Cooperative and crowd-sourced multifunctional automotive radar

A system comprises a multifunction radar receiver that in turn comprises processing circuitry and front-end circuitry. The front-end circuitry is operable to receive a millimeter wave burst via a plurality of antennas to generate a plurality received signals. The processing circuitry is operable to receive a first scene representation that is an aggregate of scene representations generated by one or more other radar receivers. The processing circuitry is operable to process the received signals to generate a second scene representation. The processing circuitry is operable to compare the first scene representation and the second scene representation and generate a difference scene based on the comparison. The processing circuitry is operable to generate a control signal based on the difference scene.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

The entirety of each of the following applications is hereby incorporated herein by reference:U.S. provisional patent application 62/155,728 titled “Multistatic Radar via an Array of Multifunctional Automotive Transceivers” filed on May 1, 2015;U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/142,926 titled “Multistatic Radar via an Array of Multifunctional Automotive Transceivers” filed on Apr. 29, 2016;U.S. provisional patent application 62/160,015 titled “Calibration of a Multifunctional Automotive Radar System” filed on May 12, 2015;U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/150,831 titled “Calibration of a Multifunctional Automotive Radar System” filed May 10, 2016;U.S. provisional patent application 62/154,840 titled “Multifunctional Automotive Radar” filed on Apr. 30, 2015;U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/142,935 titled “Multifunctional Automotive Radar” filed on Apr. 29, 2016;U.S. provisional patent application 62/162,206 titled “Dynamic OFDM Symbol Shaping for Radar Applications” filed on May 15, 2015;U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/150,821 titled “Dynamic OFDM Symbol Shaping for Radar Applications” filed on May 10, 2016;U.S. provisional patent application 62/160,316 titled “Scalable Architecture for an Automotive Radar System” filed on May 12, 2015; andU.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/150,669 titled “Scalable Architecture for an Automotive Radar System” filed on May 10, 2016.

BACKGROUND

Limitations and disadvantages of conventional automotive radar systems and methods will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such approaches with some aspects of the present method and system set forth in the remainder of this disclosure with reference to the drawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Methods and systems are provided for cooperative and crowd-sourced multifunctional automotive radar, substantially as illustrated by and/or described in connection with at least one of the figures, as set forth more completely in the claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1shows an automobile comprising a plurality of multifunctional radar transceivers102(labeled with subscripts ‘1’ through ‘8’) of an automobile100. Although the example automobile100comprises eight transceivers102for illustration, any number may be present. Each multifunctional radar transceiver102has a corresponding receive antenna pattern104and transmit antenna pattern106(for clarity of illustration, the transmit and receive patterns are shown as the same, but they need not be). As discussed in further detail in the remainder of this disclosure, the multifunctional radar transceivers102may perform: (1) a radar function, (2) a positioning function, and (3) a communication function.

The radar function comprises transmitting millimeter wave signals and processing the reflections/returns of such signals to detect the presence of, identity of, direction of, distance to, and/or speed of objects in the environment surrounding the automobile100(the “scene”).

The positioning function comprises use of the same millimeter wave signals used for the radar function to improve upon coarse position determined through other mechanisms such as GPS.

The communication function comprises communicating data among the multifunction radar transceivers102using of the same millimeter wave signals as are used for the radar function. Such data may include, for example, pixel or voxel data (and time and position metadata) generated using the radar and positioning functions.

Through a combination of the radar function, the positioning function, and the communication function, the multifunctional radar transceivers1021-1028are operable to generate a scene representation (e.g., 2D pixel grid or 3D voxel grid) where the absolute time of capture of the scene representation and the absolute position of the pixels (2D) or voxels (3D) in the scene representation are known.

The circuitry110represents other circuitry of the automobile100such as one or more transceivers (e.g., cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, etc.), instrumentation (e.g., entertainment system, driver indicators/gauges, driver controls), sensors for safety systems, etc. The circuitry110may be communicatively coupled to the transceivers102via a CANbus, for example. The circuitry110may be operable to process data from the transceivers and take action (e.g., trigger driver alerts, transmit messages via one or more of its transceivers, trigger braking or other safety systems, etc.) in response to such data. The circuitry110may also generate data which it may pass to the transceiver(s)102for communication to a remote transceiver102(e.g., that is mounted to another automobile and/or to infrastructure such the road, sign post, stop-light, etc.) In an example implementation, the circuitry110may comprise a cell phone that connects to an electronics system of the automobile100via USB, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or any other suitable interface and then the electronics system110of the automobile100leverages the cellular transceiver of the circuitry110for connecting to a cellular network.

