Vehicle-mounted communication system and vehicle

Abstract

The invention provides a vehicle-mounted communication system and a vehicle, and is applied to the technical field of vehicle-mounted communication, the system comprises a central computing platform, a vehicle-mounted optical communication device and at least one optical communication network, and the optical communication network comprises an optical transmitting unit, an optical receiving unit, an optical fiber and a vehicle-mounted optical communication connector; the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit are connected with the vehicle-mounted optical communication connector through the optical fiber, the central computing platform is in communication connection with the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit, and the vehicle-mounted optical communication device is in communication connection with the vehicle-mounted optical communication connector; the light emitting units are located around the central computing platform to enable the light emitting units to share a cooling system of a vehicle with the central computing platform.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of vehicle communication technology, and in particular to a vehicle communication system and a vehicle. Background Technology

[0002] With the development of vehicle electrification, intelligence, and connectivity, as well as the improvement of driver assistance systems, the demand for in-vehicle communication network bandwidth is gradually increasing, and is expected to exceed 50Gbps, or even reach 100Gbps, approaching the network bandwidth requirements of consumer electronics products. However, the transmission bandwidth of current traditional in-vehicle buses, such as CAN, LIN, MOST, and FlexRay, is generally within 150Mbps, while high-speed in-vehicle communication is mainly based on Ethernet, which can only support a maximum transmission rate of 10Gbps, and cannot yet meet the bandwidth requirements of future in-vehicle networks. Furthermore, the electromagnetic environment in the automotive field is more complex, especially in electric vehicles, where high-voltage battery packs and low-voltage electronic components are integrated, which can easily cause severe electromagnetic interference to communication transmission.

[0003] Optical communication technology can often achieve higher network bandwidth; however, there are still some challenges in applying it to the automotive environment (for example, it is difficult to cool the optical transmitting unit in the optical communication technology in the automotive environment). Therefore, there is a need to develop an automotive communication system, method, and vehicle to solve the bottlenecks in the application of optical communication technology in the automotive environment. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In view of the above problems, embodiments of this application provide an in-vehicle communication system and a vehicle.

[0005] The first aspect of this application provides a vehicle-mounted communication system, including:

[0006] The system includes a central computing platform, an in-vehicle optical communication device, and at least one optical communication network, wherein the optical communication network includes an optical transmitting unit, an optical receiving unit, an optical fiber, and an in-vehicle optical communication connector.

[0007] The optical transmitting unit and the optical receiving unit are connected to the vehicle-mounted optical communication connector via the optical fiber. The central computing platform is communicatively connected to the optical transmitting unit and the optical receiving unit. The vehicle-mounted optical communication device is communicatively connected to the vehicle-mounted optical communication connector.

[0008] The light emitting unit is located around the central computing platform so that the light emitting unit and the central computing platform can share the vehicle's cooling system.

[0009] In one possible implementation, the distance between the light emitting unit and the central computing platform is less than a set distance.

[0010] In one possible implementation, the set distance is determined based on the type of the cooling system and / or the heat exchange method between the cooling system and the central computing platform.

[0011] In one possible implementation, the cooling system includes one or more of the following: a cold plate, an evaporator, a fan, a plate heat exchanger, a heat pipe, and a semiconductor cooler.

[0012] In one possible implementation, the heat exchange method includes one or more of convective heat exchange, radiative heat exchange, and conductive heat exchange.

[0013] In one possible implementation, the cooling system is part of the vehicle's thermal management system.

[0014] In one possible implementation, the optical transmitting unit is used to send a first optical signal to the optical fiber, and the vehicle-mounted optical communication connector is used to receive the first optical signal, convert the first optical signal into a first electrical signal, and then send it to the vehicle-mounted optical communication device.

[0015] In one possible implementation, the optical emitting unit is further configured to receive a first electrical signal from the central computing platform and modulate a first optical carrier emitted by the optical emitting unit based on the first electrical signal to obtain the first optical signal.

[0016] In one possible implementation, the optical transmitting unit is further configured to transmit a second optical carrier to the optical fiber, the vehicle-mounted optical communication connector is configured to receive the second optical carrier from the optical fiber and transmit a second optical signal modulated based on the second optical carrier to the optical fiber, and the optical receiving unit is configured to receive the second optical signal.

[0017] In one possible implementation, the vehicle-mounted optical communication connector is further configured to receive a second electrical signal from the vehicle-mounted optical communication device and modulate the second optical carrier based on the second electrical signal to obtain the second optical signal.

[0018] In one possible implementation, the optical receiving unit is further configured to convert the second optical signal into a second electrical signal and then send it to the central computing platform.

[0019] In one possible implementation, both the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit are located around the central computing platform, so that both the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit share the vehicle's cooling system with the central computing platform.

[0020] In one possible implementation, the number of vehicle-mounted optical communication connectors is N, and each pair of adjacent vehicle-mounted optical communication connectors is connected by the optical fiber, where N is an integer greater than 1.

[0021] In one possible implementation, the central computing platform and the vehicle-mounted optical communication device communicate via the optical communication network, which includes an optical transmitting unit, an optical receiving unit, an optical fiber, and a vehicle-mounted optical communication connector. The vehicle-mounted communication system includes a first optical communication network and a second optical communication network. The vehicle-mounted communication system further includes at least one first vehicle-mounted optical communication device communicatively connected to a first vehicle-mounted optical communication connector in the first optical communication network, and at least one second vehicle-mounted optical communication device communicatively connected to a second vehicle-mounted optical communication connector in the second optical communication network.

[0022] In one possible implementation, the vehicle-mounted communication system further includes: a beam splitter, wherein the number of optical fibers is M, the M optical fibers are connected to the optical transmitting unit through the beam splitter, the beam splitter is used to split the optical carrier emitted by the optical transmitting unit into M optical carriers of different wavelengths, and transmit them to the M optical fibers respectively, and a vehicle-mounted optical communication connector m, which is communicatively connected to optical fiber m among the M optical fibers, is used to modulate a second optical signal m based on the optical carrier m received from the optical fiber m and transmit it to the optical fiber m; and / or;

[0023] The beam splitter is used to split the optical signal emitted by the optical emitting unit into M optical signals of different wavelengths, and transmit them to the M optical fibers respectively. The vehicle-mounted optical communication connector m, which is communicatively connected to the optical fiber m among the M optical fibers, is used to receive the optical signal m from the optical fiber m, convert the optical signal m into a first electrical signal m, and then send it to the vehicle-mounted optical communication device m connected to the vehicle-mounted optical communication connector m.

[0024] Where m takes values ​​from 1 to M, and M is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

[0025] In one possible implementation, the number of vehicle-mounted optical communication connectors is N, and the nth vehicle-mounted optical communication connector corresponds to the nth vehicle-mounted optical communication area. The time period used by the nth vehicle-mounted optical communication connector for optical communication is determined based on the bandwidth of the nth vehicle-mounted optical communication area.

[0026] In one possible implementation, the time period used by the nth vehicle-mounted optical communication connector for optical communication includes at least: a first time period corresponding to the first optical signal sent by the optical transmitting unit to the optical fiber, the first time period being determined based on the downlink bandwidth of the nth vehicle-mounted optical communication area.

