Controller system and control method

Abstract

The application relates to the technical field of intelligent vehicles in the technical field of artificial intelligence, and particularly relates to a controller system, which comprises an intelligent driving domain control unit, a man-machine interaction domain control unit, a sensor interface unit connected with the intelligent driving domain control unit and the man-machine interaction domain control unit, the sensor interface unit being used for accessing sensors and transmitting data of the sensors to the intelligent driving domain control unit and the man-machine interaction domain control unit, a third domain control unit, and a network exchange unit connected with the intelligent driving domain control unit, the man-machine interaction domain control unit and the third domain control unit. The third domain control unit is used for accessing one of the following: a chassis system control unit, a power system control unit or a vehicle body system control unit. The application can realize the simplification of external cable connection, reduce the occupation of data flow transfer resources and reduce the vehicle power consumption.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of intelligent vehicle technology, and in particular to a controller system, a vehicle control system, a data processing method, a control method, and a system startup method. Background Technology

[0002] Intelligent driving is a key technology for realizing intelligent vehicles and intelligent transportation, and an inevitable trend in the future development of automobiles. According to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), 75% of new cars will offer intelligent driving capabilities by 2040. From a technological perspective, intelligent driving represents a revolutionary challenge and opportunity for the automotive industry, improving driving safety, avoiding congestion, enhancing energy efficiency, and improving urban operational efficiency. From an industrial development perspective, intelligent driving, through its integration with the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, and artificial intelligence (AI), will become an important engine for the development of many industries in the future, driving the rapid development of intelligent manufacturing and next-generation information technology.

[0003] Intelligent driving systems in vehicles utilize sensors, such as cameras, radar, and lidar, to acquire information about the vehicle itself and its surroundings. They then analyze and process this information to achieve functions such as obstacle perception, target recognition, vehicle positioning, path planning, and driver monitoring / alerts, thereby improving the safety, automation, and comfort of driving.

[0004] As intelligent technologies place greater demands on automotive electronic functions, the vehicle's electrical and / or electronic (E / E) architecture is gradually evolving from a distributed to a centralized model. To acquire richer information, the number and types of sensors installed on the vehicle are also increasing. Connecting these sensors to the vehicle and providing data is a design consideration. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This application provides a controller system, a vehicle control system, a data processing method, a control method, and a system startup method to simplify external cable connections, reduce the occupation of data stream transfer resources, and reduce the power consumption of the entire vehicle.

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, the first aspect of this application provides a controller system, comprising:

[0007] Intelligent driving domain control unit,

[0008] Human-computer interaction domain control unit

[0009] The sensor interface unit is connected to the intelligent driving domain control unit and the human-machine interaction domain control unit. The sensor interface unit is used to access sensors and transmit the sensor data to the intelligent driving domain control unit and the human-machine interaction domain control unit.

[0010] As described above, this system structure enables the replication of sensor data to the intelligent driving domain control unit and the human-machine interaction domain control unit module. In sentry mode or surround view mode, there is no need for the intelligent driving domain control unit to relay the data, eliminating the need for surround view serialization / deserialization chips and cables, thus simplifying external cable connections, reducing the occupation of data flow relay resources, and consequently reducing the overall vehicle power consumption.

[0011] As one possible implementation of the first aspect, the sensor interface unit is connected to the intelligent driving domain control unit and the human-machine interaction domain control unit through two sets of interfaces respectively; the signals transmitted by each set of interfaces include: synchronization signals, control signals and video data stream signals;

[0012] The synchronization signal serves as a trigger signal for the sensor or a frame rate control signal for the sensor to acquire video; the control signal is used to configure the sensor or read data.

[0013] As described above, by connecting two sets of signals separately, the sensor data can be transmitted to two sets of interfaces through replication, and synchronization and control signals can be received separately for configuring and controlling the sensor. This connection method is simplified. In some embodiments, the sensor can be a camera.

[0014] As one possible implementation of the first aspect, the sensor interface unit selects one of the connected intelligent driving domain control units and the intelligent driving domain control unit to transmit the synchronization signal and / or control signal.

[0015] As described above, through the sensor interface unit, such as the camera interface unit, it is possible to select one of the two synchronization signals and control signals to send to the sensor, such as the camera, so that the sensor can receive one of the synchronization or control signals.

[0016] As one possible implementation of the first aspect, the selection is based on at least one of the following factors: the priority and security level of the intelligent driving domain control unit and the human-machine interaction domain control unit, the operating mode of the controller system, and the operating status of the controller system.

[0017] As an example, since the intelligent driving domain control unit requires ASIL B (i.e., safety level B) for sensor control, while the human-machine interface domain control unit requires QM (QM represents quality control level, with no safety requirement) for sensor control, priorities can be set or selected based on their safety levels. By setting these priorities, when the synchronization and control signals from the two sets are received, the controller can be taken over by the higher-priority intelligent driving domain control unit to meet safety requirements. Flexible settings can also be made based on various needs such as the operating model and operating status.

[0018] As one possible implementation of the first aspect, the synchronization signal transmitted between the camera interface unit and the intelligent driving domain control unit is time-synchronized with the synchronization signal transmitted between the camera interface unit and the human-machine interaction domain control unit.

[0019] As described above, by setting the time synchronization of the two sets of synchronization signals, the control of the sensor interface unit can be switched over, and the trigger time and frame rate of the sensor's image acquisition exposure can be smoothly switched, thus avoiding jitter in the acquired image.

[0020] As one possible implementation of the first aspect, it also includes at least one of the following:

[0021] A first display interface unit connected to the intelligent driving domain control unit, the first display interface unit being used to connect to an instrument display unit, or

[0022] A second display interface unit connected to the human-computer interaction domain control unit, the second display interface unit being used to access a display screen.

[0023] Therefore, through the first display interface unit mentioned above, the intelligent driving domain control unit can send vehicle information, such as driving information (vehicle speed, engine speed, mileage) and vehicle status information (such as water temperature, fuel level, battery level, and ambient temperature), which needs to be displayed on the instrument panel, to the instrument panel for display. Through the second display interface unit mentioned above, the human-machine interaction domain control unit can send content that needs to be displayed on the in-vehicle display screen, such as the central control display screen or the rear display screen, such as exterior images, navigation images, and the human-machine interaction interface, to the display screen for display.

[0024] As one possible implementation of the first aspect, it also includes: a network switching unit connected to the intelligent driving domain control unit and the human-machine interaction domain control unit.

[0025] As described above, by integrating gateway switching functions within the controller system, internal data exchange is achieved, saving the need for external vehicle Ethernet gateways and connection cables, simplifying external cable connections, and reducing the resource consumption of data flow transfer.

[0026] As one possible implementation of the first aspect, it further includes: a third domain control unit connected to the network switching unit;

[0027] The third domain control unit is used to access one of the following: chassis system control unit, powertrain system control unit, or body system control unit.

[0028] As described above, this third domain control unit can realize the control of the chassis domain, power domain, and body domain. Since it integrates multiple domains, it simplifies the external cable connection and reduces the occupation of data flow transfer resources.

[0029] As one possible implementation of the first aspect, the network switching unit is also used to access at least one of the following:

[0030] LiDAR sensors, millimeter-wave radar sensors, dashcams, vehicle networking communication boxes, and in-vehicle dashcams.