FIG. 2Ashows an example architecture of a multifunctional radar system of an automobile. The example multifunctional radar system200comprises N multifunction radar transceivers102, a bus controller206, a reference clock generator214, data bus212, and clock distribution bus216. For clarity of illustration, example implementation details are shown for only the Nthtransceiver (102N), but the other transceivers1021-102N−1may be the same. Each multifunctional radar transceiver102n(the subscript ‘n’ used here to generically represent each of the transceivers1021-102Nindividually) comprises a receive SoC202n, a transmit SoC204n, a plurality of receive antenna elements208(labeled with subscripts1through4, where four was chosen arbitrarily for illustration but any number greater than one may be used), and a plurality of transmit antenna elements210(labeled with subscripts1through4, where four was chosen arbitrarily for illustration but any number greater than one may be used, and the number of transmit antenna elements need not match the number of receive antenna elements). In an example implementation, each of the multifunctional radar transceivers102comprises one or more CMOS dies on a printed circuit board. In an example implementation, each of the receive SoCs202N, the transmit SoC204N, the bus controller206, and the reference clock generator214is a separately packaged CMOS integrated circuit.

Each of the receive antenna elements2081-2084comprises, for example, a copper microstrip patch antenna on a printed circuit board (e.g., FR4, Duroid, or the like). Although four elements208are shown for illustration, any number may be used.

Each receive SoC202nis operable to receive millimeter wave signals (e.g., in the 76 to 81 GHz band) via the antenna elements2081-2084. The receive SoC202nis operable to process received millimeter wave signals for supporting the radar, positioning, and communication functions. The receive SoC202nis also operable to communicate over data bus212and to synchronize its timing to a signal output by reference clock214onto clock distribution bus216. Additional details of an example receive SoC202nare described below with reference toFIG. 2B.

Each of the transmit antenna elements210comprises, for example, a copper microstrip patch antenna on a printed circuit board (e.g., FR4, Duroid, or the like). Although four elements210are shown for illustration, any number may be used.

The transmit SoC204nis operable to transmit millimeter wave signals (e.g., in the 76 to 81 GHz band) via the antenna elements2101-2104. The transmit SoC204nis operable to generate the signals in such a manner as to support the radar, positioning, and communication functions. The transmit SoC204nis also operable to communicate over data bus212and to synchronize its timing to a signal output by reference clock214onto clock distribution bus216. Additional details of an example transmit SoC204nare described below with reference toFIG. 2C.

The bus controller206is operable to relay data between the data bus212interconnecting the multifunction radar transceivers1021-102Nand a data bus of the automobile100(e.g., a CAN bus). The bus212may, for example, be a high speed serial bus and the bus controller206, receive SoC202n, and transmit SoC204nmay each be operable to perform serialization and deserialization for communicating over the bus212.

The reference clock generator212comprises a crystal oscillator, phase locked loop, and/or other circuitry for generating a signal to act as a phase reference for receive SoC202nand transmit SoC204n. In an example implementation, the frequency of the reference signal may be relatively low compared to the millimeter wave frequencies (e.g., on the order of tens or hundreds of MHz), which may greatly relax the routing requirements for the bus216as compared to trying to distribute a reference signal in the 77 to 81 GHz range. In another example implementation, the frequency of the reference signal may be the same as the millimeter wave carrier frequency (e.g., it the range 77 to 81 GHz).

FIG. 2Bshows an example implementation of a receiver system on chip (SoC) of the multifunctional radar transceiver ofFIG. 2A. The example receive SoC202ncomprises a plurality (a number corresponding to the number of receive antenna elements208) of receive analog front ends (Rx AFEs)252, a plurality of analog-to-digital converters (ADCs)254, digital signal processing circuitry256, data processing circuitry264, bus controller circuitry258, clock generation circuit260, and control and memory circuitry262.

Each of the Rx AFEs252is operable to process a millimeter wave signal (e.g., in the band from 76 to 81 GHz) from a respective one of the plurality of antenna elements208. The processing may comprise, for example, low noise amplification, filtering, and down-conversion so as to output a 1 to 5 GHz wide intermediate frequency or baseband signal.

