Method and apparatus for communicating between entities in traffic system

Abstract

A method for communicating between entities in a traffic system is disclosed. The method includes obtaining, by a first entity, traffic environment information within its field of view sensed over a period of time; a data frame comprising a plurality of data packets is generated based on the traffic environment information, and the product of the number of the data packets and the transmission frequency of the first entity does not exceed a first threshold value; and wirelessly transmitting the generated data frame to the second entity. Several other aspects are also disclosed.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Broadly speaking, the present invention relates to wireless communication technologies, and more specifically, to methods and apparatuses for communicating between entities in a transportation system. Background Art

[0002] With the continuous development of technologies, vehicles and roadside units can be configured with various types of sensors and / or radars to capture various information in a traffic environment. Especially in the context of autonomous driving, the captured various information can be used for decision-making and planning related to intelligent driving. However, limited by factors such as sensor performance, road conditions, weather conditions, or obstacle occlusion, vehicles and roadside units cannot obtain traffic environment information outside their field of view. Therefore, it is necessary to communicate between different vehicles and / or roadside units to obtain more comprehensive traffic environment information.

[0003] Vehicle-to-everything is an interactive communication technology that includes vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P), vehicle-to-network (V2N), etc., which enables vehicles, roadside units, and traffic management systems, etc. to exchange information in real time through wireless communication technologies. The wireless communication can be based on the IEEE 802.11 WLAN standard (such as 802.11p extension, etc.), and is thus called WLAN-V2X. Alternatively, the wireless communication can be based on the 3GPP standard, and is thus called C-V2X or sidelink.

[0004] In practical applications, traffic environment information outside the field of view is often more critical for vehicle driving and scheduling. Therefore, timely information interaction between different vehicles and / or roadside units is required. Potentially, due to the mismatch in computing / processing capabilities between different entities in the transportation system or limited wireless channel resources, serious data packet loss or delay may occur in the information exchange between different entities, leading to safety hazards. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a method and apparatus for communicating between entities in a transportation system that can achieve robust communication between entities to provide better support for decision-making processes applied to intelligent driving, etc. Summary of the Invention

[0005] There are various types of entities in a transportation system, including but not limited to vehicles and roadside units (RSUs). To enable communication between entities in a transportation system, a wireless approach is typically adopted, such as vehicle-to-everything communication technology, which can be based on the IEEE 802.11 WLAN standard, the 3GPP standard, or any applicable communication protocol. Generally, the software / hardware processing capabilities of roadside units are superior to those of on-vehicle units. Therefore, within a certain period of time, roadside units can capture a large amount of traffic environment information, and sending all this traffic environment information to vehicles within a short time may exceed the processing capabilities of on-vehicle units / on-vehicle processors. In another scenario, especially in a traffic congestion environment, there may be communication between multiple entities occurring simultaneously, which may result in limited bandwidth of the wireless channels available for a single entity-to-entity communication. Due to the mismatch in processing capabilities between different entities or wireless channel limitations, data packet loss or delay may occur during communication.

[0006] There is a desire to provide a method and apparatus for communicating between entities in a transportation system that can flexibly configure data frames to be sent based on various factors (such as the capabilities of different entities and / or wireless channel limitations, etc.) to avoid data packet loss or delay during information transmission, thereby achieving robust communication between entities.

[0007] According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for communicating between entities in a transportation system. The method includes obtaining, by a first entity, traffic environment information sensed within its field of view within a certain period of time; generating, based on the traffic environment information, a data frame including a plurality of data packets, wherein the product of the number of the data packets and the transmission frequency of the first entity does not exceed a first threshold value; and wirelessly transmitting the generated data frame to a second entity.

[0008] According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for communicating between entities, including: a first entity configured to obtain traffic environment information sensed within its field of view within a certain period of time; generate, based on the traffic environment information, a data frame including a plurality of data packets, wherein the product of the number of the data packets and the transmission frequency of the transmission module does not exceed a first threshold value; wirelessly transmit the generated data frame to a second entity through the transmission module; and a second entity configured to receive the data frame to obtain the traffic environment information.

[0009] According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an entity for communicating, including: a memory; and a processor. The processor is coupled to the memory and is configured to cause one or more modules to execute the method according to any one or more of the various embodiments of the present invention.

[0010] In yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable medium storing a computer program including instructions which, when executed by a control unit, cause one or more modules to perform the method according to any one or more of the various embodiments of the present invention.

[0011] In still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer program product including instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause one or more modules to perform the method according to any one or more of the various embodiments of the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] The various embodiments of the claimed subject matter will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the different drawings, the same reference numerals are used to denote the same or similar components.

