Adaptively configures Tire Mount Sensors (TMS) using vehicle-provided parameters

Abstract

A method and system for adaptively configuring a tire mounted sensor (TMS) using vehicle provided parameters is disclosed. A vehicle control unit acquires data from vehicle sensors and other sources and sends configuration parameters to the TMS. TMS signal processing components are configured based on the configuration parameters to minimize the number of tire rotations required to generate acceleration profiles and extract tire features. The extracted features are sent back to the vehicle control unit to minimize the computational resources and battery consumption of the TMS.

Description

Background Art

[0001] Tire-mounted sensors (TMS), unlike valve-mounted sensors, are mounted on the inner surface of the tire. Therefore, the battery in the TMS cannot be easily replaced, so it is desirable to save the energy consumed by the TMS. However, components of the TMS, such as frequency analyzers or digital signal processors, consume a lot of power when performing calculations. The TMS may even process and transmit data when vehicle operating conditions are not conducive to obtaining reliable data from the TMS. This unnecessary expenditure of computing resources consumes energy unnecessarily. In addition, a TMS that attempts to collect and process acceleration data under adverse conditions or without knowledge of the vehicle's operating conditions may expend more computing resources than otherwise necessary. Therefore, there is a need to optimize the performance of remote, energy-constrained sensors (such as TMS, valve-mounted sensors, and rim-mounted sensors) and minimize their energy consumption. Summary of the invention

[0002] An embodiment according to the present disclosure relates to a method of a tire mounted sensor (TMS), wherein the TMS includes an accelerometer, a data processing unit and a transceiver, and the method includes: receiving one or more parameters from a vehicle control unit through the transceiver; configuring the data processing unit according to the one or more parameters; processing a signal from the accelerometer through the data processing unit; extracting tire characteristic data from the signal through the data processing unit; and sending the tire characteristic data to the vehicle control unit through the transceiver.

[0003] Another embodiment according to the present disclosure relates to a tire mounted sensor (TMS) comprising: an accelerometer device responsive to radial, tangential and lateral acceleration forces of a tire; a data processing unit configurable by at least one parameter provided by a vehicle control unit, wherein the data processing unit processes a signal from the accelerometer and extracts tire characteristic data from the signal; and a transceiver configured to receive the at least one parameter from the vehicle control unit and to send the extracted tire characteristic data to the vehicle control unit.

[0004] In these embodiments, the tire characteristic data may include at least one of a radial acceleration profile, a peak radial displacement, and a contact patch. Receiving one or more parameters from a vehicle control unit via a transceiver may include receiving a wheel speed, and configuring a data processing unit based on the one or more parameters may include configuring an accelerometer, a sampling rate of the accelerometer, signal capture parameters, windowing function parameters of a road impact waveform, filter bands, and / or Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) / Goertzel parameters based on the wheel speed or other vehicle-provided parameters. In these embodiments, extracting the tire characteristic data from the signal via the data processing unit may include calculating a contact patch length based on a rotation period of the tire.

[0005] In these embodiments, processing the signal from the accelerometer by the data processing unit may include isolating the road impact waveform by applying a windowing function. Receiving one or more parameters from the vehicle control unit by the transceiver may include receiving at least one of wheel speed, radial force offset, yaw rate, vehicle tilt, and wiper activity. The transceiver may be a Bluetooth low energy transceiver.

[0006] Yet another embodiment according to the present disclosure relates to a method for adaptively configuring a TMS, the method comprising: receiving data including at least one of vehicle sensor readings and tire characteristics from a database; determining at least one configuration parameter for the TMS based on the received data; sending the at least one configuration parameter to the TMS; and in response, receiving tire characteristic data from the TMS.

[0007] Yet another embodiment according to the present disclosure relates to a vehicle control unit for adaptively configuring a TMS using parameters provided by the vehicle, the vehicle control unit comprising: a controller configured to receive data including at least one of vehicle sensor readings and tire characteristics from a database, and determine at least one configuration parameter for the TMS based on the received data; and a transceiver configured to send the at least one configuration parameter to the TMS and receive tire characteristic data from the TMS.

[0008] In these embodiments, the load on the tire may be calculated based on the tire characteristic data. In these embodiments, before sending the at least one configuration parameter to the TMS, the vehicle control unit may determine that the vehicle is in a stable state and may also send a wake-up signal to the TMS. Receiving data including at least one of vehicle sensor readings and tire characteristics from a database may include receiving wheel speed sensor readings from a wheel speed sensor, and determining at least one configuration parameter for the TMS based on the received data may include: determining at least one of a wheel speed and a rotation period of the tire. In addition, receiving data including at least one of vehicle sensor readings and tire characteristics from a database may include: receiving tire characteristics from a cloud database.

[0009] In these embodiments, the at least one configuration parameter includes at least one of wheel speed, radial force offset, yaw rate, and vehicle inclination. The tire characteristic data may be at least one of radial acceleration curve, peak radial displacement, and contact patch length. The transceiver for communicating with the TMS may be a Bluetooth low energy transceiver.