Each of the ADCs254is operable to digitize the output of a corresponding one of the Rx AFEs252. For example, each Rx AFE252may downconvert a received 76 to 77 GHz band to a 1 GHz wide baseband signal which the corresponding ADC254may then digitize to generate a 1 GHz wide digital signal. As another example, each Rx AFE252may downconvert a received 76 to 81 GHz band to a 5 GHz wide baseband signal which the corresponding ADC254may then digitize to generate a 5 GHz wide digital signal255.

The digital signal processing circuitry256is operable to process the digitized signals from the plurality of ADCs254to recover information conveyed by the received signals. Such information may be conveyed by characteristics (e.g., latency, Doppler shift, signal strength, etc.) of the received signals, as is the case in a conventional radar system, and/or may be data that was modulated onto the received signals.

The processing performed by the digital signal processing circuit256may comprise, for example, channel estimation and equalization.

The processing performed by the digital signal processing circuit256may, where the millimeter wave signals are modulated by a data signal, comprise demodulation. For example, the millimeter wave signals transmitted by transceivers102may comprise bursts (or “chirps”) whose amplitude is modulated relatively slowly as compared to the channel frequency (e.g., a few MHz as compared to a channel frequency of 76-81 GHz), and the digital signal processing circuitry256may be operable to track the signal envelope to recover the data signal. As another example, the millimeter wave signals transmitted by transceivers102may comprise OFDM symbols and the digital signal processing circuit256may be operable to demodulate the received signals using a discrete Fourier transform. The digital signal processing circuit256may then be operable to demap the modulated signal according to one or more symbol constellations, deinterleave the demapped bits, and decode the demapped bits. The recovered bits may then be provided to the control and memory subsystem262and/or output onto the bus212.

The processing performed by the digital signal processing circuit256may comprise beamforming The beamforming may comprise time-domain beamforming in which one or more sets of phase and amplitude coefficients is applied to each of the signals255in the time domain. Alternatively, or additionally, the beamforming may comprise frequency-domain beamforming in which the signals255are first transformed to the frequency domain (e.g., via a DFT) and then each subband (e.g., each OFDM bin or group of OFDM bins) is processed using a corresponding one or more beamforming matrices determined for that subband. In this manner, different subbands may be communicated on beams pointed in different directions.

The processing performed by the digital signal processing circuit256may comprise spectral analysis of the received signals. The spectral analysis may comprise, for example, mixing received signals with one or more reference signals to generate a difference signal. The spectral analysis may comprise, for example, performing a discrete Fourier transform on received signals. The spectral analysis may be used to, for example, determine Doppler shift of received signals and/or to generate spectral signatures of detected objects in the scene (i.e., objects off of which the received signals reflected.).

The processing performed by the digital signal processing circuit256may comprise separating different transmitted signals (e.g., originating from different ones of the transceivers1021-1028). The may comprise, for example, correlating the received signals with different orthogonal codes and/or pseudorandom sequences used by different ones of the transceivers1021-1028. Alternatively, or additionally, separating different transmitted signals (e.g., to determine which transceiver102sent which signal) may comprise directly recovering a respective identifier (e.g., a unique identifier such as a MAC address or similar) modulated onto each of the millimeter wave signals. The ability to distinguish which, if any, energy arrived from each transceivers1021-1028may be useful for performing the radar function, the positioning function, and the communication function of the transceivers102. For the radar and positioning functions, for example, the identification of which of transceivers1021-1028sent any particular received signal may be used for determining the position and angle from which the signal was transmitted (since the different transceivers1021-1028are at different positions on the automobile100), which may be used for determining precise distance to, and location of, objects in the scene. For the communication function, for example, the identification of which of transceivers1021-1028sent any particular received signal may be used in a manner similar to a “from” address in many networking protocols.

The data processing circuitry264is operable to process data output by the digital signal processing circuitry256. Such processing may comprise, for example, implementing algorithms to generate a representation of the scene detected using the radar function. Based on the angle, strength, timing, spectral content, and/or other characteristics of the received signals, the data processing circuitry264may generate a 2D pixel grid or 3D voxel grid. In an example implementation, each pixel or voxel may indicate an absolute position to which it corresponds (determined via the positioning function of the multifunction radar system), the strength of returns, if any, received from that location (determined via the radar function of the multifunction radar system), spectral content of returns, if any, received from that location, and/or time(s) at which returns were received from that location and/or at which the pixel or voxel data was updated.

The data processing circuitry264may also be operable to process data received from the data bus212. For example, positioning information may be received via the bus212(e.g., GPS coordinates from a GPS receiver of the vehicle100) and combined with data recovered from the digital processing circuitry264for performing the positioning function.

