Automatic control of headlight lighting by on-board vehicle to everything (V2X) device

Abstract

In one aspect, a method of wireless communication performed by an on-board vehicle to a everything (V2X) device (310) includes receiving one or more V2X security messages indicating a potential security condition related to illumination of an object (404, 506, 604); in response to the one or more V2X security messages, determining that the object (404, 506, 604) is within or is approaching a target area (408, 514, 610) in which illumination of the object by a headlight (308) of the vehicle is adjustable; and in response to determining that the object (404, 506, 604) is within the target area (408, 514, 610), controlling an illumination intensity and / or an illumination pattern of a headlight (308) of the vehicle.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communications. Background Art

[0002] Wireless communication systems have evolved through generations, including first generation analog wireless telephone service (1G), second generation (2G) digital wireless telephone service (including temporary 2.5G and 2.75G networks), third generation (3G) high speed data, wireless service with Internet capabilities, and fourth generation (4G) service (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax). There are many different types of wireless communication systems in use today, including cellular and personal communications service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the cellular analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) and digital cellular systems based on code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), and the like.

[0003] The fifth generation (5G) wireless standard, referred to as New Radio (NR), enables higher data transfer speeds, a greater number of connections, and better coverage, among other improvements. According to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, the 5G standard is designed to provide higher data rates, more accurate positioning (e.g., based on a reference signal for positioning (RS-P), such as a downlink, uplink, or sidelink positioning reference signal (PRS)), and other technical enhancements compared to previous standards.

[0004] Taking advantage of 5G's increased data rates and reduced latency, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication technology is being implemented to support autonomous driving applications, such as wireless communications between vehicles, between vehicles and roadside infrastructure, between vehicles and pedestrians, etc. Summary of the invention

[0005] A simplified overview of one or more aspects disclosed herein is given below. Therefore, the following overview should not be considered as a broad summary of all expected aspects, nor should it be considered as identifying key or important elements related to all expected aspects, or delineating the scope associated with any particular aspect. Therefore, the sole purpose of the following overview is to present certain concepts related to one or more aspects related to the mechanisms disclosed herein in a simplified form before the detailed description given below.

[0006] In one aspect, a method for wireless communication performed by an on-board vehicle-to-everything (V2X) device includes: receiving one or more V2X safety messages indicating a potential safety condition related to lighting of an object; determining, in response to the one or more V2X safety messages, that the object is within or approaching a target area, in which the illumination of the object by the vehicle's headlights can be adjusted; and controlling the lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern of the vehicle's headlights in response to determining that the object is within or approaching the target area.

[0007] In one aspect, a method of wireless communication performed by a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) device associated with an object includes: determining that a potential safety condition exists at the object, wherein the potential safety condition corresponds to a condition in which illumination of the object by vehicle headlights should be controlled; and sending one or more V2X safety messages indicating the presence of the potential safety condition at the object.

[0008] In one aspect, a method of wireless communication performed by an on-board vehicle-to-everything (V2X) device includes: determining that a potential beam blinding condition exists at a vehicle, wherein the potential beam blinding condition corresponds to a possibility of interference with safe operation of the vehicle due to excessive headlighting of the vehicle by another vehicle; and sending one or more V2X beam blinding vehicle safety messages, wherein the one or more V2X beam blinding vehicle safety messages indicate that a potential beam blinding condition exists at the vehicle.

[0009] In one aspect, an on-board vehicle-to-everything (V2X) device includes: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: receive, via the at least one transceiver, one or more V2X safety messages indicating a potential safety condition related to lighting of an object; determine, in response to the one or more V2X safety messages, that the object is within or approaching a target area, in which the illumination of the object by the vehicle's headlights can be adjusted; and control the lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern of the vehicle's headlights in response to determining that the object is within or approaching the target area.

[0010] In one aspect, an on-board vehicle-to-everything (V2X) device includes: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: determine that a potential safety condition exists at an object, wherein the potential safety condition corresponds to a condition in which illumination of the object by headlights of a vehicle should be controlled; and send, via the at least one transceiver, one or more V2X safety messages indicating the presence of the potential safety condition at the object.

[0011] In one aspect, an on-board vehicle-to-everything (V2X) device includes: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor configured to: determine that a potential beam blinding condition exists at a vehicle, wherein the potential beam blinding condition corresponds to a possibility of interference with safe operation of the vehicle due to excessive headlighting of the vehicle by another vehicle; and send one or more V2X beam blinding vehicle safety messages via the at least one transceiver, the one or more V2X beam blinding vehicle safety messages indicating the presence of a potential beam blinding condition at the vehicle.

[0012] Other objects and advantages associated with the aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the accompanying drawings and detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in describing various aspects of the disclosure and are provided solely for illustrative purposes and not limiting thereof.

[0014] Figure 1 An example wireless communication system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0015] Figure 2 is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a user equipment (UE) and / or a vehicle-to-everything device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0016] Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating a subject vehicle and a headlight control system according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0017] Figure 4A and Figure 4B Depicted are scenarios in which an object associated with a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) safety message is a pedestrian, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0018] Figure 5A , Figure 5B and Figure 5C A scenario is depicted in which an object associated with a V2X safety message is another vehicle in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0019] Fig. 6A and Figure 6B Depicted are scenarios in which one or more objects associated with a V2X safety message are further associated with a construction zone in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0020] Figure 7 An example method of wireless communication performed by an in-vehicle V2X device according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0021] Figure 8An example method of wireless communications performed by a V2X device associated with an object according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0022] Fig. 9 An example method of wireless communication performed by an in-vehicle V2X device according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] Aspects of the present disclosure are provided in the following description and related figures for various examples provided for illustrative purposes. Alternative aspects may be designed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In addition, well-known elements of the present disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted to avoid blurring the relevant details of the present disclosure.

[0024] As used herein, the words "exemplary" and / or "example" mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" and / or "example" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Likewise, the term "aspects of the disclosure" does not require that all aspects of the disclosure include the discussed feature, advantage, or mode of operation.

[0025] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the information and signals described below may be represented using any of a variety of different techniques and technologies. For example, depending in part on the specific application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, etc., the data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips referenced throughout the following description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof.

[0026] In addition, many aspects are described in terms of a sequence of actions to be performed by, for example, an element of a computing device. It will be appreciated that the various actions described herein may be performed by a specific circuit (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit), by a program instruction being executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of the two. In addition, the (one or more) sequence of actions described herein may be considered to be fully embodied in any form of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having a corresponding computer instruction set stored therein, which, when executed, will cause or instruct the associated processor of the device to perform the functionality described herein. Therefore, various aspects of the present disclosure may be embodied in a variety of different forms, all of which have been contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. In addition, for each of the aspects described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspect may be described herein as, for example, "logic is configured to" perform the described action.

[0027] As used herein, unless otherwise specified, the terms "user equipment" (UE), "vehicle UE" (V-UE), "pedestrian UE" (P-UE), and "base station" are not intended to be specific to or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT). In general, a UE may be any wireless communication device used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network (e.g., an onboard computer, a vehicle head unit, an in-vehicle infotainment system, a vehicle navigation device, a mobile phone, a router, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, an asset location device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, glasses, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headsets, etc.), a vehicle (e.g., a car, a motorcycle, a bicycle, etc.), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.). A UE may be mobile or may be stationary (e.g., at certain times) and may communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term "UE" may be interchangeably referred to as a "mobile device," "access terminal" or "AT," "client device," "wireless device," "subscriber device," "subscriber terminal," "subscriber station," "user terminal" or UT, "mobile terminal," "mobile station," or variations thereof.

[0028] A V-UE is a type of UE and may be any in-vehicle wireless communication device, such as a navigation system, a warning system, a head-up display (HUD), an onboard computer, a head unit, an in-vehicle infotainment system, an automated driving system (ADS), an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), etc. Alternatively, a V-UE may be a portable wireless communication device (e.g., a cellular phone, a tablet computer, etc.) carried by a driver of a vehicle or a passenger in the vehicle. Depending on the context, the term "V-UE" may refer to an in-vehicle wireless communication device or the vehicle itself. A P-UE is a type of UE and may be a portable wireless communication device carried by a pedestrian (i.e., a user who is not driving or riding in a vehicle). Typically, a UE may communicate with a core network via a RAN, and through the core network, the UE may be connected to an external network such as the Internet and to other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible for a UE, such as through a wired access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) network (e.g., based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11, etc.), etc.

[0029] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs to communicate with a UE, depending on the network in which it is deployed, and may be alternatively referred to as an access point (AP), a network node, a NodeB, an evolved NodeB (eNB), a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), a new radio (NR) NodeB (also referred to as a gNB or gNodeB), etc. A base station may be primarily used to support wireless access for UEs, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections for supported UEs. In some systems, a base station may provide pure edge node signaling functions, while in other systems it may provide additional control and / or network management functions. The communication link through which a UE may send a signal to a base station is referred to as an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). The communication link through which a base station may send a signal to a UE is referred to as a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term traffic channel (TCH) may refer to a UL / reverse or DL / forward traffic channel.

[0030] The term "base station" may refer to a single physical transmit-receive point (TRP) or may or may not be co-located multiple physical TRPs. For example, where the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be an antenna of the base station corresponding to a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. Where the term "base station" refers to multiple co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be an antenna array of the base station (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or where the base station employs beamforming). Where the term "base station" refers to multiple non-co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transmission medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-co-located physical TRP may be a serving base station that receives measurement reports from a UE and an adjacent base station whose reference radio frequency (RF) signal the UE is measuring. Because a TRP is a point from which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, as used herein, references to transmissions from a base station or receptions at a base station should be understood as referring to a specific TRP of a base station.

[0031] In some implementations of supporting positioning of a UE, a base station may not support wireless access for the UE (e.g., may not support data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the UE), but may instead send a reference RF signal to the UE for measurement by the UE and / or may receive and measure signals sent by the UE. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., when sending an RF signal to the UE) and / or as a position measurement unit (e.g., when receiving and measuring an RF signal from the UE).

[0032] "RF signals" include electromagnetic waves of a given frequency that transmit information through the space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels, a receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between a transmitter and a receiver may be referred to as a "multipath" RF signal. As used herein, RF signals may also be referred to as "wireless signals" or simply "signals", where it is clear from the context that the term "signal" refers to either wireless signals or RF signals.

[0033] Figure 1 An example wireless communication system 100 is shown in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. The wireless communication system 100 (which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 (labeled as "BS") and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macrocell base stations (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low-power cellular base stations). In one aspect, the macrocell base stations 102 may include eNBs and / or ng-eNBs (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an LTE network), or gNBs (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an NR network), or a combination of both, and the small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0034] The base stations 102 may collectively form a RAN and interface with a core network 170 (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC)) through a backhaul link 122, and interface to one or more location servers 172 (e.g., a location management function (LMF) or a secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP)) through the core network 170. The location server(s) 172 may be part of the core network 170 or may be external to the core network 170. The location server 172 may be integrated with the base station 102. The UE 104 may communicate with the location server 172 directly or indirectly. For example, the UE 104 may communicate with the location server 172 via the base station 102 currently serving the UE 104. The UE 104 may also communicate with the location server 172 through another path, such as via an application server (not shown), via another network (such as via a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) (e.g., the AP 150 described below)), and the like. For signaling purposes, communication between UE 104 and location server 172 may be represented as an indirect connection (e.g., through core network 170, etc.) or a direct connection (e.g., as shown via direct connection 128), with intermediate nodes (if any) being omitted from the signaling diagram for clarity.

[0035] The base station 102 may also perform, among other functions, functions related to one or more of the following: transmitting user data, wireless channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, distribution of non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and device tracking, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through EPC / 5GC) over a backhaul link 134, which may be wired or wireless.