[0027] In one possible implementation, the time period used by the nth vehicle-mounted optical communication connector for optical communication includes at least: a second time period corresponding to the second optical signal received by the optical receiving unit, the second time period being determined based on the uplink bandwidth of the nth vehicle-mounted optical communication area.

[0028] In one possible implementation, the vehicle-mounted optical communication connector is a silicon photonics chip.

[0029] In one possible implementation, the vehicle-mounted optical communication device is integrated with the silicon photonics chip on the same printed circuit board (PCB), and the vehicle-mounted optical communication device includes: vehicle-mounted sensors and / or vehicle-mounted actuators.

[0030] In one possible implementation, the silicon photonics chip includes: an optical receiver, an optical switch, and an optical modulator;

[0031] The silicon photonics chip is used to switch between a first signal transmission mode based on the optical receiver, a second signal transmission mode based on the optical modulator, and a third signal transmission mode that does not process the received signal, by controlling the optical switch according to the type of the received signal.

[0032] In one possible implementation, the silicon photonics chip is used to guide the first optical signal to the optical receiver by controlling the optical switch when it detects that the received signal is a first optical signal sent by the optical emitting unit to the optical fiber. The optical receiver is used to perform photoelectric conversion on the optical signal and send the resulting electrical signal to an on-board sensor or on-board actuator connected to the silicon photonics chip.

[0033] In one possible implementation, the silicon photonics chip is used to guide the second electrical signal to the optical modulator by controlling the optical switch when it detects that the received signal is a second electrical signal received from the vehicle-mounted optical communication device. The optical modulator is used to modulate the second electrical signal to obtain a second optical signal and send the modulated second optical signal to the next vehicle-mounted optical communication connector adjacent to the vehicle-mounted optical communication connector to which the silicon photonics chip belongs or to the optical receiving unit.

[0034] In one possible implementation, the silicon photonics chip is used to guide the received optical signal to the next adjacent vehicle optical communication connector or the optical receiving unit when it detects that the received signal is an optical signal from the adjacent previous vehicle optical communication connector.

[0035] A second aspect of this application provides a vehicle that includes the vehicle communication system described in the first aspect of this application.

[0036] In one possible implementation, the vehicle further includes a cooling system that exchanges heat with the central computing platform, the light emitting unit, and the light receiving unit to cool down the central computing platform, the light emitting unit, and the light receiving unit.

[0037] This application provides an in-vehicle communication system and a vehicle. The system includes: a central computing platform, an in-vehicle optical communication device, and at least one optical communication network. The optical communication network includes an optical transmitting unit, an optical receiving unit, an optical fiber, and an in-vehicle optical communication connector. The optical transmitting unit and the optical receiving unit are connected to the in-vehicle optical communication connector via the optical fiber. The central computing platform is communicatively connected to the optical transmitting unit and the optical receiving unit. The in-vehicle optical communication device is communicatively connected to the in-vehicle optical communication connector. The optical transmitting unit is located around the central computing platform to enable the optical transmitting unit and the central computing platform to share the vehicle's cooling system.

[0038] The specific beneficial effects are as follows:

[0039] On the one hand, this application realizes the application of optical communication technology to the vehicle environment. To solve the problem of optical power attenuation and reduced service life of optical emitting units caused by the high temperature of the vehicle environment (generally around 105°C), this application utilizes an optical communication network to connect vehicle-mounted optical communication devices distributed in various areas, realizing network communication between the central computing platform and the vehicle-mounted optical communication devices. This allows the optical emitting units in the optical communication network to be integrated around the central computing platform (avoiding the distribution of optical emitting units in various areas of the vehicle), enabling the optical emitting units and the central computing platform to share the vehicle's cooling system, achieving centralized cooling of the optical emitting units, and successfully applying optical communication technology to the high-temperature vehicle environment.

[0040] On the other hand, this application utilizes an optical communication network to achieve network communication in the vehicle environment (between the central computing platform and the vehicle-mounted optical communication device) to improve the quality of vehicle-mounted network communication. The optical communication network uses optical fiber as the transmission medium, which not only utilizes the high-speed data stream formed by optical carriers to increase the network bandwidth of the communication system and meet the ever-increasing bandwidth demands of vehicle-mounted networks, but also, because the optical fiber medium is silicon dioxide, it is unaffected by electromagnetic radiation interference, enabling more stable network communication. Attached Figure Description

[0041] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments of this application will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of this application. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0042] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of an in-vehicle communication system provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0043] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of an optical communication network provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0044] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of a system structure composed of multiple optical communication networks provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0045] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a silicon photonics chip provided in an embodiment of this application;

[0046] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the working signal processing flow of a silicon photonics chip provided in an embodiment of this application. Detailed Implementation

[0047] Exemplary embodiments of this application will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. While exemplary embodiments of this application are shown in the drawings, it should be understood that this application may be implemented in various forms and should not be limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided to enable a more thorough understanding of this application and to fully convey the scope of this application to those skilled in the art.

[0048] With the development of vehicle electrification, intelligence, and connectivity, as well as the improvement of driver assistance systems, the demand for in-vehicle communication network bandwidth is gradually increasing, mainly in two aspects: First, the improvement of driver assistance systems requires the fusion of multiple sensors, including data fusion between cameras, ultrasonic radar, lidar, and millimeter-wave radar. The development of in-vehicle cameras, in particular, has two directions: firstly, the number of cameras has exceeded 10; secondly, cameras are becoming more high-definition, with 8-megapixel cameras already in mass production. Without compression, the data transmission bandwidth is approaching 10Gbps. Second, the development of smart cockpits, with the increase in interactive and entertainment devices such as screens, places higher demands on in-vehicle communication bandwidth. In summary, the future bandwidth demand for in-vehicle communication is expected to exceed 50Gbps, or even higher, reaching 100Gbps, approaching the network bandwidth requirements of consumer electronics products.

[0049] However, current traditional automotive buses, such as CAN, LIN, MOST, and FlexRay, have transmission bandwidths below 150Mbps, while high-speed automotive communication primarily uses Ethernet, currently supporting a maximum transmission rate of 10Gbps. Its transmission medium is twisted-pair cable, which is insufficient to meet the bandwidth requirements of future automotive networks. Furthermore, the electromagnetic environment in the automotive field is more complex, especially in electric vehicles, where high-voltage battery packs and low-voltage electronic components are integrated, easily causing severe electromagnetic interference to communication transmission.

[0050] Optical communication technology can often achieve higher network bandwidth. Considering the future demand for high bandwidth (50Gbps+) in automotive applications, and referencing current industry practices where bandwidths above 40Gbps are typically achieved using optical fiber as the transmission medium, replacing cables and twisted-pair cables with optical fiber is a better choice. Optical fiber not only meets the future bandwidth requirements of automotive transmission but also better mitigates electromagnetic interference.

[0051] However, applying optical communication technology to automotive environments still faces several challenges. One of the biggest challenges lies in the fact that the optical transmitting modules (i.e., optical transmitting units) in optical communication systems struggle to meet the temperature requirements (105°C) of automotive applications. This is primarily due to two factors: firstly, because the optical transmitting modules utilize semiconductor lasers, their optical power decreases at high temperatures; secondly, the reliability of the optical transmitting lasers at high temperatures makes it difficult to achieve a lifespan exceeding 15 years. These are bottlenecks hindering the application of optical communication in automobiles and urgently require solutions.