The processing performed by data processing circuitry264of data output by digital signal processing circuitry256may comprise, for example, preparing data for output onto the data bus212. For example, a scene representation generated from the output of the digital signal processing circuitry256may be transmitted onto the data bus212.

The bus controller circuitry258may be substantially similar to the bus controller206described above.

The clock generation circuitry260is operable to generate a plurality of timing signals that are synchronized to the timing signal received via bus216. The timing signals may comprise, for example: a local oscillator signal for direct downconversion of received millimeter wave signals (e.g., in the 76 to 81 GHz range), a sampling clock for the ADCs254(e.g., between 2 and 20 GHz), and one or more clocks for clocking the digital processing circuitry256, the bus controller258, and the control and memory subsystem262.

The control portion of subsystem262is operable to manage operations of the receiver SoC202n(e.g., implement a state machine and/or other control logic that controls the configuration of the other components of the receive SoC202n). The control portion of subsystem262may, for example, configure beamforming matrices used by the digital signal processing circuitry256. For example, the control portion of subsystem262may determine that particular directions are of interest at a given time and may configure the beamforming to point beams in those particular directions. Particular directions may be of interest because, for example, it is desired to determine more information about objects located in that direction and/or to listen for communications from other transceivers102that are likely to come from that direction. Directions of interest may be determined based on, for example, data received via the data bus, data carried in previously received millimeter wave signals, and/or previously generated scene representations.

The memory portion of subsystem262is operable to store relatively large amounts (e.g., hundreds of megabits) of information of a variety of forms. For example, beamforming matrices, an identifier of the transceiver102, scrambling codes, and messages received from (via data bus212) and/or to be communicated to (via data bus212and/or via millimeter wave signals) other transceivers are just some examples of the information which may be stored in the memory and readily accessible to the SOC202n.

FIG. 2Cshows an example implementation of a transmitter system on chip (SoC) of the multifunctional radar transceiver ofFIG. 2A. The example transmit SoC204ncomprises a plurality of transmit analog front ends (Tx AFEs)272, a plurality of analog-to-digital converters (ADCs)254, digital signal processing circuitry276, data processing circuitry284, bus controller circuitry278, clock generation circuit280, and control and memory subsystem282.

Each of the Tx AFEs272is operable to receive an analog baseband signal from a respective one of ADCs274, upconvert the signal to a millimeter wave (e.g., a 1 GHz to 5 GHz wide signal in the band from 76 to 81 GHz), and amplify the millimeter wave signal for output to a respective one of antenna elements2101-2104.

Each of the ADCs274is operable to convert a digital signal275from the digital signal processing circuitry276to an analog representation. For example, each signal275may be a 1 GHz to 5 GHz wide baseband signal.

The digital signal processing circuitry276is operable to process one or more data streams from data processing circuitry284to generate a plurality (four in the example shown) of digital baseband signals275. Processing performed by digital signal processing circuitry276may comprise, for example, encoding, interleaving, bit-to-symbol mapping, frequency mapping (mapping of symbols to subbands), modulation (e.g., using discrete Fourier transform and/or inverse discrete Fourier transform) beamforming, and/or the like.

The processing performed by the digital signal processing circuit276may comprise generating modulated signals2751-2754and/or generating a data signal to be modulated onto a carrier. As an example of the former case, the digital signal processing circuit276may output a continuous wave signal, or a chirp whose amplitude is modulated by a data signal whose frequency is relatively low (e.g., a few MHz) as compared to the channel frequency (e.g., between 76 GHz and 81 GHz). As another example of the former case, the digital signal processing circuit276may output an OFDM signal. As an example of the latter case, the digital signal processing circuit276may output a relatively low bandwidth data signal (e.g., a few MHz) which may modulate a millimeter wave chirp generated by the clock generator280.

The processing performed by the digital signal processing circuit276may comprise beamforming The beamforming may comprise time-domain beamforming and/or frequency-domain beamforming

Data processing circuit284is operable to generate one or more data signals for modulation onto the millimeter wave signals transmitted by the SoC204n. The datastreams may, for example, be read from memory of the SoC202n(e.g., an identifier of the module102n) and/or generated algorithmically (e.g., timestamps generated based on a clock of the control portion of subsystem282). Additionally, or alternatively, the data may be received from bus212via bus controller278. The data processing circuit284may packetize and/or otherwise format the data.

Bus controller278may be substantially similar to the bus controller206described above.

