RADAR ARRANGEMENT".

However, the headlamp equipped with millimeter wave radar proposed in US Patent No. US8803728B2 has a very narrow detection range of millimeter wave radar. To increase the detection range of millimeter wave radar, the number of millimeter wave radars must be increased. If the number of millimeter wave radars is increased, the area of the millimeter wave radars added will inevitably increase, which will block the illumination path of the light source and increase the detection range of the millimeter wave radar, but it also sacrifices the illumination range of the illumination light, which is more dangerous for vehicles According to this, how to integrate the millimeter wave radar inside the car lights without interfering with the illuminating light source, while ensuring that the radar has a higher far-field directivity gain and angular resolution, is a problem to be solved.

In addition, vehicle-mounted millimeter-wave radars generally use phase control arrays to form a base line to control the beam direction of the transmitting end. However, in such a system, the directivity gain of a single antenna is usually low, and it is not possible to form a complete antenna. Because of the directional beam, there may be a problem of mutual interference between different emission sources between vehicles. However, due to the directional limitation of the synthesized beam, the receiving end can only reduce the interference to a certain extent even with a more complex algorithm. With a limited signal-to-noise ratio, it is easy to cause confusion between the signals of multiple targets detected within the viewing angle. At the same time, with a limited transmit power, the detectable distance range is limited due to beam dispersion.

In view of the above-mentioned problems, the inventor of the present invention has conducted research and improvement on millimeter wave radars and vehicle lighting fixtures based on years of experience in related industries; for this reason, the main purpose of the present invention is to provide a millimeter wave radar installed in a vehicle. Lighting fixtures, and share the light source module and reflector of the vehicle lighting fixtures with millimeter wave radar for vehicle lighting system.

In order to achieve the above objective, the vehicle lamp system with millimeter wave radar of the present invention mainly installs a vehicle lamp system on a vehicle carrier, wherein the vehicle lamp system mainly has an optical module and at least A millimeter wave radar module, the millimeter wave radar module has at least one focal plane antenna array, the focal plane antenna array can transmit and receive a millimeter wave signal, so that the vehicle lighting system can perform radar through the millimeter wave signal Detect to generate row information for the driver’s reference. Furthermore, the millimeter wave radar module and the optical module of the present invention share a mirror and a vehicle power system to realize the miniaturization of the vehicle lighting system Moreover, the millimeter wave radar module can focus the millimeter wave signal in a specified direction through the reflection of the reflector and the beam filter module, thereby increasing the detection range of the millimeter wave radar module, and the millimeter wave signal is energy-focused Later, it can detect farther distances.

In order for your reviewer to have a clear understanding of the purpose, technical features and effects of the present invention after implementation, the following descriptions and illustrations are used for illustration, please refer to it.

Please refer to "Figure 1". The figure shows a schematic diagram (1) of the composition of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the vehicle lighting system 10 of the present invention is assembled on a vehicle carrier 20. The luminaire system 10 can simultaneously emit illuminating light and millimeter waves (Millimeter Wave, mmWave). The millimeter wave is also called Extremely High Frequency (EHF), which refers to the wavelength of 1 mm to 10 mm electromagnetic waves, the frequency range is 30GHz to 300GHz, in the radio frequency spectrum, millimeter waves are located in the range of microwaves and infrared waves, and, The vehicle lighting system 10 is further coupled to a vehicle power system 201 and a vehicle computer host 202 of the vehicle vehicle 20. The vehicle power system 201 can supply the power required for the operation of the vehicle lighting system 10, and the vehicle vehicle computer host 202 can receive a millimeter wave radar information transmitted by the vehicle lighting system 10, and display it on the trip computer 202, so that the driver can view the radar information, and then obtain information such as the distance and speed of the vehicle ahead.

