阅读说明：本技术 车辆用灯具以及车辆 (Vehicle lamp and vehicle ) 是由 丸山雄太 于 2020-03-05 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明提供一种车辆用灯具,其无需使电波收发模块的天线部以及/或者通信电路部的外形尺寸小型化而将电波收发模块妥善地搭载。左前灯具(7a)具备壳体(24a)、将壳体(24a)的开口覆盖的外罩(22a)、毫米波雷达(45a)。毫米波雷达(45a)具备天线部(56)和通信电路部(50)。天线部(56)具备发送天线和接收天线。通信电路部(50)具备与发送天线电连接的发送侧RF电路、与接收天线电连接的接收侧RF电路、和构成为对从接收侧RF电路输出的数字信号进行处理的信号处理电路。天线部(56)设置于外罩(22a)的内部。通信电路部(50)配置于由壳体(24a)和外罩(22a)形成的空间(Sa)内。(The invention provides a vehicle lamp, which can properly mount a radio wave transceiver module without reducing the external dimension of an antenna part and/or a communication circuit part of the radio wave transceiver module. The left front lamp (7a) is provided with a housing (24a), a cover (22a) that covers the opening of the housing (24a), and a millimeter-wave radar (45 a). The millimeter wave radar (45a) is provided with an antenna unit (56) and a communication circuit unit (50). The antenna unit (56) is provided with a transmission antenna and a reception antenna. The communication circuit unit (50) is provided with a transmitting-side RF circuit electrically connected to a transmitting antenna, a receiving-side RF circuit electrically connected to a receiving antenna, and a signal processing circuit configured to process a digital signal output from the receiving-side RF circuit. The antenna unit (56) is provided inside the housing (22 a). The communication circuit unit (50) is disposed in a space (Sa) formed by the case (24a) and the cover (22 a).)

1. A vehicle lamp includes a housing, a cover covering an opening of the housing, and a radio wave transmitting/receiving module,

the radio wave transmission/reception module includes:

an antenna unit having a transmitting antenna and a receiving antenna; and

a communication circuit unit including a transmission-side RF circuit electrically connected to the transmission antenna, a reception-side RF circuit electrically connected to the reception antenna, and a signal processing circuit configured to process a digital signal output from the reception-side RF circuit,

the antenna part is arranged on the outer cover,

the communication circuit unit is disposed in a space formed by the case and the cover.

2. The vehicular lamp according to claim 1, wherein the antenna portion is provided inside the housing.

3. The vehicular lamp according to claim 1, wherein the antenna portion is provided on a surface of the housing.

4. The vehicular lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the antenna portion and the communication circuit portion are electrically connected to each other via a metal fixing member that fixes the housing and the case.

5. The vehicle lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the radio wave transceiver module is a millimeter wave radar configured to acquire data representing a surrounding environment of the vehicle.

6. The vehicle lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the radio wave transmission/reception module is a wireless communication module configured to wirelessly communicate with an external device.

7. The vehicle lamp according to claim 1, wherein the transmitting antenna and the receiving antenna are configured as patch antennas.

8. The vehicular lamp according to claim 1, wherein the antenna portion further comprises an insulating substrate made of an insulating material.

9. The vehicular lamp according to claim 8, wherein the insulating substrate is a part of the housing.

10. A vehicle provided with the vehicle lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

Technical Field

The invention relates to a vehicle lamp and a vehicle.

Background

Currently, research on automotive automatic driving technology is being actively conducted in various countries, and legislation for enabling vehicles (hereinafter, "vehicles" refer to automobiles) to travel on roads in an automatic driving mode is being studied in various countries. Here, in the automatic driving mode, the running of the vehicle is automatically controlled by the vehicle system. Specifically, in the automatic driving mode, the vehicle system automatically performs at least one of steering control (control of the traveling direction of the vehicle), braking control, and acceleration control (control of braking, acceleration, and deceleration of the vehicle) based on information (surrounding environment information) indicating the surrounding environment of the vehicle acquired from a sensor such as a camera or a radar (for example, a laser radar or a millimeter wave radar). On the other hand, in the manual driving mode described below, the running of the vehicle is controlled by the driver as in most conventional type vehicles. Specifically, in the manual driving mode, the travel of the vehicle is controlled in accordance with the operation (steering operation, braking operation, acceleration operation) by the driver, and the vehicle system does not automatically perform steering control, braking control, and acceleration control. Further, the driving mode of the vehicle is not a concept existing only in a part of the vehicles, but a concept existing in all vehicles including a conventional type vehicle having no automatic driving function, classified according to a vehicle control method or the like, for example.