[0031] As one possible implementation of the first aspect, the intelligent driving domain control unit is used to implement assisted driving or autonomous driving functions, some functions of vehicle control, or some functions of body control; the third domain control unit is used to implement chassis system control functions, power system control functions, another part of vehicle control functions, or another part of body control functions; the human-machine interaction domain control unit is used to implement entertainment domain application functions or human-machine interface functions.

[0032] As shown above, the deployment of some applications in the vehicle control unit (VCU) and body control system (BCM) software can be flexibly deployed according to the computing power of the intelligent driving domain control unit and the third domain control unit, so as to give full play to the capabilities of the domain control unit with strong computing power.

[0033] As one possible implementation of the first aspect, the intelligent driving domain control unit is also used to access at least one of the following:

[0034] Millimeter-wave radar, ultrasonic radar, and combined positioning units, such as BeiDou satellite, GPS, and GLONASS positioning units.

[0035] As one possible implementation of the first aspect, the human-computer interaction domain control unit is also used to access audio devices.

[0036] As one possible implementation of the first aspect, the intelligent driving domain control unit, or the human-machine interaction domain control unit, includes:

[0037] Image processing module, graphics rendering module, network / video interface module, artificial intelligence (AI) computing module, and control module;

[0038] The control module is used for scheduling other modules and general calculations.

[0039] The above structure enables the intelligent driving domain control unit to directly output the instrument display, replacing the existing dedicated instrument SOC chip and simplifying the overall data path.

[0040] A second aspect of this application provides a vehicle control system, including: any of the controller systems described above.

[0041] In another aspect, this application provides a vehicle including any of the controller systems described above, and at least one sensor connected to the vehicle controller system.

[0042] One possible implementation is that the sensor includes one or more of the following: a sensor for acquiring image information, such as a camera, an infrared camera, a RGB-D depth camera, a millimeter-wave radar for acquiring the distance, speed, and direction of a target object, a lidar for acquiring point cloud information, a millimeter-wave radar, an ultrasonic radar, a combined positioning unit, a steering wheel pressure sensor, an inertial sensor, an accelerometer, etc. Optionally, the combined positioning unit includes one of the following: a BeiDou positioning unit, a GPS positioning unit, or a GLONASS positioning unit.

[0043] One possible implementation is that the vehicle controller system can also connect to at least one of the following devices: a dashcam, a vehicle-to-everything (TBOX) communication box, an in-vehicle dashcam, a display screen, a power amplifier, a speaker, etc. Optionally, the display screen may include an LCD screen, and / or a virtual display screen. The virtual display screen includes a virtual head-up display.

[0044] One possible implementation is that when at least one of the aforementioned sensors or devices is connected to the vehicle control system of this application, it can communicate with the corresponding domain control unit described in this application by connecting to a corresponding interface, such as the aforementioned sensor interface unit, camera interface unit, CAN interface unit, network switching unit, or display interface unit. Optionally, when the domain control unit can directly support access, it can also directly connect to the aforementioned sensors or devices.

[0045] A third aspect of this application provides a data processing method, including:

[0046] Receive sensor data through the sensor interface unit;

[0047] The sensor data is transmitted to the intelligent driving domain control unit and the human-machine interaction domain control unit.

[0048] As a possible implementation of the third aspect, it also includes:

[0049] Choose one of the following connections from the connection between the sensor interface unit and the intelligent driving domain control unit, and the connection between the sensor interface unit and the human-machine interaction domain control unit, to transmit one or more of the following to the sensor: synchronization signal, control signal;

[0050] The synchronization signal serves as a trigger signal for the sensor or a frame rate control signal for the sensor to acquire video; the control signal is used to configure the sensor or read data.

[0051] As a possible implementation of the third aspect, the selection is based on at least one of the following factors: the priority and security level of the intelligent driving domain control unit and the human-machine interaction domain control unit, the operating mode of the controller system, and the operating status of the controller system.

[0052] As a possible implementation of the third aspect, it also includes: synchronizing the synchronization signal transmitted by the intelligent driving domain control unit with the synchronization signal transmitted by the human-machine interaction domain control unit in time.

[0053] As a possible implementation of the third aspect, it also includes:

[0054] The intelligent driving domain control unit generates the content displayed through the instrument display unit;

[0055] The content generated by the instrument display unit is transmitted to the instrument display unit for display through the first display interface unit.

[0056] As a possible implementation of the third aspect, it also includes:

[0057] The human-computer interaction domain control unit generates the content to be displayed on the screen.

[0058] The generated content to be displayed on the screen is transmitted to the screen for display via the second display interface unit.

[0059] A fourth aspect of this application provides a control method applied to any of the controller systems described above, the method comprising:

[0060] Receive sensor data through the sensor interface unit;

[0061] The human-computer interaction domain control unit performs personnel proximity detection or intrusion detection on the data from the sensors.

[0062] When an anomaly is detected, the sensor data is sent to the vehicle recorder via the network switching unit.

[0063] As shown above, when this sentinel mode is implemented, the power consumption is very low because there are few data stream transfers and the hardware resources are less consumed.

[0064] As one possible implementation of the fourth aspect, when an anomaly is detected, it also includes:

[0065] Alarm data is generated through the human-computer interaction domain control unit;

[0066] The alarm data can be sent to an audio device for playback, or sent to a display screen for display via a second display interface unit.

[0067] A fifth aspect of this application provides a control method applied to any of the controller systems described above, the method comprising:

[0068] Receive sensor data through the sensor interface unit;

[0069] The human-computer interaction control unit performs image processing on the sensor data to generate surround view image data.

[0070] The panoramic image data is sent to the display screen for display via the second display interface unit.

[0071] As shown above, when this surround view mode is implemented, the power consumption is very low because there are few data stream transfers and the hardware resources are less consumed.

[0072] A sixth aspect of this application provides a system startup method, applied to any of the controller systems described above, the method comprising:

[0073] The intelligent driving domain control unit and the human-machine interaction domain control unit perform initialization respectively; the initialization speed of the intelligent driving domain control unit is lower than that of the human-machine interaction domain control unit.

[0074] After the human-computer interaction domain control unit is initialized, it receives the synchronization signal or control signal from the human-computer interaction domain control unit through the sensor interface unit and sends it to the sensor to start the surround view mode;

[0075] After the intelligent driving domain control unit is initialized, it receives the synchronization signal or control signal of the intelligent driving domain control unit through the sensor interface unit and sends it to the sensor to take over the control of the sensor interface unit or the sensor.

[0076] As described above, when the vehicle is powered on and started, the surround view mode is quickly activated first. Then, after normal power-on, the high-safety-level intelligent driving domain control unit takes over the control of the sensor interface unit and sensors. This achieves the switching of priority control and takeover based on the aforementioned principles to ensure high safety.

