US-12625248-B2 - Radar apparatus and operating method thereof

US12625248B2US 12625248 B2US12625248 B2US 12625248B2US-12625248-B2

Abstract

A radar apparatus includes a transmitter configured to transmit electromagnetic waves; a receiver configured to receive electromagnetic waves that are reflected; and a processor configured to extract a relative velocity, with respect to the radar apparatus, of at least one front object based on the electromagnetic waves received by the receiver, wherein the processor is further configured to locally adjust respective resolutions of scanning front regions based on the relative velocity of the at least one front object.

Inventors

Inoh HWANG

Assignees

SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20240417
Priority Date: 20191126

Claims (17)

1 . A radar apparatus comprising: a transmitter configured to transmit electromagnetic waves, the transmitter being configured to steer the electromagnetic waves to scan a front region; a receiver configured to receive electromagnetic waves that are reflected; and a processor configured to extract a relative velocity, with respect to the radar apparatus, of at least one front object based on the electromagnetic waves received by the receiver, wherein the processor is further configured to extract a distance to the at least one front object, and locally adjust a horizontal angular resolution and a vertical angular resolution of steering the electromagnetic waves in scanning the front region based on the distance to the at least one front object, and wherein the processor is further configured to: control the transmitter to scan, at a first horizontal/vertical angular resolution, a first front region in which a first object moves at a relative velocity within a first relative velocity range and within a first distance range in a direction approaching to the radar apparatus; control the transmitter to scan, at a second horizontal/vertical angular resolution higher than the first horizontal/vertical angular resolution, a second front region in which a second object moves at a relative velocity within the first relative velocity range and within a second distance range farther than the first distance range in the direction approaching the radar apparatus; and control the transmitter to scan, at a third horizontal/vertical angular resolution higher than the second horizontal/vertical angular resolution, a third front region in which a third object moves at a relative velocity within a second relative velocity range higher than the first relative velocity range and within the second distance range in the direction approaching the radar apparatus.
2 . The radar apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to locally adjust the horizontal angular resolution and the vertical angular resolution of steering the electromagnetic waves in scanning the front region based on the distance to the at least one front object, such that the horizontal angular resolution and the vertical angular resolution are increased in an area in which a front object is present at a farther distance and are decreased in an area in which a front object is present at a closer distance.
3 . The radar apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the processor is further configured to locally adjust the horizontal angular resolution and the vertical angular resolution of steering the electromagnetic waves in scanning the front region further based on the relative velocity of the at least one front object, such that the horizontal angular resolution and the vertical angular resolution are increased in an area in which a front object of a higher relative velocity is present and are decreased in an area in which a front object of a lower relative velocity is present.
4 . The radar apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the processor is further configured to control the transmitter to scan, at a fourth horizontal/vertical angular resolution higher than the third horizontal/vertical angular resolution, a fourth front region in which a fourth object moves at a relative velocity within a third relative velocity range higher than the second relative velocity range and within the second distance range in the direction approaching the radar apparatus.
5 . The radar apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to control the transmitter to scan an entire front region at the first horizontal/vertical angular resolution in an initial stage.
6 . The radar apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to control the transmitter to scan an entire front region at a resolution less than the first horizontal/vertical angular resolution in an initial stage.
7 . The radar apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to update information about the relative velocity of the at least one front object after completing scanning in one frame with respect to an entire front region and again locally adjust the horizontal angular resolution and the vertical angular resolution based on the updated information.
8 . The radar apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the transmitter comprises: a transmitting element array comprising a plurality of transmitting elements which are one-dimensionally or two-dimensionally arranged; and a transmitting circuit configured to provide transmission signals to the plurality of transmitting elements, and wherein the processor is further configured to control the transmitting circuit such that, based on the transmission signals, phases of the electromagnetic waves emitted from the plurality of transmitting elements change according to a front region to which the electromagnetic waves are to be transmitted.
9 . The radar apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine a possibility of collision with a front object from among the at least one front object, based on information about the extracted distance to the front object and the relative velocity of the front object.
10 . A light detection and ranging (LiDAR) apparatus comprising: a transmitter configured to transmit laser light, the transmitter being configured to steer the laser light to scan a front region; a photodetector configured to receive laser light that is reflected; and a processor configured to extract a relative velocity, with respect to the LiDAR apparatus, of at least one front object based on the laser light received by the photodetector, wherein the processor is further configured to extract a distance to the at least one front object, and locally adjust a horizontal angular resolution and a vertical angular resolution of steering the laser light in scanning the front region based on the distance to the at least one front object, and wherein the processor is further configured to: control the transmitter to scan, at a first horizontal/vertical angular resolution, a first front region in which a first object moves at a relative velocity within a first relative velocity range and within a first distance range in a direction approaching to the LiDAR apparatus; control the transmitter to scan, at a second horizontal/vertical angular resolution higher than the first horizontal/vertical angular resolution, a second front region in which a second object moves at a relative velocity within the first relative velocity range and within a second distance range farther than the first distance range in the direction approaching the LiDAR apparatus; and control the transmitter to scan, at a third horizontal/vertical angular resolution higher than the second horizontal/vertical angular resolution, a third front region in which a third object moves at a relative velocity within a second relative velocity range higher than the first relative velocity range and within the second distance range in the direction approaching the LiDAR apparatus.