In this way, it is predicted that a vehicle traveling in the automatic driving mode (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as an "automatic driving vehicle") and a vehicle traveling in the manual driving mode (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as a "manual driving vehicle") will coexist on a road in the future.

As an example of the automatic driving technique, patent document 1 discloses an automatic follow-up running system in which a following vehicle automatically follows a preceding vehicle. In this automatic follow-up running system, the preceding vehicle and the following vehicle are provided with an illumination system, respectively, and the illumination system of the preceding vehicle displays character information for preventing another vehicle from being inserted between the preceding vehicle and the following vehicle, and the illumination system of the following vehicle displays character information indicating that the vehicle is in automatic follow-up running.

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

However, in the development of the automatic driving technique, it is required to significantly improve the detection accuracy of the surrounding environment of the vehicle. In this regard, by mounting a plurality of sensors (for example, a camera, a LiDAR unit, a millimeter wave radar, or the like) for detecting the surrounding environment of the vehicle on the vehicle, the detection accuracy of the surrounding environment of the vehicle can be significantly improved. In addition, from the viewpoint of the appearance of the vehicle and the mounting space of the sensor, it has been studied to mount a plurality of sensors in each vehicle lamp.

However, in view of restrictions on the design of the vehicle and the vehicle lamp, there are various problems in the case where a plurality of sensors are mounted in the vehicle lamp. For example, there is a problem that a millimeter wave radar (an example of a radio wave transmitting and receiving module) which is one of the sensors cannot be properly mounted in the vehicle lamp due to the design of the vehicle and the vehicle lamp. In order to cope with this problem, it is conceivable to reduce the outer dimensions of the millimeter wave radar, but with the reduction in size of the millimeter wave radar (particularly, the reduction in size of the antenna portion of the millimeter wave radar), the detection performance of the millimeter wave radar may be reduced. As described above, there is room for study on a method for appropriately mounting a radio wave transceiver module such as a millimeter wave radar in a vehicle lamp without making the radio wave transceiver module smaller.

The invention aims to properly mount a radio wave transceiver module on a vehicle lamp without reducing the external dimensions of an antenna part and/or a communication circuit part of the radio wave transceiver module.

Means for solving the problems

A vehicle lamp according to an aspect of the present invention includes a housing, a cover covering an opening of the housing, and a radio wave transmitting/receiving module. The radio wave transmission/reception module includes: an antenna unit having a transmitting antenna and a receiving antenna; and a communication circuit unit including a transmission-side RF circuit electrically connected to the transmission antenna, a reception-side RF circuit electrically connected to the reception antenna, and a signal processing circuit configured to process a digital signal output from the reception-side RF circuit. The antenna portion is disposed in the housing. The communication circuit unit is disposed in a space formed by the case and the cover.

According to the above configuration, the antenna unit is provided in the housing, and the communication circuit unit is disposed in the space formed by the case and the housing. Therefore, the radio wave transmission/reception module can be appropriately mounted on the vehicle lamp without reducing the external dimensions of the antenna portion and/or the communication circuit portion of the radio wave transmission/reception module.

In addition, the antenna portion may be disposed inside the housing.

According to the above configuration, since the antenna portion is provided inside the housing, the radio wave transmission/reception module can be appropriately mounted on the vehicle lamp without reducing the external dimensions of the antenna portion and/or the communication circuit portion of the radio wave transmission/reception module.

In addition, the antenna portion may be provided on a surface of the housing.

According to the above configuration, since the antenna portion is provided on the surface of the housing, the radio wave transmission/reception module can be appropriately mounted on the vehicle lamp without reducing the external dimensions of the antenna portion and/or the communication circuit portion of the radio wave transmission/reception module.

The antenna unit and the communication circuit unit may be electrically connected to each other via a metal fixing member that fixes the cover and the case.

According to the above configuration, the antenna portion and the communication circuit portion can be electrically connected using the metal fixing member that fixes the cover and the case.

The radio wave transmitting/receiving module may be a millimeter wave radar configured to acquire data indicating the surrounding environment of the vehicle.

According to the above configuration, the millimeter wave radar can be appropriately mounted on the vehicle lamp without reducing the external dimensions of the antenna portion and/or the communication circuit portion of the millimeter wave radar.