Clock generation circuit280is operable to generate a plurality of timing signals that are synchronized to the timing signal received via bus216. The timing signals may comprise, for example: a local oscillator signal for upconversion of baseband signals to millimeter wave signals (e.g., in the 76 to 81 GHz range), a sampling clock for the DACs274(e.g., between 2 and 20 GHz), and one or more clocks for clocking the digital processing circuitry276, the bus controller278, and the control and memory subsystem282.

The control portion of subsystem282is operable to manage operations of the receiver SoC204n(e.g., implement a state machine and/or other control logic that controls the configuration of the other components of the receive SoC204n). The control portion of subsystem282may, for example, configure beamforming matrices used by the digital signal processing circuitry276. For example, the control portion of subsystem282may determine that particular directions are of interest at a given time and may configure the beamforming to point beams in those particular directions. Particular directions may be of interest because, for example, it may be desirable to determine more information about objects located in that direction and/or to listen for communications from other transceivers102that are likely to come from that direction. Directions of interest may be determined based on, for example, data received via the data bus212, scene scanning algorithms, and/or the like.

The memory portion of subsystem282is operable to store relatively large amounts (e.g., hundreds of megabits) of information of a variety of forms. For example, beamforming matrices, and messages received from (via data bus212and/or millimeter wave signals) and/or to be communicated to (via data bus212and/or modulated onto millimeter wave radar signals) other transceivers are just some examples of the information which may be stored in the memory and readily accessible to the SoC204n.

FIG. 3A and 3Bshow two example signal formats used by a multifunctional radar transceiver. InFIG. 3A, the millimeter wave signal (e.g., a continuous wave signal or series of frequency ramped “chirps”) is amplitude modulated by a relatively slowly varying data signal. InFIG. 3Bthe millimeter wave signal is an OFDM signal which, for any given burst (frame) may transmit one or more of a plurality of subbands504(twenty-four subbands were chosen arbitrarily for illustration, any number may be used). Each of the subbands5041-50424may be a continuous wave or may be modulated by a data signal (e.g., a N-QAM symbol corresponding to log2(N) bits of the data signal). Different subbands and/or groups of subbands may be allocated for different purposes (e.g., some for radar, some for positioning, and some for communication). Similarly, using frequency-domain beamforming, different subbands and/or groups of subbands may be pointed in different directions for detecting objects at different locations in the scene and/or for transmitting the data signal in directions (e.g., pointed at different reflection paths leading to different ones of the transceivers1021-1028).

Data modulated onto the millimeter wave signal may be forward error correction encoded for robustness. Data modulated onto the millimeter wave signal may be scrambled or encrypted for security (e.g., to prevent spoofing, sniffing of communications, etc.).

FIG. 4shows an example antenna pattern of the multifunctional radar transceiver ofFIG. 2. For example, for the radar function, lobes402and408may be used for identifying objects that are relatively close and off to the side of the transceiver102n, and the lobes404and406may be used for looking further in the distance (e.g., in the direction of travel of the automobile100or looking behind the automobile100). As another example, for the radar function, the lobes402and408may receive returns from the nearby road surface and the Doppler of such returns may be used for calculating the speed of the automobile100. As another example, for the communication function, lobes402and408may be used for directly communicating with another transceiver102off to the side of the depicted transceiver102nand lobes404and406may be used for communicating with other transceivers by bouncing the signals off of objects in the scene.

Although four beams/lobes are shown for illustration, the multifunctional radar transceivers are not limited to any particular number of beams/lobes. There may be different numbers of beams at different times based on, for example, the number of objects and/or angles of objects it is determined necessary or desirable to identify or track at any given time. There may be different numbers of beams at different times based on, for example, number and/or location of other transceivers with which it is necessary or desirable to communicate at any given time. Similarly, the directions of the beams may vary over time. For example, the directionality of any one or more of the beams402,404,406, and408may change periodically, based on what is detected in the scene, based on desired communication to be sent or received, to avoid self-interference, to avoid interfering with other transceivers, to avoid interference from other transceivers, and/or the like.

FIG. 5is a diagram illustrating communications among automobile mounted and infrastructure mounted multifunctional radar transceivers. Shown are automobiles5021,5022, and5023, each comprising one or more multifunctional radar transceivers102. Also shown is a basestation504(a cellular basestation in this example), an object514(e.g., a parked car, a building, or any other object which reflects millimeter wave signals), a roadway data service512, and a piece of infrastructure (a stop-light in this example)510to which is mounted a multifunctional radar transceiver102.