[0036] Base stations 102 may communicate wirelessly with UEs 104. Each of base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for a corresponding geographic coverage area 110. In one aspect, one or more cells may be supported by base stations 102 in each geographic coverage area 110. A "cell" is a logical communication entity used to communicate with a base station (e.g., on a certain frequency resource, which is referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, frequency band, etc.), and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCI), an enhanced cell identifier (ECI), a virtual cell identifier (VCI), a cell global identifier (CGI), etc.) used to distinguish cells operating via the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or other protocol types) that may provide access to different types of UEs. Because a cell is supported by a specific base station, depending on the context, the term "cell" may refer to either or both of the logical communication entity and the base station supporting it. In some cases, the term “cell” may also refer to a geographic coverage area (eg, sector) of a base station, as long as a carrier frequency can be detected and used for communications within some portion of the geographic coverage area 110 .

[0037] Although the geographic coverage areas 110 of neighboring macrocell base stations 102 may partially overlap (e.g., in a handover region), some geographic coverage areas 110 may be substantially overlapped by a larger geographic coverage area 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' (labeled "SC" for "small cell") may have a geographic coverage area 110' that substantially overlaps with the geographic coverage areas 110 of one or more macrocell base stations 102. A network that includes both small cell base stations and macrocell base stations may be referred to as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include a Home eNB (HeNB), which may provide services to a restricted group referred to as a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG).

[0038] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include uplink (also referred to as reverse link) transmissions from the UE 104 to the base station 102 and / or downlink (DL) (also referred to as forward link) transmissions from the base station 102 to the UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may be over one or more carrier frequencies. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to the downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated for the downlink compared to the uplink).

[0039] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150 that communicates with a WLAN station (STA) 152 in an unlicensed spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz) via a communication link 154. When communicating in the unlicensed spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or a listen before talk (LBT) process before communicating to determine whether the channel is available.

[0040] The small cell base station 102' can operate in a licensed and / or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in an unlicensed spectrum, the small cell base station 102' can adopt LTE or NR technology and use the same 5GHz unlicensed spectrum used by the WLAN AP 150. The small cell base station 102' adopting LTE / 5G in the unlicensed spectrum can enhance the coverage of the access network and / or increase the capacity of the access network. NR in the unlicensed spectrum can be referred to as NR-U. LTE in the unlicensed spectrum can be referred to as LTE-U, License Assisted Access (LAA) or MulteFire.

[0041] exist Figure 1 In the example of FIG. 1 , any UE among the UEs shown (for simplicity, in FIG. 1 ) Figure 1 A UE 104 (shown as a single UE 104 in FIG. 1 ) may receive a signal 124 from one or more earth orbiting spacecraft (SV) 112 (e.g., satellites). In one aspect, the SV 112 may be part of a satellite positioning system that the UE 104 may use as an independent source of location information. A satellite positioning system typically includes a system of transmitters (e.g., SV 112) positioned to enable a receiver (e.g., UE 104) to determine its position on or above the earth based at least in part on a positioning signal (e.g., signal 124) received from the transmitter. Such a transmitter typically transmits a signal that is marked with a repeating pseudo-random noise (PN) code of a set number of chips. Although typically located in the SV 112, the transmitter may sometimes be located on a ground-based control station, base station 102, and / or other UE 104. The UE 104 may include one or more dedicated receivers specifically designed to receive the signal 124 for deriving geographic location information from the SV 112.

[0042] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a mmW base station 180 that communicates with the UE 182, and the mmW base station 180 may operate in a millimeter wave (mmW) frequency and / or a near mmW frequency. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is part of the RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and a wavelength between 1 mm and 10 mm. Radio waves in this band may be referred to as millimeter waves. Near mmW may extend down to a frequency of 3 GHz with a wavelength of 100 mm. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz, also known as centimeter waves. Communications using mmW / near mmW radio frequency bands have high path loss and a relatively short range. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 may utilize beamforming (sending and / or receiving) on ​​the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. In addition, it should be understood that in an alternative configuration, one or more base stations 102 may also transmit using mmW or near mmW and beamforming. Therefore, it should be understood that the foregoing description is merely exemplary, and should not be construed as limiting the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0043] Leveraging NR's increased data rates and reduced latency, among other things, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication technologies are being implemented to support intelligent transportation system (ITS) applications, such as wireless communication between vehicles (vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V)), between vehicles and roadside infrastructure (vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I)), and between vehicles and pedestrians (vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P)). The goal is for vehicles to be able to sense the environment around them and communicate that information to other vehicles, infrastructure, and personal mobile devices. Such vehicle communications will enable safety, mobility, and environmental advances that current technology cannot provide. Once fully realized, the technology is expected to reduce undamaged vehicle collisions by 80%.

[0044] Still reference Figure 1, the wireless communication system 100 may include a plurality of v-UEs 160, which may communicate with a base station 102 via a communication link 120 using a Uu interface (i.e., an air interface between a UE and a base station). The v-UEs 160 may also communicate directly with each other via a wireless side link 162, with a roadside unit (RSU) 164 (roadside access point) via a wireless side link 166, or with a sidelink-capable UE 104 via a wireless side link 168 using a PC5 interface (i.e., an air interface between sidelink-capable UEs). A wireless side link (or just "sidelink") is an adaptation of a core cellular (e.g., LTE, NR) standard that allows direct communication between two or more UEs without the communication going through a base station. Sidelink communications may be unicast or multicast, and may be used for device-to-device (D2D) medium sharing, V2V communications, V2X communications (e.g., cellular V2X (cV2X) communications, enhanced V2X (eV2X) communications, etc.), emergency rescue applications, etc. One or more of a group of V-UEs 160 utilizing sidelink communication may be within the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 102. Other V-UEs 160 in such a group may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 102, or otherwise unable to receive transmissions from the base station 102. In some cases, multiple groups of V-UEs 160 communicating via sidelink communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, where each V-UE 160 transmits to each other V-UE 160 in the group. In some cases, the base station 102 facilitates scheduling of resources for sidelink communication. In other cases, sidelink communication is performed between the V-UEs 160 without involving the base station 102.

[0045] In one aspect, the sidelinks 162, 166, 168 can operate over a wireless communication medium of interest that can be shared with other wireless communications between other vehicles and / or infrastructure access points and other RATs. The "medium" can consist of one or more time, frequency, and / or spatial communication resources (e.g., comprising one or more channels across one or more carriers) associated with wireless communications between one or more transmitter / receiver pairs.

[0046] In one aspect, the sidelinks 162, 166, 168 may be cV2X links. The first generation of cV2X has been standardized in LTE, and it is expected that the next generation will be defined in NR. cV2X is a cellular technology that also enables device-to-device communications. In the United States and Europe, cV2X is expected to operate in the sub-6 GHz licensed ITS band. Other frequency bands may be allocated in other countries. Thus, as a specific example, the medium of interest utilized by the sidelinks 162, 166, 168 may correspond to at least a portion of the sub-6 GHz licensed ITS band. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this frequency band or cellular technology.

[0047] In one aspect, the side links 162, 166, 168 may be dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) links. DSRC is a unidirectional or bidirectional short-range to medium-range wireless communication protocol that uses the Wireless Access for Vehicular Environment (WAVE) protocol (also known as IEEE802.11p) for V2V, V2I, and V2P communications. IEEE 802.11p is an approved revision of the IEEE 802.11 standard and operates in the licensed ITS band of 5.9 GHz (5.85-5.925 GHz) in the United States. In Europe, IEEE 802.11p operates in the ITSG5A band (5.875-5.905 MHz). Other bands may be allocated in other countries. The V2V communications briefly described above occur on a safety channel, which in the United States is typically a 10 MHz channel dedicated to safety purposes. The remainder of the DSRC band (75 MHz in total bandwidth) is intended for other services of interest to drivers, such as road rules, toll collection, parking automation, and the like. Thus, as a specific example, the medium of interest utilized by the sidelinks 162, 166, 168 may correspond to at least a portion of the licensed ITS band at 5.9 GHz.

[0048] Alternatively, the medium of interest may correspond to at least a portion of an unlicensed band shared among the various RATs. Although different licensed bands have been reserved for certain communication systems (e.g., by government entities such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States), these systems (particularly those employing small cell access points) have recently expanded operations to unlicensed bands, such as the Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) band used by wireless local area network (WLAN) technologies (most notably the IEEE 802.11x WLAN technology commonly referred to as "Wi-Fi"). Example systems of this type include different variants of CDMA systems, TDMA systems, FDMA systems, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) systems, single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems, and the like.

[0049] Communication between V-UEs 160 is referred to as V2V communication, communication between V-UEs 160 and one or more RSUs 164 is referred to as V2I communication, and communication between V-UEs 160 and one or more UEs 104 (where UEs 104 are P-UEs) is referred to as V2P communication. V2V communication between V-UEs 160 may include, for example, information about the location, speed, acceleration, heading, and / or other vehicle data of the V-UEs 160. V2I information received at the V-UEs 160 from one or more RSUs 164 may include, for example, road rules, parking automation information, etc. V2P communication between V-UEs 160 and UEs 104 may include information about, for example, the location, speed, acceleration, and / or heading of the V-UEs 160 and the location, speed (e.g., where the UEs 104 are carried by a user on a bicycle) and / or heading of the UEs 104.

[0050] Note that although Figure 1 Only two of the UEs are shown as V-UEs (V-UE 160), but any of the UEs shown (e.g., UE 104, 152, 182, 190) may be V-UEs. In addition, although only V-UE 160 and a single UE 104 have been shown as connected via a side link, Figure 1 Any UE shown in , whether V-UE, P-UE, etc., may be capable of sidelink communications. In addition, although only UE 182 is described as being capable of beamforming, any UE shown (including V-UE 160) may be capable of beamforming. In the event that V-UE 160 is capable of beamforming, they may beamform toward each other (i.e., toward other V-UE 160), toward RSU 164, toward other UEs (e.g., UE 104, 152, 182, 190), etc. Thus, in some cases, V-UE 160 may utilize beamforming on sidelinks 162, 166, and 168.

[0051] The wireless communication system 100 may also include one or more UEs (eg, UE 190) indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links. Figure 1In the example of FIG. 1 , UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of UEs 104 connected to one of base stations 102 (e.g., through which UE 190 can indirectly obtain cellular connectivity) and a D2D P2P link 194 with a WLAN station (STA) 152 connected to a WLAN access point (AP) 150 (through which UE 190 can indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity). In an example, D2D P2P links 192 and 194 can be connected using any well-known D2D RAT (such as LTE direct (LTE-D), WiFi direct (WiFi-D), As another example, the D2D P2P links 192 and 194 may be side links, as described above with reference to the side links 162, 166, and 168.

[0052] Figure 2 Example components (represented by corresponding boxes) that may be incorporated into UE 202 (which may correspond to any UE described herein, including any V2X device disclosed herein) are shown. It should be understood that in different implementations, these components may be implemented in different types of devices (e.g., in an ASIC, in a system on a chip (SoC), etc.). The components shown may also be incorporated into other devices in the communication system. For example, other devices in the system may include components similar to the components described to provide similar functionality. In addition, a given device may include one or more of the components. For example, a device may include multiple transceiver components that enable the device to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

[0053] UE 202 includes one or more wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceivers 210 that provide means (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for refraining from transmitting, etc.) for communicating via one or more wireless communication networks (not shown), such as NR networks, LTE networks, GSM networks, etc. The WWAN transceivers 210 may each be connected to one or more antennas 216 for communicating with other network nodes (e.g., other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNBs, gNBs), etc.) over a wireless communication medium of interest (e.g., a certain set of time / frequency resources in a particular spectrum) via at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.). The WWAN transceivers 210 may be configured differently according to the designated RAT for respectively transmitting and encoding signals 218 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.), and conversely, respectively receiving and decoding signals 218 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.). Specifically, the WWAN transceiver 210 includes one or more transmitters 214 for transmitting and encoding signals 218 and one or more receivers 212 for receiving and decoding signals 218 .