[0013] Figure 1 A block diagram of a traffic system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0014] Figure 2 A block diagram of an entity 200 for communication in a traffic system according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0015] Figure 3 A block diagram 300 of a first entity and a second entity for communication in a traffic system according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0016] Figure 4 A flowchart of a method 400 for communication between entities in a traffic system according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0017] Figure 5 A block diagram of a device 500 for communication between entities in a traffic system according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments of the present invention. However, those skilled in the relevant art will recognize that the present invention may be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or may be practiced using alternative methods, components, etc. In some instances, well-known structures, operations are not shown or described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure the present invention.

[0019] It should be understood that the term "vehicle" or other similar terms used herein include general motor vehicles, such as passenger cars (including sport utility vehicles, buses, trucks, etc.), various commercial vehicles, etc., and include hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, etc. The term "based on" used herein means "at least based on", rather than "only based on". The term "connected" used herein should be understood to include "direct connection", "indirect connection" or a combination thereof, and includes "wired connection", "wireless connection" or a combination thereof. The term "entity" used herein should be understood as a set of logical functions, and it is not required that the respective functional units of the "entity" be physically integrated in a single structure.

[0020] It can be expected that applying the method described in the present invention may involve the use of user-related data, such as driving route information, road environment information, driving behavior information, etc. It should be noted that the use of user-related data requires user permission, and the use shall not exceed the scope permitted by the user.

[0021] Figure 1 A block diagram of a traffic system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0022] As Figure 1 shown, the traffic system 100 may include different types of entities, for example, vehicles or roadside units. In one aspect, an entity may be equipped with one or more sensors and / or radars to capture various information in its traffic environment, for example, information about obstacles or road conditions. In yet another aspect, an entity may be equipped with one or more processors to convert the various information it captures into a data format suitable for further processing. In still another aspect, an entity may be equipped with one or more transmission modules or reception modules to send the information it captures to surrounding entities or receive information from surrounding entities.

[0023] Specifically, in Figure 1Shown therein are roadside units 101-103 and vehicles 111-113 traveling in a road environment. The roadside units 101-103 and the vehicles 111-113 can be respectively equipped with one or more sensors and / or radars, including but not limited to: ultrasonic radar, millimeter-wave radar, lidar, multi-mode radar, optical sensors, cameras, or other applicable types of sensors and / or radars. The roadside units 101-103 and the vehicles 111-113 can use the equipped sensors and / or radars to sense traffic environment information within their field of view, such as information about obstacles. The roadside units 101-103 and the vehicles 111-113 can use the equipped processors to convert the information captured by the sensors and / or radars into a data format suitable for further processing, for example, data conforming to the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) format, data conforming to the Data Distribution Service (DDS) protocol format, or data in JSON format, etc. The roadside units 101-103 and the vehicles 111-113 can use the equipped transmission module to send the traffic environment information they captured to the surrounding roadside units and vehicles, or can use the equipped receiving module to receive the traffic environment information they captured from the surrounding roadside units and vehicles.

[0024] In one aspect, the sending and / or receiving can be achieved wirelessly, such as vehicle-to-everything communication technology, which includes vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P), vehicle-to-network (V2N), etc. The wireless communication can be based on the IEEE 802.11 WLAN standard (such as 802.11p extension), and is thus called WLAN-V2X. Alternatively, the wireless communication can be based on the 3GPP standard, and is thus called C-V2X or sidelink. In Figure 1 Shown therein are V2I communication links 121 and 123, wireless communication link 122, and V2V communication link 124.

[0025] As Figure 1As shown, the sensors and / or radars of vehicle 111 or roadside unit 101 may not be able to obtain traffic environment information outside their field of view, such as information about vehicle 113. However, the sensors and / or radars of vehicle 112 or roadside unit 102 can capture information about vehicle 113 and send this information to surrounding vehicles and roadside units. In one aspect, vehicle 111 can receive data from vehicle 112 via communication link 124 to obtain information about vehicle 113. In another aspect, vehicle 111 can receive data from roadside unit 102 via communication link 121 to obtain information about vehicle 113. In yet another aspect, roadside unit 102 can send information about vehicle 113 to roadside unit 101 via communication link 122, and vehicle 111 can receive data from roadside unit 101 via communication link 123 to obtain information about vehicle 113. In a similar manner, vehicles or roadside units can obtain traffic environment information outside their field of view, thus supporting decision-making and planning, for example, in intelligent driving scenarios.