[0052] In view of the above problems, this application proposes an in-vehicle communication system and vehicle to solve the difficulties in applying the aforementioned optical communication technology in an in-vehicle environment. The in-vehicle communication system provided by this application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and through some embodiments and application scenarios.

[0053] The first aspect of this application provides a vehicle-mounted communication system, referring to... Figure 1 , Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a vehicle-mounted communication system is shown, such as... Figure 1 As shown, the vehicle-mounted communication system includes:

[0054] Central computing platform 1, vehicle-mounted optical communication devices (such as...) Figure 1 The diagram shows 5-1……5-n, 5'-1……5'-n) and at least one optical communication network, the optical communication network including an optical transmitting unit (e.g., Figure 1 As shown in 2 and 2'), optical receiving unit (such as Figure 1 As shown in 3 and 3'), fiber optic and vehicle-mounted optical communication connectors (such as...) Figure 1(as shown in 4-1……4-n, 4'-1……4'-n);

[0055] Light emitting unit (e.g.) Figure 1 (as shown in 2 and 2') and optical receiving unit (e.g.) Figure 1 (as shown in 3 and 3') and the vehicle-mounted optical communication connector (such as Figure 1 The 4-1……4-n, 4'-1……4'-n shown are connected via optical fiber, and the central computing platform 1 is connected to the optical transmitting unit (e.g., Figure 1 (as shown in 2 and 2') and optical receiving unit (e.g.) Figure 1 The communication connection shown in 3' and 3') indicates the vehicle-mounted optical communication device (such as... Figure 1 The 5-1……5-n, 5'-1……5'-n shown are connected to the vehicle-mounted optical communication connector (e.g., Figure 1 The communication connections shown are 4-1……4-n and 4'-1……4'-n.

[0056] Light emitting unit (e.g.) Figure 1 The units 2 and 2' shown are located around the central computing platform 1 to enable the light emitting unit 2 to share the vehicle's cooling system with the central computing platform 1.

[0057] Optionally, the vehicle communication system proposed in this application embodiment can be used in a vehicle architecture that integrates multiple control systems (e.g., vehicle control, smart cockpit, ADAS, etc.) on a central computing platform. The central computing platform domain actuators communicate with sensors, eliminating the need for a domain controller, and at least the actuators have certain computing processing capabilities. The central computing platform can also be a central controller.

[0058] The vehicle-mounted optical communication device is connected to the vehicle-mounted communication system via a vehicle-mounted optical communication connector. Vehicle-mounted optical communication devices may include, but are not limited to, vehicle-mounted sensors and vehicle-mounted actuators. Vehicle-mounted sensors may include cameras, millimeter-wave radar, lidar, ultrasonic radar, etc.; vehicle-mounted actuators may include electric motors, clutch valves, valve mechanisms, solenoid valves, etc.

[0059] The central computing platform is used to receive uplink signals (e.g., images captured by cameras) from the vehicle-mounted optical communication devices in each vehicle-mounted optical communication area, and to send downlink signals (e.g., image acquisition commands for cameras) to the vehicle-mounted optical communication devices in each vehicle-mounted optical communication area.

[0060] In one possible implementation, the optical emitting units are located around the central computing platform 1, which can be understood as the optical emitting units being located at a distance less than a predetermined distance from the central computing platform. "The optical emitting units are located around the central computing platform 1" means that the optical emitting units are located above, below, or at any position around the central computing platform.

[0061] Optionally, the set distance is determined based on the type of the cooling system and / or the heat exchange method between the cooling system and the central computing platform.

[0062] In one possible implementation, the cooling system includes one or more of the following: a cold plate, an evaporator, a fan, a plate heat exchanger, a heat pipe, and a semiconductor cooler.

[0063] In one possible implementation, the heat exchange method includes one or more of convective heat exchange, radiative heat exchange, and conductive heat exchange.

[0064] In one possible implementation, the cooling system is part of the vehicle's thermal management system. This allows for cooling of the central computing platform, optical emitting unit, and optical receiving unit without requiring an additional heat exchange system.

[0065] This application embodiment uses optical communication as the backbone communication network (i.e., optical communication network) to support network communication between the central computing platform and various vehicle-mounted optical communication devices. Specifically, as shown in the example... Figure 1 As shown, the central computing platform and the optical emitting unit LD (Laser Diode) are... Figure 1 The LD module and the optical receiving unit PD (Photodiode, i.e., Figure 1 The optical transmitter and receiver are connected to the PD module shown in the diagram. The central computing platform then transmits downlink signals via the optical transmitter and receives uplink signals via the optical receiver. The signal transmission rate of both the optical transmitter and receiver is greater than or equal to 1Gbps (it can be 5 / 10 / 25 / 50 / 100Gbps, or any intermediate bandwidth). The optical transmitter and receiver are connected to the vehicle-mounted optical communication connector (e.g., PD module). Figure 1 Modules M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, and M6 (shown) are connected via optical fiber. The vehicle-mounted optical communication device communicates with the vehicle-mounted optical communication connector. Thus, the vehicle-mounted optical communication device receives downlink signals transmitted by the optical transmitting unit through the vehicle-mounted optical communication connector and sends uplink signals to the optical receiving unit through the same connector. In this system, the downlink signal transmission process is as follows: central computing platform → optical transmitting unit → optical fiber → vehicle-mounted optical communication connector → vehicle-mounted optical communication device; the uplink signal transmission process is as follows: vehicle-mounted optical communication device → vehicle-mounted optical communication connector → optical fiber → optical receiving unit → central computing platform. The optional uplink signal light source is provided by the optical transmitting unit deployed near the central computing platform. That is, the uplink and downlink signals share the same light source.

[0066] In this embodiment, as Figure 1 As shown, the light emitting unit (such as...) Figure 1As shown in Figures 2 and 2', they are located around the central computing platform 1 to realize the optical emission unit (such as...). Figure 1 As shown in Figures 2 and 2'), the vehicle's cooling system is shared with the central computing platform 1. Specifically, in this embodiment, a semiconductor laser can be used as the optical emitting unit to provide an optical carrier for the optical communication network. Since the maximum temperature in the vehicle environment can reach 125°C, and the optical power and reliability of the optical emitting unit are easily affected by high temperatures, thus affecting the communication quality of the ring optical network (i.e., the optical communication network), to solve this problem, this application concentrates the optical emitting units around the central computing platform (avoiding the distribution of optical emitting units in various areas of the vehicle), so that they can be cooled by a semiconductor cooler (TEC) or a water-cooling system used in vehicles based on a central integrated architecture, achieving centralized cooling of the optical emitting units and realizing the application of optical communication technology in the high-temperature vehicle environment.

[0067] In one possible implementation, the light emitting unit (such as...) Figure 1 (as shown in 2 and 2') and optical receiving unit (e.g.) Figure 1 As shown, 3 and 3' are both located around the central computing platform 1 to realize the optical emission unit (such as...). Figure 1 (as shown in 2 and 2') and optical receiving unit (e.g.) Figure 1 Both 3 and 3' shown share the vehicle's cooling system with the central computing platform 1.