Please refer to "Figure 2" ~ "Figure 3". The figures show the composition diagrams (2) ~ (3) of the present invention, respectively. As shown in the figure, the automotive lamp system 10 of the present invention is mainly formed with a lamp A housing 101, wherein one end of the lamp housing 101 is set with a lampshade 102, and the other end is set with a reflector 103, and an accommodating space 1011 is formed between the lampshade 102 and the reflector 103. Furthermore, the reflector 103 is It is arranged at the opposite position of the lampshade 102. In addition, the reflector 103 is made of metal conductor material, which can reflect light and millimeter wave signals to the lampshade 102, so that the light and millimeter wave signals are reflected to the outside of the lampshade 102 through the reflector 103 for vehicles. The carrier 20 (not shown in this figure) is used for lighting purposes. In addition, the accommodating space 1011 is additionally provided with an optical module 104 and a beam filter module 105, wherein the optical module 104 can generate a Illuminating light, and irradiating the illuminating light on the reflector 103 to form a reflected light source. The optical module 104 can be one or a combination of a light-emitting diode, an incandescent lamp, a xenon lamp, or a laser lamp module. Any optical component that can be used for illumination can be implemented, and the beam filtering module 105 is disposed between the reflector 103 and the optical module 104.

Please refer to "Figure 3" again. The beam filter module 105 is made of light-transmitting materials, so that visible light can freely pass through the beam filter module 105. It can be made of glass materials, transparent ceramics, acrylic and other transparent materials. Conductor materials can be implemented. Moreover, the beam filter module 105 is additionally equipped with a wave reflection unit 1051. The wave reflection unit 1051 is a conductive metal structure of less than 1 mm, which can be a conductor line array or a conductor mesh. Transmitting conductor wires with a spacing of less than 1 mm enables the wave reflection unit 1051 to completely reflect electromagnetic waves and at the same time provide light to penetrate through.

Please refer to "Figure 2" again. The surface assembly of the reflector 103 is provided with a millimeter wave radar module 106, wherein the millimeter wave radar module 106 is composed of a focal plane antenna array, and the focal plane antenna includes At least one microwave transmitting unit and at least one microwave receiving unit. The millimeter-wave radar module 106 focuses the energy of electromagnetic waves in a specific direction through a reflector 103 formed by a metal conductor to achieve accurate detection of distant objects. According to this, the millimeter-wave radar The module 106 has a high directivity gain. For objects in a specific direction, more radio frequency power can be concentrated for detection, and the signal-to-noise ratio of the radar is greatly improved, so it can detect farther objects. Also, millimeter-wave radar The module 106 arranges multiple sets of focal plane antenna arrays (microwave transmitting units and microwave receiving units) at multiple different positions on the focal plane, which can pass through the reflective surface of the same set of mirrors 103 to simultaneously detect targets in multiple directions. Each microwave transmitting unit and microwave receiving unit can independently switch or modulate the transmission power, which can minimize the electromagnetic interference to the target space and avoid the misjudgment of other radar systems. In addition, the focal plane The antenna array can also be arranged in a phased array on the reflector 103, and the focal plane array can concentrate the angular resolution of the beam.

In addition, since in the future vehicle lighting may use multiple sets of LEDs to form an array as the mainstream, in the embodiment of the present invention, based on the focal plane array on the reflector 103 that can concentrate the beams, multiple vehicle lighting systems 10 can be used. Form a specific array distribution in space, and set the signal source of the transceiver (focal plane antenna) in the focal plane array to be synchronized, so a certain element (focal plane antenna) of the focal plane array on each mirror 103, and other mirrors Corresponding elements with the same beam direction of the upper focal plane array can then form a phased array. In this way, the phased array can refine the angular resolution originally provided by the focal plane array in each beam, where: Each beam of the phased array of this embodiment can provide an independent viewing angle of 5-10 degrees, while the phased array can provide an angular resolution of >1 degree. The fusion of the two (through digital beam synthesis) can achieve wide-view images and high-resolution images. Resolution adaptable imaging radar.