The radio wave transmission/reception module may be a wireless communication module configured to wirelessly communicate with an external device.

According to the above configuration, the wireless communication module can be appropriately mounted on the vehicle lamp without reducing the size of the antenna portion and/or the outer dimension of the wireless communication module.

The present invention can provide a vehicle provided with the vehicle lamp.

According to the above, the radio wave transmission/reception module can be appropriately mounted on the vehicle lamp without reducing the external dimensions of the antenna portion and/or the communication circuit of the radio wave transmission/reception module.

Effects of the invention

According to the present invention, the radio wave transmission/reception module can be appropriately mounted on the vehicle lamp without reducing the external dimensions of the antenna portion and/or the communication circuit portion of the radio wave transmission/reception module.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle including a vehicle system according to an embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter, referred to as the present embodiment).

Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing a vehicle system according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a front left sensing system.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing the structure of the millimeter wave radar.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing the configurations of the transmitting RF circuit and the receiving RF circuit.

Fig. 6 (a) is a front view of an antenna unit including a transmitting antenna and a receiving antenna. Fig. 6 (b) is a sectional view a-a of the antenna portion shown in fig. 6 (a).

Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional view showing a left front lamp mounted with a millimeter wave radar.

Fig. 8 (a) is a diagram showing an antenna unit disposed inside the cover. Fig. 8 (b) is a diagram showing the antenna unit disposed on the outer surface of the cover. Fig. 8 (c) is a diagram showing the antenna unit disposed on the inner surface of the cover. Fig. 8 (d) is a diagram showing the antenna unit according to the modification example disposed inside the cover.

Description of the reference numerals

1: a vehicle;

2: a vehicle system;

3: a vehicle control unit;

4 a: a left front sensing system;

4 b: a right front sensing system;

4 c: a rear left sensing system;

4 d: a rear right sensing system;

5: a sensor;

7 a: a left front light fixture;

7 b: a right front light fixture;

7 c: a left rear light fixture;

7 d: a right rear light fixture;

10: a wireless communication unit;

11: a storage device;

12: a steering actuator;

13: a steering device;

14: a brake actuator;

15: a braking device;

16: an acceleration actuator;

17: an acceleration device;

22a, 22b, 22c, 22 d: a housing;

24a, 24b, 24c, 24 d: a housing;

40 a: a control unit;

42 a: a lighting unit;

43 a: a camera;

44 a: a LiDAR unit;

45 a: a millimeter wave radar;

50: a communication circuit section;

51: a transmission-side RF circuit;

52: a reception-side RF circuit;

53: a signal processing circuit;

54: a transmitting antenna;

55: a receiving antenna;

56. 56 x: an antenna section;

57: a ground electrode;

60: an insulating substrate;

70: a cable;

72. 73: a metal fixing member;

150: a high frequency generating circuit;

152: a phaser;

153. 154: an amplifier;

155: a mixer;

156：BPF；

157: an AD converter;

158: a filter circuit;

420 a: a lighting unit control unit;

430 a: a camera control unit;

440 a: a LiDAR unit control section;

450 a: a millimeter wave radar control unit.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter, simply referred to as "the present embodiment") will be described with reference to the drawings. In the description of the present embodiment, the members having the same reference numerals as those already described are omitted for the convenience of description. For the sake of convenience of explanation, the dimensions of the respective members shown in the drawings may be different from the actual dimensions of the respective members.

In the description of the present embodiment, for the sake of convenience of description, the terms "left-right direction", "front-back direction", and "up-down direction" may be appropriately mentioned. These directions are relative directions set for the vehicle 1 shown in fig. 1. Here, the "front-rear direction" is a direction including the "front direction" and the "rear direction". The "left-right direction" is a direction including the "left direction" and the "right direction". The "up-down direction" is a direction including the "up direction" and the "down direction". Although the up-down direction is not shown in fig. 1, the up-down direction is a direction perpendicular to the front-back direction and the left-right direction.

First, a vehicle 1 and a vehicle system 2 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to fig. 1 and 2. Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a plan view of a vehicle 1 provided with a vehicle system 2. Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the vehicle system 2.

As shown in fig. 1, the vehicle 1 is a vehicle (automobile) capable of traveling in an automatic driving mode, and includes a vehicle system 2, a left front lamp 7a, a right front lamp 7b, a left rear lamp 7c, and a right rear lamp 7 d.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the vehicle system 2 includes at least a vehicle control unit 3, a left front sensing system 4a (hereinafter, simply referred to as "sensing system 4 a"), a right front sensing system 4b (hereinafter, simply referred to as "sensing system 4 b"), a left rear sensing system 4c (hereinafter, simply referred to as "sensing system 4 c"), and a right rear sensing system 4d (hereinafter, simply referred to as "sensing system 4 d").