[0054] At least in some cases, UE 202 also includes one or more short-range wireless transceivers 220. Short-range wireless transceivers 220 can be connected to one or more antennas 226 and provide for communication via at least one designated RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, The short-range wireless transceiver 220 includes components (e.g., components for sending, components for receiving, components for measuring, components for tuning, components for suppressing sending, etc.) for communicating with other network nodes (e.g., other UEs, access points, base stations, etc.) on a wireless communication medium of interest (e.g., PC5, dedicated short-range communication (DSRC), wireless access for vehicular environments (WAVE), near field communication (NFC), ultra-wideband (UWB), etc.). The short-range wireless transceiver 220 can be configured differently according to the specified RAT to send and encode signals 228 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.), and conversely, to receive and decode signals 228 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.). Specifically, the short-range wireless transceiver 220 includes one or more transmitters 224 for sending and encoding signals 228, and one or more receivers 222 for receiving and decoding signals 228. As specific examples, the short-range wireless transceivers 220 and 260 may be WiFi transceivers, Transceiver, and / or transceiver, NFC transceiver, UWB transceiver or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and / or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) transceiver.

[0055] At least in some cases, the UE 202 includes a satellite signal receiver 230. The satellite signal receiver 230 can be connected to one or more antennas 236 and can provide components for receiving and / or measuring satellite positioning / communication signals 238. In the case where the satellite signal receiver 230 is a satellite positioning system receiver, the satellite positioning / communication signals 238 can be global positioning system (GPS) signals, global navigation satellite system (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, Beidou signals, Indian regional navigation satellite system (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc. In the case where the satellite signal receiver 230 is a non-terrestrial network (NTN) receiver, the satellite positioning / communication signals 238 can be communication signals (e.g., carrying control and / or user data) originating from a 5G network. The satellite signal receiver 230 may include any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing satellite positioning / communication signals 238. The satellite signal receiver 230 may appropriately request information and operations from other systems, and, at least in some cases, perform calculations to determine the location of the UE 202 using measurements obtained by any suitable satellite positioning system algorithm.

[0056] UE 202 also includes other components that can be used in conjunction with the operations disclosed herein. UE 202 includes one or more processors 232 for providing functions related to, for example, wireless communication and for providing other processing functions. Thus, processor 232 can provide components for processing, such as components for determining, components for calculating, components for receiving, components for sending, components for indicating, etc. In one aspect, processor 232 can include, for example, one or more general-purpose processors, multi-core processors, central processing units (CPUs), ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), other programmable logic devices or processing circuits, or various combinations thereof.

[0057] UE 202 also includes memory circuitry implementing memory 240 (e.g., each memory 240 includes a memory device) for maintaining information (e.g., information indicating reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). Thus, memory 240 may provide means for storing, means for retrieving, means for maintaining, etc. In some cases, UE 202 may include a headlight control component 242. Headlight control component 242 may be a hardware circuit that is part of or coupled to processor 232, which when executed causes UE 202 to perform the functions described herein. In other aspects, headlight control component 242 may be external to processor 232 (e.g., part of a headlight control system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, headlight control component 242 may be a memory module stored in memory 240, which when executed by processor 232 causes UE 202 to perform the functions described herein. Figure 2 Possible locations are shown for a headlight control component 242, which may be part of, for example, one or more WWAN transceivers 210, memory 240, one or more processors 232, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component.

[0058] UE 202 may include one or more sensors 244 coupled to one or more processors 232 to provide a component for sensing or detecting movement and / or orientation information independent of motion data derived from signals received by one or more WWAN transceivers 210. As an example, (one or more) sensors 244 may include an accelerometer (e.g., a micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), an altimeter (e.g., a barometric altimeter), and / or any other type of motion detection sensor. In addition, (one or more) sensors 244 may include multiple different types of devices and combine their outputs to provide motion information. For example, (one or more) sensors 244 may use a combination of multi-axis accelerometers and orientation sensors to provide the ability to calculate positioning in a two-dimensional (2D) and / or three-dimensional (3D) coordinate system. Other types of sensors used by the headlight control component 242 are also described herein.

[0059] Additionally, the UE 202 may include a user interface 246 that provides means for providing indications to a user (e.g., audible and / or visual indications) and / or for receiving user input (e.g., when a user actuates a sensing device such as a keypad, touch screen, microphone, etc.).

[0060] At the UE 202, the receiver 212 receives the signal through its corresponding (one or more) antennas 216. The receiver 212 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to one or more processors 232. The transmitter 214 and the receiver 212 implement layer 1 functions associated with various signal processing functions. The receiver 212 can perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial streams destined for the UE 202. If multiple spatial streams are destined for the UE 202, the receiver 212 can combine them into a single OFDM symbol stream. The receiver 212 then converts the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain using a fast Fourier transform (FFT). The frequency domain signal includes a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols and reference signals on each subcarrier are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation point sent by the base station 204. These soft decisions can be based on channel estimates calculated by a channel estimator. The soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally sent on the physical channel by the base station 204. The data and control signals are then provided to one or more processors 232, which implement layer 3 (L3) and layer 2 (L2) functionality.

[0061] In the downlink, one or more processors 232 provide demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the core network. One or more processors 232 are also responsible for error detection.

[0062] For convenience, UE 202 Figure 2 is shown as including various components that can be configured according to the various examples described herein. However, it should be understood that the components shown can have different functions in different designs. Specifically, Figure 2 The various components in are optional in alternative configurations, and the various aspects include configurations that may vary due to design choice, cost, use of the device, or other considerations. For example, in Figure 2 In certain cases, a specific implementation of UE 202 may omit (one or more) WWAN transceiver 210 (e.g., a wearable device or tablet or PC or laptop may have Wi-Fi and / or Bluetooth capabilities but no cellular capabilities), or may omit (one or more) short-range wireless transceiver 220 (e.g., only cellular, etc.), or may omit satellite signal receiver 230, or may omit (one or more) sensor 244, etc. For the sake of brevity, illustrations of various alternative configurations are not provided herein, but they will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

[0063] The various components of UE 202 may be communicatively coupled to each other via data bus 234. In one aspect, data bus 234 may form or be part of a communication interface of UE 202. For example, where different logical entities are embodied in the same device, data bus 234 may provide communication between them.

[0064] Figure 2 The components of can be implemented in various ways. In some implementations, Figure 2 The components of the UE 202 may be implemented in one or more circuits, such as one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors). Here, each circuit may use and / or incorporate at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide the functionality. For example, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 210 to 246 may be implemented by a processor and (one or more) memory components of the UE 202 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor component).

[0065] As described herein, V2X communication (including cellular vehicle-to-everything (CV2X) communication) is the transfer of information from a vehicle to any entity that may affect the vehicle, and vice versa. V2X is a vehicle communication system that incorporates or includes other more specific types of communication such as vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-network (V2N), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P), vehicle-to-device (V2D), and vehicle-to-grid (V2G). The main motivations for V2X communication are road safety, traffic efficiency, and energy conservation. For the purposes of this disclosure, a V2X system includes any one or more of such specific types of communication. In the context of this disclosure, a vehicle is a motorized road vehicle, such as a car, truck, bus, motorcycle, etc., including electric bicycles, electric scooters, and other road transport vehicles.

[0066] V2X communications can be implemented using dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) wireless local area network (WLAN) technology or cellular technology and NR technology. V2X NR systems can be implemented using the sidelink communication standards set forth in the NR cellular standard to achieve high throughput, low latency communications between V2X devices. The types of information communicated between V2X devices may include Decentralized Environment Notification Messages (DENMs) and / or Basic Safety Messages (BSMs).

[0067] The amount of data sent by BSM and DENM is low. Examples of BSM transmission include one or more of the following:

[0068] Time, latitude, longitude, altitude

[0069] Positioning accuracy (estimated)

[0070] Speed, heading, acceleration, yaw rate

[0071] Steering wheel angle, transmission status, brake system status

[0072] Vehicle dimensions (length and width)

[0073] · Path history and path prediction

[0074] Event flags (e.g., hard braking, traction control, etc.)

[0075] ·Exterior lights

[0076] Various automatic systems have been designed to control (e.g., dim, shape, and / or redirect) the high beams of (road-bound) vehicles. Such systems may use technologies including imaging sensors, analog ambient light sensors, digital cameras, and vehicle recognition algorithms and / or adjustable (e.g., movable, dimmable, segmented, etc.) headlights. Many such systems rely only on sensors for line-of-sight (LOS) conditions between the vehicle requiring the use of high beams and an object (such as another road user or a traffic sign), and only work in a "head-on" approach configuration. Such systems may not work reliably when encountering hilly terrain or tight corners because other road users (e.g., oncoming vehicles) are not visible at a distance (i.e., non-line-of-sight (NLOS) conditions).

[0077] To accommodate NLOS-based adjustments of headlight beams, such as dimming, shaping, and / or redirection, some systems rely on onboard V2X communications to determine when to adjust the vehicle's headlights to accommodate another road user, such as another vehicle. Such systems use the positioning and motion characteristics of the other vehicle as indicated in V2X communications from the other vehicle to determine when the vehicle's headlights are to be switched from a high-beam state to a low-beam state or otherwise adjusted.

[0078] Certain aspects of the present disclosure are achieved with the recognition of the inherent deficiencies of existing headlight control systems. In certain aspects, the headlight control system of the present disclosure may be configured to control the lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern of the headlights of a vehicle (e.g., the headlights of a "subject vehicle") in response to objects and conditions other than those specifically associated with another vehicle. In certain aspects, the headlight control system may be configured to control the pattern of lighting provided by the headlights, rather than controlling the lighting intensity of the headlights in a binary manner (high beam to low beam). According to certain aspects of the present disclosure, the headlight control system may control the intensity of light emitted by the individual lighting elements of the headlights to provide a desired lighting pattern, for example, by selectively turning on / off individual lighting elements or groups of lighting elements. In certain aspects, the headlight control system may be configured to increase the lighting of the headlights to an object under certain conditions, and to reduce the lighting of the object under other conditions. In certain aspects, the headlight control system may already be in an appropriate state for illuminating an object, and therefore the current lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern may be maintained.

[0079] According to certain aspects of the present disclosure, an indication or determination of (the existence of) a potential safety condition at an object may be based on the receipt of one or more V2X safety messages by a V2X device on a subject vehicle. The subject vehicle in the present disclosure is a vehicle equipped with controllable (dimmable, selectively controllable, steerable, etc.) headlights. One or more V2X messages may explicitly indicate that the subject vehicle needs to control the intensity of the headlights to illuminate the object. In one aspect, an indication of the existence of a potential safety condition may be sent in data of a BSM and / or DENM communication by a V2X system that is co-located with the object (e.g., on the object, carried by the object, close to the object), or has knowledge of the potential safety condition of the object without being co-located with the object (e.g., a roadside unit (RSU)). In other words, the V2X system may be spatially and / or communicatively associated with the object.

[0080] The safety message may simply indicate that a potential safety condition exists at the object. However, according to certain aspects of the present disclosure, the safety message(s) may also explicitly indicate other information, such as 1) whether illumination of the object is required to ensure its visibility, 2) whether illumination of the object should be reduced to limit the risk of causing a blinding condition at the object, 3) the type of the object, or 4) any combination thereof.

[0081] With respect to illumination of an object, the potential safety condition indicated by the safety message may be a condition that may be addressed by increasing visibility of the object to a driver of the subject vehicle, or, in the case of an autonomously operated subject vehicle, increasing visibility of the object to an image sensor controlling operation of the subject vehicle. In such a case, for example, the illumination intensity and / or illumination pattern of the headlights may be adjusted to increase the intensity of the light beam emitted toward the object. If the intensity of the light beam emitted by the headlights toward the object is already maximized, the headlight control system may maintain the illumination intensity and / or illumination pattern in this state.

[0082] Alternatively, the potential safety condition indicated by the safety message may be a condition where illumination of the object should be limited to reduce the likelihood of blinding an individual at the object, or in the case of autonomous operation of the object, to reduce the likelihood that an image sensor used to control operation of the object will be overexposed. In this case, for example, the illumination intensity and / or illumination pattern of the headlights may be adjusted to reduce the intensity of the light beam emitted by the headlights toward the object.