[0026] However, there is a problem of mismatched computing / processing capabilities among different entities in the traffic system. For example, the computing / processing capabilities of each unit / module equipped in the roadside unit are generally better than those of each unit / module equipped in the vehicle. Therefore, the roadside unit can obtain a large amount of information about the traffic environment within its field of view within a certain period of time. However, if all the information it obtains is sent to the vehicle in a short period of time, the vehicle may not have the ability to correctly receive and timely process the corresponding information. Moreover, in the actual traffic environment, there can be a large number of entities, and information transmission among various entities may involve simultaneous occupation of wireless communication links. Requiring a single entity-to-entity communication to occupy a large amount of bandwidth may result in data packet loss or interference with communication among other entities. Therefore, it is necessary to flexibly configure the data frames to be sent based on various factors (such as the computing / processing capabilities of different entities and / or wireless channel limitations, etc.) to avoid data packet loss or delay during information transmission, thereby achieving robust communication among entities.

[0027] Figure 2 A block diagram of an entity 200 for communication in a traffic system according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. The following will be combined with Figure 2 the block diagram to describe a method for communication in a traffic system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0028] In one embodiment, the entity 200 can be a vehicle. In one embodiment, the entity 200 can be an on-vehicle control unit or an auxiliary system of a vehicle, such as, for example, an electronic control unit (ECU), an electronic management unit (EMU), an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), an autonomous driving system (AD), etc., or any applicable processing unit / module or system with corresponding capabilities installed on the vehicle.

[0029] In one embodiment, the entity 200 can be a roadside unit. In one embodiment, the entity 200 can be a control module of the roadside unit, or any applicable processing unit / module or system with corresponding capabilities installed inside the roadside unit.

[0030] As Figure 2 shown, the entity 200 can include a sensing module 201, a computing module 202, a transmitting module 203, and a receiving module 204. It should be noted that the "entity" described in the present invention refers to a set of logical function collections, which can be implemented in the form of software, hardware, or a combination thereof, and although Figure 2 shown as such, it is not necessarily required that the above functional modules be physically co-located in a single structure, and the "entity" can include additional modules not shown.

[0031] In one embodiment, within a period of time, the sensing module 201 can sense traffic environment information within its field of view, including but not limited to traffic flow information, road geometric characteristics, traffic signal states, object-related information (such as vehicles, pedestrians, road facilities, other obstacles), etc. For example, the sensing module 201 can include ultrasonic radars, millimeter-wave radars, lidars, multi-mode radars, optical sensors, cameras, or other applicable types of sensors and / or radars. In an actual application scenario, the sensing module 201 can sense a large amount of traffic environment information. Therefore, when transmitted by the transmitting module 312, not only the size of a single data frame needs to be controlled, but also the data within a single data frame needs to be segmented into several data packets for easy transmission.

[0032] In one embodiment, the sensing module 201 can transmit the sensed traffic environment information to the computing module 202, and the computing module 202 can generate a data frame including several data packets based on the traffic environment information. For example, the computing module 202 can be a processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, etc. For another example, the computing module 202 can be an edge computing node, which can be implemented in the form of hardware, software, or a combination thereof.

[0033] To achieve robust communication between entities, it is required that the product of the number of data packets included in the data frame generated by the computing module 202 and the transmission frequency of the transmission module 203 does not exceed a first threshold value. In one aspect, the transmission frequency of the transmission module 203 can depend on the hardware configuration, software settings, or a combination thereof. In one aspect, the first threshold value is preset based on one or more of the following: the processing capacity of the sending entity, the processing capacity of the receiving entity, the transmission capacity of the transmission module, the receiving capacity of the receiving module, or the limitations of the wireless channel. In one aspect, the limitations of the wireless channel are determined based on one or more of the following: the available bandwidth of the wireless channel, the packet loss rate, or the transmission delay.

[0034] In one embodiment, the computing module 202 can transmit the generated data frame to the transmission module 203, and the transmission module 203 can send the data frame to other entities.

[0035] In one embodiment, the receiving module 204 can receive the data frame from other entities and transmit the received data frame to the computing module 202 for further processing. In one aspect, the computing module 202 can obtain traffic environment information outside the field of view of the entity 200 based on the received data frame, and transmit the traffic environment information to other modules or systems, such as a driving assistance system (ADAS) or an autonomous driving system (AD), etc. to support decision-making and planning.

[0036] In one embodiment, the communication between each module can be based on any applicable bus communication protocol, such as the IIC protocol, UART protocol, SPI protocol, RS protocol, etc. In another embodiment, the communication between each module can be based on any applicable network communication protocol, such as the TCP / IP protocol, UDP protocol, DDS protocol, etc.

