Control method and device for chauffeur system

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a control method and device for a chauffeur system, relates to the technical field of data processing, and particularly relates to automatic driving. The implementation scheme is as follows: the chauffeur system comprises a cloud server, an automatic driving vehicle and a plurality of cabins in communication connection with the cloud server respectively, and the control method is used for the cloud server, and the control method comprises the following steps: receiving a subscription request of at least part of the plurality of cabins; determining a main connection cabin and at least one non-main connection cabin from the plurality of cabins according to the subscription request of the at least part of the plurality of cabins; after receiving target data from the automatic driving vehicle, encoding the target data according to network parameters of the main connection cabin; and sending the encoded target data to the main connection cabin and the at least one non-main connection cabin.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to the field of data processing technology, and more particularly to autonomous driving, specifically to a control method and apparatus, electronic device, computer-readable storage medium, and computer program product for a ride-hailing system. Background Technology

[0002] With economic and technological development, vehicles have gradually become a common means of transportation in people's daily lives. Early vehicle driving was mainly manual, but now, vehicles can be controlled through manual driving, autonomous driving, and other methods.

[0003] Currently, a remote cloud-based valet driving system exists. This system includes an autonomous vehicle and multiple remote cockpits, which maintain communication with the autonomous vehicle via a cloud server. Each remote cockpit includes components such as a steering wheel, brake pedal, and accelerator pedal to form a virtual driver's seat, which can be used to remotely drive the autonomous vehicle. During the operation of the cloud-based valet driving system, video streams captured by the autonomous vehicle's cameras are continuously sent to the cockpits, allowing the valet driver to assess the real-world environment surrounding the autonomous vehicle by watching the video.

[0004] Therefore, video transmission is a crucial element for cloud-based ride-hailing systems to achieve their functions, and currently, there is still significant room for improvement in the video transmission capabilities of cloud-based ride-hailing systems.

[0005] The methods described in this section are not necessarily methods that had been previously conceived or adopted. Unless otherwise specified, no method described in this section should be assumed to be prior art simply because it is included in this section. Similarly, unless otherwise specified, the issues mentioned in this section should not be considered to be accepted in any prior art. Summary of the Invention

[0006] This disclosure provides a control method and apparatus, electronic device, computer-readable storage medium, and computer program product for a chauffeur service system.

[0007] According to one aspect of this disclosure, a control method for a chauffeur service system is provided, wherein the chauffeur service system includes a cloud server, an autonomous vehicle communicatively connected to the cloud server, and multiple cockpits. The control method is used on the cloud server and includes: receiving subscription requests from at least some of the multiple cockpits; determining a primary connection cockpit and at least one non-primary connection cockpit from the multiple cockpits based on the subscription requests from at least some of the cockpits; encoding the target data according to network parameters of the primary connection cockpit after receiving target data from the autonomous vehicle; and sending the encoded target data to the primary connection cockpit and at least one non-primary connection cockpit.

[0008] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a control device for a chauffeur system is provided, wherein the chauffeur system includes a cloud server, an autonomous vehicle communicatively connected to the cloud server, and multiple cockpits, and a control method is used for the cloud server. The control device includes: a receiving unit configured to receive subscription requests from at least some of the multiple cockpits; a determining unit configured to determine a primary connection cockpit and at least one non-primary connection cockpit from the multiple cockpits based on the subscription requests from at least some of the cockpits; an encoding unit configured to encode the target data according to network parameters of the primary connection cockpit after receiving target data from the autonomous vehicle; and a sending unit configured to send the encoded target data to the primary connection cockpit and at least one non-primary connection cockpit.

[0009] According to another aspect of this disclosure, an electronic device is provided, comprising: at least one processor; and a memory communicatively connected to the at least one processor; wherein the memory stores instructions executable by the at least one processor, the instructions being executed by the at least one processor to enable the at least one processor to perform the methods described above.

[0010] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium is provided storing computer instructions, wherein the computer instructions are used to cause a computer to perform the methods described above.

[0011] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a computer program product is provided, including a computer program, wherein the computer program implements the above-described method when executed by a processor.

[0012] According to one or more embodiments of this disclosure, multiple cockpits subscribing to video streams from the same autonomous vehicle can distinguish between primary and non-primary connection cockpits. The cloud server encodes only the network environment of the primary connection cockpit, while non-primary connections simply receive the encoded data for the primary connection cockpit. Therefore, the problem of the cloud server performing multiple encodings for multiple cockpits is avoided, thus simplifying the encoding process. Furthermore, encoding only once for multiple cockpits reduces the encoding time and increases the speed at which the cockpits receive the target data.

[0013] It should be understood that the description in this section is not intended to identify key or essential features of the embodiments of this disclosure, nor is it intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. Other features of this disclosure will become readily apparent from the following description. Attached Figure Description

[0014] The accompanying drawings exemplify embodiments and form part of the specification, serving together with the textual description to explain exemplary implementations of the embodiments. The illustrated embodiments are for illustrative purposes only and do not limit the scope of the claims. Throughout the drawings, the same reference numerals refer to similar but not necessarily identical elements.