[0077] These and other aspects of the invention will become more apparent from the following description of several embodiments. Attached Figure Description

[0078] The various features of the present invention and the relationships between them are further explained below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawings are exemplary; some features are not shown to scale, and some drawings may omit conventional features in the field of this application that are not essential to this application, or additional features that are not essential to this application may be shown. The combination of features shown in the drawings is not intended to limit the present application. Furthermore, throughout this specification, the same reference numerals refer to the same things. Specific descriptions of the drawings are as follows:

[0079] Figure 1A This is a schematic diagram of a controller system according to an embodiment of this application;

[0080] Figure 1B This is a schematic diagram of a controller system according to another embodiment of this application;

[0081] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of a controller system according to a specific embodiment of this application;

[0082] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of a controller system including a network switching unit according to an embodiment of this application;

[0083] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the data flow of the instrument display data according to an embodiment of this application;

[0084] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the functional software in each domain controller according to an embodiment of this application;

[0085] Figure 6A This is a schematic diagram of the internal workings of an intelligent driving domain control unit according to an embodiment of this application;

[0086] Figure 6B This is a schematic diagram of the internal structure of the human-computer interaction domain control unit according to an embodiment of this application;

[0087] Figure 7A This is a schematic diagram of one hardware configuration of the controller system according to an embodiment of this application;

[0088] Figure 7B This is a schematic diagram of a second hardware configuration of a controller system according to an embodiment of this application;

[0089] Figure 8 This is a schematic flowchart of a control method according to an embodiment of this application;

[0090] Figure 9 This is a schematic flowchart illustrating a control method according to another embodiment of this application;

[0091] Figure 10A This is a flowchart illustrating a system startup method according to an embodiment of this application;

[0092] Figure 10B This is a schematic diagram of a system startup method according to an embodiment of this application;

[0093] Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram of a data processing method according to an embodiment of this application;

[0094] Figure 12 This is a schematic diagram of a data processing method according to another embodiment of this application;

[0095] Figure 13A This is a schematic diagram of a standalone domain controller architecture in the current technology.

[0096] Figure 13B This is a schematic diagram of the data flow in the surround view display / sentinel mode of existing technology;

[0097] Figure 13C A schematic diagram of the data flow for instrument display data in the prior art. Detailed Implementation

[0098] The terms "first, second, third, etc." or similar terms such as module A, module B, module C, etc., used in the specification and claims are only used to distinguish similar objects and do not represent a specific ordering of objects. It is understood that a specific order or sequence may be interchanged where permitted so that the embodiments of this application described herein can be implemented in an order other than that illustrated or described herein.

[0099] In the following description, the labels of the steps, such as S110, S120, etc., do not necessarily mean that the steps will be executed in this way. The order of the steps can be interchanged or executed simultaneously if permitted.

[0100] The term "comprising" as used in the specification and claims should not be construed as limiting itself to what follows; it does not exclude other elements or steps. Therefore, it should be interpreted as specifying the presence of the mentioned feature, integral, step, or component, but does not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integrals, steps, or components, or groups thereof. Thus, the statement "device comprising means A and B" should not be limited to a device consisting solely of components A and B.

[0101] The term "an embodiment" or "an embodiment" as used in this specification means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in conjunction with that embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. Therefore, the terms "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" appearing throughout this specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, but may refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, in one or more embodiments, the particular features, structures, or characteristics can be combined in any suitable manner, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.

[0102] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this application belongs. In case of any inconsistency, the meaning set forth in this specification or derived from the content described herein shall prevail. Furthermore, the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing embodiments of this application only and is not intended to limit this application. To accurately describe the technical content of this application and to accurately understand the invention, the following explanations or definitions of the terms used in this specification are provided before describing specific embodiments:

[0103] 1) Domain Control Unit (DCU) or Domain Control Module (DCM), etc. A "domain" refers to the division of an automotive electronic system into several functional blocks, each of which can be called a domain. Examples include the vehicle domain, body domain, intelligent driving domain, and human-machine interface domain. Using domain control units can reduce the number of ECUs in the vehicle and lower system complexity. Each domain contains a domain controller, also called a domain control unit, which includes one or more processors responsible for processing and forwarding functions within the domain. Devices or modules within a domain generally use low-speed communication connections, while domain control units use high-speed communication connections. It should be noted that the division of domains is not unique; for example, some manufacturers divide the vehicle domain into powertrain and chassis domains, or into vehicle control, intelligent driving, and intelligent cockpit domains. Common functional settings for the control units in these domains are as follows:

[0104] The intelligent driving domain control unit, also known as the advanced driver assistance systems / autonomous driving (ADAS / AD) domain control unit or ADAS / AD domain controller, is used to fuse data from various sensors for perception and decision-making to achieve assisted or autonomous driving. For example, it fuses sensor data from cameras, ultrasonic sensors, millimeter-wave radar, lidar, GPS / inertial navigation (IMUs), and maps to achieve assisted or autonomous driving through perception and decision-making. The intelligent driving domain control unit has very high requirements for computing and data processing capabilities and needs to meet high automotive safety integration levels (ASIL), such as ASIL B, ASIL C, or ASIL D.

[0105] The Human-Machine Interface (HMI) domain control unit, also known as the in-vehicle infotainment / human-machine interaction (IVI / HMI) domain control unit, provides in-vehicle information and entertainment functions. It can offer users geographic information, multimedia entertainment, intelligent transportation services, etc., and can achieve interactive functions related to entertainment information, display content, and play sound through human-machine interaction. This includes collecting user information through various sensors and displaying information to the user via display or sound. For example, it can collect driver facial information, fingerprint information, voice information, steering wheel pressure information, and pedal pressure information. It can also be called the Cockpit Domain Control Unit or Cockpit Domain Controller (CDC).

[0106] The vehicle control unit (VCU) is the powertrain controller for electric vehicles (hybrid electric vehicles and pure electric vehicles). It controls the vehicle's chassis systems, such as the braking system, parking system, vehicle stability system, and steering system, as well as the powertrain systems, such as the power supply, charging system, motor (for electric vehicles), and engine system (for gasoline vehicles). It can also be called a vehicle domain controller (VDC).

[0107] The Body Control Unit (BCM) is used to provide control over body systems, such as doors, windows, seats, etc.

[0108] It should be noted that the above division and naming of domain control units are merely exemplary and not intended to be limiting. As technology evolves and develops, the naming of domain control units may also differ.

[0109] 2) Surround view display refers to the use of multiple vehicle cameras to capture images of the vehicle's surroundings, which are then stitched together and displayed on the vehicle's screen.

[0110] 3) Sentry Mode: A monitoring mode for vehicles when parked. It monitors the vehicle environment through cameras and can record video data and issue alarms when people approach or intrude from outside the vehicle.

[0111] 4) Serializer / Deserializer (Ser / Deserializer): A high-speed communication interface circuit. The serializer converts low-speed parallel signals into high-speed serial signals for transmission, while the deserializer does the opposite. The serializer and deserializer can be installed separately or integrated; the serializer is installed on the transmitting side, and the deserializer is installed on the receiving side. The serializer / deserializer can achieve high-speed transmission of multi-bit video data. When used for video transmission to display components, it is called a display SERDES interface; when used for data transmission with camera sensors, it is called a camera SERDES interface.

[0112] 5) The Display Serial Interface (DSI) and the Camera Serial Interface (CSI), also known as the display interface and camera interface, are standard interfaces in the Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) and are used to connect to a monitor and a camera, respectively.

[0113] Traditional automobiles require one or more electronic control units (ECUs) to control each component or function. Current intelligent vehicle solutions primarily employ a multi-system independent domain controller architecture. The overall vehicle electronic and electrical architecture can be exemplarily referenced from [reference needed]. Figure 13A As shown, the architecture is generally divided into body control domain, human-machine interaction domain, intelligent driving domain, and vehicle control domain. Each domain controller communicates via a controller area network (CAN) bus / Ethernet cable through the central gateway and the vehicle networking communication box (TBOX). The following example illustrates the data flow forwarding process of this architecture:

[0114] Example 1: See Figure 13B As shown, the data flow in surround view / sentinel mode is as follows:

[0115] Surround View Display: The camera first sends video data to the ADAS / AD domain controller. The image signal processing (ISP) module inside the ADAS / AD domain controller processes the raw data into RGB / YUV (RGB and YUV are two color encoding methods) data format data, and then forwards the data to the human-machine interaction domain controller. The human-machine interaction domain controller forwards the video data to the central control screen for display.

