METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR EVALUATING AN ECHO SIGNAL FOR DETECTING THE SURROUNDINGS OF A VEHICLE AND ASSOCIATED APPARATUS FOR DETECTING THE SURROUNDINGS OF A VEHICLE

摘要

The invention relates to a method and an apparatus for evaluating an echo signal for detecting the surroundings of a vehicle, which apparatus preferably operates in the ultrasonic frequency range, wherein a measurement signal (22) with predefinable coding, a predefinable pulse repetition interval, a predefinable burst length and a predefinable signal frequency is emitted and a resultant coded echo signal (24) with useful signal components (24.1) and/or interference signal components (24.2, 24.3) is received and evaluated, wherein, in order to distinguish the different signal components (24.1, 24.2, 24.3) and in order to detect the useful signal components (24.1), the received echo signal (24) is assessed according to correlation with the emitted measurement signal (22), and to an apparatus for detecting the surroundings of a vehicle. In order to allow different signal components of a received echo signal to be distinguished in an improved manner and, in particular, to allow improved detection of useful signal components for the purpose of distance determination, the echo signal (24) with useful signal components (24.1) and/or interference signal components (24.2, 24.3) is additionally assessed according to the determined amplitudes of the signal components (24.1, 24.2, 24.3), wherein at least one threshold value for the assessed amplitude and/or the assessed correlation is predefined in order to distinguish the different signal components (24.1, 24.2, 24.3) of the echo signal (24).