The vehicle system 2 further includes a sensor 5, an hmi (human Machine interface)8, a gps (global positioning system)9, a wireless communication unit 10, and a storage device 11. The vehicle system 2 includes a steering actuator 12, a steering device 13, a brake actuator 14, a brake device 15, an acceleration actuator 16, and an accelerator device 17.

The vehicle control unit 3 is configured to control the traveling of the vehicle 1. The vehicle Control Unit 3 is constituted by at least one Electronic Control Unit (ECU), for example. The electronic control unit includes a computer system (for example, soc (system on a chip)) including one or more processors and one or more memories, and an electronic circuit including active elements such as transistors and passive elements. The processor includes at least one of a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an MPU (micro Processing Unit), a GPU (graphics Processing Unit), and a TPU (Tensorprocessing Unit), for example. The CPU may be constituted by a plurality of CPU cores. A GPU may be made up of multiple GPU cores. The memory includes ROM (read Only memory) and RAM (random Access memory). The vehicle control program may be stored in the ROM. For example, the vehicle control program may include an Artificial Intelligence (AI) program for automatic driving. The AI program is a program (learned model) constructed by supervised machine learning or unsupervised machine learning (in particular, deep learning) using a multilayer neural network. The RAM may temporarily store a vehicle control program, vehicle control data, and/or ambient environment information indicating the ambient environment of the vehicle. The processor may be configured to load a program specified from among various vehicle control programs stored in the ROM on the RAM, and to execute various processes by cooperating with the RAM. The computer system may be a non-von neumann computer such as an asic (application Specific Integrated circuit) or an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array). Further, the computer system may be configured by a combination of a von neumann computer and a non-von neumann computer.

The sensing systems 4a to 4d are each configured to detect the surrounding environment of the vehicle 1. In the description of the present embodiment, the sensing systems 4a to 4d have the same components. Therefore, the sensing system 4a is explained below with reference to fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing the sensing system 4 a.

As shown in fig. 3, the sensing system 4a includes: a control unit 40a, a lighting unit 42a, a camera 43a, a LiDAR (light detection and Ranging) unit 44a, and a millimeter wave radar 45 a. The control unit 40a, the illumination unit 42a, the camera 43a, the LiDAR unit 44a, and the millimeter wave radar 45a are disposed in a space Sa formed by the housing 24a and the translucent cover 22a of the left front lamp 7a shown in fig. 1. The control unit 40a may be disposed in a predetermined place of the vehicle 1 other than the space Sa. For example, the control unit 40a may be integrated with the vehicle control unit 3.

The control unit 40a is configured to control the operations of the illumination unit 42a, the camera 43a, the LiDAR unit 44a, and the millimeter-wave radar 45a, respectively. In this regard, the control unit 40a functions as an illumination unit control unit 420a, a camera control unit 430a, a LiDAR unit control unit 440a, and a millimeter wave radar control unit 450 a.

The control unit 40a is constituted by at least one Electronic Control Unit (ECU). The electronic control unit includes a computer system (for example, SoC) including one or more processors and one or more memories, and an electronic circuit including active elements such as transistors and passive elements. The processor includes at least one of a CPU, MPU, GPU, and TPU. The memory includes ROM and RAM. The computer system may be a non-von neumann computer such as an ASIC or FPGA.

The illumination unit 42a is configured to form a light distribution pattern by emitting light toward the outside (forward) of the vehicle 1. The illumination unit 42a has a light source for emitting light and an optical system. The light source may be constituted by a plurality of light emitting elements arranged in a matrix (for example, N rows × M columns, N > 1, M > 1). The light Emitting element is, for example, an led (light Emitting diode), an ld (laser diode), or an organic EL element. The optical system may include at least one of a reflector configured to reflect light emitted from the light source toward the front of the illumination unit 42a and a lens configured to refract light directly emitted from the light source or light reflected by the reflector.

The illumination unit control unit 420A is configured to control the illumination unit 42a so that the illumination unit 42a emits a predetermined light distribution pattern toward the front region of the vehicle 1. For example, the illumination unit control unit 420a may change the light distribution pattern emitted from the illumination unit 42a according to the driving pattern of the vehicle 1.