[0037] In one embodiment, the transmission module 203 and the receiving module 204 can be co-located as a single communication module.

[0038] In the embodiment described in conjunction with Figure 2 Since the number of data packets included in the data frame is subject to the first threshold value, this can effectively avoid data packet loss and / or delay caused by the amount of traffic environment information sensed by the sending entity exceeding the computing / processing capacity of the sending / receiving entity and / or the limitations of the wireless channel.

[0039] Figure 3 Block diagram 300 of a first entity and a second entity for communication in a traffic system according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. The method for communication in a traffic system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below in conjunction with the Figure 3 block diagram.

[0040] AsFigure 3 As shown, the first entity 310 may include a sensing module 311, a computing module 312, and a transmitting module 313; the second entity 320 may include a receiving module 324 and a computing module 322. In one aspect, the first entity 310 or the second entity 320 may be an example of the entity 200 described with reference to Figure 2 In one aspect, the first entity 310 may be a sending entity, and the second entity 320 may be a receiving entity. In one aspect, the first entity 310 may be a roadside unit or a vehicle, and the second entity 320 may be a vehicle. In another aspect, the first entity 310 may be a roadside unit or a vehicle, and the second entity 320 may be a roadside unit.

[0041] In one embodiment, the sensing module 311 senses traffic environment information within the field of view of the first entity 310 over a period of time. In one aspect, the sensing module 311 may be an example of the sensing module 201 described with reference to Figure 2 In one aspect, the sensing module 311 may include an ultrasonic radar, a millimeter-wave radar, a lidar, a multi-mode radar, an optical sensor, a camera, or other suitable types of sensors and / or radars. In one aspect, the traffic environment information may include object-related information within the field of view, such as vehicles, pedestrians, road facilities, other obstacles, etc. In other aspects, the traffic environment information may include traffic flow information, road geometric characteristics, traffic signal status, etc. It should be noted that, for ease of understanding, the following description of Figure 3 is mainly based on the traffic environment information including object-related information, but it is only an example and not a limitation.

[0042] For example, the object-related information may include free space, which represents the space where a vehicle can travel without any occupying objects currently. For example, the free space can be described by the coordinates of the objects present in the space. A message indicating the free space may indicate multiple objects within the field of view. A single object may correspond to a single polygon and is represented by the coordinates of multiple points outlining the outer edge of the polygon. For example, the sensing module 311 may sense that there are four objects within the field of view, as shown as 301 in Figure 3 and are respectively shown as four polygons. Figure 3 The number of objects in

[0043] In one embodiment, the sensing module 311 may transmit the sensed free space to the computing module 312, and the computing module 312 may generate a data frame including a number of data packets based on the free space. In one aspect, the computing module 312 may be the one described with reference to Figure 2Example of the described computing module 202. In one aspect, the computing module 312 can be any suitable processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, etc. In one aspect, the computing module 312 can be an edge computing node, which can be implemented in a way of hardware, software, or a combination thereof. In one aspect, the available space can be described by multiple sets of point coordinates representing multiple polygons within the field of view.

[0044] In one embodiment, the product of the number of data packets in the data frame generated by the computing module 312 and the transmission frequency of the transmission module 313 does not exceed a first threshold value.

[0045] In one aspect, the first threshold value is preset based on one or more of the following: the processing capacity of the first entity, the processing capacity of the second entity, the transmission capacity of the first entity, the reception capacity of the second entity, or the limitations of the wireless channel. For example, the processing capacities of the sensing module 311 and the computing module 312 of the first entity 310, the processing capacity of the computing module 322 of the second entity 320, the transmission capacity of the transmission module 313 of the first entity 310, the reception capacity of the reception module 322 of the second entity 320, etc. In one aspect, the limitations of the wireless channel can be determined based on one or more of the following: the available bandwidth of the wireless channel, the packet loss rate, or the transmission delay. For example, the bandwidth available for a single communication can be determined based on wireless communication link requirements or standards. For another example, the limitations of the wireless channel can be empirically determined based on the statistical packet loss rate or transmission delay of the occurred communications. For example, if the statistical packet loss rate or transmission delay of the occurred communications shows that when the data transmission frequency is higher than 50Hz, there is an obvious upward inflection point in the packet loss rate and the transmission delay, then the first threshold value can be preset to 50Hz accordingly.