Various connections5081-5085are established among the multifunctional radar transceivers1021-1025. As shown, some connections are direct line of sight (connections5082-5085and one path,5081,1of connection5081) and some are via a reflection off of another object (the second path5081,2of connection5081). A transceiver102may discover other transceivers by scanning a variety of transmit and receive angles until a signal from a potential communication partner is detected. Additionally, or alternatively, a transceiver102may receive information about the location of other transceivers from the service512accessible via the base station504.

The physical layer signals of the connections5081-5085may concurrently be used for performing the radar function (e.g., reflections of signals sent by transceiver1021on connection5082may be used by transceiver1021to track speed/velocity/position/etc. of automobile5022, reflections of signals sent by transceiver1025on connection5084may be used by transceiver1025to track speed/velocity/position/etc. of automobile5023, and so on). Each automobile is also communicating with base station506via a respective one of connections5061-5063(e.g., LTE (or other cellular connection), 802.11p, and/or other suitable communication protocols).

The roadway data service512is a web-based service that collects (“crowds-sources”) data from transceivers102, and, in an example embodiment, analyzes the data. The roadway data service then makes the data and/or results of the analysis of the data (if the analysis is performed) available via the Internet or other suitable network. As further described below, data from the roadway data service may be used by automobiles502and/or by other entities such as police, fire fighters, or municipal organizations in charge of managing and maintaining the roadways, etc.

Data communicated over the connections5081-5085may comprise data related to any one or more of the radar, positioning, and communication functions performed by the transceivers1021-1025, and/or may be related to other functions performed by the circuitry1102and1103(e.g, data output by various sensors), such that the radar signals serve as a millimeter wave backhaul for any data desired to be communicated among automobiles and/or among automobiles and infrastructure-mounted transceivers.

Data communicated over the connections5081-5085may comprise, for example, scene representations generated via the radar function of the transceivers1021-1025, and/or scene representations generated by other transceivers that previously passed through the intersection and uploaded scene information they gathered to the roadway data service512. The scene representations may be current and/or historical scene representations. A historical scene representation may be useful, for example, where two automobiles are headed in opposite directions and the first can alert the second as to a hazard that the first vehicle passed and that the second vehicle is approaching

Data communicated over the connections5081-5085may comprise, for example, warnings about conditions or situations on the roadway. For example, upon detecting a condition on the roadway (e.g., an obstruction in the road, a dangerous driver, pedestrians, etc.), a transceiver102of a first automobile may broadcast an alert for nearby transceivers102to receive. The alert may identify the precise location of the obstruction based on the positioning function. The alert may also be conveyed to the roadway data service such that it can be received over an even wider area (although with higher latency which may make it less effective in providing an early warning to automobiles in the vicinity of the condition).

Data communicated over the connections5081-5085may comprise, for example, informational messages about the state of the current location of the transmitter that sent the message. For example, a notification of an empty parking space, a notification of a full parking lot, a notification of an accident, a notification of bad traffic, etc.

Data communicated over the connections5081-5085may, for example, signal intent of an automobile. For example, an intent to change lanes, an intent to speed up, an intent to brake, an intent to turn, a desire to pass another automobile, etc. These alerts may be generated by circuitry110(e.g., in response to the driver turning on the turning signal, turning the wheel, pressing (moving his/her foot toward) the pedal, in response to a navigation system indicating that the planned route includes an upcoming turn, etc.) and conveyed to a transceiver102for transmission to other transceivers102.

Data communicated over the connections5081-5085may comprise, for example, requests for information. For example, a transceiver102of a vehicle that is about to turn (as determined by a planned route on its navigation system for example, or by a breaking and engaging of the turning signal), may attempt to communicate with a transceiver102of an automobile that is around the corner in order to “look ahead” (e.g., to determine if there are pedestrians there, etc.) before actually making the turn.

Scene representations generated by the transceivers102(individually and/or cooperatively by direct communications and/or communications with the roadway data service512), or data gleaned from such scene representations, may be used for controlling the automobiles and/or the stop light510. The former may comprise, for example, automatically braking, accelerating, engaging turning signals, triggering alerts on dashboard instrumentation, etc. The latter may comprise altering when the stop light510changes to prevent accidents and/or to manage traffic flow. For example, the transceiver1025may analyze a scene representation to determine that automobile5022heading east is unlikely to stop in time for the next scheduled east-facing red light/north-facing green light. The transceiver1025may thus signal control circuitry of the stop light105to delay the north-facing green light to prevent a collision between5022and5023. As another example, the transceiver1025may analyze a scene representation to determine pedestrians are present in the intersection and signal circuitry of the stop light105to stay red until the pedestrians have completed crossing.