The camera 43a is configured to detect the surrounding environment of the vehicle 1. In particular, the camera 43a is configured to acquire image data indicating the surrounding environment of the vehicle 1 and transmit the image data to the camera control unit 430 a. The camera control section 430a may determine the surrounding environment information based on the transmitted image data. Here, the ambient environment information may include information relating to an object existing outside the vehicle 1. For example, the surrounding environment information may include information related to an attribute of an object existing outside the vehicle 1, and information related to a distance, a direction, and/or a position of the object with respect to the vehicle 1. The camera 43a includes an image pickup Device such as a CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) or a CMOS (complementary MOS).

The LiDAR unit 44a is configured to detect the surrounding environment of the vehicle 1. In particular, the LiDAR unit 44a is configured to acquire point cloud data indicating the surrounding environment of the vehicle 1 and transmit the point cloud data to the LiDAR unit control unit 440 a. The LiDAR unit control 440a may determine ambient environment information based on the transmitted point cloud data.

More specifically, the LiDAR unit 44a acquires information of the laser light regarding the Time of Flight (TOF: Time of Flight) Δ T1 of the laser light (light pulse) at each emission angle (horizontal angle θ, vertical angle φ). The LiDAR unit 44a is able to acquire information relating to the distance D between the LiDAR unit 44a and an object present outside of the vehicle 1 at each of the exit angles based on the information relating to the time of flight Δ T1 at each of the exit angles.

The millimeter wave radar 45a is configured to detect radar data indicating the surrounding environment of the vehicle 1. In particular, the millimeter wave radar 45a is configured to acquire radar data and transmit the radar data to the millimeter wave radar control unit 450 a. The millimeter wave radar control unit 450a is configured to acquire the surrounding environment information based on the radar data. The ambient environment information may include information related to an object existing outside the vehicle 1. The surrounding environment information may include, for example, information relating to the position and direction of the object with respect to the vehicle 1, and information relating to the relative speed of the object with respect to the vehicle 1.

For example, the millimeter Wave radar 45a may acquire the distance and direction between the millimeter Wave radar 45a and an object existing outside the vehicle 1 in a pulse modulation system, an FM-CW (Frequency-Modulated-Continuous Wave) system, or a dual-Frequency CW system. In the case of using the pulse modulation method, the millimeter wave radar 45a can acquire information on the distance D between the millimeter wave radar 45a and the object existing outside the vehicle 1 based on the information on the time of flight Δ T2, on the basis of the information on the time of flight Δ T2 of the millimeter waves. In addition, the millimeter wave radar 45a is capable of acquiring information relating to the direction of the object with respect to the vehicle 1 based on the phase difference between the phase of the millimeter wave (received wave) received by one receiving antenna and the phase of the millimeter wave (received wave) received by the other receiving antenna adjacent to the one receiving antenna. In addition, the millimeter wave radar 45a is able to acquire information relating to the relative speed V of the object with respect to the millimeter wave radar 45a, based on the frequency f0 of the transmission wave transmitted from the transmission antenna and the frequency f1 of the reception wave received by the reception antenna. The specific configuration of the millimeter-wave radar 45a will be described later.

Each of the sensing systems 4b to 4d also includes a control unit, an illumination unit, a camera, a LiDAR unit, and a millimeter-wave radar in the same manner. In particular, these devices of the sensor system 4b are disposed in a space Sb formed by the case 24b and the translucent cover 22b of the right front lamp 7b shown in fig. 1. These devices of the sensing system 4c are disposed in a space Sc formed by the case 24c of the left rear lamp 7c and the translucent cover 22 c. These devices of the sensor system 4d are disposed in a space Sd formed by the housing 24d of the right rear lamp 7d and the translucent cover 22 d.

Returning to fig. 2, the sensor 5 may have an acceleration sensor, a velocity sensor, a gyro sensor, and the like. The sensor 5 is configured to detect a traveling state of the vehicle 1 and output traveling state information indicating the traveling state of the vehicle 1 to the vehicle control unit 3. In addition, the sensor 5 may have an outside air temperature sensor that detects an outside air temperature outside the vehicle 1.

The HMI8 is constituted by an input unit that receives an input operation from the driver, and an output unit that outputs travel information and the like to the driver. The input unit includes a steering wheel, an accelerator pedal, a brake pedal, a driving mode changeover switch that changes over the driving mode of the vehicle 1, and the like. The output unit is a Display (for example, Head Up Display (HUD)) for displaying various kinds of travel information. The GPS9 is configured to acquire current position information of the vehicle 1 and output the acquired current position information to the vehicle control unit 3.