[0046] The computing module 312 can determine the number of data packets based on the product of the number of data packets and the transmission frequency not exceeding the first threshold value, based on the transmission frequency and the first threshold value. For example, the transmission frequency of the transmission module 313 can be preset through hardware configuration, software setting, or both, such as being set to 10Hz. Therefore, according to the limitation that the number of data packets * 10Hz ≤ 50Hz, it can be determined that the number of data packets included in the data frame does not exceed 5.

[0047] The calculation module 312 may divide the information corresponding to a single object within the same data packet, and the information of multiple objects may be included in a single data packet. For example, the available space received by the calculation module 312 from the sensing module 311 may indicate 40 objects in the field of view, which may be evenly divided into 5 data packets, that is, each data packet includes information about 8 objects, or alternatively, they may be unevenly divided into 5 data packets, that is, some data packets include more object information than other data packets.

[0048] The calculation module 312 may determine the information carrying capacity of each data frame based on the number of data packets and the information carrying capacity per data packet. For example, the calculation module 312 may determine that the information carrying capacity of each data frame includes at most 800 point coordinates based on the determined number of data packets being 5 and the information carrying capacity per data packet including at most 160 point coordinates. For another example, the calculation module 312 may determine that the information carrying capacity of each data frame includes at most 40 object information based on the determined number of data packets being 5 and the information carrying capacity per data packet including at most 8 object information.

[0049] In one aspect, the calculation module 312 may determine the number of objects included in each data packet based on the information carrying capacity per data packet and the amount of information about a single object. For example, in the case where the information carrying capacity of each data packet is the same, the calculation module 312 may determine that each data packet includes at most 8 object information based on a single object being representable by 20 point coordinates and the information carrying capacity per data packet including at most 160 point coordinates. For another example, in the case where the information carrying capacity of each data packet is different, the calculation module 312 may determine that data packets 1 and 2 respectively include 4 object information based on a single object being representable by 20 point coordinates and the information carrying capacity of data packets 1 and 2 including at most 80 point coordinates; determine that data packets 3 and 4 respectively include 8 object information based on a single object being representable by 20 point coordinates and the information carrying capacity of data packets 3 and 4 including at most 160 point coordinates; determine that data packet 5 includes 8 object information based on a single object being representable by 40 point coordinates and the information carrying capacity of data packet 5 including at most 320 point coordinates.

[0050] In one aspect, the information-carrying capacity of each data packet can be preset based on one or more of the following: the processing capacity of the first entity, the processing capacity of the second entity, the transmitting capacity of the transmitting module, the receiving capacity of the receiving module, or the limitations of the wireless channel. For example, the processing capacities of the sensing module 311 and the computing module 312 of the first entity 310, the processing capacity of the computing module 322 of the second entity 320, the transmitting capacity of the transmitting module 313 of the first entity 310, the receiving capacity of the receiving module 322 of the second entity 320, etc. In one aspect, the limitations of the wireless channel can be determined based on one or more of the following: wireless channel bandwidth, packet loss rate, or transmission delay. For example, the size of a single data packet can be determined based on wireless communication link requirements or standards. For another example, the limitations of the wireless channel can be empirically determined based on the statistical packet loss rate or transmission delay. For example, based on the statistics of the packet loss rate or transmission delay, the information-carrying capacity of each data packet can be set to include at most 160 point coordinates.

[0051] The computing module 312 can select information about the object based on the information-carrying capacity of each data frame and the information-carrying capacity of each data packet to generate a data frame. For example, the available space received by the computing module 312 from the sensing module 311 can indicate 60 objects in the field of view. The computing module 312 can select information about 40 objects to generate a data frame based on the determined information-carrying capacity of each data frame including at most 800 point coordinates and that a single object can be represented by 20 point coordinates. Further, the computing module 312 can divide the information about 40 objects into groups of 8 objects each based on the determined information-carrying capacity of each data packet including at most 160 point coordinates and that a single object can be represented by 20 point coordinates to generate several data packets. For another example, in the case of higher precision requirements, a single object can be represented by 40 point coordinates, then the computing module 312 can select information about 20 objects to generate a data frame and divide the information about 20 objects into groups of 4 objects each to generate several data packets.

[0052] In one aspect, each object can be represented by a different number of point coordinates. For example, by setting a threshold value, objects larger than the threshold value can be represented by 40 point coordinates, while objects smaller than the threshold value can be represented by 20 point coordinates. In one aspect, the computing module 312 can downsample the point coordinates representing the object and generate a data frame based on the downsampled point coordinates.