[0010] The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of exemplary embodiments of the present invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals generally represent like parts of exemplary embodiments of the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] Figure 1 A block diagram of a system for adaptively configuring a tire mounted sensor (TMS) using vehicle provided parameters according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is set forth;

[0012] Figure 2 shows a block diagram of a tire having a TMS that is adaptively configured based on vehicle provided parameters;

[0013] Figure 3 Reference figures showing a tire according to the present disclosure;

[0014] Figure 4 shows tire characteristics that can be measured using TMS according to the present disclosure;

[0015] Figure 5 An example raw accelerometer waveform is shown;

[0016] Figure 6 An example processed accelerometer waveform is shown;

[0017] Figure 7 shows a block diagram of an exemplary vehicle control system according to the present disclosure;

[0018] Figure 8 shows a block diagram of an exemplary TMS according to the present disclosure;

[0019] Fig. 9 is a flow chart showing an implementation of a method for adaptively configuring a TMS using vehicle-provided parameters according to the present disclosure;

[0020] Fig.10 is a flow chart showing another implementation of a method for adaptively configuring a TMS using vehicle-provided parameters according to the present disclosure;

[0021] Fig.11 shows a block diagram of a TMS data processing unit configured with wheel speed parameters according to the present disclosure; and

[0022] Fig.12 is a flow chart illustrating another implementation of a method for adaptively configuring a TMS using vehicle-provided parameters according to the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] The terms used to describe specific examples herein are not intended to limit further examples. Whenever a singular form such as "one", "an" and "the" is used and only a single element is neither explicitly nor implicitly defined as mandatory, further examples may also use multiple elements to implement the same functionality. Similarly, when functionality is subsequently described as being implemented using multiple elements, further examples may use a single element or processing entity to implement the same functionality. It will be further understood that the terms "comprise", "include", "have" and / or "have" specify the presence of the features, integers, steps, operations, processes, actions, elements and / or components when used, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, processes, actions, elements, components and / or any groups thereof.

[0024] It should be understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected" or "coupled" to another element, these elements may be directly connected or coupled or connected or coupled via one or more intervening elements. If two elements A and B are combined using "or", this will be understood to disclose all possible combinations, i.e., only A, only B, and A and B. An alternative wording for the same combination is "at least one of A and B". The same applies to combinations of more than two elements.

[0025] Therefore, although further examples are capable of various modifications and alternative forms, some specific examples thereof are shown in the drawings and will be described in detail later. However, this detailed description does not limit further examples to the specific forms described. Further examples may encompass all modifications, equivalents, and substitutes falling within the scope of the present disclosure. Throughout the description of the accompanying drawings, the same numbers refer to the same or similar elements, which can be implemented in the same manner or in a modified form compared to each other while providing the same or similar functions.

[0026] The embodiments described in the present disclosure utilize improvements in two-way communication of a tire mounted sensor (TMS) to enable system logic on the vehicle to determine how the TMS should process signals from an accelerometer. In order to determine useful characteristics from the accelerometer signal from the tire mounted sensor, it may be necessary to determine the rotation cycle and state of the vehicle. The two-way communication (utilizing, for example, low energy Bluetooth) allows the possibility of sending appropriate information to the sensor upon wakeup and obtaining results quickly with a minimal rotation cycle, rather than having the sensor independently establish rotation and perform these operations, thereby reducing consumption life and providing faster response time. Depending on the vehicle condition and speed, the sensor can also be placed in a mode to interrogate certain aspects of the signal to determine parameters.

[0027] An exemplary method, apparatus and product for adaptively configuring tire mounted sensors using vehicle provided parameters according to the present disclosure is described with reference to the accompanying drawings, from Figure 1 start. Figure 1 A diagram of a system (100) for adaptively configuring tire-mounted sensors using vehicle-provided parameters according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is illustrated. Figure 1 The system includes a vehicle (101) equipped with a tire (103), wherein the tire (103) includes a tire mounted sensor (TMS) (105). Figure 1 The embodiment of FIG. 1 shows two tires each equipped with a TMS ( 105 ), but it should be understood that as few as one and as many as all of the tires ( 103 ) of the vehicle ( 101 ) may include a TMS ( 105 ). Figure 1 The vehicle also includes a vehicle control unit (107), commonly referred to as the vehicle's "computer", which may be, for example, Figure 1 The electronic control unit (ECU) shown. Each TMS (105) is equipped with a wireless transceiver for two-way wireless communication with the ECU (107), which will be described in more detail below. The ECU is similarly equipped with a wireless transceiver for two-way wireless communication with each TMS (105), which will be described in more detail below. The two-way wireless communication can be achieved by low-power communication technology (such as Bluetooth low energy or other low-power two-way communication technology designed to save consumed energy).

[0028] The ECU (107) may be a central control unit or may be collectively referred to as one or more vehicle subsystems, such as an engine control module (ECM), a powertrain control module (PCM), a transmission control module (TCM), a brake control module (BCM), a central timing module (CTM), a general electronic module (GEM), or a suspension control module (SCM). In an embodiment according to the present disclosure, the ECU (110) includes a BCM that includes an anti-lock braking system (ABS) and an electronic stability program (ESP). Each vehicle system may include a sensor (113) for measuring vehicle operating conditions and communicating vehicle operating conditions. For example, the ABS may include a wheel speed sensor on the wheelbase for measuring wheel speed. The ESP subsystem may include a yaw rate sensor configured to measure the acceleration caused by the yaw of the vehicle when the vehicle is maneuvering a curve. Readings from such sensors (113) may be provided to the ECU (107), and the ECU (107) may provide parameters based on these readings to the TMS (105).

[0029] The vehicle (101) may also include a transceiver (109) communicatively coupled to the ECU (107) for cellular terrestrial communications, satellite communications, or both. The transceiver (109) may be used to communicatively couple the ECU (107) to a cloud (121) to obtain tire specification data, characteristic data, and parameters specific to the tire (103). For example, a server (123) on the cloud (121) may provide access to a database (125) of tire brands and models and their specifications and characteristics. For example, tire specifications may include tire type (e.g., sedan), width, aspect ratio, diameter, circumference, tread wear rating, traction rating, temperature rating, maximum load limit, load index, inflation limit, optimal inflation pressure, and other specifications that will be recognized by those skilled in the art. Tire characteristics may include reference models for radial force acceleration profiles, tangential force acceleration profiles, lateral force acceleration profiles, contact patch length, or peak radial displacement corresponding to various speeds, road topography, tire pressures, tire temperatures, ambient temperatures, and weather conditions. Additionally, configuration parameters for the TMS (105) may be accessed from a database (125) or other location on the cloud (121) and sent from the ECU (107) to the TMS (105). For example, development of new functionality may require alternative processing of accelerometer signals. Selected configuration parameters may also be changed based on GPS location or weather information, etc.