The wireless communication unit 10 is configured to receive information on another vehicle located around the vehicle 1 from the other vehicle and transmit the information on the vehicle 1 to the other vehicle (inter-vehicle communication). The wireless communication unit 10 is configured to receive infrastructure information from infrastructure equipment such as an annunciator and a marker lamp and transmit travel information of the vehicle 1 to the infrastructure equipment (road-to-vehicle communication). The wireless communication unit 10 is configured to receive information related to a pedestrian from a portable electronic device (a smartphone, a tablet, a wearable device, or the like) carried by the pedestrian, and transmit own vehicle travel information of the vehicle 1 to the portable electronic device (pedestrian-to-vehicle communication). The vehicle 1 may communicate directly with other vehicles, infrastructure equipment, or portable electronic devices through an ad-hoc mode, or may communicate via a communication network such as the internet.

The storage device 11 is an external storage device such as a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) or ssd (solid State drive). The storage device 11 may store two-dimensional or three-dimensional map information and/or a vehicle control program. For example, the three-dimensional map information may be constituted by 3D mapping data (point cloud data). The storage device 11 is configured to output map information and a vehicle control program to the vehicle control unit 3 in response to a request from the vehicle control unit 3. The map information and the vehicle control program can be updated via the wireless communication unit 10 and the communication network.

When the vehicle 1 travels in the automatic driving mode, the vehicle control unit 3 automatically generates at least one of a steering control signal, an acceleration control signal, and a braking control signal based on the travel state information, the surrounding environment information, the current position information, the map information, and the like. The steering actuator 12 is configured to receive a steering control signal from the vehicle control unit 3 and control the steering device 13 based on the received steering control signal. The brake actuator 14 is configured to receive a brake control signal from the vehicle control unit 3 and control the brake device 15 based on the received brake control signal. The acceleration actuator 16 is configured to receive an acceleration control signal from the vehicle control unit 3 and control the acceleration device 17 based on the received acceleration control signal. In this way, the vehicle control unit 3 automatically controls the travel of the vehicle 1 based on the travel state information, the surrounding environment information, the current position information, the map information, and the like. That is, in the automatic driving mode, the travel of the vehicle 1 is automatically controlled by the vehicle system 2.

On the other hand, when the vehicle 1 travels in the manual driving mode, the vehicle control unit 3 generates a steering control signal, an acceleration control signal, and a braking control signal in accordance with manual operations of an accelerator pedal, a brake pedal, and a steering wheel by the driver. In this way, in the manual driving mode, since the steering control signal, the acceleration control signal, and the braking control signal are generated in accordance with the manual operation by the driver, the travel of the vehicle 1 is controlled by the driver.

(Structure of millimeter wave radar)

Next, the configuration of the millimeter wave radar 45a (an example of a radio wave transmitting and receiving module) will be described in detail with reference to fig. 4. In the present embodiment, the configuration of the millimeter wave radar of the sensing systems 4b to 4d is the same as that of the millimeter wave radar 45a of the sensing system 4 a. Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing the structure of the millimeter wave radar 45 a.

As shown in fig. 4, the millimeter wave radar 45a includes an antenna unit 56 and a communication circuit unit 50. The antenna unit 56 includes a plurality of transmitting antennas 54 configured to emit millimeter waves, which are radio waves having wavelengths of 1mm to 10mm, and a plurality of receiving antennas 55 configured to receive the millimeter waves. At this point, the transmission radio wave emitted from the transmission antenna 54 is reflected by the object P, and the reflected radio wave from the object P is received by the reception antenna 55.

As shown in fig. 6, the transmission antenna 54 may be configured as a patch antenna, for example. In this example, the nine transmission antennas 54 are each configured as a patch antenna (metal pattern) made of a conductive material. In this regard, three transmission antennas 54 are arranged in the D1 direction (column direction), and three transmission antennas 54 are arranged in the D2 direction (row direction). By arranging a plurality of transmission antennas 54 in the direction D1, the directivity of the transmission antenna 54 in the direction D1 can be improved. Similarly, by arranging a plurality of transmission antennas 54 in the direction of D2, the directivity of the transmission antenna 54 in the direction of D2 can be improved.