[0083] The headlight control system of the present disclosure is applicable to a wide range of use cases. In one aspect, the object may be another vehicle, and the V2X safety message may be received from a V2X device on the other vehicle. A wide range of vehicle types are expected to be objects for such use cases. According to various aspects of the present disclosure, such vehicles may include motorized road vehicles, such as cars, trucks, motorcycles, scooters, motorized wheelchairs, and the like. In certain aspects, the type of vehicle may be explicitly indicated in the safety message. As an example, the safety message may indicate that the vehicle is one of the aforementioned vehicle types. Additionally or alternatively, the safety message may indicate specific properties of the vehicle type, such as, for example, an indication that the vehicle is an emergency vehicle, a construction vehicle, a passenger car, and the like.

[0084] On the other hand, the object may be a non-motor vehicle, and the V2X safety message may be received from a V2X device carried by the non-motor vehicle. For such use cases, a wide range of non-motor vehicle types are expected. According to various aspects of the present disclosure, such non-motor vehicles may include bicycles, non-motor vehicles, skateboards, skateboards, wheelchairs, etc. In some aspects, the type of non-motor vehicle may be explicitly indicated in the safety message. As an example, the safety message may indicate that the non-motor vehicle is one of the aforementioned non-motor vehicle types. The V2X device may be carried by the non-motor vehicle in various ways. For example, the V2X device may be a UE carried by an operator of the non-motor vehicle. In another example, the V2X device may be a detachable unit attached to the non-motor vehicle when operating the non-motor vehicle. In another example, the V2X device may be a fixed device of the non-motor vehicle. Based on the teachings of the present disclosure, it will be recognized that other ways in which non-motor vehicles can carry V2X devices can be implemented. As a result of the non-motor vehicle carrying the V2X device, context information (such as location and / or motion information) associated with the V2X device is also applicable to the associated non-motor vehicle.

[0085] In another aspect, the object may be a pedestrian, and the V2X safety message may be received from a V2X device carried by the pedestrian. The V2X device may be carried by the pedestrian in various ways. For example, the V2X device may be a UE carried by the pedestrian. In another example, the V2X device may be fixed to or otherwise integrated with a piece of clothing worn by the pedestrian. Based on the teachings of the present disclosure, it will be appreciated that other ways in which a pedestrian may carry a V2X device may be implemented. As a result of the pedestrian carrying the V2X device, contextual information (such as location and / or motion information) associated with the V2X device is equally applicable to the associated pedestrian.

[0086] In some aspects, the fact that the V2X device is associated with a pedestrian may be explicitly indicated in the safety message. In some aspects, the safety message may also indicate certain disabilities that the pedestrian possesses (e.g., blindness, hearing impairment, mobility impairment, etc.).

[0087] In another aspect, the object may be a road sign, and the V2X safety message may be received from a V2X device carried by the road sign and / or a V2X device having knowledge of the location of the road sign and optionally the characteristics of the road sign. The V2X device may be carried by the road sign in various ways. For example, the V2X device may be fixed to the road sign or otherwise integrated with the road sign. In another example, the V2X safety message may be received from a V2X device having knowledge of the location and / or characteristics of the road sign without being co-located with the road sign. For example, the V2X safety message may be received from a roadside unit (RSU). In certain aspects of the present disclosure, co-location with an object may indicate being carried by or attached to the object. In other aspects, co-location with an object may indicate being within a visible range and / or communication range with the object. As an example, an RSU may visually detect road hazards or communicate (wirelessly) with traffic signals. In contrast, a non-co-located RSU may have (configured) knowledge of the location of safety-related road signs and indicate this knowledge to the subject vehicle in a V2X safety message. In certain aspects, such an RSU may have knowledge of the location and / or type of multiple road signs in a particular area and transmit a V2X safety message associated with each such road sign. Based on the teachings of the present disclosure, it will be appreciated that other ways of associating V2X devices with road signage may be implemented.

[0088] In some aspects, the fact that the V2X device is associated with a road sign can be explicitly indicated in the safety message. In some aspects, the safety message can indicate the type of road sign (e.g., stop sign, yield sign, speed limit sign, road entrance / exit identifier, road condition or feature sign, construction sign, etc.).

[0089] In another aspect, the object may be a road hazard, and a V2X safety message may be received from a V2X device at the site of the road hazard and / or a V2X device having knowledge of the location of the road hazard and optionally the characteristics of the road hazard. In some aspects, the fact that the V2X device is associated with the road hazard may be explicitly indicated in the safety message. In some aspects, the safety message may also indicate the type of road hazard (e.g., accident site, road obstruction, lane closure, etc.).

[0090] A V2X device may be associated with a road hazard in a variety of ways. For example, a V2X device may be co-located with a road hazard. In another example, a V2X safety message may be received from a V2X device that has knowledge of the location and / or characteristics of a road hazard but is not co-located with the road hazard. For example, a V2X safety message may be received from a roadside unit (RSU). In certain aspects, such an RSU may have knowledge of the location and / or type of multiple road hazards in a particular area and send a V2X safety message associated with each such road hazard. Based on the teachings of the present disclosure, it will be appreciated that other ways in which a V2X device may be associated with a road hazard may be implemented.

[0091] Additionally or alternatively, the type of object may be determined based on information received from one or more image sensors of the subject vehicle. In some aspects, the image sensor data may be used to identify the type of object associated with the V2X safety message. As an example, the image information may be used to determine whether the object is a vehicle, a non-motorized vehicle, road construction, an emergency vehicle, a pedestrian, etc.

[0092] As described herein, the lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern of the headlights can be adjusted based on the characteristics (e.g., type) of the object and / or the conditions at the object. In some aspects, the lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern is adjusted to maintain or enhance the lighting of the object. In some aspects, the lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern is adjusted to reduce the lighting of the object to prevent blinding of a person at the object and / or overexposure of an image sensor used in the operation of the object.

[0093] Whether to control the lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern to maintain, increase, or decrease the illumination of the object by the headlights may be based on a default response configured at the onboard V2X device of the subject vehicle. For example, for all object types, the onboard V2X device may default to reducing the intensity of the light beam emitted toward the object. In other examples, for all object types, the onboard V2X device may default to maintaining or increasing the intensity of the light beam emitted toward the object.

[0094] According to certain aspects of the present disclosure, an onboard V2X device may control the lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern provided by a headlight based on the type of object. For example, an onboard V2X device may control the lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern of a headlight to increase the lighting of a generally stationary or slow-moving object (e.g., a non-motorized road user), such as a road sign, a road hazard, a non-motorized vehicle, a pedestrian, etc. In other examples, an onboard V2X system may control the lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern of a headlight to reduce the lighting of an object that is a driver-operated or autonomous motor vehicle (such as an emergency vehicle, a passenger car, a construction vehicle, etc.).

[0095] In certain aspects, the onboard V2X device may control the lighting intensity and / or lighting based on the conditions at the object and, optionally, the type of the object. For example, the onboard V2X device may control the lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern of the headlights based on the presence of a person at the object (e.g., operating a vehicle or within a (configurable) range from the object). In one example, the onboard V2X device may control the lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern of the headlights to maintain or increase the lighting of the construction zone when workers are not present, and thereby enhance the visibility of the driver and / or image sensor of the construction zone. Additionally or alternatively, the onboard V2X device may reduce the lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern of the headlights to reduce the lighting of the construction zone when workers are present. The reduction in lighting of the construction zone may prevent blinding of workers operating in the construction zone. In addition, the lighting of objects such as non-motor vehicles and / or pedestrians may be based on the direction of travel of such objects as the conditions at the object.

[0096] In certain aspects, the onboard V2X device may control the lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern provided by the headlights based on any relative motion between the subject vehicle and the object. The relative motion may include the direction and / or speed of the relative motion. In one aspect, when the object moves toward the subject vehicle, the onboard V2X device may control the lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern of the headlights to reduce the lighting of the object, because the operator at the object may be facing the direction of the object's motion. Additionally or alternatively, when the object moves away from the subject vehicle, the onboard V2X device may control the lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern of the headlights to increase the lighting of the object, because the operator at the object may be facing the direction away from the subject vehicle. Therefore, a person operating an object with relative motion away from the subject vehicle is less likely to experience blinding from the headlights. Movement toward / away from the subject vehicle may be defined relative to a road or road network, for example, if both the subject vehicle and the object are using the same road or are approaching the same intersection. The determination of relative motion may be based on map data.

[0097] A specific lighting adjustment operation (e.g., increasing the lighting to the object from a current lighting level, maintaining the lighting to the object at a current level, or decreasing the lighting to the object from a current level) may be pre-configured at the onboard V2X device based on the object type (e.g., as determined from a received safety message and / or from identifying an image received from an image sensor of the vehicle). Additionally or alternatively, the onboard V2X device of the subject vehicle may perform a lighting adjustment operation (e.g., increasing the lighting to the object, decreasing the lighting to the object, etc.) based on the type of adjustment indicated in the safety message. Based on the teachings of the present disclosure, it will be appreciated that other ways of signaling the necessary lighting adjustment operation may be used.

[0098] In addition to receiving a V2X safety message indicating that a potential safety condition exists at an object, the onboard V2X device may also perform additional operations to confirm whether any adjustments should be made to the illumination intensity and / or illumination pattern of the headlight beam. For example, the V2X device may determine whether the object is inside or outside a target area where the illumination of the object by the headlights may be adjusted to address the potential safety condition.

[0099] In other words, the target area can be defined based on the current lighting intensity and / or the current lighting mode and / or based on the lighting capabilities of the headlights. In one aspect, the target area can be defined as an area currently illuminated (e.g., with at least a target minimum intensity) based on the current lighting intensity and / or the current lighting mode. This definition of the target area can be used when the type of object, the condition at the object, and / or the V2X safety message indicates or suggests controlling the lighting intensity and / or lighting mode of the headlights to reduce the lighting of the object. On the other hand, the target area can be defined based on the lighting capabilities of the headlights, for example, as the maximum target area that can be illuminated by the headlights (e.g., with at least the target minimum intensity). The target area can be determined by the V2X device of the subject vehicle based on additional information as detailed below. As an example, the lighting characteristics of the headlights can be considered. Additionally or alternatively, when determining the target area (e.g., using map data, navigation data, and / or vehicle sensor data), the terrain of the environment of the subject vehicle (e.g., light obstruction caused by bends, hills, buildings, etc.) can be considered. In other words, considering the specific background of the subject vehicle, the target area can be defined as the actual area that is currently illuminated by the headlights or can be illuminated by the headlights. Such context may further include ambient light conditions to be considered when determining the target area, such as night time, active street lights, etc. As an example, when controlling the lighting settings of the headlights to avoid blinding other road users, the previously described target area may be adjusted according to the ambient light conditions, e.g., increased for low ambient light and decreased for high ambient light (e.g., by applying a scaling based on the ambient light level measured by the sensor).

[0100] The sensor data and / or map data may be integrated with other positioning information (eg, current position and / or predicted future position) to determine whether an object is within a target area.

[0101] In one aspect, when a V2X device receives a V2X safety message, it may determine whether an object is or will be within a target area of ​​illumination currently or maximally provided by the headlights of a subject vehicle. The onboard V2X device may make this determination based at least in part on the current location of the object and / or the predicted future location of the object. In one aspect, the current location of the object and / or the predicted future location of the object may be based on various information indicated by a V2X safety message sent by a V2X device associated with the object. In one aspect, the predicted future location of the object may be based on the current location of the object and 1) the speed of the object indicated in a V2X communication associated with the object, 2) the heading of the object indicated in a V2X communication associated with the object, and / or 3) the predicted path of the object indicated in a V2X communication associated with the object. The determination of whether the object will be within the target illumination area may also be based on the motion state (position, speed, and / or heading) of the subject vehicle. In other words, the V2X device may determine the predicted future target area based on the motion state of the subject vehicle (according to the above process). This prediction may be made using a fixed or speed-dependent time offset (of the subject vehicle).

[0102] However, in some scenarios, the current location of the object and / or the expected future location of the object may not provide a complete indication of whether the object is within the headlight illumination pattern of the subject vehicle. Therefore, according to certain aspects of the present disclosure, the location information (e.g., the location information indicated in a V2X safety message sent by a V2X device associated with the object) can be supplemented with additional information.

