US 11,747,465 B2
Method for operating a radar sensor system in a motor vehicle
Marcel Mayer, Lonsee (DE); and Michael Schoor, Stuttgart (DE)
Assigned to ROBERT BOSCH GMBH, Stuttgart (DE)
Appl. No. 16/960,884
Filed by Robert Bosch GmbH, Stuttgart (DE)
PCT Filed Nov. 22, 2018, PCT No. PCT/EP2018/082300
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jul. 8, 2020,
PCT Pub. No. WO2019/145066, PCT Pub. Date Aug. 1, 2019.
Claims priority of application No. 102018201302.0 (DE), filed on Jan. 29, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2021/0080536 A1, Mar. 18, 2021
Int. Cl. G01S 13/87 (2006.01); G01S 7/02 (2006.01); G01S 7/35 (2006.01); G01S 7/40 (2006.01); G01S 13/931 (2020.01)
CPC G01S 13/87 (2013.01) [G01S 7/023 (2013.01); G01S 7/0232 (2021.05); G01S 7/0235 (2021.05); G01S 7/35 (2013.01); G01S 7/4008 (2013.01); G01S 13/931 (2013.01); G01S 2013/93271 (2020.01); G01S 2013/93272 (2020.01); G01S 2013/93274 (2020.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for operating a radar sensor system including a first radar sensor and a second radar sensor operating in a motor vehicle, the method comprising the following step:
operating the first radar sensor to transmit radar signals with a first frequency ramp;
operating the second radar sensor to transmit radar signals with a second frequency ramp, wherein:
the transmission of at least part of the first frequency ramp overlaps in time with the transmission of at least part of the second frequency ramp so that there are a plurality of frequency pairs that each has a respective one of the frequencies of the first frequency ramp and a respective one of the frequencies of the second frequency ramp that are transmitted simultaneously;
a frequency separation between the simultaneously transmitted frequencies of the first and second frequency ramps changes, during the radar signal transmissions, between different ones of the pairs; and
each of at least one of the frequencies of the first frequency ramp has less than a predefined threshold frequency separation from one or more of the frequencies of the second frequency ramp; and
synchronizing the first and second radar sensors with each other with respect to their transmission times and their ramp frequencies to ensure that, for each of the at least one of the frequencies of the first frequency ramp, the respective frequency does not occur simultaneously with any of the one or more of the frequencies of the second frequency ramp that is within the predefined threshold frequency separation from the respective frequency of the first ramp;
wherein, for the synchronization, the radar signals having the first and second frequency ramps are output so that the radar signals have at least one of the following features (a)-(d):
(a) the second frequency ramp is repeated intermittently with respective interruptions between pairs of immediately time adjacent instances of the second frequency ramp, and the first frequency ramp is output so that each instance of a lowest frequency of the first frequency ramp occurs during a respective one of the interruptions;
(b) the second frequency ramp is sawtooth wave shaped so that, for each instance of a highest frequency of the second frequency ramp, an immediately following one of the frequencies of the second frequency ramp is a respective instance of the lowest frequency of the second frequency ramp, and, for each of at least one instance of a highest frequency of the first frequency ramp, the first frequency ramp gradually lowers towards a respective instance of a lowest frequency of the first frequency ramp;
(c) the second frequency ramp is repeated multiple time during a single instance of the first frequency ramp; and
(d) each instance of the lowest frequency of the second frequency ramp occurs when a frequency of the first frequency ramp is higher than the lowest frequency of the first frequency ramp.