The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 19, 2004
Filed:
Nov. 14, 2002
Eric K. Walton, Columbus, OH (US);
Chi-Chih Chen, Dublin, OH (US);
The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (US);
Abstract
The present invention is a radar system for detecting the presence of obstacles. The radar system includes at least one transmitting antenna and at least one receiving antenna. The transmitting antenna receives an input signal and transmits an electromagnetic wave. The electromagnetic wave reflects off an obstacle back to the receiving antenna. The receiving antenna captures the reflected electromagnetic wave and produces an output signal. The output signal is then combined with the input signal in a quadrature mixer. The resulting in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) signals may be further processed and then transmitted to a processing system. The processing system uses a suitable algorithm, e.g., a back projection algorithm, to estimate the type and location of obstacles that reflected the electromagnetic wave. In an exemplary embodiment, the algorithm is adapted to discriminate between different sizes and locations of obstacles in order to determine if there is a hazard. Based on this information, the processing system then communicates with a visual and/or audible warning system in order to alert the driver about the obstacle if it has been determined to be a hazard.