Please refer to "Figure 4", which is a schematic diagram of the composition of the present invention (4), please refer to "Figure 1" ~ "Figure 3", as shown in the figure, the vehicle lighting system 10 of the present invention further includes There is a control module 107, which is respectively coupled to the vehicle power system 201, the trip computer host 202 and the millimeter wave radar module 106, which can be a central processing unit (CPU), a digital signal Processor (Digital Signal Processor, DSP), a microprocessor (Micro Processing Unit, MPU), a microcontroller (Micro Control Unit, MCU), a graphics processor (Graphic Processing Unit, GPU) or a field programmable One of Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA); as shown in the figure, the control module 107 can be assembled inside the lamp housing 101, so that the control module 107 can be hidden inside the lamp housing 101 to avoid The light source illumination path of the optical module 104 and the millimeter wave signal transmitting and receiving path of the millimeter wave radar module 106. The control module 107 can control the action of the millimeter wave radar module 106 and analyze the position of the millimeter wave radar module 106. The received reflected millimeter wave signal generates a row of traffic information based on the analysis result, and sends the traffic information to the trip computer host 202. Please refer to the figure again. The lamp housing 101 is further formed with a second accommodating space 1012 and a control module 107 can be accommodated in the second accommodating space 1012, but is not limited to this.

Please refer to "Figure 5", which is a schematic diagram (1) of the implementation of the present invention. As shown in the figure, when the vehicle lamp system 10 of the present invention provides an illumination light source, the optical module 104 generates an illumination light L1, so The illuminating light L1 passes through the beam filter module 105, is reflected by the reflector 103, and irradiates the outside of the lampshade 102 to complete the light irradiation path. Among them, when the optical module 104 is a light-emitting diode, the optical module 104 Under the reflection of the reflector 103, the illumination range of the illumination light L1 can be increased. In addition, the reflective surface of the reflector 103 can also be formed with a diffuse reflection structure, so that the illumination light L1 is reflected by the reflector 103 to illuminate the outgoing illumination light L1 can be more uniform and soft; when the automotive lighting system 10 provides millimeter wave radar detection, after the control module 107 drives the millimeter wave radar module 106, the millimeter wave radar module 106 transmits a millimeter wave signal L2 through the focal plane antenna array, and The millimeter wave signal L2 is transmitted to the beam filtering module 105.

Please refer to "Figure 6" again. The figure shows the schematic diagram (2) of the implementation of the present invention. As shown in the figure, when the millimeter wave signal L2 contacts the beam filter module 105, the beam filter module 105 will further Reflects the millimeter wave signal L2 so that the millimeter wave signal L2 is reflected to the reflector 103. Under the reflection of the reflector 103, the millimeter wave signal L2 is further reflected to the outside of the lampshade 102, which passes through the reflector 103 and the beam filter module The reflection effect of 105 can further focus the millimeter wave signal L2, so that the millimeter wave signal L2 can be focused in multiple designated directions to increase the detection range of the millimeter wave radar module 106, and the millimeter wave signal L2 passes through the mirror 103 and beam filtering After the reflection of the module 105, more radio frequency power can be concentrated for detection, and the signal-to-noise ratio of the radar is greatly improved to detect further objects.

Please refer to "Figure 7" ~ "Figure 8". The figures show schematic diagrams (3) to (4) of the implementation of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the vehicle carrier 20 faces another vehicle on the path ahead. The vehicle 20' transmits the millimeter wave signal L2. When the millimeter wave signal L2 is reflected back to the vehicle vehicle 20 from another vehicle vehicle 20', the focal plane antenna array of the millimeter wave radar module 106 can receive the reflected millimeter wave signal L2. The millimeter wave radar module 106 can further transmit the millimeter wave signal L2 to the control module 107, so that the control module 107 analyzes the received millimeter wave signal L2 to generate traffic information, where the traffic information may include Information such as the speed of the preceding vehicle, the distance of the preceding vehicle, or the position of the preceding vehicle.