[0103] Various types of supplemental information may be employed in this regard. In one aspect, supplemental information may be obtained from sensor data. As an example, such sensor data may include image data associated with the external environment of the vehicle. Such image data may be used by the onboard V2X device to recognize graphics and / or text in road signs. Based on road signs, the onboard V2X device may determine that the road conditions (e.g., bends, intersections, terrain indications, etc.) indicated by the road signs make the object not in the target illumination area provided by the headlights of the subject vehicle, as described above. Additionally or alternatively, the image data may indicate that there are obstacles (e.g., buildings, walls, road dividers, trees, etc.) to the illumination provided by the headlights of the subject vehicle, which block the object from being illuminated by the headlights. Additionally or alternatively, light detection and ranging (LIDAR) sensors and / or radio detection and ranging (RADAR) sensors may be used to detect such obstacles.

[0104] Map data and / or navigation data may also be used to define whether an object is within a target illumination area of ​​a subject vehicle's headlights. The map data may include V2X map data, online map data provided by a map data server, local map data, or any combination of the foregoing.

[0105] In one aspect, determining that the object is within or proximate to a target illumination area for the headlights of the subject vehicle may include using the map data to detect, based on the map data, an occluding object (e.g., a building, a height difference between the subject vehicle and the object, etc.) that blocks illumination of the object by the headlights of the vehicle. As an example, determining that the object is within or proximate to the target illumination area may include determining that there is no such occluding object indicated by the map data.

[0106] In one aspect, determining that an object is or will be within a target lighting area may include detecting roads and / or road lanes used by the object and / or used by a subject vehicle based on map data and / or navigation data (e.g., including satellite and / or dead reckoning positioning data). For example, an onboard V2X device may determine, based on map data, a relationship between road lanes (e.g., including shoulders) occupied by the object and the subject vehicle to place the object within the target lighting area. Additionally or alternatively, the onboard V2X device may determine, based on map data, a relationship between road lanes such that their spatial relationship and / or relative orientation will not place the object within the target lighting area. Based on the teachings of the present disclosure, it will be appreciated that other relationships between the subject vehicle and the object may be used to determine, based on map data, whether the object is within a restricted area provided by the vehicle's headlights, and the foregoing is exemplary.

[0107] The sensor data may also be employed to provide supplemental information indicative of (ambient) lighting conditions outside the subject vehicle. In one aspect, if the lighting conditions outside the subject vehicle indicate that it is bright outside the vehicle (e.g., daytime or another condition in which the external lighting effectively eliminates the need to adjust the lighting provided by the subject vehicle's headlights, etc.), the onboard V2X system does not need to adjust the intensity of the headlight beam and may ignore the V2X message from the object, or alternatively, may reduce the target area, e.g., by a (configured) scaling factor. Additionally or alternatively, if the lighting conditions outside the subject vehicle indicate low light conditions (e.g., as experienced at night, in a tunnel, under an underpass, etc.), the onboard V2X device may determine that the lighting intensity of the headlight beam may not be ignored and continue to determine whether the object is in the target area, which may be further increased, e.g., by a (configured) scaling factor.

[0108] Figure 3300 is a diagram illustrating a subject vehicle 302 and a headlight control system 304 according to aspects of the present disclosure. The diagram 300 depicts the subject vehicle 302 with a driver 306 in a passenger cabin. The subject vehicle 302 also has an adjustable headlight 308. According to certain aspects of the present disclosure, the adjustable headlight 308 can be controlled to increase or decrease the intensity and / or adjust the lighting pattern of the light beam emitted by the adjustable headlight 308 toward the object. In certain aspects, the intensity and / or pattern of the light beam emitted by the adjustable headlight 308 can be adjusted so that different areas of the adjustable headlight 308 have different lighting intensities. For example, the adjustable headlight 308 can include a plurality of light emitting elements that can be individually adjusted to provide different light intensities, including selectively activating / deactivating individual light emitting elements or groups of light emitting elements. According to certain aspects of the present disclosure, the shape of the light beam emitted by the headlight is adjustable to provide a lighting pattern that selectively increases or decreases the lighting of the object. In this way, the lighting of the object can be selectively adjusted relative to the lighting in areas other than the target area. In one aspect, the lighting pattern can be asymmetric (between the left and right headlight beams). Examples of headlights that can be used to implement various examples of the disclosed systems include controllable light emitting diode matrix systems (LEDMS) and digital light processing systems (DLPS). According to certain aspects of the present disclosure, the headlights can be based on more traditional headlight systems that simply switch between an off condition, a low beam condition, and a high beam condition and / or control a set of headlight lenses to steer a corresponding headlight beam.

[0109] exist Figure 3 In the example shown, the headlight control system 304 may include an onboard (e.g., installed in the subject vehicle 302) V2X device 310 that is configured to receive V2X communications from other (external) V2X devices and to receive information from one or more sensors of a vehicle sensor system 312. As described herein, the sensors may be configured to monitor conditions outside the subject vehicle 302 to determine whether an object is within a target illumination area of ​​the vehicle headlights. In one aspect, the onboard V2X device 310 may also be configured to adjust the illumination intensity and / or illumination pattern of the adjustable headlights 308 via a headlight interface 314. In turn, the headlight interface 314 may provide a signal to a headlight driver system 316 that drives the light-emitting elements of the adjustable headlights 308.

[0110] According to certain aspects of the present disclosure, the (vehicle) sensor system 312 may also include one or more sensors that monitor the interior conditions of the vehicle's cabin. Figure 3In the example shown, such internal sensors may include one or more image sensors 318 configured to monitor the eyes 320 of the driver 306. Based on information derived from the one or more image sensors 318, the onboard V2X device 310 may determine a gaze state of the driver 306. Such information may indicate eye movement of the driver, open and / or closed state of the driver's eyes, behavior of one or both irises of the driver's eyes, or any combination thereof.

[0111] In certain aspects, the driver's gaze state may be used to determine that a potential beam blinding condition exists at the subject vehicle 302. In one aspect, the potential beam blinding condition corresponds to a likelihood of interference with safe operation of the vehicle due to excessive headlighting of the subject vehicle 302 by the headlights of another vehicle. Additionally or alternatively, a potential blinding condition due to activated rear fog lights of another vehicle traveling in front of the subject vehicle 302 may be determined based on the driver's gaze state. Interference with safe operation of the subject vehicle 302 may occur when the driver 306 operating the subject vehicle 302 is blinded by the headlights or rear fog lights of the other vehicle. Interference with safe operation of the autonomously driven vehicle may also occur when one or more sensors used to control the driving of the subject vehicle 302 are overexposed by the headlights or rear fog lights of the other vehicle. In response to determining that a potential (beam) blinding condition exists at the subject vehicle, the onboard V2X device of the subject vehicle 302 may send one or more V2X safety messages, for example to another vehicle or as a broadcast, indicating that a potential (beam) blinding condition exists at the subject vehicle 302. Based on sensor data from one or more vehicle sensors (such as camera sensors) and / or map data, a scene of a potential blinding condition due to rear fog lights can be distinguished from a scene of a potential blinding condition due to headlights of another vehicle, such as two vehicles traveling in the same lane. In the case of a potential blinding condition due to rear fog lights, the sent V2X safety message can explicitly instruct the V2X device of the other vehicle to deactivate the rear fog lights, for example, using the vehicle's rear fog light control system. Additional V2X information indicating the current location, expected location, movement parameters, and / or vehicle type of the subject vehicle 302 described herein can also be sent by the onboard V2X device of the subject vehicle 302.

[0112] Figure 4A and Figure 4BScenarios 400, 402 are depicted in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure, wherein the object is a pedestrian 404. In the scenario 400, a V2X device (not shown) carried by the pedestrian 404 transmits a V2X safety message indicating that there is a potential safety condition regarding illumination of the pedestrian 404. The subject vehicle 302 is moving along a road 406, and the onboard V2X system receives the V2X safety message from the V2X device carried by the pedestrian 404. Based on the location and / or expected future location of the pedestrian 404 and any supplemental information provided by sensors and / or map data, the onboard V2X system of the subject vehicle 302 has determined that the pedestrian 404 is within or proximate to a target area 408, in which illumination of the object by the headlights of the subject vehicle 302 may be adjusted to mitigate the potential safety condition. In this example, the onboard V2X device has been configured to increase illumination of pedestrian 404 to make pedestrian 404 more visible to the driver of subject vehicle 302 and / or sensors used to autonomously drive subject vehicle 302. The illustrative target area 408 in this example may be a target area defined based on the illumination capabilities of the headlights, for example, regarding an area that can be illuminated but is not currently illuminated to a desired illumination level. It should be understood that the target area 408 shown is not limited to the beam angle shown, but can be wider, for example, following the illumination angle 410. However, it will be recognized based on the teachings of the present disclosure that the V2X device can be configured to reduce illumination of pedestrian 404 to prevent blinding pedestrian 404. In this case, the target area 408 can be based on the current illumination intensity and / or illumination pattern of the headlights.

[0113] In one aspect, the onboard V2X device of the subject vehicle 302 may control the headlight beam to have different illumination intensities in different areas of headlight illumination. Here, the onboard V2X device has determined that the pedestrian 404 is located within the target illumination area 408. The onboard V2X device may control the headlight to provide a light beam directed to the pedestrian 404 with a higher illumination intensity than the light beam directed to another illumination area 410 that does not include the pedestrian 404. However, it will be appreciated based on the teachings of the present disclosure that the headlight may be controlled to have a reduced illumination intensity of the light beam emitted toward the pedestrian 404 to prevent blinding the pedestrian 404. According to certain aspects of the present disclosure in which the headlight is operated in a more conventional manner (e.g., on, high intensity, low intensity), the onboard V2X device may direct the headlight to transition from a low intensity state to a high intensity state to increase illumination of the pedestrian 404, or from a high intensity state to a low intensity state to prevent blinding of the pedestrian 404.

[0114] In scenario 402, a V2X device carried by pedestrian 404 is also transmitting a V2X safety message indicating that a potentially safe condition exists regarding illumination of pedestrian 404. Subject vehicle 302 is moving along road 414, and the onboard V2X system receives the V2X safety message from the V2X device carried by pedestrian 404. Based on the location and / or expected future location of pedestrian 404 and any supplemental information provided by sensors and / or map data, the onboard V2X system of subject vehicle 302 has determined that building 412 is blocking illumination of pedestrian 404 by the subject vehicle's headlights. In other words, Figure 4A 404. As a result, the onboard V2X device does not need to make any adjustments to the subject vehicle's headlights in response to the V2X safety message associated with the pedestrian 404, and can continue to illuminate the area 416 without adjusting the headlight lighting settings. According to various aspects of the present disclosure, the determination that the building 412 is an occluding object separating the vehicle's headlights from the pedestrian 404 can be based on the current location of the pedestrian 404, the expected future location of the pedestrian 404, sensor information indicating the presence of the building 412, map data indicating the presence of the building 412, the current location of the subject vehicle 302, the expected future location of the subject vehicle 302, or a combination thereof.

[0115] Figure 5A , Figure 5B and Figure 5C Scenes 500, 502, and 504 are depicted in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure, wherein the object is another vehicle 506. Figure 5AIn the illustrated scenario 500, a V2X device (not shown) on another vehicle 506 sends a V2X safety message indicating that a potential safety condition (e.g., a blinded driver or blinded sensor condition) exists with respect to the illumination of the other vehicle 506 by the headlights of the subject vehicle 302. The subject vehicle 302 is moving along a road or lane 508, and the other vehicle 506 is moving along another road or lane 510. Based on the location and / or predicted future location of the other vehicle 506 and any supplemental information provided by sensors and / or map data, the V2X system onboard the subject vehicle 302 has determined that the other vehicle 506 is not within or near a target area, where the illumination of objects by the headlights of the subject vehicle 302 may be adjusted to mitigate the potential safety condition. The target area may be determined based on the current illumination intensity and / or illumination pattern of the headlights. For example, the onboard V2X device of the subject vehicle 302 may determine that the relationship between roads 508 and 510 is such that they are separated from each other (e.g., horizontally separated, vertically separated, oriented in different directions, etc.) to a sufficient degree so as not to cause a safety condition. In another example in which the headlights are not adjusted, the onboard V2X device of the subject vehicle 302 may determine that an obstructing object (e.g., a road divider, a tree, etc.) blocks the headlights of the subject vehicle 302 from illuminating the other vehicle 506 (and thereby limits the target area such that the other road 510 is outside the target area). Therefore, the headlights of the subject vehicle 302 continue to operate at a lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern that illuminates the area 512 without making any adjustments to the safety condition indicated in the received V2X safety message.