[0015] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of an exemplary system in which the various methods described herein may be implemented according to embodiments of the present disclosure is shown;

[0016] Figure 2 A flowchart of a control method for a chauffeur system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0017] Figure 3 A flowchart illustrating a method for determining the cockpit type according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0018] Figure 4 A flowchart illustrating a method for encoding target data according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0019] Figure 5 A structural block diagram of a control device for a chauffeur system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown;

[0020] Figure 6 A structural block diagram of an exemplary electronic device that can be used to implement embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Detailed Implementation

[0021] The exemplary embodiments of this disclosure are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, including various details of the embodiments to aid understanding, and should be considered merely exemplary. Therefore, those skilled in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications can be made to the embodiments described herein without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Similarly, for clarity and brevity, descriptions of well-known functions and structures are omitted in the following description.

[0022] In this disclosure, unless otherwise stated, the use of terms such as "first," "second," etc., to describe various elements is not intended to limit the positional, temporal, or importance relationships of these elements; such terms are merely used to distinguish one element from another. In some examples, the first element and the second element may refer to the same instance of that element, while in other cases, based on the context, they may refer to different instances.

[0023] The terminology used in the description of the various examples in this disclosure is for the purpose of describing particular examples only and is not intended to be limiting. Unless the context explicitly indicates otherwise, an element may be one or more unless the number of elements is specifically limited. Furthermore, the term "and / or" as used in this disclosure covers any one of the listed items and all possible combinations thereof.

[0024] The embodiments of this disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0025] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of an exemplary system 100 in which the various methods and apparatus described herein can be implemented according to embodiments of this disclosure is shown. Reference Figure 1 The system 100 includes a motor vehicle 110, a server 120, and one or more communication networks 130 that couple the motor vehicle 110 to the server 120.

[0026] In embodiments of this disclosure, the motor vehicle 110 may include a computing device according to embodiments of this disclosure and / or be configured to perform a method according to embodiments of this disclosure.

[0027] Server 120 may run one or more services or software applications that enable the execution of control methods for the chauffeur service system. In some embodiments, server 120 may also provide other services or software applications, which may include non-virtual environments and virtual environments. Figure 1 In the configuration shown, server 120 may include one or more components that implement the functions performed by server 120. These components may include software components, hardware components, or combinations thereof that can be executed by one or more processors. A user of motor vehicle 110 may sequentially interact with server 120 using one or more client applications to utilize the services provided by these components. It should be understood that various different system configurations are possible and may differ from system 100. Therefore, Figure 1 This is an example of a system used to implement the various methods described herein, and is not intended to be limiting.

[0028] Server 120 may include one or more general-purpose computers, special-purpose server computers (e.g., PC (personal computer) servers, UNIX servers, mid-range servers), blade servers, mainframe computers, server clusters, or any other suitable arrangement and / or combination. Server 120 may include one or more virtual machines running a virtual operating system, or other computing architectures involving virtualization (e.g., one or more flexible pools of logical storage devices that can be virtualized to maintain virtual storage devices for servers). In various embodiments, server 120 may run one or more services or software applications that provide the functionality described below.

[0029] The computing unit in server 120 can run one or more operating systems, including any of the aforementioned operating systems and any commercially available server operating system. Server 120 can also run any of a variety of additional server applications and / or middleware applications, including HTTP servers, FTP servers, CGI servers, JAVA servers, database servers, etc.

[0030] In some implementations, server 120 may include one or more applications to analyze and merge data feeds and / or event updates received from vehicle 110. Server 120 may also include one or more applications to display data feeds and / or real-time events via one or more display devices of vehicle 110.

[0031] Network 130 can be any type of network well known to those skilled in the art, and can support data communication using any of a variety of available protocols (including, but not limited to, TCP / IP, SNA, IPX, etc.). By way of example only, one or more networks 130 can be satellite communication networks, local area networks (LANs), Ethernet-based networks, token ring networks, wide area networks (WANs), the Internet, virtual networks, virtual private networks (VPNs), intranets, extranets, blockchain networks, public switched telephone networks (PSTNs), infrared networks, wireless networks (including, for example, Bluetooth, WiFi), and / or any combination of these with other networks.

[0032] System 100 may also include one or more databases 150. In some embodiments, these databases may be used to store data and other information. For example, one or more of the databases 150 may be used to store information such as audio files and video files. The data repository 150 may reside in various locations. For example, a data repository used by server 120 may be local to server 120, or it may be located away from server 120 and may communicate with server 120 via a network-based or dedicated connection. The data repository 150 may be of different types. In some embodiments, the data repository used by server 120 may be a database, such as a relational database. One or more of these databases may store, update, and retrieve data from and from the database in response to commands.

[0033] In some embodiments, one or more of the databases 150 may also be used by an application to store application data. The databases used by the application may be of different types, such as key-value stores, object stores, or regular stores supported by a file system.