11 . The LiDAR apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the processor is configured to locally adjust the horizontal angular resolution and the vertical angular resolution of steering the laser light in scanning the front region based on the distance to the at least one front object, such that the horizontal angular resolution and the vertical angular resolution are increased in an area in which a front object is present at a farther distance and are decreased in an area in which a front object is present at a closer distance.
12 . The LiDAR apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to locally adjust the horizontal angular resolution and the vertical angular resolution of steering the laser light in scanning the front region further based on the relative velocity of the at least one front object, such that the horizontal angular resolution and the vertical angular resolution are increased in an area in which a front object of a higher relative velocity is present and are decreased in an area in which a front object of a lower relative velocity is present.
13 . The LiDAR apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to control the transmitter to scan, at a fourth horizontal/vertical angular resolution higher than the third horizontal/vertical angular resolution, a fourth front region in which a fourth object moves at a relative velocity within a third relative velocity range higher than the second relative velocity range and within the second distance range in the direction approaching the LiDAR apparatus.
14 . The LiDAR apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to control the transmitter to scan an entire front region at the first horizontal/vertical angular resolution in an initial stage.
15 . The LiDAR apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to control the transmitter to scan an entire front region at a resolution less than the first horizontal/vertical angular resolution in an initial stage.
16 . The LiDAR apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to update information about the relative velocity of the at least one front object after completing scanning in one frame with respect to an entire front region and again locally adjust the horizontal angular resolution and the vertical angular resolution based on the updated information.
17 . The LiDAR apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine a possibility of collision with a front object from among the at least one front object, based on information about the extracted distance to the front object and the relative velocity of the front object.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/851,885, filed Apr. 17, 2020, which claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2019-0153552, filed on Nov. 26, 2019, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. BACKGROUND 1. Field Example embodiments of the disclosure relate to radar apparatuses and operating methods thereof, and more particularly, to radar apparatuses capable of adjusting a local resolution by using a velocity or distance information of front objects and operating methods thereof. 2. Description of Related Art Advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS) having various functions have recently been commercialized. For example, vehicles having various functions such as adaptive cruise control (ACC) or autonomous emergency braking system (AEB) are used. ACC is a function of recognizing positions and velocities of other vehicles ahead of a vehicle, slowing the vehicle when there is a risk of collision, and maintaining the velocity of the vehicle in a preset velocity range when there is no risk of collision. AEB is a function of recognizing other vehicles ahead of a vehicle and preventing a collision by automatically braking when there is a risk of collision and a driver does not take an action or the driver's action is not appropriate. Also, autonomous vehicles are expected to be commercialized in the near future. Accordingly, the importance of vehicle radar apparatuses for providing information of vehicles in front has increased. For example, light detection and ranging (LIDAR) sensors are commonly used as vehicle radars, and the LiDAR sensors measure a distance to a measurement target along with a velocity, an azimuth position, etc. of the measurement target based on a time taken when a laser is irradiated and a scattered or reflected laser returns to the sensor, an intensity change of the laser, a frequency change of the laser, and/or a polarization state change of the laser. SUMMARY One or more example embodiments provide radar apparatuses capable of adjusting a local resolution by using a velocity or distance information of front objects and methods of operating the same. Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the presented embodiments of the disclosure. According to an aspect of an example embodiment, there is provided a radar apparatus including: a transmitter configured to transmit electromagnetic waves; a receiver configured to receive the electromagnetic waves that are reflected; and a processor configured to extract a relative velocity, with respect to the radar apparatus, of at least one front object based on the electromagnetic waves received by the receiver, wherein the processor is further configured to locally adjust respective resolutions of scanning front regions based on the relative velocity of the at least one front object. The at least one front object may include a first object and a second object, and the processor may be further configured to: control the transmitter to scan, at a first resolution, a first front region in which the first object moves at a relative velocity within a first relative velocity range, and control the transmitter to scan, at a second resolution higher than the first resolution, a second front region in which the second object moves at a relative velocity within a second relative velocity range higher than the first relative velocity range. The processor may be further configured to control the transmitter to scan an entire front region at the first resolution in an initial stage. The processor may be further configured to control the transmitter to scan an entire front region at a resolution less than the first resolution in an initial stage. The at least one front object may further include a third object, and the processor may be further configured to control the transmitter to scan, at a third resolution higher than the second resolution, a third front region in which the third object moves at a relative velocity within a third relative velocity range higher than the second relative velocity range in a direction approaching the radar apparatus. The at least one front object may include a first object, a second object, and a third object, and the processor may be further configured to: extract distances to the first, the second, and the third objects; control the transmitter to scan, at a first resolution, a first front region in which the first object moves at a relative velocity within a first relative velocity range; control the transmitter to scan, at a second resolution higher than the first resolution, a second front region in which the second object moves at a relative velocity within a second relative velocity range higher than the first relative velocity range