[0116] exist Figure 5BIn the illustrated scenario 502, a V2X device on another vehicle 506 sends a V2X safety message indicating that a potential safety condition (e.g., a blinded driver or a blinded sensor condition) exists with respect to the illumination of the other vehicle 506 by the headlights of the subject vehicle 302. Likewise, the subject vehicle 302 is moving along a road or lane 508, and the other vehicle 506 is moving along another road or lane 510. Based on the location and / or expected future location of the other vehicle 506 and any supplemental information provided by sensors and / or map data, the V2X system onboard the subject vehicle 302 has determined that the other vehicle 506 is within a target area 514, where the illumination of objects by the headlights of the subject vehicle 302 may be adjusted to mitigate the potential safety condition. The target area 514 may be determined based on the current illumination intensity and / or illumination pattern of the headlights of the subject vehicle 302. For example, without adjusting the lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern of the headlights of the subject vehicle 302, the onboard V2X device of the subject vehicle 302 may determine that the relationship between roads 508 and 510 is such that they are not separated from each other to a sufficient degree to mitigate the safety condition. Therefore, the headlights of the subject vehicle 302 are adjusted by the onboard V2X system to reduce the lighting toward the other vehicle 506, for example, by dimming and / or deactivating the individual light emitting elements (groups) of the (left) headlight. In some aspects, the intensity of the headlight illumination area 516 can be maintained at the existing intensity without further adjustment.

[0117] Figure 5C The scene 504 shown in FIG. 5 is similar to the scene 502, except that the subject vehicle 302 and the other vehicle 506 are both traveling in the same direction but in different lanes of the same road 518. Based on the location and / or expected future location of the other vehicle 506 and any supplemental information provided by sensors and / or map data, the onboard V2X system of the subject vehicle 302 has determined that the other vehicle 506 is within or near a target area 520, where the illumination of the headlights of the subject vehicle 302 to objects can be adjusted to mitigate a potential safety condition. Therefore, the headlights of the subject vehicle 302 are adjusted by the onboard V2X system to reduce illumination toward the other vehicle 506. In some aspects, the intensity of the headlights illuminating the area 522 can be maintained at the existing intensity without further adjustment.

[0118] Fig. 6A and Figure 6B Depicted are scenes 600 and 602 in which one or more objects are associated with a construction zone in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Fig. 6AIn the illustrated scenario 600, a V2X device associated with a road construction sign 604 sends a V2X safety message indicating that a potentially safe condition exists with respect to the illumination of the road construction sign 604 by the headlights of the subject vehicle 302 (e.g., a need to make the object (road construction sign 604) visible to the driver of the vehicle and / or the image sensor of the autonomous vehicle). The V2X device sending the V2X safety message may be attached to or otherwise co-located with the road construction sign 604. Additionally or alternatively, the V2X safety message may be sent by an RSU 606 having knowledge of the location of the road construction sign 604 and optionally knowledge of the object type (e.g., knowledge that it is a road sign and / or knowledge that it is a road construction sign).

[0119] In the scenario 600, the subject vehicle 302 is moving along a road or roadway 608, and a road construction sign 604 is in a lane of the road 608 adjacent to the lane of travel of the subject vehicle 302. Based on the location of the road construction sign 604 and any supplemental information provided by sensors and / or map data, the onboard V2X system of the subject vehicle 302 has determined that the road construction sign 604 is within a target area 610, in which the illumination of the road construction sign 604 by the headlights of the subject vehicle 302 can be adjusted to mitigate a potential safety condition. The target area 610 can be defined based on the illumination capabilities of the headlights, for example, with respect to areas that can be illuminated but are not currently illuminated to a desired illumination level. It should be understood that the target area 610 shown is not limited to the beam angle shown, but can be wider, for example, including an illumination angle 612. Therefore, the headlights of the subject vehicle 302 are adjusted by the onboard V2X system to increase illumination toward the road construction sign 604. In some aspects, the intensity of the headlights in the illumination area 612 can be maintained at the existing intensity without further adjustment.

[0120] exist Figure 6B In the illustrated scenario 602, the subject vehicle has passed a road construction sign 604 and is approaching a construction zone 614 where a worker 616 is located. In one aspect, a V2X device associated with the presence of the worker 616 sends a V2X safety message indicating that a potential safety condition (e.g., a blinding condition for the worker) exists regarding illumination of the worker 616 by the headlights of the subject vehicle 302. The V2X safety message may be sent by a V2X device carried by one or more of the workers 616, or otherwise co-located with the workers 616 within the construction zone 614. Additionally or alternatively, the V2X safety message may be sent by an RSU 606 having knowledge of the location of the construction zone and knowledge of the presence of the worker 616 within the construction zone 614.

[0121] Based on the location of the construction zone 614 and / or the location of the worker 616 and any supplemental information provided by sensors and / or map data, the onboard V2X system of the subject vehicle 302 has determined that the worker 616 is within a target area 618, where the illumination of the subject vehicle 302's headlights to objects can be adjusted to mitigate a potential safety condition. The target area can be determined based on the current illumination intensity and / or illumination pattern of the headlights. Therefore, the headlights of the subject vehicle 302 are adjusted by the onboard V2X system to reduce illumination toward the worker 616. In some aspects, the intensity of the headlight illumination area 620 can be maintained at the existing intensity without further adjustment.

[0122] Figure 7 An example method 700 of wireless communication performed by an onboard vehicle-to-everything (V2X) device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown. At operation 702, the V2X device receives one or more V2X safety messages indicating a potential safety condition associated with illumination of an object. In one aspect, operation 702 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 210, one or more processors 232, memory 240, and / or headlight control component 242, any or all of which may be considered means for performing the operation.

[0123] At operation 704, the V2X device determines, in response to the one or more V2X safety messages, that an object is within or near a target area, in which the illumination of the object by the vehicle's headlights may be adjusted. In one aspect, operation 704 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 210, one or more processors 232, memory 240, and / or headlight control component 242, any or all of which may be considered means for performing the operation.

[0124] At operation 706, the V2X device adjusts the lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern of the vehicle's headlights in response to determining that the object is within the target area. In one aspect, operation 704 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 210, one or more processors 232, memory 240, and / or headlight control component 242, any or all of which may be considered means for performing the operation.

[0125] As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of the method 700 is that the V2X device adjusts the illumination provided by the vehicle's headlights to mitigate a potential safety condition indicated in a V2X safety message received by the V2X device.

[0126] Figure 8An example method 800 of wireless communication performed by a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) device associated with an object (e.g., attached to or co-located with the object or having knowledge of a potential safety condition at the object) is shown in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. At operation 802, the V2X device determines that a potential safety condition exists at the object, where the potential safety condition corresponds to a condition in which illumination of the object by headlights of a vehicle should be controlled (e.g., to attempt to make the object visible, or to mitigate a blinding condition at the object). In one aspect, operation 802 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 210, one or more processors 232, and / or memory 240, any or all of which may be considered means for performing the operation.

[0127] At operation 804, the V2X device sends one or more V2X safety messages indicating that a potential safety condition exists at the object. In one aspect, operation 804 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 210, one or more processors 232, and / or memory 240, any or all of which may be considered means for performing the operation.

[0128] As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of method 800 is that a V2X device transmits a V2X safety message indicating a potential safety indication that can be mitigated by controlling the headlights of a vehicle receiving the V2X safety message.

[0129] Fig. 9 An example method 900 of wireless communication performed by an onboard vehicle-to-everything (V2X) device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown. At operation 902, the V2X device determines that a potential (beam) blinding condition exists at the vehicle, wherein the potential (beam) blinding condition corresponds to a possibility of interference with safe operation of the vehicle due to excessive headlight or rear fog light illumination of the vehicle by another vehicle. In one aspect, operation 902 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 210, one or more processors 232, memory 240, and / or headlight control component 242, any or all of which may be considered as means for performing the operation.

[0130] At operation 904, the V2X device transmits one or more V2X safety messages indicating that a potential (beam) blinding condition exists at the vehicle. In one aspect, operation 904 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 210, one or more processors 232, memory 240, and / or headlight control component 242, any or all of which may be considered means for performing the operation.

[0131] As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of method 800 is that the V2X device detects a condition that may cause the driver of the vehicle to be potentially blinded by the headlights or rear fog lights of another vehicle. Based on detecting the potential blinding condition, the V2X device sends a V2X safety message indicating the potential blinding. The other vehicle may receive the V2X safety message and make any appropriate adjustments to its headlights or rear fog lights to mitigate the potential blinding condition.

[0132] It can be seen in the above detailed description that different features are grouped together in the examples. This disclosure should not be understood as an intention that the example clauses have more features than the features explicitly mentioned in each clause. On the contrary, various aspects of the present disclosure may include fewer features than all the features of the various example clauses disclosed. Therefore, the following clauses should be considered to be incorporated into the specification, where each clause itself can be used as a separate example. Although each subordinate clause can be referenced in a clause in a specific combination with one of the other clauses, the (one or more) aspects of the subordinate clause are not limited to the specific combination. It should be understood that other example clauses may also include a combination of (one or more) subordinate clause aspects with the subject matter of any other subordinate clause or independent clause, or any combination of features with other subordinate and independent clauses. Various aspects disclosed herein explicitly include these combinations, unless it is clearly expressed or can be easily inferred that a specific combination is not intended (for example, contradictory aspects, such as defining an element as both an electrical insulator and an electrical conductor). In addition, it is also intended that various aspects of the clause can be included in any other independent clause, even if the clause is not directly subordinate to the independent clause.

[0133] Examples of implementations are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0134] Clause 1. A method of wireless communication performed by an on-board vehicle-to-everything (V2X) device, comprising: receiving one or more V2X safety messages indicating a potential safety condition related to illumination of an object; in response to the one or more V2X safety messages, determining that the object is within or approaching a target area, in which illumination of the object by the vehicle's headlights can be adjusted; and in response to determining that the object is within the target area, controlling the illumination intensity and / or illumination pattern of the vehicle's headlights.

[0135] Clause 2. The method according to clause 1 further includes: determining the target area based on a current lighting intensity and / or a current lighting pattern of the vehicle's headlights.

[0136] Clause 3. The method according to any one of clauses 1 to 2 further comprises: determining the target area based on the lighting capability of the headlights of the vehicle.

[0137] Clause 4. The method according to any one of clauses 1 to 3 further comprises: determining the target area based on a current position of the vehicle and / or an expected future position of the vehicle using one or more vehicle sensors.

[0138] Clause 5. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 4, further comprising: detecting an obstacle that blocks the vehicle's headlights from illuminating a portion of the vehicle's environment; and determining a target area based on the detected obstacle.

[0139] Clause 6. The method of clause 5, wherein: detecting an obstacle blocking the headlights is based on sensor data received from one or more vehicle sensors.

[0140] Clause 7. The method of clause 6, wherein: the one or more sensors include one or more light detection and ranging (LIDAR) sensors.

[0141] Clause 8. The method of any one of clauses 6 to 7, wherein: the one or more sensors include one or more Radio Detection and Ranging (RADAR) sensors.

[0142] Clause 9. The method of any one of clauses 6 to 8, wherein: the one or more sensors include one or more image sensors.

[0143] Clause 10. The method according to any one of clauses 1 to 9, further comprising: detecting ambient lighting conditions outside the vehicle; and determining a target area based on the ambient lighting conditions.