[0034] Motor vehicle 110 may include sensors 111 for sensing the surrounding environment. Sensors 111 may include one or more of the following sensors: a visual camera, an infrared camera, an ultrasonic sensor, a millimeter-wave radar, and a lidar (LiDAR). Different sensors can provide different detection accuracy and range. Cameras may be mounted in front of, behind, or at other locations on the vehicle. Visual cameras can capture the situation inside and outside the vehicle in real time and present it to the driver and / or passengers. In addition, by analyzing the images captured by the visual cameras, information such as traffic light indications, intersection conditions, and the operating status of other vehicles can be obtained. The cameras can also generate video stream data based on the captured surrounding environmental information for subsequent uploading to a cloud server, facilitating remote driving by relevant terminal devices (e.g., remote cockpits). Infrared cameras can capture objects in night vision conditions. Ultrasonic sensors may be mounted around the vehicle to measure the distance of objects outside the vehicle using the strong directionality of ultrasound. Millimeter-wave radar may be mounted in front of, behind, or at other locations on the vehicle to measure the distance of objects outside the vehicle using the characteristics of electromagnetic waves. LiDAR can be installed in front of, behind, or other locations on a vehicle to detect the edges and shape of objects, thereby enabling object recognition and tracking. Due to the Doppler effect, the radar device can also measure changes in the speed of vehicles and moving objects.

[0035] The motor vehicle 110 may also include a communication device 112. The communication device 112 may include a satellite positioning module capable of receiving satellite positioning signals (e.g., BeiDou, GPS, GLONASS, and GALILEO) from satellite 141 and generating coordinates based on these signals. The communication device 112 may also include a module for communicating with a mobile communication base station 142. The mobile communication network can implement any suitable communication technology, such as current or emerging wireless communication technologies (e.g., 5G technology) like GSM / GPRS, CDMA, and LTE. The communication device 112 may also have a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) module, configured to enable vehicle-to-the-world communication, for example, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication with other vehicles 143 and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication with infrastructure 144. Furthermore, the communication device 112 may also have a module configured to communicate with a user terminal 145 (including but not limited to smartphones, tablets, or wearable devices such as watches) via, for example, a wireless local area network conforming to the IEEE 802.11 standard or Bluetooth. Using the communication device 112, the motor vehicle 110 can also access the server 120 via the network 130. The system 100 may also include multiple remote cockpits 146, which can be used for remotely driving the motor vehicle 110. The cockpits 146 will be described in detail below and will not be repeated here.

[0036] The motor vehicle 110 may also include a control unit 113. The control unit 113 may include a processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU) or a graphics processing unit (GPU), or other dedicated processors, that communicates with various types of computer-readable storage devices or media. The control unit 113 may include an autonomous driving system for automatically controlling various actuators in the vehicle. The autonomous driving system is configured to control the powertrain, steering system, and braking system of the motor vehicle 110 (not shown) via multiple actuators in response to inputs from multiple sensors 111 or other input devices (e.g., instructions from a remote cockpit or cloud server) to control acceleration, steering, and braking, respectively. Some processing functions of the control unit 113 can be implemented via cloud computing. For example, some processing can be performed using an onboard processor while other processing can be performed using cloud computing resources. The control unit 113 may be configured to perform methods according to this disclosure. Furthermore, the control unit 113 may be implemented as an example of a computing device on the motor vehicle side (client) according to this disclosure.

[0037] Figure 1The system 100 can be configured and operated in various ways to enable the application of the various methods and apparatus described in this disclosure.

[0038] The control method provided in this disclosure can be applied to the field of autonomous driving, such as to driverless products, including driverless vehicles. This disclosure allows for real-time control of a remote vehicle via a remote cockpit 146, which is equivalent to a remote driver sitting in a virtual vehicle and controlling a real-world autonomous vehicle. This control is highly dependent on network conditions and data transmission speed, and currently achieves relatively good results under 5G networks.

[0039] In one embodiment of this disclosure, during the process of controlling the vehicle from the cockpit 146, video streams from the vehicle's cameras are transmitted back in real time, allowing for surround view acquisition and secure transmission of multiple video feeds of the vehicle's surrounding environment, while also enabling real-time viewing in the cloud.

[0040] The cloud server 120 and the vehicle 110 communicate using the RTC (Real-Time Communication) protocol. RTC supports real-time video communication with a latency of less than 300ms. In one example, the application protocol used by the vehicle 110 and the cloud server 120 is the Real-Time Protocol (RTP), and the transport protocol is UDP (User Datagram Protocol). The cloud server 120 uses the RTC-webSDK67 (RTC-web Software Development Kit) to allow multiple users to simultaneously view the video stream of a specific vehicle using a browser, or to restrict viewing to only authorized users. For example, multiple drivers in cockpits 146 can send subscription requests for the autonomous vehicle's video stream to the cloud. Upon receiving the subscription request, the cloud determines whether to send the target data to that cockpit 146.

[0041] Multiple Content Delivery Network (CDN) nodes 63 and an RDS64 relational database can be configured on the cloud server 120 for data distribution. The RTC module 65 in the cloud obtains temporary tokens related to the vehicle or cockpit 146 from the remote control cloud service. The CDN nodes 63 input the data to be backed up and other relevant data into the remote control cloud service 66, and then into the RDS64 for storage.

[0042] In one embodiment of this disclosure, the remote cockpit 146 comprises a steering wheel, accelerator pedal, brake pedal, display, large television screen, and host computer, which is equivalent to a virtual vehicle driver's seat. Through the steering wheel, accelerator pedal, and brake pedal, the driver of the cockpit 146 can precisely control the corresponding controlled motor vehicle. The display shows video data of the vehicle's surroundings, the large television screen displays vehicle status, location, surrounding environment, and other information, and the host computer performs all the computing tasks of the cockpit 146.