Further, when the transmission antenna groups each including the three transmission antennas 54 are 54a, 54b, and 54c, respectively, the beam direction of the combined radio wave obtained by combining the transmission radio waves can be controlled by adjusting the phases of the high-frequency signals supplied to the three transmission antenna groups 54a, 54b, and 54c arranged in the direction D2. Thus, the beam direction of the combined radio wave can be changed without mechanically rotating the antenna unit 56.

The receiving antenna 55 may be configured as a patch antenna in the same manner. In this example, each of the twelve receiving antennas 55 is a patch antenna made of a conductive material. In this regard, three receiving antennas 55 are arranged in the D1 direction, and three receiving antennas 55 are arranged in the D2 direction. This improves the directivity of the receiving antenna 55 in the direction D1 and the direction D2.

The antenna unit 56 further includes an insulating substrate 60 made of an insulating material, and a ground electrode 57. The transmission antenna 54 and the reception antenna 55 are formed as patch antennas on the upper surface 62 of the insulating substrate 60, and the ground electrode 57 is formed on the lower surface 63 of the insulating substrate 60. In this way, the antenna unit 56 is configured as an antenna substrate including a receiving antenna and a transmitting antenna.

Returning to fig. 4, the communication circuit unit 50 includes a transmission RF (radio frequency) circuit 51, a reception RF circuit 52, and a signal processing circuit 53. The communication circuit unit 50 is configured as a Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC). The transmission RF circuit 51 is electrically connected to each transmission antenna 54. The reception RF circuit 52 is electrically connected to each reception antenna 55. The signal processing circuit 53 is configured to control the transmission-side RF circuit 51 and the reception-side RF circuit 52 in accordance with a control signal from the millimeter-wave radar control section 450 a. Further, the signal processing circuit 53 is configured to generate radar data by processing the digital signal output from the reception-side RF circuit 52, and to transmit the generated radar data to the millimeter wave radar control unit 450 a. The signal processing circuit 53 includes, for example, a dsp (digital signal processor) configured to process a digital signal transmitted from the receiving-side RF circuit 52, and a microcomputer including a processor and a memory.

Next, the transmission RF circuit 51 and the reception RF circuit 52 will be described in detail with reference to fig. 5. Fig. 5 is a diagram showing the configurations of the transmission RF circuit 51 and the reception RF circuit 52. As shown in fig. 5, the transmission RF circuit 51 includes a high-frequency generation circuit 150, a phase shifter 152, and an amplifier 153. The high-frequency generation circuit 150 is configured to generate a high-frequency signal. In this regard, when the millimeter wave radar 45a is a millimeter wave radar adopting the FMCW method, the high frequency generation circuit 150 generates a chirp signal (FMCW signal) whose frequency changes linearly with the passage of time.

Each of the phasers 152 is configured to adjust the phase of the high-frequency signal output from the high-frequency generation circuit 150. In this way, the beam direction in the horizontal direction of the combined radio wave of the radio waves emitted from the plurality of transmission antennas 54 can be changed by adjusting the phase of the radio frequency signal by each phase shifter 152. In this regard, the beam direction of the synthesized radio wave in the horizontal direction can be changed based on the phase difference between the high-frequency signal passing through the upper-layer phase shifter 152 and the high-frequency signal passing through the middle-layer phase shifter 152, and the phase difference between the high-frequency signal passing through the middle-layer phase shifter 152 and the high-frequency signal passing through the lower-layer phase shifter 152. On the other hand, when the phase of the high-frequency signal is not adjusted by each phase shifter 152, the beam direction of the synthesized radio wave of the transmission radio wave is not changed. Further, in the case where the millimeter wave radar 45a is not a phased array radar, the phaser 152 may not be provided at the transmission-side RF circuit 51.

The amplifier 153 is configured to amplify the high-frequency signal passed through the phase shifter 152. In this way, the high-frequency signal amplified by the amplifier 153 is supplied to each of the transmitting antennas 54, so that each of the transmitting antennas 54 emits a radio wave (millimeter wave) corresponding to the high-frequency signal into the air.