[0116] Sentry Mode: The camera first sends video data to the ADAS / AD domain controller. The ISP inside the ADAS / AD domain controller processes the raw data into RGB / YUV data format and then forwards the data to the human-machine interaction domain controller. The human-machine interaction domain controller performs personnel approach / intrusion detection. If an unauthorized intrusion is detected, the video data is forwarded to the vehicle DVR for storage, and an alarm is triggered through the central control screen / audio amplifier.

[0117] Example 2: See Figure 13C As shown, the data flow for the instrument cluster display is as follows: The VCU collects information from the chassis, body control, and powertrain ECUs, and transmits the necessary display information, such as vehicle speed, to the instrument cluster processor. The instrument cluster processor then renders the image using a graphics processing unit (GPU) and sends it to the instrument cluster screen for display. In this architecture, due to the use of multiple independent domain controllers, the vehicle installation requires significant space and additional video / Ethernet cables. Furthermore, in the example above, this architecture results in numerous data transfers, consuming substantial hardware resources and consuming significant power.

[0118] It is understandable that the above architecture is only an example solution, and the overall vehicle architecture is constantly evolving. In addition to several domain control units, a vehicle may also include some ECUs independent of the domain control units, used for specific components or functions. These on-board devices have computing and processing capabilities and can also be called on-board computing devices, computing platforms, etc.

[0119] On the other hand, the increasing variety and number of sensors installed on vehicles pose challenges to the connection between sensors and controllers or control units in the vehicle, as well as to signal transmission.

[0120] This application provides another controller system and applications based on this controller system. It can reduce the resource consumption of data flow relay, lower the overall vehicle power consumption in different automotive application scenarios, improve the vehicle's function startup speed, and enhance the customer experience. On the one hand, it can deeply integrate intelligent driving domain controllers, human-machine interaction domain controllers, vehicle control, and body control, thereby simplifying external cable connections. On the other hand, it can also provide flexible connection methods for sensors and on-board computing devices, improving the sharing of sensor data.

[0121] The controller system proposed in this application can be applied to intelligent vehicles, ships with intelligent driving functions, and other transportation tools, as well as robots and other application scenarios.

[0122] The present application will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0123] One embodiment of this application provides a controller system including one or more vehicle control units and sensor interface units. The vehicle control units can be domain control units or ECUs, and these vehicle control units can be deployed on the same hardware. For example, multiple systems-on-chips (SOCs) can be deployed on a single hardware platform, with each SOC corresponding to one vehicle control unit. The vehicle control units can also be deployed on separate hardware, and this embodiment does not limit this. For ease of description, the following example uses intelligent driving domain control units and human-machine interaction domain control units as examples. It should be understood that this embodiment is not limited to this, and in practical applications, the vehicle control units can also be other domain control units or electronic control units. Figure 1A As shown, it includes an intelligent driving domain control unit, a human-machine interaction domain control unit, and a sensor interface unit. The sensor interface unit is connected to both the intelligent driving domain control unit and the human-machine interaction domain control unit. The sensor interface unit also has an external interface for connecting external sensors and can be used to transmit sensor data to the intelligent driving domain control unit and the human-machine interaction domain control unit. It should be noted that the naming of the domain control units in this application is merely exemplary, using intelligent driving domain control unit, human-machine interaction domain control unit, etc., as examples for illustration, and is not intended to be limiting. It is understood that with the evolution and development of technology, the units or modules used to implement the corresponding functions may also be named with other names.

[0124] The aforementioned intelligent driving domain control unit can perform perception and decision-making based on data received from one or more sensors to achieve assisted driving or autonomous driving. As the first domain control unit in this application, it may include an Electronic Control Unit (ECU), a Microcontroller Unit (MCU), a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), or other control units. It can be implemented by a single control unit or multiple control units, such as... Figure 6A An embodiment of one implementation is shown and will be described later.

[0125] The aforementioned one or more sensors are used to collect external information about the vehicle and may include one or more of the following sensors: sensors for collecting image information, such as cameras, infrared cameras, RGB-Deep and RGB-D cameras, millimeter-wave radar for collecting distance, speed, and orientation of target objects, lidar for collecting point cloud information, or sensors for collecting other data. In this embodiment, they will be referred to as such... Figure 1B The camera shown is used as an example of this sensor. The corresponding sensor interface unit is a camera sensing unit. The data collected can be image data of the outside of the vehicle, such as image data of the front of the vehicle during driving. This image data is used to perceive vehicles or pedestrians in the image, and the perception result is used in the decision-making of the assisted driving and autonomous driving.

[0126] The aforementioned human-machine interaction domain control unit can perform facial recognition and behavior recognition through data received from external sensors, such as cameras, while also providing entertainment functions. As the second domain control unit in this application, it can include an ECU, MCU, CPU, GPU, or other control units, and can be implemented by a single control unit or multiple control units. For example, it can be implemented by the control unit of an in-vehicle infotainment system or the control unit of the human-machine interface. Figure 6B An embodiment of one implementation is shown and will be described later.

[0127] When the human-machine interaction domain control unit is applied in sentry mode, the data from external sensors, such as cameras, can be static images of faces outside the vehicle or close-up images of people. When the vehicle is stationary, the image data acquired by the sensors is transmitted to the human-machine interaction domain control unit for face detection, intrusion detection based on behavior recognition, etc. It can also control the forwarding of data from relevant cameras to the vehicle recorder for recording.

[0128] In some embodiments, when the sensor interface unit is a camera interface unit, it can specifically be a camera serialization / deserialization interface to achieve high-speed serial communication with the connected external camera.

[0129] In some embodiments, the sensor interface unit is connected to the intelligent driving domain control unit and the human-machine interaction domain control unit in the following manner: the sensor interface unit is connected to the intelligent driving domain control unit and the human-machine interaction domain control unit respectively through two sets of interfaces; the signals transmitted between the sensor interface unit and the two domain control units may include synchronization signals, control signals, and video data stream signals. For ease of description, depending on the type of signal transmitted, the interface may be referred to as a synchronization signal interface, a control signal interface, and a video data stream signal interface. It is understood that two or more of these interfaces can be integrated together, and two or more of the synchronization signal, control signal, and video data stream signal can be transmitted together. For example, the synchronization signal and control signal are transmitted on one connection, while the video data stream signal is transmitted on another connection, or the synchronization signal, control signal, and video data stream signal are transmitted on a single connection. Alternatively, they can be used as independent interfaces, transmitting the synchronization signal, control signal, and video data stream signal on three separate connections.

[0130] In some embodiments, control signals may be transmitted using I2C signals, and video data stream signals may be transmitted using CSI-2 signals.

[0131] In some embodiments, the video data stream signal can also be transmitted between the two control units using low voltage differential signaling (LVDS).

[0132] In some embodiments, corresponding to the two sets of interfaces, the sensor interface unit is specifically used for the following:

[0133] The system is used to receive synchronization signals from the intelligent driving domain control unit or the human-machine interaction domain control unit through two sets of synchronization signal interfaces, and send them to the sensor. The synchronization signal serves as the exposure trigger signal or frame rate control signal for the image acquired by the sensor.