[0043] When the cockpit 146 receives a remote control request from the cloud, it first observes the surrounding road conditions through the cockpit 146 platform. The vehicle 110 has already transmitted real-time video streams from multiple cameras back to the control center. Simultaneously, the remote driver in the cockpit 146 can also see real-time obstacle information output by the vehicle's autonomous driving perception algorithm. The remote driver can observe and judge the situation to generate control commands by selecting and manipulating the steering wheel, accelerator, and / or brakes, and then issue these commands to the vehicle 110. During parallel driving, the driver adheres to traffic regulations and avoids obstacles based on the video and vehicle status.

[0044] Figure 2 A flowchart of a control method 200 for a chauffeur service system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. The chauffeur service system includes a cloud server, autonomous vehicles communicatively connected to the cloud server, and multiple cockpits. The control method is used on the cloud server. The aforementioned chauffeur service system may be, for example, as shown below. Figure 1 The system 100 shown. (e.g.) Figure 2 As shown, the control method 200 includes:

[0045] Step 210: Receive subscription requests from at least some of the multiple cockpits;

[0046] Step 220: Based on the subscription requests of at least some cockpits, identify a primary connection cabin and at least one non-primary connection cabin from multiple cockpits;

[0047] Step 230: After receiving target data from the autonomous vehicle, the target data is encoded according to the network parameters of the main connection module; and

[0048] Step 240: Send the encoded target data to the main connection module and at least one non-main connection module.

[0049] The method disclosed herein can distinguish between primary and non-primary connected cockpits subscribing to video streams from the same autonomous vehicle. The cloud server encodes only the network environment of the primary connected cockpit, while non-primary connected cockpits simply receive the encoded data for the primary connected cockpit. Therefore, it avoids the problem of the cloud server performing multiple encodings for multiple cockpits, thus simplifying the encoding process. Furthermore, encoding only once for multiple cockpits reduces the encoding time and increases the speed at which the cockpits receive the target data.

[0050] In step 210, at least some of the multiple cockpits can proactively send a subscription request for a specific motor vehicle to the cloud server. Upon receiving the subscription request, the cloud server can first authenticate the vehicle. If authentication is successful, subsequent steps are executed. It should be noted that this subscription request merely requests the display of video information about the vehicle's surroundings on the cockpit's monitor, and does not establish a control connection between the cockpit and the vehicle.

[0051] In step 220, the primary and non-primary connection cabins can be determined based on the type of subscription requests from at least some of the cockpits. In some embodiments, the subscription request can be a vehicle-controlled type subscription request, meaning the cockpit sending the subscription request wants to obtain driving rights for the motor vehicle; the subscription request can also be a non-vehicle-controlled type subscription request, meaning the cockpit sending the subscription request only uses it to observe the video captured by the motor vehicle and does not obtain driving rights for the motor vehicle. This type of cockpit is also referred to as an observation cabin below. In this case, the cockpit sending the vehicle-controlled type subscription request can be determined as the primary connection cabin, and the cockpit sending the non-vehicle-controlled type subscription request can be determined as the non-primary connection cabin. In other embodiments, the primary and non-primary connection cabins can also be determined based on the order in which the cockpits send subscription requests. For example, the cockpit that sends the subscription request first can be determined as the primary connection cabin, and the cockpits that send subscription requests later can be determined as non-primary connection cabins. In other embodiments, the type of each connection cabin (primary connection cabin or non-primary connection cabin) can also be determined in other ways, which will not be elaborated here.

[0052] In related technologies, the cloud server encodes the video stream individually for each subscribed cockpit's network connection. This is because different cockpits may have different network conditions or transmission speeds, making it impossible to synchronously encode multiple cockpit network connections uniformly. Therefore, to ensure all cockpits can acquire the target data in real time, related technologies encode and transmit the video stream individually for each cockpit based on its network environment. The inventors realized that since multiple cockpits have the same hardware configuration and use the same encoding rules and data transmission protocols, the cloud server can actually encode the target data for only one cockpit and then send the encoded data to other subscribed cockpits, which can then decode the encoded data. While this may not allow for synchronous video transmission across all cockpits, sacrificing the video stream acquisition speed for some cockpits, it enables the video stream to be sent to multiple cockpits with only a single encoding operation.

[0053] In some embodiments, the target data may be real-time video stream data collected by the vehicle 110 through multiple cameras. In other embodiments, the target data may also be audio data, text data, or other data information used for interaction between the vehicle 110 and the cockpit. In step 230, real-time video stream encoding may be performed only for the main connection cockpit, while non-main connections simply receive the encoded data for the main connection. This method ensures the video acquisition speed of the main connection while avoiding the problem of multiple encodings for multiple cockpits, thus simplifying the encoding process.

[0054] In step 240, the non-main connection cabin receives video data encoded for the main connection cabin. Since each cockpit has the same hardware configuration and uses the same encoding rules and data transmission protocols, the non-main connection cabin can perform normal decoding operations on the video data so that the host in the subsequent cockpit can play the video on the display.