[0053] The computing module 312 may select information about objects based on a predetermined rule to generate a data frame. For example, the computing module 312 may select information about objects in the order of the sensed signals of each object from strong to weak to generate a data frame. For another example, the computing module 312 may select information about objects in the order of the sensed distances of each object from near to far to generate a data frame. For still another example, the computing module 312 may select information about objects that has not been sent previously to generate a data frame. For yet another example, the computing module 312 may select information about objects in the order of the correlation with the current entity space from strong to weak. For yet another example, the computing module 312 may select information about objects in the order of security from strong to weak, and the security may be determined according to the functional safety / expected functional safety correlation. As Figure 3 shown in 302 in Figure 3 , the number of objects is only an example, and other numbers of objects may be included in an actual scenario.

[0054] In one aspect, the computing module 312 may generate a data frame to include timestamp information indicating a sensing time period, resolution information, and a reference coordinate, wherein the point coordinates of the polygon corresponding to the object are represented by an offset relative to the reference coordinate based on the resolution. For example, the data frame may include timestamp information, which may indicate the sensing time of the information about the object in the current data frame or the generation time of the data frame. For example, the data frame may include resolution information, which indicates the grid granularity on each axis in a coordinate system (two-dimensional or three-dimensional). Referring to Figure 3 301 in

[0055] , the resolution information (1m, 2m) may indicate that 301 is divided into 1m * 2m grids on a two-dimensional plane. For example, the point coordinates of the polygon corresponding to the object may be represented as positions relative to the reference coordinate in the grid based on the resolution. In one aspect, the computing module 312 may also generate a data frame to include a field indicating the type of traffic environment information, such as a field indicating that the content of the current data frame is "available space".

[0055] The computing module 312 may transmit the generated data frame to the transmitting module 313, and the transmitting module 313 may send the data frame to the second entity 320. In one aspect, the transmitting module 313 may be an example of the transmitting module 203 described with reference to Figure 2 . In one aspect, the transmitting module 313 may be any applicable communication module, such as a wireless communication module supporting V2X, WLAN protocol, 3GPP protocol, etc. In one aspect, the transmitting module 313 may send the data frame to the second entity 320 by any applicable means, such as V2X, WLAN protocol, 3GPP protocol, etc.

[0056] The receiving module 324 of the second entity 320 may receive a data frame sent by the transmitting module 313 of the first entity 310, which indicates the available space within the field of view of the first entity 310. In one aspect, the receiving module 324 may be an example of the receiving module 204 described with reference to Figure 2 In one aspect, the receiving module 324 may be any suitable communication module, such as a wireless communication module supporting V2X, WLAN protocol, 3GPP protocol, etc. In one aspect, the receiving module 324 may receive the data frame from the first entity 310 in any suitable manner, such as V2X, WLAN protocol, 3GPP protocol, etc.

[0057] For example, the receiving module 324 may obtain the absolute point coordinates of the plurality of polygons based on the resolution information, reference coordinates, and the offset relative to the reference coordinates included in the data frame. For example, the receiving module 324 may calculate the absolute point coordinates representing the polygon based on the resolution information (1m, 2m), reference coordinates (3, 5), and an offset of a certain point (6, 6). For example, the receiving module 324 may calculate the absolute point coordinates of the point by adding the reference coordinates and the offset and then multiplying by the resolution of the corresponding axis.

[0058] The receiving module 324 may transmit the absolute point coordinates representing the polygon to the calculation module 322 to obtain the available space within the field of view of the first entity 310. As shown in 302 in Figure 3 The calculation module 322 may obtain information about two of the four objects shown in 301 in Figure 3 In one aspect, the calculation module 322 may be an example of the calculation module 202 described with reference to Figure 2 In one aspect, the calculation module 322 may be any suitable processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, etc. In one aspect, the calculation module 312 may be an edge computing node, which may be implemented in a way of hardware, software, or a combination thereof.

[0059] The calculation module 322 may transmit the obtained available space within the field of view of the first entity 310 to other modules or systems, such as an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) or an autonomous driving system (AD), etc. to support decision-making and planning, or such as a parking lot scheduling system to support system scheduling.

[0060] In one embodiment, the transmitting module 313 or the receiving module 324 includes one of the following: an on-board unit (OBU) or a roadside unit (RSU).

[0061] In one embodiment, the communication between each module may be based on any applicable bus communication protocol, such as the IIC protocol, UART protocol, SPI protocol, RS protocol, etc. In another embodiment, the communication between each module may be based on any applicable network communication protocol, such as the TCP / IP protocol, UDP protocol, DDS protocol, etc. In one aspect, the data transmitted between each module may have any applicable data format, such as the JSON format.