In some instances, data may be relayed from one connection508to another in a multi-hop fashion in order to communicate data between transceivers102that cannot communicate via single hop (e.g., no direct line of sight and no suitable object(s) for reflecting the signals off of to reach the destination transceiver).

FIG. 6is a flowchart illustrating an example process for secure communications between two multifunctional automotive transceivers.FIG. 6is described with reference to transceivers1023and1024, which have been chosen arbitrarily from the transceivers ofFIG. 5for purposes of illustration.

In block602, before any of the connections5081-5085ofFIG. 5have been established, transceiver1023obtains information about other transceivers near its current location. The information may, for example, be obtained from a scene representation that transceiver1023generates using millimeter wave signals transmitted by it and/or by one or more others of the transceivers1021-1025. The transceiver1023may then analyze the scene representation to detect automobile5023and object514. The detections may be via one or more of: reflections of signals transmitted by transceiver1023along paths corresponding to connections5081,1,5083, and5081,2,, and/or reception of signals transmitted by transceiver1024along paths corresponding to connections5081,1and5081,2. Additionally, or alternatively, the information may be obtained from the roadside data service512in response to the automobile5022sending its location (determined using the positioning function of transceiver(s)1022and/or1023) to the service512via the connection5062.

In block604, the transceiver1023configures its beamforming coefficients to direct transmit and/or receive lobes in the direction of the arrow representing (not yet established) connection5081,1and/or in the direction of the arrow representing (not yet established) connection5081,2, and to direct a receive null in the direction of the arrow representing (not to be established in this example) connection5083. The transceiver1023then begins broadcasting beacons and listening for beacons. Channel(s) on which it listens may be predetermined and/or determined dynamically (e.g., based on capturing the full spectrum used by transceivers102(e.g., 76 to 81 GHz) and analyzing the interference on various possible beacon channels).

In block606, transceiver1023receives a beacon of transceiver1024, extracts a certificate from the beacon (or requests the certificate in accordance with information obtained from the beacon) and then verifies the certificate with a certificate authority accessed via connection5062. In an example implementation, authentication may be supplemented by other data. For example, circuitry1102may comprise an optical camera which may capture a picture of an automobile1103to verify that the make, model, license plate number, etc., match the certificate that was received.

In block608, transceiver1023, having verified the authenticity of transceiver1024, sends a connection request modulated onto a millimeter wave signal and waits for a reply. While waiting for the reply, the transceiver1023may use reflections of the request for performing its radar and positioning functions.

In block610, the transceiver1024replies on a millimeter wave signal and handshaking takes place which may include the transceiver1023providing its certificate, and exchange of encryption keys, etc. When handshaking is complete, connection(s)5081is established (over one or both of the paths5081,1and5081,2)

In block610, data is exchanged between transceivers1023and1024via the connection5081, and reflections of the millimeter wave signals used for the data communications are also used for the radar and positioning functions.

FIG. 7is a flowchart illustrating an example process for crowd-sourced automotive radar data.FIG. 7is described with reference to transceiver1024, which has been chosen arbitrarily from the transceivers ofFIG. 5for purposes of illustration.

In block702, transceiver1024queries service512via connection5063to retrieve scene information. The query may include the current location and velocity of the automobile5023(e.g., determined using the positioning function of radar transceiver1024), such that the service knows the perspective from which the transceiver1024is seeing the scene, and such that information will not be outdated by the time it makes it to the automobile5023via the connection5063.

In block704, the service512responds with scene information for the location(s) and velocity(ies) identified by the query3. The information from service512may comprise a crowd-sourced scene representation (e.g., pixel and/or voxel grid) generated over time from transceivers such as1021,1022,1023,1025and/or other transceivers that have previously been in the location(s) for which the scene information is being provided.

In block706, the transceiver1024generates a scene representation using its radar function and/or its communication function. The former comprises analysis of: reflections of its own transmitted millimeter wave signals, reflections of millimeter wave signals transmitted by the transceivers1023and/or1025, and/or millimeter wave signals received directly (without reflection) from transceivers1023and1025. The latter comprises receiving scene representations, or information gleaned from analysis of scene representations, from transceiver(s)1023and/or1025in the form of data modulated onto the millimeter wave signals.