[0068] In this embodiment, considering that the optical receiving unit is also affected by the high temperature in the vehicle environment to a certain extent, the optical transmitting units and optical receiving units in each optical communication network are concentrated around the central computing platform, thereby further reducing the impact of temperature on the optical communication network and improving the overall communication quality of the vehicle communication system.

[0069] In one possible implementation, the number of vehicle-mounted optical communication connectors is N, and each pair of adjacent vehicle-mounted optical communication connectors is connected by optical fiber, where N is an integer greater than 1.

[0070] Specifically, refer to Figure 2 , Figure 2 A schematic diagram of an optical communication network is shown, in which each optical communication network includes one or more vehicle-mounted optical communication connectors (such as...). Figure 2 As shown in 4-1, 4-2...4-n, each vehicle-mounted optical communication connector is connected to a corresponding vehicle-mounted optical communication device, thereby realizing the communication connection between the vehicle-mounted optical communication device and the optical communication network. Every two adjacent vehicle-mounted optical communication connectors are connected by an optical fiber (such as...). Figure 2 The optical transmitter, multiple vehicle-mounted optical communication connectors, and the optical receiver are connected in series via optical fibers to form a ring optical network (i.e., an optical communication network). (As shown by the wide arrow in the image) Figure 2As shown, in this ring optical network, the transmission direction of the optical carrier is: starting from the optical transmitting unit 2, it passes through one or more vehicle-mounted optical communication connectors in sequence through the optical fiber (i.e., in sequence through 4-1, 4-2, ..., 4-n), and is finally received by the optical receiving unit 3.

[0071] In order to concentrate the optical transmitting units in the optical communication network around the central computing platform, the embodiments of this application adopt a ring optical network design, using the ring optical network (i.e., optical communication network) as the backbone communication network to support network communication between the central computing platform and various vehicle-mounted optical communication devices. The signal transmission in the optical communication network is mainly divided into two categories: one is the transmission of downlink signals, that is, the central computing platform sends downlink signals to the vehicle-mounted optical communication devices through the optical communication network; the other is the transmission of uplink signals, that is, the vehicle-mounted optical communication devices send uplink signals to the central computing platform through the optical communication network.

[0072] To facilitate understanding of the technical solution proposed in this application, the optical communication network (i.e., ring optical network) in the vehicle communication system will be described below through several examples.

[0073] The following example illustrates the transmission process of downlink signals in an optical communication network.

[0074] In one possible implementation, the optical transmitting unit is used to send a first optical signal to the optical fiber, and the vehicle-mounted optical communication connector is used to receive the first optical signal and convert it into a first electrical signal before sending it to the vehicle-mounted optical communication device.

[0075] In one possible implementation, the optical transmitting unit is further configured to receive a first electrical signal from a central computing platform and modulate a first optical carrier emitted by the optical transmitting unit based on the first electrical signal to obtain a first optical signal.

[0076] In this embodiment, the optical emitting unit is used to provide an optical carrier wave and modulate the electrical signal into an optical signal. For example... Figure 2 As shown, when the central computing platform sends a downlink signal to a vehicle-mounted optical communication device (e.g., sending an image acquisition signal to a camera), the central computing platform sends a first electrical signal to the optical transmitting unit. The optical transmitting unit modulates the first electrical signal into a first optical signal based on a first optical carrier, completing the electro-optical signal conversion. Then, the optical transmitting unit sends the obtained first optical signal to an optical fiber, which transmits the first optical signal to the corresponding vehicle-mounted optical communication connector (e.g., to...). Figure 2 The vehicle-mounted optical communication connector 4-3 in the middle). Furthermore, this vehicle-mounted optical communication connector (e.g., Figure 2 The vehicle-mounted optical communication connector 4-3 converts the received first optical signal into a first electrical signal, completing the photoelectric signal conversion. Finally, the modulated first electrical signal is sent to the corresponding vehicle-mounted optical communication device (such as...). Figure 1As shown, each vehicle-mounted optical communication connector is connected to one and only one corresponding vehicle-mounted optical communication device. This completes the downlink signal transmission from the central computing platform to the vehicle-mounted optical communication device. During the transmission process, the downlink signal is transmitted in the form of a first electrical signal and a first optical signal, respectively.

[0077] The following example illustrates the uplink signal transmission process in an optical communication network.

[0078] In one possible implementation, the optical transmitting unit is also used to send a second optical carrier to the optical fiber, the vehicle-mounted optical communication connector is used to receive the second optical carrier from the optical fiber and transmit the second optical signal modulated based on the second optical carrier to the optical fiber, and the optical receiving unit is used to receive the second optical signal.

[0079] In one possible implementation, the vehicle-mounted optical communication connector is also used to receive a second electrical signal from the vehicle-mounted optical communication device and modulate a second optical carrier based on the second electrical signal to obtain a second optical signal.

[0080] In one possible implementation, the optical receiving unit is also used to convert the second optical signal into a second electrical signal and then send it to the central computing platform.

[0081] In this embodiment, as Figure 2 As shown, when an in-vehicle optical communication device sends an uplink signal to a central computing platform (e.g., a camera sends a captured image to the central computing platform), a certain in-vehicle signal is transmitted to the connected in-vehicle optical communication connector (e.g., ...). Figure 2 The vehicle-mounted optical communication connector 4-2) transmits a second electrical signal, which is modulated into a second optical signal based on the second optical carrier. In this optical communication network, uplink and downlink signals share the same light source. The optical transmitting unit sends the second optical carrier to the optical fiber. When transmitting an uplink signal, the vehicle-mounted optical communication connector can complete the electro-optical signal conversion based on the real-time second optical carrier received from the optical fiber when uplink signal transmission is required. Then, the vehicle-mounted optical communication connector sends the modulated second optical signal to the optical receiving unit through the optical fiber. The optical receiving unit modulates the second optical signal to obtain a second electrical signal, completing the photoelectric conversion. Finally, the modulated second electrical signal is sent to the central computing platform. This completes the uplink signal transmission from the vehicle-mounted optical communication device to the central computing platform. During the transmission process, the uplink signal is transmitted in the form of a second electrical signal and a second optical signal.

[0082] In some embodiments, the vehicle communication system includes multiple optical communication networks, which are independent of each other.

[0083] In one possible implementation, the central computing platform and the vehicle-mounted optical communication device communicate via an optical communication network. The optical communication network includes an optical transmitting unit, an optical receiving unit, optical fibers, and a vehicle-mounted optical communication connector. The vehicle-mounted communication system includes a first optical communication network and a second optical communication network. The vehicle-mounted communication system further includes at least one first vehicle-mounted optical communication device that is communicatively connected to the first vehicle-mounted optical communication connector in the first optical communication network, and at least one second vehicle-mounted optical communication device that is communicatively connected to the second vehicle-mounted optical communication connector in the second optical communication network.