[0055] In some embodiments, the subscription request includes tagging information for determining whether the subscription request is a vehicle control subscription request. Determining a primary connection cabin and at least one non-primary connection cabin from a plurality of cabins based on subscription requests from at least some cabins includes: after receiving a subscription request from a cabin, determining whether the cabin is a primary connection cabin or a non-primary connection cabin based on the tagging information contained in the subscription request sent by the cabin. In this embodiment, the cabin that actually needs to perform remote driving operations can be designated as the primary connection cabin. This setting ensures that the encoding is performed according to the network environment of the cabin that actually performs remote driving operations, thereby at least guaranteeing the video stream quality of the cabin performing remote driving operations and avoiding traffic accidents caused by video stuttering or delay in that cabin.

[0056] Figure 3 A flowchart of a method 300 for determining cockpit type according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown, wherein the cockpit type includes main connecting cabin and non-main connecting cabin. Figure 3 As shown, method 300 includes:

[0057] Step 310: Receive subscription request from the cockpit;

[0058] Step 320: Determine whether the subscription request is a vehicle control subscription request;

[0059] Step 330: Determine whether the main connecting compartment has been identified among the multiple cockpits;

[0060] Step 340: In response to determining that the subscription request sent by the cockpit is a vehicle control subscription request and that the primary connection cockpit has not yet been determined among multiple cockpits, the cockpit is designated as the primary connection cockpit; or

[0061] Step 350: In response to determining that the subscription request sent by the cockpit is a vehicle control subscription request and that other primary connection cockpits exist among multiple cockpits, the cockpit is identified as a primary connection cockpit and the other primary connection cockpits are re-identified as non-primary connection cockpits; and

[0062] Step 360: In response to determining that a subscription request sent by a cockpit is a non-vehicle control subscription request and that the primary connection cockpit has not yet been determined among multiple cockpits, the cockpit that first sent the subscription request among at least some cockpits is determined to be the primary connection cockpit.

[0063] In embodiments of this disclosure, the cockpit types of multiple cockpits can be updated each time a subscription request is received.

[0064] In step 330, it is determined whether a primary connection cabin for the vehicle has been identified among the multiple cockpits in the current state. In step 340, if no primary connection cabin has yet appeared, the cockpit currently sending the vehicle control subscription request can be designated as the primary connection cabin to ensure the video stream reception speed of this connection. In step 350, if a primary connection cabin has already appeared among the multiple connection cabins, the cockpit currently sending the vehicle control subscription request can replace the previous primary connection cabin and be designated as the new primary connection cabin, while the previous primary connection cabin can be downgraded to a non-primary connection cabin. This setting ensures that there is only one primary connection cabin at any given time, preventing encoding errors or duplicate encoding. In addition, this also ensures that the cockpit of the actual controlling vehicle is always the primary connection cabin, thereby guaranteeing the video acquisition speed of the actual controlling vehicle's cockpit and avoiding driving accidents caused by video latency.

[0065] In step 360, when the vehicle control request is a non-vehicle control request, if a primary connecting cabin has not yet appeared among multiple connecting cabins, the time point when the cabin that sent the subscription request can be detected, and these time points can be sorted sequentially, with the cabin that sent the subscription request first being identified as the primary connecting cabin. This setting ensures that there is only one primary connecting cabin at any given time, preventing encoding errors or duplicate encoding. Conversely, if a primary connecting cabin has already appeared among multiple connecting cabins, the cabin currently sending the non-vehicle control subscription request is identified as a non-primary connecting cabin.

[0066] In some embodiments, upon receiving a subscription request from a cockpit, in response to determining that the subscription request is a vehicle control subscription request, a remote control connection is established between the cockpit and the autonomous vehicle. If the subscription request is a vehicle control subscription request, the cockpit that sent the subscription request will obtain driving rights for the motor vehicle. If a cockpit that has already obtained driving rights already exists, the cockpit currently sending the subscription request can automatically replace the previously obtained cockpit, or it can replace the previously obtained cockpit after confirmation from the cockpit that has obtained driving rights.

[0067] Figure 4 A flowchart of a method 400 for encoding target data according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown, wherein the network parameters of the main connecting module include the bandwidth of the network channel. Figure 4 As shown, the method 400 includes:

[0068] Step 410: Set the encoding bitrate based on the bandwidth of the network channel in the main connection compartment; and

[0069] Step 420: Encode the target data according to the bitrate.

[0070] It is understandable that the bandwidth of the network channel directly affects the encoding bitrate; the wider the bandwidth, the higher the bitrate, and vice versa. Therefore, in step 410, the encoding bitrate can be set according to the bandwidth of the network channel in the main connecting cabin. Specifically, when the network status of the main connecting cabin is good and the channel bandwidth is high, a higher bitrate can be set, which allows for the transmission of a clearer video stream; when the network status of the main connecting cabin is poor and the channel bandwidth is low, a lower bitrate can be set, which allows for a sacrifice in video clarity to achieve a higher video transmission speed.