The reception-side RF circuit 52 includes an amplifier 154, a mixer 155, a band-pass filter (BPF)156, an AD converter 157, and a filter circuit 158. The amplifier 154 is configured to amplify the high frequency signal output from the receiving antenna 55. In particular, the receiving antenna 55 receives a reflected radio wave reflected by an object and converts the received reflected radio wave into a high-frequency signal. Then, the amplifier 154 amplifies the weak high-frequency signal output by the receiving antenna 55. The mixer 155 generates an Intermediate Frequency (IF) signal (also referred to as a beat signal) by mixing the high frequency signal (RX signal) output from the amplifier 154 and the high frequency signal (TX signal) from the high frequency generation circuit 150. After that, the IF signal (analog signal) having passed through the BPF156 is converted from an analog signal to a digital signal by the AD converter 157. The digital signal is sent to the signal processing circuit 53 via the filter circuit 158. The signal processing circuit 53 performs Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) on the digital signal (IF signal) to generate radar data indicating the position and relative velocity of the object.

Next, the millimeter wave radar 45a mounted on the left-hand lamp 7a will be described below with reference to fig. 7. Fig. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the left light fixture 7a on which the millimeter wave radar 45a is mounted. In this figure, for convenience of explanation, the illustration of devices (for example, the illumination unit 42a and the like) other than the millimeter wave radar 45a is omitted. As shown in fig. 7, a space Sa is formed by the case 24a and the cover 22a covering the opening of the case 24 a. One end of the cover 22a is fixed to the case 24a via a metal fixing member 73, and the other end of the cover 22a is fixed to the case 24a via a metal fixing member 72. The metal fixing members 72, 73 are, for example, screws, rivets or springs.

The communication circuit section 50 of the millimeter wave radar 45a is disposed in the space Sa. In this regard, the communication circuit unit 50 is disposed on the surface of the case 24a in the space Sa. The antenna portion 56 of the millimeter wave radar 45a is provided inside the cover 22 a. In particular, as shown in fig. 8 (a), the antenna portion 56 is provided inside the cover 22a such that the transmitting antenna 54 and the receiving antenna 55 face the outer surface 123a of the cover 22a, and the ground electrode 57 faces the inner surface 122a of the cover 22 a. In this case, the transmitting antenna 54 can efficiently emit the transmission electric wave toward the outside of the vehicle 1, and the receiving antenna 55 can efficiently receive the reflection electric wave. In this way, in the present embodiment, the communication circuit unit 50 and the antenna unit 56 are mounted on the left light fixture 7a in a separated state. The antenna unit 56 is electrically connected to the communication circuit unit 50 via a metal fixing member 72 and a cable 70.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the antenna unit 56 is provided inside the cover 22a, and the communication circuit unit 50 is disposed in the space Sa. Therefore, the millimeter wave radar 45a can be appropriately mounted on the left head lamp 7a without reducing the outer dimensions of the antenna unit 56 and/or the communication circuit unit 50 of the millimeter wave radar 45 a.

In addition, according to the present embodiment, the antenna portion 56 and the communication circuit portion 50 can be electrically connected using the metal fixing member 72 that fixes the cover 22a and the case 24 a.

In the present embodiment, the antenna portion 56 is provided inside the cover 22a, but the present embodiment is not limited thereto. For example, as shown in fig. 8 (b), the antenna unit 56 may be disposed on the outer surface 123a of the housing 22 a. As shown in fig. 8 (c), the antenna unit 56 may be disposed on the inner surface 122a of the cover 22 a. Further, as shown in fig. 8 (d), the insulating substrate 60 constituting the antenna unit 56 may be replaced with a part 220a of the housing 22 a. In this case, the antenna unit 56x according to the modification includes the transmission antenna 54, the reception antenna 55, a part 220a of the cover 22a, and the ground electrode 57 facing the transmission antenna 54 and the reception antenna 55 via the part 220 a.

While the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it is needless to say that the technical scope of the present invention should not be construed as being limited by the description of the embodiments. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present embodiment is merely an example, and various modifications of the embodiment can be made within the scope of the invention described in the claims. The technical scope of the present invention should be determined based on the scope of the invention described in the claims and the equivalent scope thereof.

In the present embodiment, the millimeter wave radar 45a is described as an example of the radio wave transmission/reception module, but the radio wave transmission/reception module is not limited to the millimeter wave radar. For example, the radio wave transmission/reception module may be a wireless communication module (wireless communication unit 10) configured to wirelessly communicate with an external device. In particular, the wireless communication module may be a wireless communication module for a fifth generation (5G) mobile communication system. In this case, the antenna portion of the wireless communication module is provided to the housing 22a of the left light tool 7 a. Further, the communication circuit unit of the wireless communication module is disposed in the space Sa of the left front lamp 7 a. The communication circuit portion and the antenna portion of the wireless communication module may have different structures from those of the millimeter-wave radar.