[0084] Specifically, such as Figure 1 As shown, the vehicle-mounted communication system includes multiple optical communication networks (a first optical communication network and a second optical communication network). The central computing platform and the vehicle-mounted optical communication devices communicate through these optical communication networks. Each optical communication network has an independent optical transmitting unit, an optical receiving unit, an optical path, and one or more vehicle-mounted optical communication connectors connected in series through the optical path. For example... Figure 1 As shown, each of the first vehicle-mounted optical communication connectors in the first optical communication network (e.g.) Figure 1 As shown in 4-1……4-n), each of the following corresponds to a first vehicle-mounted optical communication device, and each of the second vehicle-mounted optical communication connectors of the second optical communication network (e.g., ...) Figure 1 The 4'-1……4'-n diagram shown corresponds to a second vehicle-mounted optical communication device. Each optical communication network (first optical communication network or second optical communication network) in this system can independently transmit downlink and uplink signals between the central computing platform and the vehicle-mounted optical communication device using the signal transmission method described in the example above.

[0085] In some embodiments, the vehicle communication system includes multiple optical communication networks, and the multiple optical communication networks share an optical transmitting unit using a beam splitter.

[0086] In one possible implementation, the vehicle-mounted communication system further includes: a beam splitter, wherein the number of optical fibers is M, the M optical fibers are connected to an optical transmitting unit via the beam splitter, the beam splitter is used to split the optical carrier emitted by the optical transmitting unit into M optical carriers of different wavelengths, and transmit them to the M optical fibers respectively, and a vehicle-mounted optical communication connector m is communicatively connected to optical fiber m among the M optical fibers, used to modulate a second optical signal m based on the optical carrier m received from optical fiber m and transmit it to optical fiber m; and / or

[0087] The beam splitter is used to split the optical signal emitted by the optical emitting unit into M optical signals of different wavelengths, and transmit them to M optical fibers respectively. The vehicle-mounted optical communication connector m, which is connected to the optical fiber m among the M optical fibers, is used to receive the optical signal m from the optical fiber m, convert the optical signal m into a first electrical signal m, and then send it to the vehicle-mounted optical communication device m connected to the vehicle-mounted optical communication connector m.

[0088] Where m takes values ​​from 1 to M, and M is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

[0089] Specifically, refer to Figure 3 , Figure 3 A schematic diagram of a system architecture consisting of multiple optical communication networks is shown, such as... Figure 3 As shown, the vehicle-mounted communication system includes M optical communication networks. These M optical communication networks share an optical transmitting unit, and each optical communication network has an independent optical receiving unit (e.g., ...). Figure 3 As shown in 3-1, 3-2, and 3'-1, 3'-2), the optical path, and one or more vehicle-mounted optical communication connectors (such as...) connected in series through the optical path. Figure 3 (As shown in 4-1, 4-2, and 4-3). This optical transmitting unit is communicatively connected to a beam splitter (such as...). Figure 1 As shown in 6 and 6'), the number of optical fibers is M, and the M optical fibers are connected to the optical transmitting unit through a beam splitter.

[0090] On one hand, a beam splitter can be used to divide the optical carrier emitted by the optical transmitting unit into M optical carriers of different wavelengths, with a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) of λ1 to λM nm. The wavelengths of λ1 to λM are all different, and the gap between any two wavelengths is ≥0.2 nm. These M optical carriers are then transmitted to M optical fibers, so that each optical communication network corresponds to one optical carrier (the m-th optical communication network is based on the m-th optical carrier among the M optical carriers for optical communication). For example, the first optical communication network uses an optical carrier with wavelength λ1 for optical communication, and the m-th optical communication network uses an optical carrier with wavelength λm for optical communication. The vehicle-mounted optical communication connector m connected to the optical fiber m (during uplink signal transmission) can modulate the optical carrier m (equivalent to the second optical carrier in the example above) received from the optical fiber m to obtain a second optical signal m, which is then transmitted to the optical fiber m.

[0091] On the other hand, a beam splitter can be used to divide the optical signal emitted by the optical transmitting unit into M optical signals of different wavelengths, with wavelength division multiples from λ1 to λM nm. The wavelengths of λ1 to λM are all different, and the gap between any two wavelengths is ≥0.2 nm. These M optical signals are then transmitted to M optical fibers, so that each optical communication network corresponds to one optical signal. Specifically, the vehicle-mounted optical communication connector m connected to the optical fiber m can receive the optical signal m (equivalent to the first optical signal in the example above) from the optical fiber m during downlink signal transmission. It then converts the optical signal m into a first electrical signal m and sends it to the vehicle-mounted optical communication device m connected to the vehicle-mounted optical communication connector m.

[0092] Each optical communication network (the m-th optical communication network) can independently transmit downlink and uplink signals between the central computing platform and the vehicle-mounted optical communication device using the signal transmission method described in the example above.

[0093] In some embodiments, in each optical communication network of the vehicle communication system, a time-division communication scheme is adopted between multiple vehicle optical communication connectors.

[0094] In one possible implementation, the number of vehicle-mounted optical communication connectors is N, and the nth vehicle-mounted optical communication connector corresponds to the nth vehicle-mounted optical communication area. The time period used by the nth vehicle-mounted optical communication connector for optical communication is determined based on the bandwidth of the nth vehicle-mounted optical communication area.

[0095] Specifically, the optical communication network includes N in-vehicle optical communication connectors (also known as area connectors), each corresponding to an in-vehicle optical communication area. This area can be a vehicle control domain, a smart cockpit domain, an Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) domain, etc. Time is allocated for optical communication for each in-vehicle optical communication connector. For example, in... Figure 2 In the optical communication network shown, the n vehicle-mounted optical communication areas (i.e., n vehicle-mounted optical communication connectors) correspond to times from t1 to tn. Specifically, the time corresponding to optical communication in vehicle-mounted optical communication area 1 (i.e., the first vehicle-mounted optical communication connector 4-1) is t1, and the time corresponding to optical communication in vehicle-mounted optical communication area n (i.e., the nth vehicle-mounted optical communication connector 4-n) is tn. In this embodiment, for multiple vehicle-mounted optical communication connectors in this optical communication network, the signal transmission method described in the example above can be executed according to the allocated time to realize the transmission of downlink and uplink signals between the central computing platform and the vehicle-mounted optical communication devices.

[0096] The optical communication time for each vehicle-mounted optical communication connector can be allocated according to the bandwidth data of its corresponding vehicle-mounted optical communication region. The specific time length can be the same or different. For example, if the bandwidth requirement of the assisted driving domain is higher, a longer optical communication time will be allocated to the vehicle-mounted optical communication connector corresponding to that assisted driving domain.

[0097] In one possible implementation, the time period used by the nth vehicle-mounted optical communication connector for optical communication includes at least: a first time period corresponding to the first optical signal sent by the optical transmitting unit to the optical fiber, the first time period being determined based on the downlink bandwidth of the nth vehicle-mounted optical communication area.

[0098] In one possible implementation, the time period used by the nth vehicle-mounted optical communication connector for optical communication includes at least: a second time period corresponding to the second optical signal received by the optical receiving unit, the second time period being determined based on the uplink bandwidth of the nth vehicle-mounted optical communication area.