[0030] The TMS (105) can be programmed with tire identification data (e.g., wirelessly via a handheld tool). The tire identification data can be retrieved from the TMS (105) by the ECU (107), which accesses records from a database located internally (not shown) or on the cloud (121) based on the tire identification data. From the database, tire parameters relevant to the application are received in the ECU (107) and then used to configure the TMS (105) by direct transmission of the parameters or some subset / function of the parameters.

[0031] constitute Figure 1 The arrangement of the devices of the exemplary system shown is for explanation and not for limitation. A data processing system useful according to various embodiments of the present disclosure may include Figure 1 Additional servers, routers, other devices, and peer-to-peer architectures not shown in the diagram may be used as will occur to those skilled in the art. The network in such a data processing system may support many data communication protocols, including, for example, TCP (Transmission Control Protocol), IP (Internet Protocol), Bluetooth protocol, Near Field Communication, Controller Area Network (CAN) protocol, and other protocols as will occur to those skilled in the art. Various embodiments of the present disclosure may be used in addition to Figure 1 The invention is implemented on various hardware platforms other than those shown.

[0032] Figure 2 A block diagram of a tire having a TMS that is adaptively configured based on vehicle-provided parameters is shown. Typically, the TMS (105) is mounted or otherwise coupled to the inner surface of the tire (103), particularly on the inner side of the tread rather than on the sidewall. As the tire (103) rotates, the portion that engages the road surface at any given time is flattened. The flattened portion is called the tire footprint, or interchangeably referred to as the contact patch. One or more characteristics of the tire (103), particularly the length of the contact patch (typically measured in the direction of vehicle travel), can be used as an indication of, for example, the load on the tire (103). The electrical signal generated by the TMS (105) can be used to measure the contact patch, particularly its length, as will be described in more detail below. It will be understood that one or more tires (103) of a vehicle (101) may each include a TMS (105) for providing one or more target signals for which pulse width measurements are performed.

[0033] Figure 3 A reference diagram of a tire (103) according to the present disclosure is shown. As used in the present disclosure, the z-axis of the tire (103) is the direction of radial forces during rotation, the y-axis of the tire is the direction of lateral forces during rotation, and the x-axis (103) of the tire (103) is the direction of tangential forces during rotation. The angular velocity of rotation in radians is represented by ω and is also referred to herein as wheel speed.

[0034] Figure 4 FIG. 2 shows tire characteristics that can be measured using TMS according to the present disclosure. Two tire characteristics that indicate tire load are contact patch length and radial displacement, such as Figure 4 The radial acceleration is measured using a TMS (103), which may be equipped with an accelerometer, an acceleration sensor, an accelerometer assembly, a vibration sensor, a force sensor, a micro-electromechanical system (MEM) sensor, or other devices that similarly respond to acceleration magnitude and / or changes in acceleration. For example, an accelerometer senses acceleration in a radial plane (z plane) (see Figure 3 ).like Figure 5 As shown, the characteristics of the accelerometer waveform exhibit an eccentric offset and a region where the amplitude drops to zero momentarily during the time that the area where the sensor is mounted is in the tire / ground contact position. This measurement is repeated for a rotation of the tire. The radial acceleration signal is then conditioned to make processing easier by isolating each impact in the acceleration curve, low pass filtering the waveform, inverting the waveform, and normalizing the waveform for velocity, with the result being Figure 6 Shown in.

[0035] Back to Figure 4, contact patch length (CPL) and peak radial displacement (PRD) are two tire characteristics that can be used to determine tire load. Both CPL and PRD are affected by tire load and pressure, so a tire can be characterized by comparing the magnitude of CPL or PRD with varying pressure and load. The characteristic equations can be stored in, for example, Figure 1 TMS (105) or Figure 1 The CPL can be estimated by measuring the time for the radial acceleration to return to and be at zero g. This time is then expressed as a quotient / ratio to the complete rotation time, whereby the CPL is derived from this ratio of the known tire circumference. To determine the PRD, the radial accelerometer signal is integrated twice with respect to time. Either of these two methods can be used independently for load estimation.

[0036] To further illustrate, Figure 7 A diagram of an exemplary vehicle control system (VCS) (200) for configuring tire mounted sensors using vehicle provided parameters according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is illustrated. The VCS (200) includes a controller (201) coupled to a memory (203). The controller (201) is configured to obtain sensor readings related to vehicle operating conditions and data from sources external to the vehicle and to provide a TMS (e.g., TMS (300) (see Figure 8 )) provides configuration parameters. According to the present disclosure, the controller may include or implement a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a digital signal processor (DSP), a programmable logic array (PLA) (such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA)), or other data computing unit. Sensor readings and data and tire characteristic data received from the TMS may be stored in a memory (203). The memory (203) may be a non-volatile memory, such as a flash memory. The memory (203) may include computer program instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to: receive data including at least one of vehicle sensor readings and tire characteristics from a database; determine at least one configuration parameter for the TMS based on the received data; send the at least one configuration parameter to the TMS; and in response, receive tire characteristic data from the TMS.

[0037] For example, the VCS (200) may obtain vehicle operating status data, such as sensor readings from sensors onboard the vehicle. The VCS (200) may also obtain information about tires (e.g. Figure 1 The VCS (200) may receive various readings and data and provide one or more configuration parameters to the TMS based on the readings and data.

