Patent ID: 9147347
Filing Date: 2015-09-29
Classification: G01S,G08G,H04R

Abstract:
1. A vehicle direction identification device which identifies a direction in which a vehicle in a vicinity of a user vehicle is present from vehicle sound that originates from the vehicle in the vicinity and is obtained by a plurality of microphones, the vehicle direction identification device comprising: a frequency analysis unit configured to analyze phase of the vehicle sound in each of a plurality of analysis sections specified by predetermined frequency regions and predetermined time intervals; a sound source direction identification unit configured to identify, based on a result of the analysis obtained from the frequency analysis unit, a sound source direction for each of the plurality of analysis sections, the sound source direction indicating a direction from which a sound included in the vehicle sound originates; a reflection information storage unit configured to store reflection information including one or more reflection patterns each of which includes (i) a plurality of items of state information each relating to rates of occurrence and (ii) an estimated vehicle direction, the rates of occurrence each being a count of one or more of the analysis sections of a corresponding one of the sound source directions, and the estimated vehicle direction being a direction in which the vehicle in the vicinity is present that is associated with the set of the items of state information; and a vehicle direction identification unit configured to identify a direction in which the vehicle in the vicinity is present by checking the rates of occurrence against one of the reflection patterns, the rates of occurrence obtained from a result of the identification by the sound source direction identification unit.