[0099] Specifically, each vehicle-mounted optical communication connector needs to perform both uplink signal transmission (receiving a second electrical signal from the vehicle-mounted optical communication device, modulating a second optical carrier emitted by the optical transmitting unit based on the second electrical signal to obtain a second optical signal, and transmitting the second optical signal to the optical fiber) and downlink signal transmission (the vehicle-mounted optical communication connector receives a first optical signal, converts the first optical signal into a first electrical signal, and then sends it to the vehicle-mounted optical communication device). In this embodiment, the optical communication time is divided into two parts according to the bandwidth requirements of the vehicle-mounted optical communication connector for uplink and downlink signal transmission: one part is the time allocated for transmitting downlink signals, and the other part is the time allocated for transmitting uplink signals. For example, for vehicle-mounted optical communication connector 4-1, the allocated time for optical communication is t1. Within this time t1, the allocated time for downlink signal transmission is t1-1, and the allocated time for uplink signal transmission is t1-2, so that the sum of the two times is t1.

[0100] Furthermore, when multiple optical communication networks exist in the vehicle communication system, each optical communication network can allocate time to multiple vehicle optical communication connectors in that optical communication network according to the method described in the example above. The multiple optical communication networks in the system can be the network structure illustrated in the example above (multiple optical communication networks are independent of each other, or multiple optical communication networks share an optical transmitting unit using a splitter).

[0101] In some embodiments, the multiple optical communication networks in the vehicle communication system employ a parallel communication scheme.

[0102] In one possible implementation, the vehicle communication system includes M optical communication networks, which communicate with each other in parallel, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

[0103] Specifically, in the case where the vehicle-mounted communication system includes M optical communication networks, each optical communication network independently performs optical communication according to the method in the example above. Each optical communication network can allocate time for optical communication to its multiple vehicle-mounted optical communication connectors according to the method in the example above. The M optical communication networks can be the network structure described in the example above (multiple optical communication networks operating independently, or multiple optical communication networks sharing an optical transmitting unit using a beam splitter).

[0104] In one possible implementation, the vehicle-mounted optical communication connector is a silicon photonics chip.

[0105] Specifically, this embodiment uses silicon photonics technology and uses silicon photonics chips as vehicle-mounted optical communication connectors. Compared with semiconductor lasers, silicon photonics chips have stronger high-temperature resistance. In high-temperature environments, they have less impact on the communication of optical communication networks, thereby further improving the reliability of optical communication networks.

[0106] In one possible implementation, the vehicle-mounted optical communication device is integrated with the silicon photonics chip on the same printed circuit board (PCB). The vehicle-mounted optical communication device includes: vehicle-mounted sensors and / or vehicle-mounted actuators.

[0107] In this embodiment, since the vehicle-mounted optical communication connector (silicon photonic chip) is connected to the corresponding vehicle-mounted optical communication device (vehicle-mounted sensor and / or vehicle-mounted actuator), the silicon photonic chip and the vehicle-mounted sensor and / or vehicle-mounted actuator can be integrated into the same circuit board (PCB) to form a high degree of integration and distribution in various areas of the vehicle body.

[0108] In one possible implementation, the silicon photonics chip includes: an optical receiver, an optical switch, and an optical modulator;

[0109] Silicon photonics chips are used to switch between a first signal transmission mode based on an optical receiver, a second signal transmission mode based on an optical modulator, and a third signal transmission mode that does not process the received signal, by controlling an optical switch, depending on the type of the received signal.

[0110] Specifically, refer to Figure 4 , Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a silicon photonic chip is shown, such as... Figure 4 As shown, the silicon photonics chip 400 includes: an optical receiver 401, an optical switch 402, and an optical modulator 403. These three devices can be discrete or integrated. The optical receiver 401 can be a silicon-based optical receiver fabricated using silicon-germanium technology, or it can be an optical receiver fabricated using III-V compound semiconductors. The optical modulator 403 can be a silicon-based modulator or a lithium niobate-based modulator. The optical switch 402 can be a thermal modulation switch or an electrically modulated optical switch.

[0111] The optical receiver 401 is mainly used to receive downlink signals sent from the central computing platform, perform photoelectric conversion (converting optical signals into electrical signals), and transmit them to the vehicle-mounted optical communication device (vehicle-mounted sensor and / or vehicle-mounted actuator) connected to the communication network. The optical modulator 403 is mainly used to receive uplink signals sent from the vehicle-mounted optical communication device (vehicle-mounted sensor and / or vehicle-mounted actuator) connected to the communication network, perform electro-optical conversion (converting electrical signals into optical signals), and transmit them to the optical receiving unit through optical fiber to realize uplink signal transmission. The optical switch 402 is used to distinguish between uplink and downlink signals and realize switching (guiding the received uplink signal to the optical modulator and guiding the received downlink signal to the optical receiver).

[0112] As an in-vehicle optical communication connector, the silicon photonics chip transmits uplink and downlink signals in the optical communication network according to the methods described in Scheme 1 and Scheme 2, respectively. The following content describes the specific signal transmission process of the silicon photonics chip.

[0113] In one possible implementation, the silicon photonics chip is used to guide the first optical signal to an optical receiver by controlling an optical switch when it detects that the received signal is a first optical signal sent from the optical emitting unit to the optical fiber. The optical receiver is used to perform photoelectric conversion on the optical signal and send the resulting electrical signal to an on-board sensor or on-board actuator connected to the silicon photonics chip.

[0114] Reference Figure 5 , Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the signal processing flow of a silicon photonics chip is shown, such as... Figure 5 As shown in (A), when the silicon photonics chip is used for downlink signal transmission (i.e., when the received signal is detected as the first optical signal sent from the optical transmitter unit to the optical fiber), the silicon photonics chip executes the steps of the vehicle-mounted optical communication connector in Scheme 1: converting the received first optical signal into a first electrical signal, completing the photoelectric signal conversion, and then sending the modulated first electrical signal to the corresponding vehicle-mounted optical communication device. Specifically, the central computing platform sends the first electrical signal to the optical transmitter unit, the optical transmitter module modulates the first optical carrier based on the first electrical signal to obtain the first optical signal, and then transmits it to the corresponding silicon photonics chip via optical fiber. The silicon photonics chip guides the first optical signal to the optical receiver (e.g., the optical receiver) by controlling the optical switch (determining that it is a downlink signal and switching it). Figure 5 The PD module shown in A) and the optical receiver complete the photoelectric conversion (converting the first optical signal into the first electrical signal) and transmit it to the vehicle-mounted optical communication device (vehicle-mounted sensor or vehicle-mounted actuator) connected to the communication.

[0115] In one possible implementation, the silicon photonics chip is used to guide the second electrical signal to an optical modulator by controlling an optical switch when it detects that the received signal is a second electrical signal received from the vehicle-mounted optical communication device. The optical modulator is used to modulate the second electrical signal to obtain a second optical signal and send the modulated second optical signal to the next vehicle-mounted optical communication connector or optical receiving unit adjacent to the vehicle-mounted optical communication connector to which the silicon photonics chip belongs.

[0116] like Figure 5 As shown in (B), when the silicon photonics chip is used for uplink signal transmission (i.e., when the received signal is detected as the second electrical signal received from the vehicle-mounted optical communication device), the silicon photonics chip executes the steps of the vehicle-mounted optical communication connector in Scheme 2: receiving the second electrical signal from the vehicle-mounted optical communication device, modulating the second optical carrier emitted by the optical transmitting unit based on the second electrical signal to obtain the second optical signal, and transmitting the second optical signal to the optical fiber. Specifically, the second electrical signal sent by the vehicle-mounted optical communication device (vehicle-mounted sensor or vehicle-mounted actuator) is transmitted to the corresponding silicon photonics chip. The silicon photonics chip guides the second electrical signal to the optical modulator of the silicon photonics chip by controlling the optical switch (determining that it is an uplink signal and switching it). The optical modulator realizes the conversion of the electrical signal to the optical signal (based on the second optical carrier emitted by the optical transmitting unit, converting the second electrical signal into the second optical signal), and transmits it through the optical fiber to the adjacent next vehicle-mounted optical communication connector (silicon photonics chip) or optical receiving unit to complete the uplink signal transmission.