[0134] The control signals are used to receive control signals from the intelligent driving domain control unit or the human-machine interaction domain control unit through two sets of control signal interfaces (such as I2C signal interfaces) respectively, and send them to the sensor. The control signals are used to configure or read data from the sensor, such as a camera, for example, high dynamic range (HDR) mode configuration, exposure parameter configuration, etc.

[0135] The sensor interface unit receives the sensor data, copies the data, and then transmits it to the intelligent driving domain control unit and the human-machine interaction domain control unit respectively through two sets of video data stream signal interfaces (such as CSI-2 signal interface and LVDS signal interface).

[0136] In one possible implementation, the sensor interface unit can send video data stream signals to both the intelligent driving domain control unit and the human-machine interaction domain control unit, but only transmits synchronization signals or control signals, or both, with one of the domain control units. In this approach, there is no need to choose between the two control units.

[0137] In some embodiments, the sensor interface unit selects one of the connected intelligent driving domain control unit and the human-machine interaction domain control unit to transmit the synchronization signal or control signal for configuration.

[0138] When a sensor interface unit connects to multiple domain control units, the selection of which domain control unit to transmit synchronization or control signals can be based on one or more factors such as the priority, security level, system operating mode, and operating status of each domain controller unit. One possible implementation is to select a domain controller unit with higher priority to transmit synchronization and control signals. For example, in this embodiment, the sensor interface unit connects to an intelligent driving domain control unit and a human-machine interaction domain control unit, where the intelligent driving domain control unit has a higher priority than the human-machine interaction domain control unit. Optionally, the method of selecting one transmission path includes: after receiving the synchronization or control signal from the intelligent driving domain control unit, the sensor interface unit selects to transmit the synchronization or control signal from the intelligent driving domain control unit.

[0139] In another possible implementation, a domain control unit with a higher safety level can be selected to receive or send synchronization and control signals. Taking this embodiment as an example, since the intelligent driving domain control unit requires a functional safety level of ASIL B (i.e., safety level B) for controlling the sensors, while the human-machine interface domain control unit requires a QM (QM represents quality control level, with no safety level requirement) control level for the sensors, the intelligent driving domain control unit has a higher safety level requirement than the human-machine interface domain control unit. Therefore, the synchronization and control signals of the intelligent driving domain control unit are transmitted to the sensors connected to the sensor interface unit, thus enabling the higher-priority intelligent driving domain control unit to take over the control of these sensors.

[0140] In another possible implementation, the synchronization and control signals of the human-machine interface (HMI) domain control unit can be transmitted to the sensor based on the domain control unit's operating status. For example, the HMI domain control unit starts and initializes faster than the intelligent driving domain control unit. After the HMI domain control unit starts up, the intelligent driving domain control unit may not yet be operating normally. In this case, the synchronization and control signals of the HMI domain control unit can be transmitted to the sensor after the HMI domain control unit has completed its initialization. After the intelligent driving domain control unit completes its initialization, it can also be determined whether the intelligent driving domain control unit takes over the control of the sensor based on priority and safety level factors, and transmit the synchronization and control signals of the intelligent driving domain control unit to the sensor.

[0141] In another possible implementation, the system is in sentinel mode, in which the human-machine interaction domain control unit is powered on while the intelligent driving domain control unit is not powered on. Therefore, the sensor interface unit will only receive the synchronization signal and control signal from the human-machine interaction domain control unit and transmit them to the external sensor.

[0142] In another possible implementation, the system is in surround view mode, in which both the human-machine interaction domain control unit and the intelligent driving domain control unit are powered on. Therefore, according to the aforementioned priority or safety level, the sensor interface unit will select to transmit the synchronization signal and control signal of the intelligent driving domain control unit to the external sensor.

[0143] In some embodiments, the synchronization signal transmitted between the sensor interface unit and the intelligent driving domain control unit is time-synchronized with the synchronization signal transmitted between the sensor interface unit and the human-machine interaction domain control unit.

[0144] By setting the time synchronization of the two sets of synchronization signals, a smooth switching of the trigger time and frame rate of the image exposure of the sensor can be achieved when the control of the aforementioned sensor interface unit is switched over. Specifically, the intelligent driving domain control unit and the human-machine interaction domain control unit can achieve precise time synchronization based on Time-Sensitive Networking (TNS), thereby ensuring that the emitted synchronization signals are aligned with the time.

[0145] In some embodiments, such as Figure 2 As shown, the controller system further includes: a first display interface unit connected to the intelligent driving domain control unit, the first display interface unit being used to connect to the instrument display unit; or, a second display interface unit connected to the human-machine interaction domain control unit, the second display interface unit being used to connect to the display screen. It should also be noted that... Figure 2 The example shown uses a camera interface unit as a sensor interface unit; correspondingly, an example using a camera as a sensor is illustrated. Figure 2 The diagram also shows sensors such as millimeter-wave radar and ultrasonic radar, which can be connected to the intelligent driving domain control unit via a CAN interface (for simplicity, the CAN interface unit included as the sensor interface is not shown). Figure 2 In the example shown, the video signal of the camera interface unit can be either a CSI-2 signal or an LVDS signal.

[0146] Through the aforementioned first display interface unit, the intelligent driving domain control unit can send some vehicle information, such as driving information (vehicle speed, RPM, mileage) and vehicle status information (such as water temperature, fuel level, battery level, temperature), which need to be displayed on the instrument panel, to the instrument panel display screen for display.

[0147] Through the aforementioned second display interface unit, the human-machine interaction domain control unit can send content that needs to be displayed on the in-vehicle display screen, such as the central control display screen or the rear display screen, such as exterior images, navigation images, and human-machine interaction interfaces, to the display screen for display.

[0148] In some embodiments, the display screen may be a liquid crystal display screen or a virtual display screen, such as an Augmented Reality-Head Up Display (AR-HUD).

[0149] In some embodiments, such as Figure 2 or Figure 3 As shown, the controller system also includes a network switching unit, which is connected to the intelligent driving domain control unit and the human-machine interaction domain control unit.

[0150] By integrating gateway switching functionality within the controller system, internal data exchange is achieved, saving on external vehicle-mounted Ethernet gateways and connecting cables. The network interface implementations include, but are not limited to, Reduced Gigabit Media Independent Interface (RGMII), Reduced Media Independent Interface (RMII), Serial Gigabit Media Independent Interface (SGMII), 10Gigabit Media Independent Interface (XGMII), and 10G_base_R, among other internal network interfaces.

[0151] In some embodiments, such as Figure 2 or Figure 3As shown, the controller system also includes a third domain control unit, which is connected to the network switching unit; the third domain control unit is used to access one of the following: chassis system control unit, powertrain system control unit, or body system control unit.

[0152] In some embodiments, the third-domain control unit can be implemented by an MCU. For example... Figure 2 or Figure 4 As shown, the third domain control unit can collect information from the chassis system control unit, power system control unit, or body system control unit, or control these units. The collected information can be transmitted to the intelligent driving domain control unit through the network exchange unit. After internal processing (such as image processing and image rendering) by the intelligent driving domain control unit, it is then sent to the instrument display unit for display through the first display interface unit.