[0038] In order to communicate bidirectionally with the TMS wirelessly, the VCS (200) includes a TMS transceiver (205) coupled to the controller (201). In one embodiment, the TMS transceiver (205) is a Bluetooth low energy transmitter-receiver. In other embodiments, the TMS transceiver (205) may be other types of low power bidirectional communication technologies intended to save energy consumed in the TMS. The VCS (200) sends configuration parameters and configuration instructions to the TMS via the transceiver (205).

[0039] The VCS (200) may also include a transceiver (207) for cellular terrestrial communications, satellite communications, or both. The transceiver (207) may be used to communicatively couple the VCS (200) to an external network (not shown) to obtain tire specification data, characteristic data, and configuration parameters specific to a tire brand and model.

[0040] The VCS (200) may also include a controller area network (CAN) interface (209) for communicatively coupling vehicle sensors and devices to the controller (201). Of particular relevance to the present disclosure, the CAN interface (209) couples wheel speed sensors (211), yaw rate sensors (213), inclination sensors (215), and other sensors (217) to the controller (201). The wheel speed sensors (211) measure the rotational angular velocity of the wheels, for example, in radians per second. The yaw rate sensors (213) may be used to measure the acceleration caused by the yaw of the vehicle (for example, when the vehicle is turning), which will affect the load size on each tire. The yaw rate sensors (213) may also provide information about the shear forces where the tires contact the road surface. The inclination sensors (215) may detect the longitudinal and / or lateral inclination of the vehicle. The wheel speed sensor (211), yaw rate sensor (213) and tilt sensor (215) send their respective readings to the controller (201), which can send configuration parameters derived from these readings to the TMS via the TMS transceiver (205).

[0041] The controller (201) is configured to communicate to the TMS when and how to process the accelerometer signals. For example, the controller (201) may wait for the vehicle to reach a stable operating state based on readings received from the wheel speed sensor (211), the yaw rate sensor (213), and the inclination sensor (215), as well as other sensors (217), before requesting or initiating data readings from the TMS. The stable operating state may be determined based on defined operating ranges of tire pressure and temperature, vehicle speed and acceleration, steering angle, and road surface. For example, an ideal stable operating state may be based on detecting a constant wheel speed and / or when acceleration, yaw, and inclination are close to zero or below a predetermined threshold. By waiting for the vehicle to reach a stable operating state, the TMS does not need to be operated while the TMS is processing unstable data. Therefore, retrieving stable data from the TMS results in more accurate load calculations. In an embodiment, the controller (201) sends a wake-up signal to the TMS via a communication link between the TMS transceiver (205) and the TMS. After or simultaneously with the wake-up signal, the controller (201) may send configuration parameters. In an embodiment, the configuration parameter is based on the wheel speed read from the wheel speed sensor (211). For example, the configuration parameter may be the angular velocity of the wheel, or the period of rotation of the wheel. Other configuration parameters may include parameters based on sensor readings of yaw rate or tilt, or parameters based on operating conditions such as whether windshield wipers are active (thereby indicating slippery road conditions).

[0042] The controller (201) is also configured to receive tire characteristic data from the TMS, such as the CPL or PRD described above. Based on the tire characteristic data, the processor is configured to calculate tire loads or TMS-derived loads that compensate for vehicle dynamics / conditions. In some embodiments, the controller (201) can be configured to calculate tread depth based on data captured from the TMS during driving. For example, the controller (201) can send instructions to the TMS to process road impact and check entry tail, such as radial acceleration. The analytical data received from the TMS can then be used as part of a tire wear estimation algorithm.

[0043] To further illustrate, Figure 8 A diagram of an exemplary TMS (300) for configuring tire mounted sensors using vehicle provided parameters according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is illustrated. The TMS (300) includes a processor (301) configured to receive information from a VCS (200) (see FIG. 205 ) via a transceiver (305). Figure 7) receives configuration parameters, configures the TMS according to the parameters, processes acceleration data, extracts tire features from the processed data, and sends the extracted features back to the VCS (201). According to the present disclosure, the processor may include or implement a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a digital signal processor (DSP), a programmable logic array (PLA) (e.g., a field programmable gate array (FPGA)), or other data computing units.

[0044] Figure 8 The TMS (300) further includes a memory (303) coupled to the processor (301). The memory may store signal capture configuration parameters (321) and other data received from the VCS (301). The memory (303) may store a sampling rate table (322) of sampling rates, each sampling rate corresponding to a specific parameter value, such as a wheel speed or a rotation cycle of a tire. The memory (303) may also store a window function table (323) of window functions, each window function corresponding to a specific parameter value, such as a wheel speed or a rotation cycle of a tire. The memory (303) may also store a filter table (324) of filter bands, each filter band corresponding to a specific parameter value, such as a wheel speed or a rotation cycle of a tire. The memory (303) may also store accelerometer data (325), including raw digital signals sampled from the accelerometer (307) by the ADC (311) and processed accelerometer waveforms processed by the processor (301). The memory (303) may also store tire characteristic data (326), such as CPL or PRD extracted by the processor (301). The memory (303) may also store FFT or Goertzel algorithm configurations (327).

[0045] In order to perform two-way wireless communication with the VCS (200), Figure 8 The TMS (300) includes a transceiver (305) coupled to a processor (301). In one embodiment, the transceiver (305) is a Bluetooth low energy transmitter-receiver. In other embodiments, the transceiver (305) may be other types of low energy two-way communication technologies intended to save energy consumed in the TMS (300). The TMS (300) transmits the extracted tire characteristic data, such as acceleration curve, PRD and CPL, to the VCS (200) via the transceiver (305).