[0071] In this embodiment, the encoding bitrate can be adaptively adjusted according to the current network conditions of the main connecting cabin. This setting ensures the video transmission speed of the main connecting cabin at all times, thereby guaranteeing the video stream quality of the main connecting cabin. The target data obtained by other non-main connecting cabins is also encoded according to the current network environment of the main connecting cabin. Therefore, it is possible that when the network quality of the non-main connecting cabins is good, the video clarity may be lower. However, since the non-main connecting cabins are basically observation cabins and do not participate in the driving of the motor vehicle, they will not affect the actual driving of the motor vehicle.

[0072] According to another aspect of this disclosure, a control device for a chauffeur system is also provided. Figure 5 A structural block diagram of a control device 500 for a chauffeur service system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. The chauffeur service system includes a cloud server, autonomous vehicles communicatively connected to the cloud server, and multiple driver cabins. The control method is used on the cloud server. Figure 5 As shown, the control device 500 includes: a receiving unit 510 configured to receive subscription requests from at least some of the multiple cockpits; a determining unit 520 configured to determine a primary connection module and at least one non-primary connection module from the multiple cockpits based on the subscription requests from at least some of the cockpits; an encoding unit 530 configured to encode the target data according to the network parameters of the primary connection module after receiving the target data from the autonomous vehicle; and a sending unit 540 configured to send the encoded target data to the primary connection module and at least one non-primary connection module.

[0073] In some embodiments, the subscription request includes tagging information for determining whether the subscription request is a vehicle control subscription request. The determining unit 520 is further configured to: after receiving a subscription request sent by a cockpit, determine whether the cockpit is a main connection cockpit or a non-main connection cockpit based on the tagging information contained in the subscription request sent by the cockpit.

[0074] In some embodiments, the determining unit 520 is further configured to: determine the cockpit as a main connecting cabin in response to determining that the subscription request sent by the cockpit is a vehicle control subscription request and that a main connecting cabin has not yet been determined among multiple cockpits; and determine the cockpit as a main connecting cabin and re-determine the other main connecting cabins as non-main connecting cabins in response to determining that the subscription request sent by the cockpit is a vehicle control subscription request and that other main connecting cabins exist among multiple cockpits.

[0075] In some embodiments, the determining unit 520 is further configured to: in response to determining that a subscription request sent by a cockpit is a non-vehicle control subscription request and that the main connecting cockpit has not yet been determined among a plurality of cockpits, determine the cockpit that first sent the subscription request among at least a subset of cockpits as the main connecting cockpit.

[0076] In some embodiments, the control device 500 further includes a connection establishment unit configured to, upon receiving a subscription request sent by a cockpit, establish a remote control connection between the cockpit and the autonomous vehicle in response to determining that the subscription request sent by the cockpit is a vehicle control subscription request.

[0077] In some embodiments, the encoding unit 530 includes: a setting module configured to set the encoding code rate according to the bandwidth of the network channel of the main connecting cabin; and an encoding module configured to encode the target data according to the code rate.

[0078] It should be understood that Figure 5 Each unit of the device 500 shown can be connected to a reference. Figure 2 The steps in method 200 described correspond to each other. The above modules can be compared with the reference... Figures 3 to 4 The steps described in methods 300-400 correspond to each other. Therefore, the operations, features, and advantages described above for methods 300-400 also apply to the aforementioned modules. For the sake of brevity, some operations, features, and advantages will not be repeated here.

[0079] The acquisition, storage, and application of user personal information involved in the technical solution disclosed herein comply with the provisions of relevant laws and regulations and do not violate public order and good morals.

[0080] According to embodiments of this disclosure, an electronic device, a readable storage medium, and a computer program product are also provided.

[0081] refer to Figure 6 The present invention describes a structural block diagram of an electronic device 600 that can serve as a server or client of the present disclosure, which is an example of a hardware device that can be applied to various aspects of the present disclosure. The electronic device is intended to represent various forms of digital electronic computer devices, such as laptop computers, desktop computers, workstations, personal digital assistants, servers, blade servers, mainframe computers, and other suitable computers. The electronic device can also represent various forms of mobile devices, such as personal digital processors, cellular phones, smartphones, wearable devices, and other similar computing devices. The components shown herein, their connections and relationships, and their functions are merely illustrative and are not intended to limit the implementation of the present disclosure described and / or claimed herein.

[0082] like Figure 6As shown, the electronic device 600 includes a computing unit 601, which can perform various appropriate actions and processes based on a computer program stored in a read-only memory (ROM) 602 or a computer program loaded from a storage unit 608 into a random access memory (RAM) 603. The RAM 603 may also store various programs and data required for the operation of the electronic device 600. The computing unit 601, ROM 602, and RAM 603 are interconnected via a bus 604. An input / output (I / O) interface 605 is also connected to the bus 604.