[0062] Although Figure 3 it is mainly described based on traffic environment information including object-related information, those skilled in the art can understand that other types of traffic environment information can be processed according to similar methods to avoid data packet loss and / or delay caused by the mismatch of the computing / processing capabilities of entities and / or wireless channel limitations.

[0063] Figure 4 The flowchart of method 400 for communicating between entities in a traffic system according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown.

[0064] At 401, the traffic environment information sensed within its field of view within a period of time may be obtained by the first entity. For example, the first entity may be an example of entity 200 described with reference to Figure 2 or entity 310 described with reference to Figure 3 and the operation of 401 may be performed by the sensing module of the first entity, such as sensing module 201 described with reference to Figure 2 or sensing module 311 described with reference to Figure 3 description.

[0065] In one aspect, the first entity senses the traffic environment information through one or more of the following: ultrasonic radar, millimeter wave radar, lidar, multi-mode radar, optical sensor, or camera. In one aspect, the traffic environment information includes information about the objects within the traffic environment. In one aspect, the information about the objects within the traffic environment includes the point coordinates describing the polygons corresponding to each object.

[0066] At 402, a data frame including a number of data packets may be generated based on the traffic environment information, where the product of the number of data packets and the transmission frequency of the first entity is less than the first threshold value. The operation of 402 may be performed by the computing module of the first entity, such as computing module 202 described with reference to Figure 2 or computing module 312 described with reference to Figure 3 description.

[0067] In one aspect, the first threshold value is preset based on one or more of the following: the processing capacity of the first entity, the processing capacity of the second entity, the transmitting capacity of the first entity, the receiving capacity of the second entity, or the limitations of the wireless channel. In one aspect, the limitations of the wireless channel are determined based on one or more of the following: the available bandwidth of the wireless channel, the packet loss rate, or the transmission delay.

[0068] In one aspect, the number of data packets is determined based on the transmission frequency and the first threshold value, the amount of information carried per data frame is determined based on the number of data packets and the amount of information carried per data packet, and information about the object is selected based on the determined amount of information carried per data frame and the amount of information carried per data packet to generate a data frame.

[0069] In one aspect, information corresponding to a single object is divided within the same data packet. In one aspect, the amount of information carried per data packet is preset based on one or more of the following: the processing capacity of the first entity, the processing capacity of the second entity, the transmitting capacity of the first entity, the receiving capacity of the second entity, or the limitations of the wireless channel. In one aspect, the number of objects included in each data packet is determined based on the amount of information carried per data packet and the amount of information of the information about a single object.

[0070] In one aspect, information about the object is selected in the order from strong to weak of the sensing signal to generate a data frame; information about the object is selected in the order from near to far of the sensing distance to generate a data frame; and / or information about the object that has not been sent previously is selected to generate a data frame.

[0071] In one aspect, the generated data frame includes timestamp information, resolution, and reference coordinates, and wherein the point coordinates of the polygon are represented by an offset relative to the reference coordinates based on the resolution.

[0072] At 403, the generated data frame can be wirelessly sent to the second entity. For example, the second entity can be an example of the entity 200 described with reference to Figure 2 or the entity 320 described with reference to Figure 3 The operation of 403 can be performed by the transmitting module of the first entity, such as the transmitting module 203 described with reference to Figure 2 and the transmitting module 313 described with reference to Figure 3

[0073] In one aspect, the wireless manner follows the vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication protocol.

[0074] In one aspect, the second entity receives the data frame through the receiving module to obtain traffic environment information. For example, by referring to​Figure 2 the described receiving module 204 or with reference to Figure 3 the described receiving module 324 obtains the absolute point coordinates of a plurality of polygons based on the resolution, reference coordinates, and the offset relative to the reference coordinates.

[0075] In one aspect, the first entity or the second entity includes one of the following: a vehicle, an on-board unit (OBU), or a roadside unit (RSU).

[0076] Figure 5 FIG. shows a block diagram of a device 500 for communication between entities in a traffic system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0077] The device 500 may be with reference to Figure 2 and Figure 3 an example of the described entity 200, entity 310, or entity 320. The device 500 may be with reference to Figure 2 and Figure 3 an example of the described computing module. The module 500 includes a processor 503 connected to an internal communication bus 501. The processor 503 is configured to execute instructions in a memory 505 to implement the method for communication between entities in a traffic system described in detail above. Examples of the processor 503 may include a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, and the like. The memory 505 suitable for tangibly embodying computer program instructions and data includes various forms of memory, such as EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices, etc. The module 500 may also include an input interface 507 and an output interface 509. The input interface 507 is used to receive input signals and data, such as data from other entities, data from a sensing module, or data from a receiving module. The output interface 509 is used to send output signals and data, such as generated data frames.