[0117] In one possible implementation, the silicon photonics chip is used to guide the received optical signal to the next adjacent vehicle optical communication connector or optical receiving unit when it detects that the received signal is an optical signal from the adjacent previous vehicle optical communication connector.

[0118] In optical communication networks, multiple vehicle-mounted optical communication connectors are connected in series via optical fibers. Adjacent vehicle-mounted optical communication connectors (silicon photonic chips) are connected via optical fibers, and the transmission of optical signals between these fibers requires relay transmission by one or more silicon photonic chips. For the i-th silicon photonic chip, it receives three types of signals: a downlink signal from the central computing platform to the vehicle-mounted optical communication device connected to the i-th silicon photonic chip; an uplink signal from the vehicle-mounted optical communication device connected to the i-th silicon photonic chip to the central computing platform; and a pass signal. This pass signal is either a downlink signal from the central computing platform to a silicon photonic chip connected after the i-th silicon photonic chip (transmitted from the (i-1)-th silicon photonic chip to the i-th silicon photonic chip via optical fiber), or an uplink signal from a silicon photonic chip connected before the i-th silicon photonic chip to the optical receiving unit (transmitted from the (i-1)-th silicon photonic chip to the i-th silicon photonic chip via optical fiber).

[0119] like Figure 5 As shown in (C), for any silicon photonic chip in the optical communication network, when a pass signal is received (the received signal is an optical signal from the adjacent previous vehicle optical communication connector), the received pass signal is guided to the next adjacent vehicle optical communication connector. If the silicon photonic chip is the last silicon photonic chip connected in series in the optical communication network, the pass signal is directly sent to the optical receiving unit through the optical fiber without any processing of the pass signal.

[0120] The existing in-vehicle network architecture uses a domain controller electronic and electrical architecture. Communication between domain controllers in different areas uses 100Mbps or Gigabit Ethernet as the backbone network, with twisted-pair cables for transmission. Twisted-pair cables can meet the current bandwidth requirements of 100Mbps or Gigabit. However, when the transmission bandwidth requirement exceeds 50G+, the currently used twisted-pair cables or other cables are insufficient to meet the communication demands. This is mainly because cables need to employ higher baud rates (PAM16) when transmitting high-bandwidth data. If optical communication technology is applied to the in-vehicle environment to meet bandwidth requirements, the high temperatures of the in-vehicle environment will cause the optical power of the optical transmitting units to attenuate, reducing their lifespan.

[0121] To address the aforementioned issues, this application proposes an in-vehicle communication system. This system utilizes an optical communication network to enable network communication between a central computing platform and various in-vehicle optical communication devices. The optical communication network uses optical fiber as the transmission medium, which not only utilizes the high-speed data stream formed by optical carriers to improve the network bandwidth of the communication system (generally reaching over 40Gbps), thereby meeting the ever-increasing demand for in-vehicle network bandwidth, but also, since the optical fiber medium is silicon dioxide, it is unaffected by electromagnetic radiation interference, enabling more stable network communication.

[0122] Furthermore, this application embodiment employs a ring optical network design (i.e., an optical communication network), concentrating the optical emitting units (which may also include optical receiving units) around the central computing platform. Cooling is achieved through a semiconductor cooler (TEC) or a water-cooling system used in automobiles with a centrally integrated architecture, thereby reducing the impact of high temperatures on the optical modules. Additionally, this application embodiment incorporates silicon photonics technology, integrating a silicon photonics chip (i.e., an automotive optical communication connector) within the automotive optical communication device. This chip includes an optical receiver, an optical switch, and an optical modulator. By utilizing a co-packaging scheme of silicon photonics technology and the automotive optical communication device, the optical emitting units are concentrated around the central computing platform (avoiding the distribution of optical emitting units across various areas of the vehicle), facilitating centralized cooling and further reducing the impact of temperature on the optical power and reliability of the optical emitting units.

[0123] The transmission rate of the optical transmitter and the optical receiver is greater than or equal to 1Gbps (it can be 5 / 10 / 25 / 50 / 100Gbps, etc., or the bandwidth of its intermediate area is unlimited).

[0124] The second aspect of this application also provides a vehicle, which includes the vehicle communication system of the first aspect of this application.

[0125] In one possible implementation, the vehicle also includes a cooling system that exchanges heat with the central computing platform, the light emitting unit, and the light receiving unit to cool down the central computing platform, the light emitting unit, and the light receiving unit.

[0126] The various embodiments in this specification are described in a progressive manner, with each embodiment focusing on the differences from other embodiments. The same or similar parts between the various embodiments can be referred to each other.

[0127] This application describes embodiments with reference to flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams of methods, apparatuses, electronic devices, and computer program products according to embodiments of this application. It should be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing terminal device to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing terminal device, generate instructions for implementing the flowchart... Figure 1 One or more processes and / or boxes Figure 1 A device that provides the functions specified in one or more boxes.

[0128] Although preferred embodiments of the present application have been described, those skilled in the art, upon learning the basic inventive concept, can make other changes and modifications to these embodiments. Therefore, the appended claims are intended to be interpreted as including the preferred embodiments as well as all changes and modifications falling within the scope of the embodiments of the present application.

[0129] Finally, it should be noted that in this document, relational terms such as "first" and "second" are used only to distinguish one entity or operation from another, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Furthermore, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or terminal device that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, article, or terminal device. Without further limitations, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or terminal device that includes said element.

[0130] The above provides a detailed description of the vehicle-mounted communication system and vehicle provided in this application. Specific examples have been used to illustrate the principles and implementation methods of this application. The description of the above embodiments is only for the purpose of helping to understand the method and core ideas of this application. At the same time, for those skilled in the art, there will be changes in the specific implementation methods and application scope based on the ideas of this application. Therefore, the content of this specification should not be construed as a limitation of this application.

Claims

1. A vehicle-mounted communication system, characterized in that, include: The system includes a central computing platform, an in-vehicle optical communication device, and at least one optical communication network. The optical communication network includes an optical transmitting unit, an optical receiving unit, an optical fiber, and an in-vehicle optical communication connector. The optical transmitting unit and the optical receiving unit are connected to the in-vehicle optical communication connector via the optical fiber. The optical transmitting unit and the optical receiving unit are connected to the vehicle-mounted optical communication connector through the optical communication network. The central computing platform is communicatively connected to the optical transmitting unit and the optical receiving unit. The vehicle-mounted optical communication device is communicatively connected to the vehicle-mounted optical communication connector. The light emitting unit is located around the central computing platform so that the light emitting unit and the central computing platform can share the vehicle's cooling system.

2. The vehicle-mounted communication system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The distance between the light emitting unit and the central computing platform is less than a set distance.