Please refer to "Figure 9" again. The figure shows the schematic diagram (5) of the implementation of the present invention. Please also refer to "Figure 4" for the combination. As shown in the figure, when the control module 107 generates driving information, the control module 107 The driving information D can be further transmitted to the driving computer 202, so that the driver can view the driving information D through the driving computer 202.

Please refer to "Figure 10", which shows another embodiment (1) of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the vehicle lamp system 10' of the present invention is mainly formed with a lamp housing 101' and a lamp cover 102' The assembly is arranged on the top of the lamp housing 101', so that an accommodation space 1011' is formed between the lamp housing 101' and the lampshade 102'. Furthermore, the bottom of the accommodation space 1011' is opposite to the lampshade 102', and a reflector 103 is set. ', the reflector 103' can reflect light to the lampshade 102', so that the light is reflected by the reflector 103' and then irradiated to the outside of the lampshade 102' for the vehicle carrier 20 (not shown in this figure) for lighting purposes In addition, the accommodating space 1011' is additionally provided with an optical integrated circuit 104', and the optical integrated circuit 104' integrates an optical module and a millimeter wave radar module, the millimeter wave radar module At least one focal plane antenna array is included, and the lamp housing 101' is further formed with a second accommodating space 1012', a control module 107' can be accommodated in the second accommodating space 1012', and the control module 107 'Coupled to the optical integrated circuit 104' so that the control module 107' can control the light action and millimeter wave signal action of the optical integrated circuit 104'. In this embodiment, the optical module and the millimeter wave radar module are integrated In the optical integrated circuit 104', the vehicle lamp system 10' can be formed without a beam filtering module and can also complete the operation of lighting and millimeter wave radar detection, which can greatly reduce the volume of the vehicle lamp system 10'.

Please refer to "Figure 11", which shows another embodiment (2) of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the vehicle lighting system 10 of the present invention, wherein the control module 107 is coupled to a wireless transmission module 108 The wireless transmission module 108 can be wirelessly connected to the trip computer host 202, so that the control module 107 can transmit the trip information to the trip computer host 202 through wireless transmission, thereby reducing the vehicle lighting system 10 and the trip computer The wiring arrangement between the hosts 202 can be a Bluetooth transmission module, a wi-fi transmission module, a zigbee module or a 2.4G transmission module, but is not limited to this.

In summary, the vehicle lamp system with millimeter wave radar of the present invention mainly installs a vehicle lamp system on a vehicle carrier, and the vehicle lamp system mainly has an optical module and at least one millimeter. Wave radar module, the millimeter wave radar module includes at least one focal plane antenna array, the focal plane antenna array can transmit and receive a millimeter wave signal, so that the vehicle lighting system can perform radar detection through the millimeter wave signal to generate Information about one-line vehicles is provided for the driver’s reference. Furthermore, the millimeter-wave radar module and the optical module of the present invention share a mirror and a vehicle power system to achieve the miniaturization of the vehicle lighting system. The wave radar module can focus the millimeter wave signal in the specified direction through the reflection of the reflector and the beam filter module, thereby increasing the detection range of the millimeter wave radar module, and the millimeter wave signal can be detected after energy focusing According to this, after the present invention is implemented according to it, it is indeed possible to provide a millimeter-wave radar with millimeter-wave radar installed in the vehicle lighting fixture and sharing the light source module and reflector of the vehicle lighting fixture. The purpose of automotive lighting system.

The above are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of implementation of the present invention; anyone who is familiar with this technique can make equal changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Should be covered within the scope of the patent of the present invention.

To sum up, the present invention has patent requirements such as "industrial applicability", "novelty" and "advancedness"; the applicant filed an application for a patent for invention with the Bureau in accordance with the provisions of the Patent Law.