[0078] The computer program may include instructions executable by a computer for causing the processor 503 of the device to execute the method for communication between entities in a traffic system of the present invention. The program may be recorded on any data storage medium including a memory. For example, the program may be implemented in digital electronic circuits, or in computer hardware, firmware, software, or in a combination thereof. The process / method steps described in the present invention may be executed by a programmable processor executing program instructions to perform the method, steps, operations by operating on input data and generating outputs.

[0079] Note that, except for what is described herein, various modifications may be made to the disclosed embodiments and implementations without departing from the scope of the disclosed embodiments and implementations. Therefore, the descriptions and examples herein should be construed as illustrative rather than restrictive. The scope of the present invention should be measured only by reference to the claims.

Claims

1. A method for communication between entities in a transportation system, comprising: obtaining, by a first entity, traffic environment information sensed within its field of view during a period of time; generating, based on the traffic environment information, a data frame including a plurality of data packets, wherein the product of the number of the data packets and the transmission frequency of the first entity does not exceed a first threshold value; and wirelessly transmitting the generated data frame to a second entity.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The first threshold value is preset based on one or more of the following: the processing capacity of the first entity, the processing capacity of the second entity, the transmission capacity of the first entity, the reception capacity of the second entity, or the limitation of the wireless channel.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the limitation of the wireless channel is determined based on one or more of the following: available bandwidth of the wireless channel, packet loss rate, or transmission delay.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein The traffic environment information includes information about objects in the traffic environment, and wherein the information corresponding to a single object is divided within the same data packet.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein, The generating of the data frame based on the traffic environment information further includes: determining the number of the data packets based on the transmission frequency and the first threshold value; determining the information carrying capacity of each data frame based on the number of the data packets and the information carrying capacity per data packet; selecting the information about the objects based on the determined information carrying capacity of each data frame and the information carrying capacity per data packet to generate the data frame.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein The generating of the data frame based on the traffic environment information further includes: determining the number of objects included in each data packet based on the information carrying capacity per data packet and the information amount of the information about a single object.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein the selecting of the information about the objects based on the determined information carrying capacity of each data frame and the information carrying capacity per data packet to generate the data frame further includes: selecting the information about the objects in the order from strong to weak of the sensing signals to generate the data frame; selecting the information about the objects in the order from near to far of the sensing distances to generate the data frame; selecting the information about the objects in the order from strong to weak of the spatial correlation with the first entity or the second entity; selecting the information about the objects in the order from strong to weak of the security; and / or selecting the information about the objects that has not been transmitted previously to generate the data frame.

8. The method according to claim 5, wherein The information carrying capacity per data packet is preset based on one or more of the following: the processing capacity of the first entity, the processing capacity of the second entity, the transmission capacity of the first entity, the reception capacity of the second entity, or the limitation of the wireless channel.

9. The method according to claim 4, wherein The information about the objects in the traffic environment includes the point coordinates describing the polygons corresponding to the respective objects.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein, The generated data frame includes timestamp information, resolution, and reference coordinates, and wherein the point coordinates of the polygon are represented by the offset relative to the reference coordinates based on the resolution.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein, The first entity or the second entity includes one of the following: a vehicle, an on-board unit (OBU), or a roadside unit (RSU).

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein The first entity senses the traffic environment information by one or more of the following: an ultrasonic radar, a millimeter-wave radar, a lidar, a multi-mode radar, an optical sensor, or a camera.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein The wireless mode follows the vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication protocol.

14. A system for communication between entities, comprising: A first entity configured to: Obtain traffic environment information within its field of view sensed over a period of time; Generate a data frame including a number of data packets based on the traffic environment information, wherein the product of the number of the data packets and the transmission frequency of the transmission module does not exceed a first threshold value; Transmit the generated data frame to a second entity wirelessly through the transmission module; A second entity configured to: Receive the data frame to obtain the traffic environment information.

15. The system according to claim 14, wherein, The traffic environment information includes information about objects in the traffic environment, and wherein the second entity is further configured to: Obtain absolute point coordinates of polygons corresponding to respective objects based on the resolution, reference coordinates, and offsets relative to the reference coordinates included in the data frame.

16. An entity for communication, comprising: A memory; A processor coupled to the memory, the processor being configured to cause one or more modules to execute the method according to any one of claims 1-13.

17. A computer-readable medium storing a computer program including instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause one or more modules to execute the method according to any one of claims 1-13.

18. A computer program product storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause one or more modules to execute the method according to any one of claims 1-13.

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