3. The vehicle-mounted communication system according to claim 2, characterized in that, The set distance is determined based on the type of the cooling system and / or the heat exchange method between the cooling system and the central computing platform.

4. The vehicle-mounted communication system according to claim 3, characterized in that, The cooling system includes one or more of the following: a cold plate, an evaporator, a fan, a plate heat exchanger, a heat pipe, and a semiconductor cooler; and / or The heat exchange method includes one or more of convection heat exchange, radiation heat exchange, and conduction heat exchange.

5. The vehicle-mounted communication system according to any one of claims 1-4, characterized in that, The cooling system is part of the vehicle's thermal management system.

6. The vehicle-mounted communication system according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that, The optical transmitting unit is used to send a first optical signal to the optical fiber, and the vehicle-mounted optical communication connector is used to receive the first optical signal, convert the first optical signal into a first electrical signal, and then send it to the vehicle-mounted optical communication device.

7. The vehicle-mounted communication system according to claim 6, characterized in that, The optical transmitting unit is also used to receive a first electrical signal from the central computing platform, and modulate the first optical carrier emitted by the optical transmitting unit based on the first electrical signal to obtain the first optical signal.

8. The vehicle-mounted communication system according to any one of claims 1-7, characterized in that, The optical transmitting unit is also used to send a second optical carrier to the optical fiber, the vehicle-mounted optical communication connector is used to receive the second optical carrier from the optical fiber and transmit the second optical signal modulated based on the second optical carrier to the optical fiber, and the optical receiving unit is used to receive the second optical signal.

9. The vehicle-mounted communication system according to claim 8, characterized in that, The vehicle-mounted optical communication connector is also used to receive a second electrical signal from the vehicle-mounted optical communication device, and to modulate the second optical carrier based on the second electrical signal to obtain the second optical signal.

10. The vehicle-mounted communication system according to claim 8, characterized in that, The optical receiving unit is also used to convert the second optical signal into a second electrical signal and then send it to the central computing platform.

11. The vehicle-mounted communication system according to any one of claims 1-10, characterized in that, Both the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit are located around the central computing platform, so that both the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit share the vehicle's cooling system with the central computing platform.

12. The vehicle-mounted communication system according to any one of claims 1-11, characterized in that, The number of vehicle-mounted optical communication connectors is N, and each pair of adjacent vehicle-mounted optical communication connectors is connected by the optical fiber, where N is an integer greater than 1.

13. The vehicle-mounted communication system according to any one of claims 1-12, characterized in that, The vehicle-mounted communication system includes a first optical communication network and a second optical communication network. The vehicle-mounted communication system further includes: at least one first vehicle-mounted optical communication device that is communicatively connected to a first vehicle-mounted optical communication connector in the first optical communication network, and at least one second vehicle-mounted optical communication device that is communicatively connected to a second vehicle-mounted optical communication connector in the second optical communication network.

14. The vehicle-mounted communication system according to any one of claims 1-10, characterized in that, The vehicle-mounted communication system further includes: a beam splitter, wherein the number of optical fibers is M, and the M optical fibers are connected to the optical transmitting unit through the beam splitter. The beam splitter is used to split the optical carrier emitted by the optical transmitting unit into M optical carriers of different wavelengths, and transmit them to the M optical fibers respectively. A vehicle-mounted optical communication connector m, which is communicatively connected to optical fiber m among the M optical fibers, is used to modulate a second optical signal m based on the optical carrier m received from optical fiber m and transmit it to optical fiber m; and / or The beam splitter is used to split the optical signal emitted by the optical emitting unit into M first optical signals of different wavelengths, and transmit them to the M optical fibers respectively. The vehicle-mounted optical communication connector m, which is communicatively connected to the optical fiber m among the M optical fibers, is used to receive the first optical signal m from the optical fiber m, convert the first optical signal m into a first electrical signal m, and then send it to the vehicle-mounted optical communication device m connected to the vehicle-mounted optical communication connector m. Where m takes values ​​from 1 to M, and M is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

15. The vehicle-mounted communication system according to any one of claims 1-14, characterized in that, The number of vehicle-mounted optical communication connectors is N. The nth vehicle-mounted optical communication connector corresponds to the nth vehicle-mounted optical communication area. The time period used by the nth vehicle-mounted optical communication connector for optical communication is determined according to the bandwidth of the nth vehicle-mounted optical communication area.

16. The vehicle-mounted communication system according to claim 15, characterized in that, The time period used for optical communication by the nth vehicle-mounted optical communication connector includes at least the first time period corresponding to the first optical signal sent by the optical transmitting unit to the optical fiber, wherein the first time period is determined based on the downlink bandwidth of the nth vehicle-mounted optical communication area.

17. The vehicle-mounted communication system according to claim 15 or 16, characterized in that, The time period used for optical communication by the nth vehicle-mounted optical communication connector includes at least the second time period corresponding to the second optical signal received by the optical receiving unit, wherein the second time period is determined based on the uplink bandwidth of the nth vehicle-mounted optical communication area.

18. The vehicle-mounted communication system according to any one of claims 1-17, characterized in that, The vehicle-mounted optical communication connector is a silicon photonics chip.

19. The vehicle-mounted communication system according to claim 18, characterized in that, The vehicle-mounted optical communication device and the silicon photonics chip are integrated on the same printed circuit board (PCB). The vehicle-mounted optical communication device includes: vehicle-mounted sensors and / or vehicle-mounted actuators.

20. The vehicle-mounted communication system according to claim 18, characterized in that, The silicon photonic chip includes: an optical receiver, an optical switch, and an optical modulator; The silicon photonics chip is used to switch between a first signal transmission mode based on the optical receiver, a second signal transmission mode based on the optical modulator, and a third signal transmission mode that does not process the received signal, by controlling the optical switch according to the type of the received signal.

21. The vehicle-mounted communication system according to claim 20, characterized in that, The silicon photonics chip is used to guide the first optical signal to the optical receiver by controlling the optical switch when it detects that the received signal is the first optical signal sent by the optical emitting unit to the optical fiber. The optical receiver is used to perform photoelectric conversion on the optical signal and send the resulting electrical signal to the vehicle sensor and / or vehicle actuator connected to the silicon photonics chip.

22. The vehicle-mounted communication system according to claim 20, characterized in that, When the silicon photonics chip detects that the received signal is a second electrical signal received from the vehicle-mounted optical communication device, it controls the optical switch to guide the second electrical signal to the optical modulator. The optical modulator modulates the second electrical signal to obtain a second optical signal and sends the modulated second optical signal to the next vehicle-mounted optical communication connector adjacent to the vehicle-mounted optical communication connector to which the silicon photonics chip belongs or to the optical receiving unit.

23. The vehicle-mounted communication system according to claim 20, characterized in that, The silicon photonics chip is used to guide the received optical signal to the next adjacent vehicle optical communication connector or the optical receiving unit when it detects that the received signal is an optical signal from the adjacent previous vehicle optical communication connector.

24. A vehicle, characterized in that, The vehicle includes the vehicle communication system according to any one of claims 1-23.

25. The vehicle according to claim 24, characterized in that, The vehicle also includes a cooling system that exchanges heat with the central computing platform, the light emitting unit, and the light receiving unit to cool down the central computing platform, the light emitting unit, and the light receiving unit.

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