[0046] Figure 8The accelerometer (307) may also be an acceleration sensor, an accelerometer device, a vibration sensor, a force sensor, a micro-electromechanical system (MEM) sensor, or other devices that similarly respond to acceleration magnitude and / or changes in acceleration. For example, the accelerometer senses acceleration in a radial plane (z plane) and outputs an electrical pulse signal in response to the sensed acceleration. In an embodiment, the accelerometer (307) may be configured with an accelerometer range, a wheel speed parameter, or other vehicle parameters provided by the VCS (200). For example, g-offset may be determined by a wheel speed sensor or other vehicle parameter and used to capture and process signals more quickly. Accelerometers may have selectable ranges of forces that they can measure. These ranges may vary from ±1g to ±700g. An example range of an accelerometer is ±200g. The accelerometer range may be configured based on wheel speed, for example, ±150g at low speeds, ±250g at medium speeds, and ±500g at high speeds. Generally, the smaller the range, the more sensitive the readings from the accelerometer.

[0047] Figure 8 The TMS (300) further includes an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) (311) that receives the electrical pulse signals from the accelerometer (307) and samples them according to a sampling rate. The ADC (311) converts the raw analog signals received from the accelerometer (307) into raw digital signals suitable for digital signal processing. The sampling rate of the ADC (311) can be configured by the wheel speed from the wheel speed sensor or another vehicle-provided parameter from a vehicle sensor.

[0048] Figure 8 The TMS (300) also includes a battery (309) connected to a power bus (not shown) to power the transceiver (305), the processor (301), the ADC (311), the accelerometer (307), and the memory (303). Battery power in the battery (309) is conserved by waiting until a steady state indication or wake-up signal is received at the TMS (300) from the VCS (200) and by configuring the TMS using parameters from the VCS (300) to optimize processing of accelerometer data to reduce the number of road impacts required to extract tire characteristics.

[0049] In an embodiment, the rotation period of the tire is used by the processor (301) in the signal processing of the accelerometer. The windowing function after impact detection usually requires more than 5 rotations to establish a suitable window to reduce harmonics, such as after a fast Fourier transform (FFT) or Goertzel algorithm. The filter bank used in the signal processing should also be applied based on the rotation speed. Using the time period and other information (such as flags for certain features), the windowing function can be selected and the frequency band can be specified. Therefore, the impact and information can be processed faster and using less computing resources.

[0050] To further illustrate, Fig. 9 A flow chart illustrating an exemplary method for configuring tire mounted sensors using vehicle provided parameters according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is set forth, the method comprising receiving (910) one or more parameters from a vehicle control unit via a transceiver. Receiving (910) the one or more parameters from the vehicle control unit via a transceiver may be performed by a TMS (300) receiving vehicle operating condition parameters (e.g., wheel speed, yaw rate, tilt, g-shift, etc.) from a VCS (200) via a transceiver (305). Receiving (910) the one or more parameters from the vehicle control unit via a transceiver may be performed by a TMS (300) receiving tire characteristics from a VCS (200) via a transceiver (305).

[0051] Fig. 9 The exemplary method also includes configuring (915) the accelerometer according to the one or more parameters. Configuring (915) the accelerometer according to the one or more parameters may be performed by the processor (301) configuring one or more of an acceleration range and a gain of the accelerometer (307) according to the parameters received from the VCS (200). For example, when the parameter received from the VCS (200) is a wheel speed parameter from a wheel speed sensor, the processor (301) may configure the accelerometer (307) to have a range of ±150g at low speed, ±250g at medium speed, and ±500g at high speed (see also Fig.11 ).

[0052] Fig. 9 The exemplary method also includes configuring (920) a data processing unit according to one or more parameters. Configuring (920) the data processing unit according to one or more parameters may be performed by the processor (301) configuring one or more of a sampling rate, a windowing function, and a filter bank for processing a signal received from the accelerometer (307) according to the parameters received from the VCS (200).

[0053] Fig. 9 The exemplary method also includes processing (930) the signal from the accelerometer by the data processing unit. Processing (930) the signal from the accelerometer by the data processing unit may be performed by the processor (301) converting the electrical signal from the accelerometer (307) into a digital signal by: sampling the analog signal to produce a raw accelerometer waveform curve, applying a windowing function to isolate individual road impacts, inverting and zeroing the signal, filtering the windowed waveform to remove noise, and performing a Fourier transform on the waveform to convert the waveform to the frequency domain.

[0054] Fig. 9The exemplary method also includes extracting (940) tire characteristic data from the signal by the data processing unit. Extracting (940) tire characteristic data from the signal by the data processing unit can be performed by analyzing the accelerometer curve waveform in the frequency domain for multiple road impact intervals. Extracting (940) tire characteristic data from the signal by the data processing unit can also be performed by calculating CPL and / or PRD from the accelerometer curve waveform in the frequency domain.

[0055] Fig. 9 The exemplary method further includes transmitting (950) the tire characteristic data to the vehicle control unit via the transceiver. Transmitting (950) the tire characteristic data to the vehicle control unit via the transceiver may be performed by transmitting at least one of the radial acceleration profile, the tangential acceleration profile, the lateral acceleration profile, the PRD, and the CPL to the VCS (200) via the transceiver (305).

[0056] To further illustrate, Fig.10 A flow chart illustrating another exemplary method for configuring tire mounted sensors using vehicle provided parameters according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is set forth. Fig. 9 An exemplary method of Fig.10 The exemplary method also includes receiving (910) one or more parameters from a vehicle control unit via a transceiver, configuring (915) an accelerometer based on the one or more parameters, configuring (920) a data processing unit based on the one or more parameters, processing (930) a signal from the accelerometer via the data processing unit, extracting (940) tire characteristic data from the signal via the data processing unit, and sending (950) the tire characteristic data to the vehicle control unit via the transceiver.