In block708, the transceiver1024determines differences between the crowd-sourced information received in block704and the scene representation generated in block706. In an implementation in which the crowd-sourced information is an average representation of the scene generated over time from many transceivers, objects present in the scene are static objects (i.e., objects such as light poles, medians, etc., that are present in the same location over long periods of time), and thus the differences in the scene representation generated in block708correspond to dynamic objects (moving cars, pedestrians, etc.) in the scene. This may aid the transceiver1024in determining which objects to track, which alerts to generate, etc. (e.g., no point in expending energy repeatedly analyzing reflections from a light pole since it is not going anywhere).

In block710, the differences between the crowd-sourced information received in block704and the scene representation generated in block706are uploaded to the service512(e.g., in the form of a pixel or voxel grid where only pixels corresponding to the differences have nonzero values). By uploading only the differences, the amount of data that needs to be uploaded may be relatively small.

Instead of, or in addition to, uploading scene differences, other data may be uploaded to the service512. Such data may, for example, include any or all of the types of data described above as being communicated over connections508. While the roadway data service512has the disadvantage of latency and lower bandwidth of the connections506as compared to the connections508, it has the advantage of receiving data from many transceivers102over time, and thus being able to “crowd-source” many scene representations from many perspectives and thus create continually evolving, very high resolution scene representations in near real time.

In block712, the service512uses the data from transceiver1024received in block710to update the crowd-sourced scene information.

In block714, the automobile (i.e., the circuitry1103and/or transceiver1024) use(s) the crowd-sourced scene information received in block704and/or the scene representation generated in block706for performing various functions such as controlling the automobile5023, triggering alerts to a driver of automobile5023, generating alerts and communicating them to transceiver(s)1023and/or1025via connection(s)5081and/or5084, etc.

As mentioned above, scene information communicated among transceivers102and between transceivers102and service512may be tagged with very precise positioning information obtained using the radar function so that there is a common frame of reference that can be used for combining scene representations or otherwise using scene information from multiple sources.

Each of service512and the automobile5023may proceed with caution when using the data received from the other. If, for example, the scene representation from transceiver1024varies wildly from the existing crowd-sourced representation, the scene representation1024may be ignored as erroneous and the transceiver1024may even report faulty operation of the transceiver1024to the automobile5023(such that it can recalibrate or seek repair) and/or to a centralized authority.

In another implementation, it may be that the service512calculates differences between the average/aggregate crowd-sourced scene information and scene information received from individual transceivers such that the amount of data to be sent on the downlink to the automobiles is relatively small.

In an example implementation of this disclosure, a system comprises a multifunction radar receiver (e.g.,102N) that in turn comprises processing circuitry (e.g.,256,260, and/or262) and front-end circuitry (e.g.,252). The front-end circuitry is operable to receive a millimeter wave burst via a plurality of antennas (e.g.,208) to generate a plurality of received signals. The processing circuitry is operable to receive a first scene representation that is an aggregate of scene representations generated by one or more other radar receivers (e.g.,2021and2022). The processing circuitry is operable to process the received signals to generate a second scene representation. The processing circuitry is operable to compare the first scene representation and the second scene representation and generate a difference scene based on the comparison. The processing circuitry is operable to generate a control signal based on the difference scene. The multifunction receiver may reside in a passenger vehicle (e.g.,5022) and the control signal may control, at least in part, one or more of: brakes, an accelerator, steering system, turn signals, and dashboard instrumentation. The multifunction radar receiver may comprise bus interface circuitry. The multifunction radar receiver may comprise bus interface circuitry that may be operable to output the first scene representation and/or the difference scene via the bus interface circuitry. The first scene representation may be modulated on the millimeter wave radar burst, and the processing circuitry may be operable to demodulate the millimeter wave radar burst to recover the first scene representation. The multifunction radar receiver may be operable to receive the first scene representation via the bus interface circuitry. The multifunction receiver may reside in a passenger vehicle, and the control signal may control transmissions of a transmitter (e.g.,204Nor110) of the passenger vehicle. The system may comprise a multifunction radar transmitter (e.g.,204N). The multifunction radar transmitter may be operable to receive one or both of the first scene representation and the difference scene via the bus interface circuitry. The multifunction radar transmitter may be operable to modulate the one or both of the first scene representation and the difference scene onto a millimeter wave radar burst. The multifunction radar transmitter may be operable to transmit the one or both of the first scene representation and the difference scene into a network destined for a server of a roadside data service.