[0153] The chassis system control unit manages the electric power steering (EPS), electronic stability program (ESP), electronic parking brake (EPB), intelligent brake system (IBS), and electronic stability control (ESC). The powertrain system control unit manages the electric motor system (for electric vehicles), battery management system (for electric vehicles), DC-DC power supply system (for electric vehicles), on-board charger (OBC) system (for electric vehicles), and engine system (for gasoline vehicles). The body system control unit manages doors, windows, seats, and may also include other control units such as the airbag system and thermal management system.

[0154] In some embodiments, such as Figure 2 As shown, the network switching unit is also used to access at least one of the following: a lidar sensor, a millimeter-wave radar sensor, a dashcam, a vehicle networking communication box (TBOX), and an in-vehicle dashcam.

[0155] The aforementioned devices can be connected via an Ethernet interface to transmit the collected data to the controller system, provide it to the corresponding domain control unit, or communicate with the domain control unit.

[0156] In some embodiments, such as Figure 2As shown, the intelligent driving domain control unit is also used to access at least one of the following: millimeter-wave radar, ultrasonic radar, and combined positioning unit (such as Beidou, GPS, GLONASS and other positioning units).

[0157] The aforementioned devices can be connected via a CAN interface to enable the intelligent driving domain control unit to acquire information from the aforementioned sensors.

[0158] Depending on the devices connected to the aforementioned intelligent driving domain control unit, human-machine interaction domain control unit, and third domain control unit, the required functional software can be flexibly deployed within these three domain control units. For example... Figure 5 As shown, one possible deployment method is:

[0159] In addition to the intelligent driving domain control unit and the deployment of intelligent driving domain function software, it integrates and deploys some function software for vehicle control or some function software for body control. Its underlying OS can be closed to ensure safety.

[0160] In addition to the third-domain control unit and the chassis / powertrain function software, it integrates and deploys some function software for vehicle control or body control. Its underlying OS can be closed to ensure safety.

[0161] The human-computer interaction domain control unit deploys entertainment domain application software and human-computer interface application software, and its underlying OS can adopt an open mode to facilitate the application of various entertainment application software.

[0162] The deployment of some functional software for vehicle control or some applications within the functional software for body control can be based on the computing power of the intelligent driving domain control unit and the third domain control unit. For example, when the computing power of the third domain control unit is lower than that of the intelligent driving domain control unit, some functions of vehicle control can be deployed to the intelligent driving domain control unit. When these functions are needed, the third domain control unit exchanges relevant data through the network exchange unit. The operation of the functions is performed by the intelligent driving domain control unit. However, the direct information interaction (such as control signals or collected sensor signals) between the chassis ECU and power ECU related to vehicle control is performed by the third domain control unit.

[0163] In some embodiments, such as Figure 2 As shown, the human-computer interaction domain control unit is also used to connect to audio devices.

[0164] The audio device includes an amplifier, speakers, etc., and can be used to play alarm information, human-computer interaction audio, etc.

[0165] In some embodiments, the intelligent driving domain control unit, or the human-machine interaction domain control unit, includes: an image processing module, a graphics rendering module, a network / video interface module, an AI computing module, and a control module; the control module is used for scheduling and general computing of the other modules. A detailed description follows:

[0166] like Figure 6A As shown, the intelligent driving domain control unit integrates at least the following modules to achieve an overall functional safety level of no less than ASIL B: ISP module, mainly responsible for image processing; GPU module, responsible for graphics rendering, which is used for instrument display; network / video interface module, for interfacing with external interface devices; ARM CPU module, responsible for overall scheduling and general computing; AI module, used for intelligent driving perception computing acceleration computing, with relatively strong computing power.

[0167] By integrating GPU functionality into the intelligent driving domain control unit, the intelligent driving domain control unit can directly output instrument display functions, replacing the existing dedicated instrument system-on-a-chip (SOC) chip and simplifying the overall data path.

[0168] like Figure 6B The human-computer interaction domain control unit shown integrates at least the following modules to achieve an overall functional safety level of not less than ASIL B: ISP module, mainly responsible for image processing; GPU module, responsible for graphics rendering, which is used for human-computer interaction and entertainment services (IVI) display; network / video interface module, used to interface with external interface devices; ARM CPU module, responsible for overall scheduling and general computing; and Artificial Intelligence (AI) module, used for AI computing related to human-computer interaction, as well as AI computing in sentinel mode, whose computing power is relatively weak.

[0169] It should be noted here that the hardware configuration of the controller system in this application is as follows: Figure 7A As shown, it can be a circuit board, or something like... Figure 7B As shown, it is implemented by stacking multiple boards. For example, the MCU's IO interface is not limited to being carried on a single board, or it can be split into multiple single boards. Multiple single boards can be connected by buckle connectors, flexible cables, etc., to transmit power signals, low-speed data signals, video signals (such as the aforementioned CSI-2), image control signals (such as the aforementioned DSI), network signals (such as the aforementioned XGMII, SGMII, etc.) between boards.

[0170] The controller system of this application may also include multiple independent hardware devices and sensor interface units, each hardware device deploying one or more control units, and the hardware devices are connected to each other via cables. Wherein:

[0171] The sensor interface unit is used to acquire sensor signals from connected sensors and transmit these signals to one or more control units in the controller system. It is also used to acquire synchronization signals or control signals from one or more control units in the controller system to configure the connected sensors. For example, if the connected sensor is a camera that acquires image information, the sensor signals will include video signals.

[0172] The sensor interface unit may include one or more serialization / deserialization interfaces, and may also include an LVDS signal interface.

[0173] The serialization / deserialization interface is used to transmit video signals, such as between a camera and a control unit, or between control units.

[0174] In one possible implementation, each control unit that needs to transmit video signals is configured with a serialization / deserialization interface. If video signals are transmitted between two control units deployed on different hardware devices connected by a coaxial cable, then a first LVDS interface and a second LVDS interface are also required for each control unit, enabling the video signal to be transmitted in LVDS signal form between the control units deployed on different hardware devices. Configuring the serialization / deserialization interface can be achieved by deploying the serializer / deserializer implementing the serialization / deserialization interface function on the same hardware as the corresponding control unit.

[0175] The following description uses a controller system comprising a first control unit, a second control unit, and a sensor interface unit as an example. The sensor interface unit includes a first serialization / deserialization interface and a second serialization / deserialization interface. The first control unit includes a System-on-Chip (SoC1) for processing sensor signals, and the second control unit includes an SoC2 for processing sensor signals. The first control unit acquires video signals through the first serialization / deserialization interface, and the second control unit acquires video signals through the second serialization / deserialization interface.

[0176] In one possible implementation, the video signal is copied in the sensor interface unit, and the two sets of signals are transmitted to the first control unit and the second control unit respectively through the first serialization / deserialization interface.

[0177] In another possible implementation, the video signal can be transmitted to the first control unit via the first serialization / deserialization interface, then transmitted as an LVDS signal via the first LVDS interface to the second LVDS interface, and finally transmitted from the second LVDS interface to the second serialization / deserialization interface. The second serialization / deserialization interface converts the data into serial data and transmits it to the second control unit. It should be noted that the video signal can also be transmitted to the second control unit via the second serialization / deserialization interface, then transmitted as an LVDS signal via the second LVDS interface to the first LVDS interface, and finally transmitted from the first LVDS interface to the second serialization / deserialization interface.

[0178] In the controller system provided by the above embodiments, sensors can be shared across multiple control units, saving costs and space deployment.