[0057] Fig.10 Methods and Fig. 9 The method differs in that receiving (910) one or more parameters from a vehicle control unit via a transceiver includes receiving (1010) a wheel speed parameter or a rotation period parameter. Fig.10 The method further differs from Fig. 9 The method is characterized in that configuring (920) the data processing unit according to one or more parameters may include configuring (1020) the sampling rate of the accelerometer according to one or more parameters including, for example, wheel speed. Fig.11Configuring (1020) the sampling rate of the accelerometer according to one or more parameters such as wheel speed may be performed by the speed / rotation period decoder (403) receiving the wheel speed or rotation period parameter via the transceiver (305), by the processor (401) accessing the memory (303) to determine the sampling rate corresponding to the wheel speed or rotation period from the sampling rate table (322), and by the processor (401) configuring the ADC (311) with the identified sampling rate. The ADC (322) is configured to receive the electrical signal from the accelerometer (307) and sample the signal at the identified sampling rate to produce a raw accelerometer waveform curve.

[0058] Fig.10 The method further differs from Fig. 9 The method is characterized in that configuring (920) the data processing unit according to one or more parameters may include configuring (1025) the signal capture and processing functionality according to one or more parameters (including, for example, wheel speed or rotation period). Fig.11 , configuring the signal capture and processing function according to a parameter configuration (1025) such as wheel speed or rotation cycle can be performed by receiving the wheel speed parameter via the transceiver (305) through the speed / rotation cycle decoder (403), accessing the memory (303) through the processor (401) to determine the signal capture and processing configuration parameters (321) corresponding to the wheel speed or rotation cycle, and configuring the signal capture and processing (404) according to the configuration parameters (327) through the processor (401).

[0059] Fig.10 The method further differs from Fig. 9 The method is that configuring (920) the data processing unit according to one or more parameters may include configuring (1030) the window size of the road impact waveform according to one or more parameters including, for example, wheel speed. Fig.11 Configuring (1030) the window size of the road impact waveform based on one or more parameters such as wheel speed may be performed by the speed / rotation period decoder (403) receiving the wheel speed or rotation period parameter via the transceiver (305), by the processor (401) accessing the memory (303) to determine a windowing function (e.g., Kaiser window) corresponding to the wheel speed or rotation period from the windowing function table (323), and by the processor (401) applying the identified windowing function (405) to the accelerometer waveform to isolate the tire impact event. For example, an accelerometer waveform corresponding to a high wheel speed and therefore a high sampling rate requires a smaller window than an accelerometer waveform corresponding to a low wheel speed and therefore a low sampling rate.

[0060] Fig.10 The method further differs from Fig. 9The method is characterized in that configuring (920) the data processing unit according to one or more parameters may include configuring (1040) the filter band according to one or more parameters including, for example, wheel speed. Fig.11 Configuring (1040) the filter bands based on one or more parameters such as wheel speed may be performed by a speed / rotation period decoder (403) receiving the wheel speed or rotation period parameter via a transceiver (305), by a processor (401) accessing a memory (303) to determine a filter band corresponding to the wheel speed or rotation period from a filter table (323), and by the processor (401) configuring a filter bank (409) using the identified filters. For example, filters 1-M in the filter bank (409) may each correspond to a frequency band optimized for a particular wheel speed or rotation period. The filtering performed by the filter bank (409) optimizes the accelerometer waveform by removing jitter-induced noise at a particular speed. As another example, the one or more parameters may include a noise estimation parameter from a wheel speed sensor. The noise estimation parameter may be used to configure the filter bank (409) noise caused by jitter at a particular speed.

[0061] Fig.10 The method further differs from Fig. 9 The method is that configuring (920) the data processing unit according to one or more parameters may include configuring (1045) the FFT / Goertzel function according to one or more parameters including, for example, wheel speed. Fig.11 , according to the parameter configuration (1045) of, for example, wheel speed, the FFT / Goertzel function can receive the wheel speed or rotation period parameter via the transceiver (305) through the speed / rotation period decoder (403), access the memory (303) through the processor (401) to determine the configuration parameters (327) of the FFT / Goertzel algorithm corresponding to the wheel speed or rotation period, and configure the FFT / Goertzel function (411) according to the configuration parameters (327) for execution by the processor (401).

[0062] Fig.10 The method further differs from Fig. 9 The method is characterized in that extracting (940) tire characteristic data from the signal by a data processing unit includes calculating (1050) the contact patch length based on the rotation cycle of the tire. Fig.11Calculating (1050) the contact patch length based on the rotation period of the tire can be performed by the speed / rotation period decoder (403) receiving the wheel speed or rotation period parameter via the transceiver (305) and providing the rotation period to the CPL processor (413), receiving the frequency domain accelerometer curve from the FFT (411) by the CPL processor (413), and calculating the contact patch length based on the rotation period, the tire circumference, and the time when the accelerometer curve is 0g by the CPL processor (413).

[0063] To further illustrate, Fig.12 A flow chart of an exemplary method for adaptively configuring a vehicle control unit of a tire mounted sensor (TMS) using vehicle provided parameters is set forth, the method comprising receiving (1210) data including at least one of vehicle sensor readings and tire characteristics from a database. Receiving (1210) data including at least one of vehicle sensor readings and tire characteristics from the database may be performed by the control unit (201) receiving sensor readings from vehicle sensors such as wheel speed sensors (211), yaw rate sensors (213), and tilt sensors (215). Receiving (1210) data including at least one of vehicle sensor readings and tire characteristics from the database may also be performed by the control unit (201) via a server (123) and a cloud (121) (see Figure 1 ) is performed by receiving tire specifications and / or tire characteristics from a database (125). Tire specifications may include tire type (e.g., sedan), width, aspect ratio, diameter, circumference, tread wear rating, traction rating, temperature rating, maximum load limit, load index, inflation limit, optimal inflation pressure, and other specifications that will occur to one skilled in the art. Tire characteristics may include reference radial acceleration curves, contact patch length, or peak radial displacement corresponding to various speeds, road topography, tire pressures, tire temperatures, ambient temperatures, and weather conditions.