[0144] Clause 11. The method according to any one of clauses 1 to 10, wherein controlling the lighting intensity and / or lighting mode of the headlight comprises: controlling the lighting intensity of one or more light emitting elements among a plurality of light emitting elements of the headlight.

[0145] Clause 12. Adjusting the illumination intensity of the one or more of the plurality of light emitting elements of the headlight to provide an illumination pattern that emits light with increased intensity toward the object.

[0146] Clause 13. The method of clause 12, wherein the lighting pattern is asymmetric between left-side headlight lighting intensity and right-side headlight lighting intensity.

[0147] Clause 14. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 11, wherein: the potentially safe condition is a condition in which the object should be illuminated so that the object is visible to the driver of the vehicle; and the lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern of the headlights is adjusted to increase the intensity of the light beam emitted toward the object.

[0148] Clause 15. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 11, wherein: the potential safety condition is a condition in which illumination of the object should be limited to reduce the possibility of blinding individuals at the object; and the lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern of the headlights are adjusted to reduce the intensity of the light beam emitted toward the object.

[0149] Clause 16. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 11, wherein: the potentially safe condition is a condition in which the object should be illuminated so that the object is visible to one or more image sensors used in the autonomous driving system of the vehicle; and the lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern of the headlights are adjusted to increase the intensity of the light beam emitted toward the object.

[0150] Clause 17. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 11, wherein: the potentially safe condition is a condition in which illumination of the object should be limited to reduce the likelihood of overexposure of one or more image sensors at the object; and the lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern of the headlights are adjusted to reduce the intensity of the light beam emitted toward the object.

[0151] Clause 18. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 17, wherein: one or more V2X safety messages indicating a potential safety condition related to lighting of an object are received from a roadside unit (RSU).

[0152] Clause 19. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 18, wherein: the object is another vehicle; and one or more V2X safety messages indicating a potential safety condition related to lighting of the object are received from a V2X device on the other vehicle.

[0153] Clause 20. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 18, wherein: the object is a non-motorized vehicle; and one or more V2X safety messages indicating a potential safety condition related to lighting of the object are received from a V2X device carried by the non-motorized vehicle.

[0154] Clause 21. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 18, wherein: the object is a pedestrian; and one or more V2X safety messages indicating a potential safety condition related to lighting of the pedestrian are received from a V2X device carried by the pedestrian.

[0155] Clause 22. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 18, wherein: the object is a road sign; and the lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern of the headlights is adjusted to increase the intensity of the light beam emitted towards the road sign.

[0156] Clause 23. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 18, wherein: the object is a roadside hazard; and the lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern of the headlights is adjusted to increase the intensity of the light beam emitted towards the roadside hazard.

[0157] Clause 24. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 18, wherein: the object is an emergency vehicle; and the lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern of the headlights is adjusted to reduce the intensity of the light beam emitted towards the emergency vehicle.

[0158] Clause 25. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 24, wherein: determining that the object is within the target area includes determining the current position of the object and / or the expected future position of the object based on the one or more V2X safety messages and / or additional V2X communications.

[0159] Clause 26. The method of clause 25, wherein: determining that the object is within the target area is also based on map data.

[0160] Clause 27. The method of clause 26, wherein determining that the object is within the target area comprises detecting a road lane used by the object based on the map data.

[0161] Clause 28. A method according to any one of clauses 26 to 27, wherein: the map data includes V2X map data.

[0162] Clause 29. A method according to any one of clauses 26 to 28, wherein: the map data comprises local map data.

[0163] Clause 30. A method according to any one of clauses 25 to 29, wherein: the current position of the object is based on position information indicated in a V2X communication related to the object.

[0164] Clause 31. A method according to any one of clauses 25 to 30, wherein the expected future position of the object is based on the current position of the object and: the speed of the object indicated in the V2X communication related to the object, the heading of the object indicated in the V2X communication related to the object, the expected path of the object indicated in the V2X communication related to the object, or any combination thereof.

[0165] Clause 32. A method of wireless communication performed by a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) device associated with an object, comprising: determining that a potential safety condition exists at the object, wherein the potential safety condition corresponds to a condition in which illumination of the object by headlights of a vehicle should be controlled; and sending one or more V2X safety messages indicating that the potential safety condition exists at the object.

[0166] Clause 33. A wireless communication method performed by an on-board vehicle-to-everything (V2X) device, comprising: determining that a potential beam blinding condition exists at a vehicle, wherein the potential beam blinding condition corresponds to a possibility of interference with safe operation of the vehicle due to excessive headlighting of the vehicle by another vehicle; and sending one or more V2X beam blinding vehicle safety messages, wherein the one or more V2X beam blinding vehicle safety messages indicate that a potential beam blinding condition exists at the vehicle.

[0167] Clause 34. A method according to clause 33, wherein: the existence of the potential beam blinding condition is determined based on information derived from one or more image sensors indicating a gaze state of a driver of the vehicle.

[0168] Clause 35. The method of clause 34, wherein: the information derived from the one or more image sensors indicates eye movement of the driver.

[0169] Clause 36. A method according to any one of clauses 34 to 35, wherein: the information derived from the one or more image sensors indicates the open and / or closed state of the driver's eyes.

[0170] Clause 37. A method according to any one of clauses 34 to 36, wherein: the information derived from the one or more image sensors is indicative of the behaviour of one or both irises of the driver's eyes.

[0171] Clause 38. A method according to any one of clauses 33 to 37, wherein: determining that a potential beam blinding condition exists is based on information about a state of the other vehicle indicated in V2X communications received from the other vehicle.

[0172] Clause 39. The method of clause 38, wherein the information about the status of the other vehicle indicates the location of the other vehicle.

[0173] Clause 40. The method of clause 39, wherein the information about the state of the other vehicle indicates a motion characteristic of the other vehicle.

[0174] Clause 41. The method of clause 40, wherein the motion characteristics of the other vehicle include: the speed of the other vehicle; the heading of the other vehicle; the predicted path of the other vehicle; or any combination thereof.

[0175] Clause 42. A method according to clauses 38 to 41, wherein: the information about the status of the other vehicle indicates a vehicle type of the other vehicle.

[0176] Clause 43. A method according to clauses 38 to 42, wherein: the information about the status of the other vehicle indicates the status of the headlights of the other vehicle.

[0177] Clause 44. A method according to any one of clauses 33 to 43, wherein: determining that a potential beam blinding condition exists is based on information provided by one or more image sensors mounted to the vehicle.

[0178] Clause 45. The method of clause 44, wherein information provided by the one or more image sensors indicates ambient lighting conditions outside the vehicle.

[0179] Clause 46. A method according to any one of clauses 44 to 45, wherein: the information provided by the one or more image sensors is indicative of ambient lighting conditions near the eyes of a driver of the vehicle.

[0180] Clause 47. The method of any one of clauses 44 to 46, wherein the information provided by the one or more image sensors is indicative of ambient lighting conditions in an interior cabin of the vehicle.

[0181] Clause 48. An on-board vehicle-to-everything (V2X) device comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: receive, via the at least one transceiver, one or more V2X safety messages indicating a potential safety condition related to lighting of an object; determine, in response to the one or more V2X safety messages, that the object is within or approaching a target area, in which the illumination of the object by the vehicle's headlights can be adjusted; and adjust the lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern of the vehicle's headlights in response to determining that the object is within the target area.

[0182] Clause 49. The V2X device of clause 48, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine the target area based on a current lighting intensity and / or a current lighting pattern of the vehicle's headlights.

[0183] Clause 50. A V2X device according to any one of clauses 48 to 49, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: determine the target area based on the lighting capability of the vehicle's headlights.

[0184] Clause 51. A V2X device according to any one of clauses 48 to 50, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: determine the target area based on a current position of the vehicle and / or an expected future position of the vehicle using one or more vehicle sensors.

[0185] Clause 52. A V2X device according to any one of clauses 48 to 51, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: detect an obstacle that blocks the headlights of the vehicle from illuminating a portion of the vehicle's environment; and determine a target area based on the detected obstacle.

[0186] Clause 53. A V2X device according to clause 52, wherein: detecting an obstacle blocking the headlights is based on sensor data received from one or more vehicle sensors.

[0187] Clause 54. A V2X device according to clause 53, wherein: the one or more sensors include one or more light detection and ranging (LIDAR) sensors.

[0188] Clause 55. A V2X device as described in any of clauses 53 to 54, wherein: the one or more sensors include one or more Radio Detection and Ranging (RADAR) sensors.

[0189] Clause 56. A V2X device according to any one of clauses 53 to 55, wherein: the one or more sensors include one or more image sensors.

[0190] Clause 57. A V2X device according to any one of clauses 48 to 56, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: detect ambient lighting conditions outside the vehicle; and determine a target area based on the ambient lighting conditions.

[0191] Clause 58. A V2X device according to any one of clauses 48 to 57, wherein the at least one processor is configured to adjust the lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern of the headlight, including the at least one processor being configured to adjust the lighting intensity of one or more light-emitting elements of a plurality of light-emitting elements of the headlight.

[0192] Clause 59. A V2X device according to clause 58, wherein: the lighting intensity of one or more of the plurality of light-emitting elements of the headlight is adjusted to provide a lighting pattern that emits light toward the object with increased intensity.

[0193] Clause 60. A V2X device according to clause 59, wherein: the lighting pattern is asymmetric between the left headlight lighting intensity and the right headlight lighting intensity.

[0194] Clause 61. A V2X device according to any one of clauses 48 to 58, wherein: the potentially safe condition is a condition in which the object should be illuminated to make it visible to the driver of the vehicle; and the lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern of the headlights are adjusted to increase the intensity of the light beam emitted toward the object.

[0195] Clause 62. A V2X device according to any one of clauses 48 to 58, wherein: the potentially safe condition is a condition in which illumination of the object should be limited to reduce the possibility of blinding individuals at the object; and the lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern of the headlights are adjusted to reduce the intensity of the light beam emitted toward the object.

[0196] Clause 63. A V2X device according to any one of clauses 48 to 58, wherein: the potentially safe condition is a condition in which the object should be illuminated so that the object is visible to one or more image sensors used in the autonomous driving system of the vehicle; and the lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern of the headlights are adjusted to increase the intensity of the light beam emitted toward the object.

[0197] Clause 64. A V2X device according to any one of clauses 48 to 58, wherein: the potentially safe condition is a condition in which illumination of the object should be limited to reduce the likelihood of overexposure of one or more image sensors at the object; and the illumination intensity and / or illumination pattern of the headlights are adjusted to reduce the intensity of the light beam emitted toward the object.

[0198] Clause 65. A V2X device as described in any of clauses 48 to 64, wherein: one or more V2X safety messages indicating a potential safety condition related to lighting of an object are received from a roadside unit (RSU).

[0199] Clause 66. A V2X device according to any one of clauses 48 to 65, wherein: the object is another vehicle; and one or more V2X safety messages indicating a potential safety condition related to lighting of the object are received from a V2X device on the other vehicle.

[0200] Clause 67. A V2X device according to any one of clauses 48 to 65, wherein: the object is a non-motorized vehicle; and one or more V2X safety messages indicating a potential safety condition related to lighting of the object are received from a V2X device carried by the non-motorized vehicle.

[0201] Clause 68. A V2X device according to any of clauses 48 to 65, wherein: the object is a pedestrian; and the one or more V2X safety messages indicating a potential safety condition related to lighting of the pedestrian are received from a V2X device carried by the pedestrian.

[0202] Clause 69. A V2X device according to any one of clauses 48 to 65, wherein: the object is a road sign; and the lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern of the headlights is adjusted to increase the intensity of the light beam emitted towards the road sign.

[0203] Clause 70. A V2X device according to any one of clauses 48 to 65, wherein: the object is a roadside hazard; and the lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern of the headlights is adjusted to increase the intensity of the light beam emitted towards the roadside hazard.