[0179] Furthermore, if the first control unit starts up faster than the second control unit, the first control unit can configure the sensors after starting up, so that the sensors can start up in time and acquire information about the vehicle's surroundings, thus improving the user experience.

[0180] Furthermore, if the processing capability of the second control unit is stronger than that of the first control unit, for example, if the second control unit is equipped with an image processing module, the video signal processed by the second control unit can be transmitted to the first control unit through the sensor interface unit, so that the first control unit can obtain the processed video signal.

[0181] The first control unit can be a human-machine interaction domain control unit or other ECUs, and the second control unit can be an intelligent driving domain control unit or other ECUs.

[0182] Another embodiment of this application provides a vehicle control system including any of the controller systems described above. Another embodiment of this application also provides a vehicle including any of the controller systems described above, and the vehicle further includes at least one of the following sensors, or at least one of the following devices:

[0183] Sensors: The sensors include one or more of the following: sensors for acquiring image information, such as cameras, infrared cameras, RGB-Deep and RGB-D cameras, millimeter-wave radar for acquiring distance, speed and direction of target objects, lidar for acquiring point cloud information, millimeter-wave radar, ultrasonic radar, combined positioning units (such as BeiDou, GPS, GLONASS and other positioning units), steering wheel pressure sensors, inertial sensors, acceleration sensors, etc.

[0184] Equipment includes: dashcam, vehicle networking box (TBOX), in-vehicle dashcam, display screen, amplifier, speakers, etc. The display screen can be an LCD screen or a virtual display screen, such as a virtual head-up display.

[0185] Reference Figure 2 As shown, when at least one of the aforementioned sensors or devices is connected to the vehicle control system of this application, it can be connected to a corresponding interface, such as the aforementioned sensor interface unit (e.g., camera interface unit, CAN interface unit), or network exchange unit, or display interface unit, to communicate with the corresponding domain control unit described in this application.

[0186] Another embodiment of this application provides a control method applied to the aforementioned controller system. Here, we take the sentry mode applied to a vehicle as an example for illustration. Figure 8 As shown, the method includes the following steps:

[0187] S110: After power-on initialization in Sentinel mode, it receives data from the camera through the camera interface unit.

[0188] In this mode, only the camera, camera interface unit, human-machine interface control unit, and related display module related to the sentry mode are powered on; other unrelated modules can remain powered off to achieve low power consumption. Furthermore, in this mode, the camera and camera interface unit receive synchronization and control signals from the human-machine interface control unit, meaning that the human-machine interface control unit takes over its functions.

[0189] S120: The human-computer interaction domain control unit performs personnel proximity detection or intrusion detection on the data from the camera. For example, the human-computer interaction domain control unit processes the image through its internal ISP module, and then performs personnel proximity detection or intrusion detection through its internal AI module.

[0190] S130: When an anomaly is detected, the data from the camera obtained by the human-machine interaction domain control unit is sent to the vehicle recorder through the network switching unit.

[0191] In some embodiments, when an anomaly is detected, the method further includes: generating alarm data through the human-machine interaction domain control unit; sending the alarm data to an audio device for playback, or sending the alarm data to a display screen for display through a second display interface unit.

[0192] Another embodiment of this application provides a control method applied to the controller system described above. Here, we will use a surround-view mode applied to a vehicle as an example for illustration. Figure 9 As shown, the method includes the following steps:

[0193] S210: Receives data from the camera via the camera interface unit.

[0194] S220: The human-machine interaction domain control unit performs image processing on the data from the cameras to generate surround view image data. For example, the human-machine interaction domain control unit performs image processing through its internal ISP module, including converting the image format from RAW to RGB, rendering the image through the internal GPU module, including surround view 3D stitching based on multiple camera image data, and overlaying the image onto the whole vehicle model image, to generate the surround view image data.

[0195] S230: The panoramic image data is sent to the display screen for display via the second display interface unit.

[0196] Another embodiment of this application provides a system startup method applied to the above-described controller system. In this embodiment, the sensor interface unit is a camera interface unit, and a camera is used as an example for illustration. Figure 10A Flowchart, Figure 10B As shown in the schematic diagram, the method includes the following steps:

[0197] S310: Power-on initialization, including the intelligent driving domain control unit and the human-machine interaction domain control unit performing initialization respectively; when the intelligent driving domain control unit performs initialization, due to the existence of a functional safety monitoring mechanism, its initialization speed is lower than that of the human-machine interaction domain control unit, so the human-machine interaction domain control unit will complete initialization first and enter the working state.

[0198] S320: After the human-machine interface control unit is initialized, it receives the synchronization signal or control signal from the human-machine interface control unit through the camera interface unit and sends it to the camera to start the surround-view mode. This process can be found in the control method applied to the surround-view mode, and will not be described again.

[0199] It should be noted that when the intelligent driving domain control unit has not yet completed initialization, other cameras and video interface units unrelated to the surround view mode can wait for the intelligent driving domain control unit to complete its configuration and startup.

[0200] S330: After the intelligent driving domain control unit is initialized, it receives the synchronization signal or control signal of the intelligent driving domain control unit through the camera interface unit and sends it to the camera. Based on the aforementioned priority, it will take over the control of the camera interface unit or the camera.

[0201] The aforementioned startup method can be applied to normal vehicle startup scenarios. It enables rapid activation of the surround-view mode upon vehicle power-on, followed by the high-security intelligent driving domain control unit taking over control of the camera interface unit and cameras after normal power-on. This achieves high security through priority control and takeover switching.

[0202] Another embodiment of this application provides a control method. For some specific achievable methods of each step, or the technical problems or effects that can be solved, please refer to the embodiments of the domain control system described above; only a brief description is provided here. Figure 11 Or such as Figure 10B As shown in the schematic diagram, the control method includes the following steps:

[0203] S410: Receives sensor data through the sensor interface unit.

[0204] In some embodiments, the sensor interface unit and sensor may be a camera interface unit and a camera, thereby enabling the acquisition of video data from outside the vehicle. Other optional embodiments can be found in the embodiments of the domain control system described above, and will not be repeated here.

[0205] S420: Transmit the data from the sensor to the intelligent driving domain control unit and the human-machine interaction domain control unit.

[0206] The intelligent driving domain control unit can make intelligent driving decisions based on the received data, such as video data or other received data. The human-machine interaction domain control unit can perform human-machine interaction-related functions based on the received data, such as video data or other received data, such as displaying information on a screen (e.g., surround view mode) and performing face detection (sentinel mode).

[0207] In some embodiments, such as Figure 12 As shown, the method further includes the following steps:

[0208] S510: Receive synchronization signals or control signals transmitted by the intelligent driving domain control unit and the human-machine interaction domain control unit through the two sets of interfaces of the sensor interface unit.

[0209] S520: The sensor interface unit selects one of the synchronization signal or control signal to transmit to the sensor; wherein, the synchronization signal serves as a trigger signal for the sensor or a frame rate control signal for the sensor to acquire video; the control signal is used to configure the sensor or read data.

[0210] In some embodiments, selecting one path includes: after receiving the synchronization signal or control signal from the intelligent driving domain control unit, the sensor interface unit selects to transmit the synchronization signal or control signal from the intelligent driving domain control unit.

[0211] In some embodiments, the method further includes: synchronizing the synchronization signal transmitted by the intelligent driving domain control unit with the synchronization signal transmitted by the human-machine interaction domain control unit in time.