[0064] Fig.12 The exemplary method also includes determining (1220) at least one configuration parameter for the TMS based on the received data. Determining (1220) at least one configuration parameter for the TMS based on the received data may be performed by the control unit (201) selecting a parameter for configuring a component of the TMS, such as an accelerometer, an ADC, a windowing function, or a filter bank. For example, the configuration parameter may be a wheel speed parameter from a wheel speed sensor, a yaw rate parameter from a yaw rate sensor, a tilt parameter from a tilt sensor, or a radial offset parameter.

[0065] Fig.12The exemplary method may also include determining (1230) that the vehicle is in a stable state. Determining (1230) that the vehicle is in a stable state may be performed by the controller (201) determining that the vehicle speed and acceleration are nearly constant, the vehicle is not maneuvering a corner, and / or the vehicle is not on a slope.

[0066] Fig.12 The exemplary method may also include sending (1240) a wake-up signal to the TMS. Sending (1240) the wake-up signal to the TMS may be performed by the transceiver (205) sending a signal to the TMS (300) indicating that the TMS should begin processing acceleration data.

[0067] Fig.12 The exemplary method also includes sending (1250) at least one configuration parameter to the TMS. Sending (1250) at least one configuration parameter to the TMS may be performed by the transceiver (205) sending the parameter to the TMS (300). For example, the configuration parameter may be sent by a device adapted for the Bluetooth Low Energy specification.

[0068] Fig.12 The exemplary method also includes receiving (1260) tire characteristic data in response from the TMS. Receiving (1260) tire characteristic data in response from the TMS may be performed by the transceiver (205) receiving tire characteristic data (e.g., radial acceleration profile, peak radial displacement, and contact patch length) from the TMS (300).

[0069] Fig.12 The exemplary method may also include calculating (1270) a load on the tire based on the tire characteristic data. Calculating (1270) the load on the tire based on the tire characteristic data may be performed by the controller (201) using calculations related to the radial acceleration curve, the peak radial displacement, and the contact patch length.

[0070] In light of the explanations set forth above, the reader will recognize that the benefits of adaptively configuring tire-mounted sensors using vehicle-provided parameters according to embodiments of the present disclosure include, but are not limited to:

[0071] The collection of TMS data is delayed until the vehicle is in a stable operating state, thus avoiding the collection of unstable data;

[0072] The TMS is configured with known operating conditions of the vehicle ECU to inform data collection, thereby reducing the time required for feature measurement;

[0073] The known operating conditions of the vehicle generally mean that fewer rotational impact cycles are required to extract tire characteristics; and

[0074] Reduced TMS run time due to improved measurements, resulting in reduced battery consumption.

[0075] Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are primarily described in the context of a fully functional computer system for adaptively configuring tire mounted sensors using vehicle provided parameters. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that the present invention may also be embodied in a computer program product disposed on a computer readable storage medium for use with any suitable data processing system. Such a computer readable storage medium may be any storage medium for machine readable information, including magnetic media, optical media, or other suitable media. Examples of such media include magnetic disks in hard drives or floppy disks, optical disks for optical drives, magnetic tapes, and other media that will occur to those skilled in the art. Those skilled in the art will immediately recognize that any computer system with suitable programming means will be able to perform the steps of the method of the present invention embodied in a computer program product. Those skilled in the art will also recognize that while some of the exemplary embodiments described in this specification are directed to software installed and executed on computer hardware, alternative embodiments as firmware or as hardware implementations are also within the scope of the present invention.

[0076] The present invention may be a system, an apparatus, a method and / or a computer program product. The computer program product may include a computer-readable storage medium (or media) having computer-readable program instructions thereon for causing a processor to execute various aspects of the present invention.

[0077] A computer-readable storage medium may be a tangible device that can retain and store instructions for use by an instruction execution device. A computer-readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device, an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, a semiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of computer-readable storage media includes the following: a portable computer floppy disk, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD), a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanical encoding device (such as a punched card or a raised structure with instructions recorded in a groove), and any suitable combination of the foregoing. The computer-readable storage medium used herein should not be interpreted as a transient signal itself, such as a radio wave or other freely propagating electromagnetic wave, an electromagnetic wave propagating through a waveguide or other transmission medium (e.g., a light pulse through an optical cable), or an electrical signal transmitted through a wire.

[0078] The computer-readable program instructions described herein can be downloaded from a computer-readable storage medium to a corresponding computing / processing device or downloaded to an external computer or external storage device via a network (e.g., the Internet, a local area network, a wide area network, and / or a wireless network). The network may include copper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wireless transmissions, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers, and / or edge servers. The network adapter card or network interface in each computing / processing device receives the computer-readable program instructions from the network and forwards the computer-readable program instructions to be stored in a computer-readable storage medium in the corresponding computing / processing device.

[0079] The computer-readable program instructions for performing the operation of the present invention can be assembler instructions, instruction set architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine-related instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state setting data or source code or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, programming languages ​​include object-oriented programming languages, such as Smalltalk, C++, etc., and traditional process programming languages, such as "C" programming language or similar programming languages. The computer-readable program instructions can be executed completely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as an independent software package, partly on the user's computer, partly on a remote computer, or completely on a remote computer or server. In the latter case, the remote computer can be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or can be connected to an external computer (for example, using an Internet service provider to connect to the Internet). In certain embodiments, the electronic circuit including, for example, a programmable logic circuit, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or a programmable logic array (PLA) can execute the computer-readable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuit by utilizing the state information of the computer-readable program instructions, so as to perform aspects of the present invention.