[0204] Clause 71. A V2X device according to any one of clauses 48 to 65, wherein: the object is an emergency vehicle; and the lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern of the headlights is adjusted to reduce the intensity of the light beam emitted toward the emergency vehicle.

[0205] Clause 72. A V2X device according to any one of clauses 48 to 71, wherein: determining that the object is within the target area includes determining the current position of the object and / or the expected future position of the object based on the one or more V2X safety messages and / or additional V2X communications.

[0206] Clause 73. A V2X device according to clause 72, wherein: determining that the object is within the target area is also based on map data.

[0207] Clause 74. A V2X device according to clause 73, wherein: determining that the object is within the target area includes detecting a road lane used by the object based on the map data.

[0208] Clause 75. A V2X device according to any one of clauses 73 to 74, wherein: the map data includes V2X map data.

[0209] Clause 76. A V2X device according to any one of clauses 73 to 75, wherein: the map data includes local map data.

[0210] Clause 77. A V2X device according to any one of clauses 72 to 76, wherein: the current position of the object is based on position information indicated in a V2X communication related to the object.

[0211] Clause 78. A V2X device according to any one of clauses 72 to 77, wherein the expected future position of the object is based on the current position of the object and: the speed of the object indicated in V2X communications related to the object, the heading of the object indicated in V2X communications related to the object, the expected path of the object indicated in V2X communications related to the object, or any combination thereof.

[0212] Clause 79. An on-board vehicle-to-everything (V2X) device comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: determine that a potential safety condition exists at an object, wherein the potential safety condition corresponds to a condition in which illumination of the object by headlights of a vehicle should be controlled; and send, via the at least one transceiver, one or more V2X safety messages indicating the presence of the potential safety condition at the object.

[0213] Clause 80. An on-board vehicle-to-everything (V2X) device comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor configured to: determine that a potential beam blinding condition exists at a vehicle, wherein the potential beam blinding condition corresponds to a possibility of interference with safe operation of the vehicle due to excessive headlighting of the vehicle by another vehicle; and send one or more V2X beam blinding vehicle safety messages via the at least one transceiver, the one or more V2X beam blinding vehicle safety messages indicating that a potential beam blinding condition exists at the vehicle.

[0214] Clause 81. A V2X device according to clause 80, wherein: the existence of a potential beam blinding condition is determined based on information indicative of a gaze state of a vehicle driver derived from one or more image sensors.

[0215] Clause 82. A V2X device according to clause 81, wherein: information derived from the one or more image sensors indicates eye movement of the driver.

[0216] Clause 83. A V2X device according to any one of clauses 81 to 82, wherein: information derived from the one or more image sensors indicates the open and / or closed state of the driver's eyes.

[0217] Clause 84. A V2X device according to any of clauses 81 to 83, wherein: the information derived from the one or more image sensors indicates the behavior of one or both irises of the driver's eyes.

[0218] Clause 85. A V2X device according to any one of clauses 80 to 84, wherein: determining that a potential beam blinding condition exists is based on information about a state of the other vehicle indicated in V2X communications received from the other vehicle.

[0219] Clause 86. A V2X device according to clause 85, wherein: the information about the status of the other vehicle indicates the location of the other vehicle.

[0220] Clause 87. A V2X device according to clause 86, wherein: the information about the state of the other vehicle indicates a motion characteristic of the other vehicle.

[0221] Clause 88. A V2X device according to clause 87, wherein the motion characteristics of the other vehicle include: the speed of the other vehicle; the heading of the other vehicle; the expected path of the other vehicle; or any combination thereof.

[0222] Clause 89. A V2X device according to any one of clauses 85 to 88, wherein: the information about the status of the other vehicle indicates a vehicle type of the other vehicle.

[0223] Clause 90. A V2X device according to any one of clauses 85 to 89, wherein: the information about the status of the other vehicle indicates a headlight status of the other vehicle.

[0224] Clause 91. A V2X device according to any one of clauses 80 to 90, wherein: the existence of a potential beam blinding condition is determined based on information provided by one or more image sensors mounted to the vehicle.

[0225] Clause 92. A V2X device according to clause 91, wherein: information provided by one or more image sensors indicates ambient lighting conditions outside the vehicle.

[0226] Clause 93. A V2X device according to any one of clauses 91 to 92, wherein: information provided by one or more image sensors indicates ambient lighting conditions near the eyes of a vehicle driver.

[0227] Clause 94. A V2X device according to any one of clauses 91 to 93, wherein: the information provided by the one or more image sensors is indicative of ambient lighting conditions in the interior.

[0228] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that any of a variety of different technologies and techniques may be used to represent information and signals. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be mentioned throughout the above description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof.

[0229] In addition, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the various illustrative logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithmic steps described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of the two. In order to clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been generally described above with respect to their functionality. Whether this functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the entire system. The technician can implement the described functions in different ways for each specific application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing deviations from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0230] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed using a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, a combination of one or more microprocessors and a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0231] The methods, sequences and / or algorithms described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in software modules executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software module may reside in a random access memory (RAM), a flash memory, a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), a register, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An example storage medium is coupled to a processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. In an alternative, the storage medium may be integrated into the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., a UE). In an alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside in a user terminal as discrete components.

[0232] In one or more example aspects, the functions described can be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, these functions can be stored on a computer-readable medium or sent on a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or codes. Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media, which include any media that facilitates the transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Storage media can be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example and not limitation, such computer-readable media can include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, or any other media that can be used to carry or store desired program codes in the form of instructions or data structures, and can be accessed by a computer. In addition, any connection is appropriately referred to as a computer-readable medium. For example, if software is sent from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwaves, coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwaves are included in the definition of the medium. As used herein, disk and disc include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc, where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0233] Although the foregoing disclosure shows illustrative aspects of the present disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications may be made herein without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps and / or actions of the method claims according to the aspects of the present disclosure described herein do not need to be performed in any particular order. In addition, although elements of the present disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural form is also contemplated unless explicitly stated to be limited to the singular.

Claims

1. A wireless communication method performed by a vehicle-to-everything V2X device, comprising: receiving one or more V2X safety messages indicating a potential safety condition related to illumination of an object; In response to the one or more V2X safety messages, determining that the object is within or approaching a target area, wherein illumination of the object by a headlight of the vehicle may be adjusted in the target area; as well as In response to determining that the object is within the target area, a lighting intensity and / or a lighting pattern of the headlights of the vehicle is controlled.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: The target area is determined based on a current lighting intensity and / or a current lighting pattern of the headlights of the vehicle.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: The target area is determined based on lighting capabilities of the headlights of the vehicle.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: The target area is determined based on a current location of the vehicle and / or an expected future location of the vehicle using one or more vehicle sensors.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: detecting an obstacle that blocks the headlights of the vehicle from illuminating a portion of the vehicle's environment; as well as The target area is determined based on the detected obstacles.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein: Obstacles blocking the headlights are detected based on sensor data received from one or more vehicle sensors.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein: The one or more sensors include one or more light detection and ranging (LIDAR) sensors.

8. The method according to claim 6, wherein: The one or more sensors include one or more Radio Detection and Ranging (RADAR) sensors.

9. The method according to claim 6, wherein: The one or more sensors include one or more image sensors.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: detecting ambient lighting conditions outside the vehicle; as well as The target area is determined based on the ambient lighting conditions.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Controlling the lighting intensity and / or lighting mode of the headlight comprises: The illumination intensity of one or more light emitting elements among the plurality of light emitting elements of the headlight is controlled.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein: The illumination intensity of one or more of the plurality of light emitting elements of the headlight is adjusted to provide an illumination pattern that emits light with increased intensity toward the object.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein: The lighting pattern is asymmetric between the left-side headlight lighting intensity and the right-side headlight lighting intensity.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein: The potentially safe condition is a condition in which the object should be illuminated to make the object visible to the driver of the vehicle; as well as The lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern of the headlight is controlled to increase the intensity of the light beam emitted toward the object.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein: The potentially safe condition is a condition in which illumination of the object should be limited to reduce the likelihood of blinding an individual at the object; as well as The lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern of the headlight is controlled to reduce the intensity of the light beam emitted toward the object.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein: The potentially safe condition is a condition in which the object should be illuminated to make the object visible to one or more image sensors used in an autonomous driving system of the vehicle; as well as The lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern of the headlight is controlled to increase the intensity of the light beam emitted toward the object.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein: The potentially safe condition is a condition in which illumination of the object should be limited to reduce the likelihood of overexposure of one or more image sensors at the object; as well as The lighting intensity and / or lighting pattern of the headlight is controlled to reduce the intensity of the light beam emitted toward the object.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein: The one or more V2X safety messages are received from a roadside unit (RSU) indicating the potential safety condition related to illumination of the object.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein: Determining that the object is within the target area includes determining a current position of the object and / or an expected future position of the object based on the one or more V2X safety messages and / or further V2X communications.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein: Determining that the object is within the target area is also based on map data.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein: Determining that the object is within the target area includes detecting a road lane used by the object based on the map data.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein: The map data includes V2X map data.

23. The method of claim 20, wherein: The map data includes local map data.

24. The method of claim 19, wherein: The current location of the object is based on position information indicated in the V2X communication related to the object.

25. The method according to claim 24, wherein: The predicted future position of the object is based on the current position of the object and: a speed of the object indicated in a V2X communication relating to the object, an orientation of the object indicated in a V2X communication relating to the object, an estimated path of the object indicated in a V2X communication relating to the object, or Any combination thereof.

26. A vehicle-to-everything (V2X) device comprising: Memory; at least one transceiver; as well as at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor configured to: receiving, via the at least one transceiver, one or more V2X safety messages indicating a potential safety condition related to illumination of an object; In response to the one or more V2X safety messages, determining that the object is within or approaching a target area, wherein illumination of the object by a headlight of the vehicle may be adjusted in the target area; as well as In response to determining that the object is within the target area, a lighting intensity and / or a lighting pattern of the headlights of the vehicle is controlled.

27. The V2X device according to claim 26, wherein: The at least one processor is further configured to: The target area is determined based on a current lighting intensity and / or a current lighting pattern of the headlights of the vehicle.

28. The V2X device according to claim 26, wherein: The at least one processor is further configured to: The target area is determined based on lighting capabilities of the headlights of the vehicle.

29. The V2X device according to claim 26, wherein: The at least one processor is further configured to: The target area is determined based on a current location of the vehicle and / or an expected future location of the vehicle using one or more vehicle sensors.

30. The V2X device according to claim 26, wherein: The at least one processor is further configured to: detecting an obstacle that blocks the headlights of the vehicle from illuminating a portion of the vehicle's environment; and The target area is determined based on the detected obstacles.

31. The V2X device according to claim 30, wherein: Obstacles blocking the headlights are detected based on sensor data received from one or more vehicle sensors.

32. The V2X device according to claim 31, wherein: The one or more sensors include one or more light detection and ranging (LIDAR) sensors.

33. The V2X device according to claim 31, wherein: The one or more sensors include one or more Radio Detection and Ranging (RADAR) sensors.

34. The V2X device according to claim 31, wherein: The one or more sensors include one or more image sensors.

35. The V2X device of claim 26, wherein the at least one processor is configured to control the lighting intensity and / or the lighting pattern of the headlight comprises the at least one processor being configured to: The illumination intensity of one or more light emitting elements among the plurality of light emitting elements of the headlight is controlled.

36. The V2X device according to claim 35, wherein: The illumination intensity of one or more of the plurality of light emitting elements of the headlight is controlled to provide an illumination pattern that emits light with increasing intensity toward the object.

37. The V2X device according to claim 35, wherein: The lighting pattern is asymmetric between the left-side headlight lighting intensity and the right-side headlight lighting intensity.

38. The V2X device according to claim 26, wherein: Determining that the object is within the target area includes determining a current position of the object and / or an expected future position of the object based on the one or more V2X safety messages and / or further V2X communications.

39. The V2X device according to claim 38, wherein: The current location of the object is based on position information indicated in the V2X communication related to the object.

40. The V2X device according to claim 26, wherein: Determining that the object is within the target area is also based on map data.

Images