[0083] Multiple components in electronic device 600 are connected to I / O interface 605, including: input unit 606, output unit 607, storage unit 608, and communication unit 609. Input unit 606 can be any type of device capable of inputting information to electronic device 600. Input unit 606 can receive input digital or character information and generate key signal inputs related to user settings and / or function control of electronic device, and can include, but is not limited to, a mouse, keyboard, touchscreen, trackpad, trackball, joystick, microphone, and / or remote control. Output unit 607 can be any type of device capable of presenting information, and can include, but is not limited to, a monitor, speaker, video / audio output terminal, vibrator, and / or printer. Storage unit 608 can include, but is not limited to, disk and optical disk. Communication unit 609 allows electronic device 600 to exchange information / data with other devices through computer networks such as the Internet and / or various telecommunications networks, and can include, but is not limited to, modems, network cards, infrared communication devices, wireless communication transceivers, and / or chipsets, such as Bluetooth devices, 802.11 devices, WiFi devices, WiMax devices, cellular communication devices, and / or the like.

[0084] The computing unit 601 can be a variety of general-purpose and / or special-purpose processing components with processing and computing capabilities. Some examples of the computing unit 601 include, but are not limited to, a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), various special-purpose artificial intelligence (AI) computing chips, various computing units running machine learning model algorithms, a digital signal processor (DSP), and any suitable processor, controller, microcontroller, etc. The computing unit 601 performs the various methods and processes described above, such as control methods for a chauffeur service system. For example, in some embodiments, the control methods for a chauffeur service system may be implemented as computer software programs tangibly contained in a machine-readable medium, such as storage unit 608. In some embodiments, part or all of the computer program may be loaded and / or installed on the electronic device 600 via ROM 602 and / or communication unit 609. When the computer program is loaded into RAM 603 and executed by the computing unit 601, one or more steps of the control methods for a chauffeur service system described above may be performed. Alternatively, in other embodiments, the computing unit 601 may be configured to perform control methods for a chauffeur service system by any other suitable means (e.g., by means of firmware).

[0085] Various embodiments of the systems and techniques described above herein can be implemented in digital electronic circuit systems, integrated circuit systems, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), application-specific standard products (ASSPs), systems-on-a-chip (SoCs), payload-programmable logic devices (CPLDs), computer hardware, firmware, software, and / or combinations thereof. These various embodiments may include implementations in one or more computer programs that can be executed and / or interpreted on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor, which may be a dedicated or general-purpose programmable processor, capable of receiving data and instructions from a storage system, at least one input device, and at least one output device, and transmitting data and instructions to the storage system, the at least one input device, and the at least one output device.

[0086] The program code used to implement the methods of this disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. This program code may be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that when executed by the processor or controller, the program code causes the functions / operations specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may be executed entirely on a machine, partially on a machine, as a standalone software package partially on a machine and partially on a remote machine, or entirely on a remote machine or server.

[0087] In the context of this disclosure, a machine-readable medium can be a tangible medium that may contain or store a program for use by or in conjunction with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. A machine-readable medium can be a machine-readable signal medium or a machine-readable storage medium. A machine-readable medium can be, but is not limited to, electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor systems, apparatus, or devices, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of machine-readable storage media include electrical connections based on one or more wires, portable computer disks, hard disks, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), optical fiber, portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0088] To provide interaction with a user, the systems and techniques described herein can be implemented on a computer having: a display device for displaying information to the user (e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor); and a keyboard and pointing device (e.g., a mouse or trackball) through which the user provides input to the computer. Other types of devices can also be used to provide interaction with the user; for example, feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback (e.g., visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback); and input from the user can be received in any form (including sound input, voice input, or tactile input).

[0089] The systems and technologies described herein can be implemented in computing systems that include backend components (e.g., as data servers), or middleware components (e.g., application servers), or frontend components (e.g., user computers with graphical user interfaces or web browsers through which users can interact with implementations of the systems and technologies described herein), or any combination of such backend, middleware, or frontend components. The components of the system can be interconnected via digital data communication of any form or medium (e.g., communication networks). Examples of communication networks include local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), the Internet, and blockchain networks.

[0090] Computer systems can include clients and servers. Clients and servers are generally located far apart and typically interact via communication networks. Client-server relationships are created by computer programs running on the respective computers and having a client-server relationship with each other. Servers can be cloud servers, servers in distributed systems, or servers incorporating blockchain technology.

[0091] It should be understood that the various forms of processes shown above can be used to rearrange, add, or delete steps. For example, the steps described in this disclosure can be performed in parallel, sequentially, or in a different order, as long as the desired result of the technical solution disclosed in this disclosure can be achieved, and this is not limited herein.

[0092] While embodiments or examples of this disclosure have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the methods, systems, and devices described above are merely exemplary embodiments or examples, and the scope of the invention is not limited by these embodiments or examples, but only by the granted claims and their equivalents. Various elements in the embodiments or examples may be omitted or replaced by their equivalents. Furthermore, the steps may be performed in a different order than that described in this disclosure. Further, various elements in the embodiments or examples may be combined in various ways.

Claims

1. A control method for a chauffeur service system, wherein, The chauffeur service system includes a cloud server, autonomous vehicles and multiple cockpits communicatively connected to the cloud server, and the control method is used on the cloud server, comprising: Receive subscription requests from at least some of the plurality of cockpits; Based on the subscription requests of at least some of the cockpits, a primary connecting cabin and at least one non-primary connecting cabin are determined from the plurality of cockpits; After receiving target data from the autonomous vehicle, the target data is encoded according to the network parameters of the main connection compartment; and The encoded target data is sent to the main connecting module and the at least one non-main connecting module. The main connecting compartment serves as the control compartment of the autonomous vehicle and has the driving authority of the autonomous vehicle. The non-main connecting compartment serves as the observation compartment of the autonomous vehicle.