[0212] In some embodiments, it also includes:

[0213] The intelligent driving domain control unit generates the content displayed through the instrument display unit;

[0214] The content generated by the instrument display unit is transmitted to the instrument display unit for display through the first display interface unit.

[0215] In some embodiments, it also includes:

[0216] The human-computer interaction domain control unit generates the content to be displayed on the screen.

[0217] The generated content to be displayed on the screen is transmitted to the screen for display via the second display interface unit.

[0218] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the units and algorithm steps of the various examples described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Those skilled in the art can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0219] Those skilled in the art will understand that, for the sake of convenience and brevity, the specific working processes of the systems, devices, and units described above can be referred to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, and will not be repeated here.

[0220] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, apparatuses, and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative; for instance, the division of units is only a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Furthermore, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed may be through some interfaces; the indirect coupling or communication connection between apparatuses or units may be electrical, mechanical, or other forms.

[0221] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate. The components shown as units may or may not be physical units; that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0222] In addition, the functional units in the various embodiments of this application can be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit can exist physically separately, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit.

[0223] Note that the above are merely preferred embodiments and the technical principles employed in this application. Those skilled in the art will understand that the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described herein, and various obvious changes, readjustments, and substitutions can be made without departing from the scope of protection of the present invention. Therefore, although the present application has been described in detail through the above embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and may include many other equivalent embodiments without departing from the concept of the present invention, all of which fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A controller system, characterized by, The system comprises: an intelligent driving domain control unit, a human-machine interaction domain control unit, a sensor interface unit connected to the intelligent driving domain control unit and the human-machine interaction domain control unit through two groups of interfaces, the sensor interface unit being configured to access sensors and transmit data of the sensors to the intelligent driving domain control unit and the human-machine interaction domain control unit; wherein the signals transmitted by each group of interfaces comprise a synchronization signal; the synchronization signal serving as a trigger signal of the sensors or a frame rate control signal of the sensors for collecting video.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein: The signals transmitted by each group of interfaces further comprise a control signal and / or a video data stream signal; the control signal being configured to configure the sensors or read data.

3. The system according to claim 2, wherein: the sensor interface unit selects one of the intelligent driving domain control unit and the human-machine interaction domain control unit to transmit the synchronization signal or / and the control signal.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein, The selection is based on at least one of the following factors: priority, security level, running mode, and running state of the intelligent driving domain control unit and the human-machine interaction domain control unit.

5. The system of claim 3 or 4, characterized in that: The synchronization signal transmitted by the intelligent driving domain control unit is time-synchronized with the synchronization signal transmitted by the human-machine interaction domain control unit.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein, Further comprising at least one of: a first display interface unit connected to the intelligent driving domain control unit, the first display interface unit being configured to access an instrument display unit, or a second display interface unit connected to the human-machine interaction domain control unit, the second display interface unit being configured to access a display screen.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein, Further comprising: a network switching unit connected to the intelligent driving domain control unit and the human-machine interaction domain control unit.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein, Further comprising: a third domain control unit connected to the network switching unit; 9. The system of claim 7 or 8, wherein, the third domain control unit being configured to access one of a chassis system control unit, a power system control unit, or a vehicle body system control unit. The network switching unit is further configured to access at least one of: a laser radar sensor, a millimeter wave radar sensor, a driving recorder, a vehicle networking communication box, and a vehicle-mounted recorder.

10. The system according to claim 8, wherein: the intelligent driving domain control unit is configured to implement an auxiliary driving or automatic driving function, a part of a vehicle control function, or a part of a vehicle body control function; the third domain control unit is configured to implement a chassis system control function, a power system control function, another part of a vehicle control function, or another part of a vehicle body control function; 11. The system of claim 1, wherein, the human-machine interaction domain control unit is configured to implement an entertainment domain application function or a human-machine interface function. The intelligent driving domain control unit is further configured to access at least one of:

12. The system of claim 1, wherein, a millimeter wave radar, an ultrasonic radar, and a combined positioning unit.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein, The human-machine interaction domain control unit is further configured to access an audio device. The intelligent driving domain control unit or the human-machine interaction domain control unit comprises: an image processing module, a graphics rendering module, a network / video interface module, an artificial intelligence computing module, and a control module. The control module is used for scheduling and general calculation of other modules.

14. A vehicle control system characterized by comprising: The method comprises the following steps: The controller system according to any one of claims 1-13.

15. A data processing method, characterized by, The method comprises the following steps: Receiving data of sensors through a sensor interface unit; Transmitting the data of the sensors to an intelligent driving domain control unit and a human-machine interaction domain control unit through two groups of interfaces of the sensor interface unit respectively; Wherein, the signals transmitted by each group of interfaces include synchronization signals; the synchronization signals act as trigger signals of the sensors or frame rate control signals of video collected by the sensors.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein, Further comprising: Selecting one of the connection between the sensor interface unit and the intelligent driving domain control unit and the connection between the sensor interface unit and the human-machine interaction domain control unit to transmit one or more of the following signals to the sensors: synchronization signals, control signals; The control signals are used for configuring the sensors or reading data of the sensors.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein, The selection is based on at least one of the following factors: Priority, security level, running mode of the controller system, running state of the controller system of the intelligent driving domain control unit and the human-machine interaction domain control unit.

18. The method according to claim 16 or 17, characterized in that Further comprising: Synchronizing the synchronization signals transmitted by the intelligent driving domain control unit with the synchronization signals transmitted by the human-machine interaction domain control unit in time.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein, Further comprising: Generating content displayed by an instrument display unit through the intelligent driving domain control unit; Transmitting the generated content displayed by the instrument display unit to the instrument display unit through a first display interface unit.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein, Further comprising: Generating content displayed by a display screen through the human-machine interaction domain control unit; Transmitting the generated content displayed by the display screen to the display screen through a second display interface unit.

21. A control method characterized by, The method applied to the controller system according to any one of claims 1-13, the method comprising: Receiving data of sensors through a sensor interface unit; Performing personnel approach detection or intrusion detection according to the data of the sensors through a human-machine interaction domain control unit; When an abnormality is detected, transmitting the data of the sensors to a vehicle event data recorder through a network exchange unit.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein, When an abnormality is detected, the method further comprises: Generating alarm data through the human-machine interaction domain control unit; Transmitting the alarm data to an audio device for playing or transmitting the alarm data to a display screen for displaying through a second display interface unit.

23. A control method characterized by, The method applied to the controller system according to any one of claims 1-13, the method comprising: Receiving data of sensors through a sensor interface unit; Generating surround view image data through image processing according to the data of the sensors through a human-machine interaction domain control unit; Transmitting the surround view image data to a display screen for displaying through a second display interface unit.

24. A system startup method, comprising: The method applied to the controller system according to any one of claims 1-13, the method comprising: The intelligent driving domain control unit and the human-machine interaction domain control unit perform initialization respectively; the intelligent driving domain control unit performs initialization at a lower speed than the human-machine interaction domain control unit performs initialization. After the human-computer interaction domain control unit is initialized, a synchronization signal or a control signal of the human-computer interaction domain control unit is received through the sensor interface unit and is sent to the sensor to start the surround view mode. After the intelligent driving domain control unit is initialized, a synchronization signal or a control signal of the intelligent driving domain control unit is received through the sensor interface unit and is sent to the sensor to take over the control of the sensor interface unit or the sensor.

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