[0080] Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams of methods, devices (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the present invention. It should be understood that each block of the flowchart illustration and / or block diagram and the combination of blocks in the flowchart illustration and / or block diagram can be implemented by computer-readable program instructions.

[0081] These computer-readable program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device create a device for implementing the functions / actions specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram blocks. These computer-readable program instructions can also be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, which can guide the computer, programmable data processing device, and / or other equipment to operate in a specific manner, so that the computer-readable storage medium having the instructions stored therein includes an article of manufacture, which includes instructions for implementing aspects of the functions / actions specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram blocks.

[0082] Computer-readable program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other device to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus, or other device to produce a computer-implemented process, such that the instructions executed on the computer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement the functions / actions specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram blocks.

[0083] The flowchart and block diagram in the figure illustrate the possible architecture, function and operation of the system, method and computer program product according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagram may represent a part of a module, segment or instruction, which includes one or more executable instructions for implementing a specified logical function. In some alternative implementations, the functions marked in the block may not occur in the order marked in the figure. For example, depending on the functions involved, two blocks displayed in succession can actually be executed substantially simultaneously, or sometimes these blocks can be executed in reverse order. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagram and / or flowchart illustration and the combination of blocks in the block diagram and / or flowchart illustration can be implemented by a dedicated hardware-based system that performs a specified function or action or performs a combination of dedicated hardware and computer instructions.

[0084] It can be understood from the foregoing description that modifications and changes can be made in various embodiments of the present disclosure without departing from its true spirit. The description in this specification is for illustrative purposes only and should not be interpreted as limiting. The scope of the present disclosure is limited only by the language of the attached claims.

Claims

1. A method for adaptively configuring a tire mounted sensor TMS, wherein the TMS comprises an accelerometer, a data processing unit and a transceiver, the method comprising: receiving one or more parameters from a vehicle control unit via the transceiver; Configuring the data processing unit according to the one or more parameters, wherein configuring the data processing unit according to the one or more parameters comprises: configuring a windowing function of a road impact waveform according to the one or more parameters; processing, by the configured data processing unit, signals from the accelerometer; extracting tire characteristic data from the signal by the configured data processing unit, the tire characteristic data comprising at least one of the following items: peak radial displacement and contact patch length; and The tire characteristic data is sent to the vehicle control unit through the transceiver.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein: Receiving one or more parameters from the vehicle control unit via the transceiver includes receiving wheel speed.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein: Configuring the data processing unit according to the one or more parameters includes configuring an accelerometer range, an accelerometer gain, and a sampling rate of the accelerometer according to the one or more parameters.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein: Configuring the data processing unit according to the one or more parameters comprises configuring at least one of the following items according to the one or more parameters: a filter band, a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) function, and a Goertzel function.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein: Extracting the tire characteristic data from the signal by the data processing unit includes calculating a contact patch length based on a rotation period of the tire.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein: Processing the signal from the accelerometer by the data processing unit includes isolating a road impact waveform by applying a windowing function.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein: Receiving one or more parameters from the vehicle control unit via the transceiver includes receiving at least one of: wheel speed, radial force offset, yaw rate, vehicle inclination, and wiper activity.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein: The transceiver is a Bluetooth low energy transceiver.

9. A tire mounted sensor TMS, comprising: an accelerometer device responsive to radial acceleration forces of the tire; a data processing unit configurable by at least one parameter provided by a vehicle control unit so that at least one of the following items is configured according to the at least one parameter: a filter band, a fast Fourier transform (FFT) function, and a Goertzel function, wherein the data processing unit processes the signal from the accelerometer and extracts tire characteristic data from the signal, the tire characteristic data being at least one of the following items: a peak radial displacement and a contact patch length; and A transceiver is configured to receive the at least one parameter from the vehicle control unit and transmit the extracted tire characteristic data to the vehicle control unit.

10. A method for a vehicle control unit to adaptively configure a tire mounted sensor TMS via a transceiver, the method comprising: receiving data including at least one of vehicle sensor readings and tire characteristics from a database; determining at least one configuration parameter for the TMS based on the received data; Before sending the at least one configuration parameter to the TMS, determining that the vehicle is in a stable state; Sending a wake-up signal to the TMS; sending the at least one configuration parameter to the TMS; and In response to transmitting the at least one configuration parameter, tire characteristic data is received from the TMS, the tire characteristic data being at least one of: peak radial displacement and contact patch length.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising: The load on the tire is calculated based on the tire characteristic data.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein: Receiving data including at least one of vehicle sensor readings and tire characteristics from a database includes: receiving wheel speed sensor readings from wheel speed sensors; and Wherein, determining at least one configuration parameter for the TMS according to the received data comprises: determining at least one of a wheel speed and a rotation period of the tire.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein: Receiving data including at least one of vehicle sensor readings and tire characteristics from a database includes receiving the tire characteristics from a cloud database.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein: The at least one configuration parameter comprises at least one of: wheel speed, radial force offset, yaw rate, and vehicle inclination.

15. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 14, wherein: The transceiver is a Bluetooth low energy transceiver.

16. A vehicle control unit VCU for adaptively configuring a tire mounting sensor TMS using vehicle provided parameters, the VCU comprising: The controller is configured as: receiving data including at least one of vehicle sensor readings and tire characteristics from a database; determining at least one configuration parameter for the TMS based on the received data; and Before sending the at least one configuration parameter to the TMS, determining that the vehicle is in a stable state; and The transceiver is configured as: Sending a wake-up signal to the TMS; sending the at least one configuration parameter to the TMS; and Tire characteristic data is received from the TMS, the tire characteristic data being at least one of: peak radial displacement and contact patch length.

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