2. The control method according to claim 1, wherein, The subscription request includes tagging information for determining whether the subscription request is a vehicle control subscription request. The step of determining a primary connecting cabin and at least one non-primary connecting cabin from the plurality of cabins based on the subscription requests from at least some of the cabins includes: After receiving a subscription request from a cockpit, the system determines whether the cockpit is a primary or non-primary connection cockpit based on the tagging information contained in the subscription request.

3. The control method according to claim 2, wherein, Upon receiving a subscription request from a cockpit, determining whether the cockpit is a primary or non-primary connection module based on the tagging information contained in the subscription request includes: In response to determining that the subscription request sent by the cockpit is a vehicle control subscription request and that the main connecting cockpit has not yet been identified among the plurality of cockpits, the cockpit is identified as the main connecting cockpit; or In response to determining that the subscription request sent by the cockpit is a vehicle control subscription request and that there are other main connection cockpits among the plurality of cockpits, the cockpit is identified as a main connection cockpit and the other main connection cockpits are re-identified as non-main connection cockpits.

4. The control method according to claim 2, wherein, The step of determining whether a cockpit is a primary or non-primary connection module after receiving a subscription request from a cockpit, based on the tagging information contained in the subscription request, further includes: In response to determining that a subscription request sent by a cockpit is a non-vehicle control subscription request and that the primary connecting cockpit has not yet been determined among the plurality of cockpits, the cockpit that first sent the subscription request among the at least some cockpits is determined to be the primary connecting cockpit.

5. The control method according to any one of claims 2-4, further comprising: Upon receiving a subscription request from a cockpit, in response to determining that the subscription request from the cockpit is a vehicle control subscription request, a remote control connection is established between the cockpit and the autonomous vehicle.

6. The control method according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein, The network parameters of the main connection compartment include the bandwidth of the network channel. Encoding the target data according to the network parameters of the main connection compartment after receiving target data from the autonomous vehicle includes: The code rate of the encoding is set according to the bandwidth of the network channel of the main connecting cabin; and The target data is encoded according to the bitrate.

7. A control device for a chauffeur system, wherein, The chauffeur service system includes a cloud server, autonomous vehicles communicatively connected to the cloud server, and multiple cockpits. Methods executed by various units of the control device are applied to the cloud server. The control device includes: The receiving unit is configured to receive subscription requests from at least some of the plurality of cockpits; The determining unit is configured to determine a primary connecting cabin and at least one non-primary connecting cabin from the plurality of cabins based on the subscription requests of the at least some of the cabins. The encoding unit is configured to encode the target data according to the network parameters of the main connection compartment after receiving the target data from the autonomous vehicle; and The transmitting unit is configured to transmit the encoded target data to the main connecting module and the at least one non-main connecting module. The main connecting compartment serves as the control compartment of the autonomous vehicle and has the driving authority of the autonomous vehicle. The non-main connecting compartment serves as the observation compartment of the autonomous vehicle.

8. The control device according to claim 7, wherein, The subscription request includes tagging information for determining whether the subscription request is a vehicle control subscription request, and the determining unit is further configured to: After receiving a subscription request from a cockpit, the system determines whether the cockpit is a primary or non-primary connection cockpit based on the tagging information contained in the subscription request.

9. The control device according to claim 8, wherein, The determining unit is further configured to: In response to determining that the subscription request sent by the cockpit is a vehicle control subscription request and that the main connecting cockpit has not yet been determined among the plurality of cockpits, the cockpit is determined to be the main connecting cockpit; In response to determining that the subscription request sent by the cockpit is a vehicle control subscription request and that there are other main connection cockpits among the plurality of cockpits, the cockpit is identified as a main connection cockpit and the other main connection cockpits are re-identified as non-main connection cockpits.

10. The control device according to claim 8, wherein, The determining unit is further configured to: In response to determining that a subscription request sent by a cockpit is a non-vehicle control subscription request and that the primary connecting cockpit has not yet been determined among the plurality of cockpits, the cockpit that first sent the subscription request among the at least some cockpits is determined to be the primary connecting cockpit.

11. The control device according to any one of claims 8-10, further comprising: The connection establishment unit is configured to, upon receiving a subscription request from a cockpit, establish a remote control connection between the cockpit and the autonomous vehicle in response to determining that the subscription request sent by the cockpit is a vehicle control subscription request.

12. The control device according to any one of claims 7-10, wherein, The network parameters of the main connecting compartment include the bandwidth of the network channel, and the coding unit includes: The setting module is configured to set the code rate of the encoding based on the bandwidth of the network channel of the main connection cabin; and The encoding module is configured to encode the target data according to the bitrate.

13. An electronic device, comprising: At least one processor; as well as A memory that is communicatively connected to the at least one processor; in The memory stores instructions that can be executed by the at least one processor to enable the at least one processor to perform the method of any one of claims 1-6.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions, wherein, The computer instructions are used to cause the computer to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-6.

15. A computer program product comprising a computer program, wherein, The computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the method of any one of claims 1-6.

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