10: Automotive lighting system 101: Lamp housing 102: Lampshade 1011: accommodating space 1012: second housing space 103: Mirror 104: Optical Module 105: beam filtering module 106: Millimeter wave radar module 1051: Wave reflection unit 107: Control Module 108: wireless transmission module 20: Vehicle vehicles 20’: Another vehicle 201: Vehicle Power System 202: Driving computer host D: Driving information L1: Illumination light L2: Millimeter wave signal 10’: Automotive lighting system 101’: Lamp housing 102’: Lampshade 1011’: accommodating space 1012’: The second accommodating space 103’: Mirror 104’: Optical integrated circuit 107’: Control Module

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the composition of the present invention (1). Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the composition of the present invention (2). Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the composition of the present invention (3). Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the composition of the present invention (four). Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of the implementation of the present invention (1). Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the implementation of the present invention (2). Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the implementation of the present invention (3). Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of the implementation of the present invention (4). Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of the implementation of the present invention (5). Figure 10, another embodiment of the present invention (1). Figure 11, another embodiment (2) of the present invention.

10: Automotive lighting system

101: Lamp housing

102: Lampshade

1011: accommodating space

1012: second housing space

103: Mirror

104: Optical Module

105: beam filtering module

106: Millimeter wave radar module

Claims (10)

An automotive lamp system with millimeter wave radar, which includes: A lamp housing, one end group is provided with a lamp shade, the other end group is provided with a reflector, and an accommodating space is formed between the lamp housing and the lamp shade; An optical module assembled in the accommodating space, and an illuminating light generated by the optical module is reflected to the lampshade via the reflector; A millimeter-wave radar module is assembled on the reflector, and the millimeter-wave radar module and the optical module are arranged in relative positions, and the millimeter-wave radar module is driven to transmit and receive at least one millimeter-wave signal; A beam filtering module arranged between the millimeter wave radar module and the optical module, the beam filtering module can reflect the millimeter wave signal and allow the illumination light to penetrate; and A control module is assembled inside the lamp housing, the control module is coupled to the millimeter wave radar module, the control module drives the millimeter wave radar module to act, and analyzes the received millimeter wave signal To generate a row of vehicle information. The vehicle lamp system with millimeter wave radar according to claim 1, wherein the beam filtering module is transparent, and a wave reflection unit is arranged on the surface of the beam filtering module. The vehicular lamp system with millimeter wave radar according to claim 2, wherein the wave reflection unit is made of a conductive metal structure, and the conductive metal structure is arranged in an array type arrangement or a woven mesh type arrangement. The vehicular lamp system with millimeter wave radar according to claim 3, wherein the gap of the conductive metal structure of the wave reflection unit is less than 1 mm. The vehicular lamp system with millimeter wave radar according to claim 1, wherein the millimeter wave radar module includes a focal plane antenna array. The vehicular lamp system with millimeter wave radar according to claim 5, wherein the focal plane antenna array is arranged on the reflector in a phased array. The vehicle lamp system with millimeter wave radar according to claim 1, wherein the lamp housing is formed with a second accommodating space, and the control module group is arranged in the second accommodating space. The vehicle lighting system with millimeter-wave radar according to claim 1, wherein the control module is coupled to a host computer of a trip car, and the control module transmits the driving information to the host computer of a trip for display. The vehicle lighting system with millimeter wave radar according to claim 1, wherein a wireless transmission module is coupled to the control module, and the wireless transmission module is used to transmit the driving information. An automotive lamp system with millimeter wave radar, which includes: A lamp housing, one end of which is set with a lampshade and the other end set with a reflector, and an accommodating space is formed between the lamp housing and the lampshade; An optical integrated circuit is assembled in the accommodating space, the optical integrated circuit integrates at least one optical module and at least one millimeter wave radar module, the optical integrated circuit is arranged on the reflector, the optical integrated circuit The body circuit is used to emit an illuminating light and a millimeter wave signal to the mirror; and A control module is assembled inside the lamp housing, the control module is coupled to the optical integrated circuit, the control module drives the optical integrated circuit to act, and analyzes the received millimeter wave signal to generate a row Car information.

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