Communication system and method for unmanned equipment in mining area

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of communication of unmanned equipment, and relates to a communication system and method for unmanned equipment in a mining area. The communication system comprises a road side unit, a cloud control center and a vehicle-mounted unit deployed in the unmanned equipment, and the vehicle-mounted unit of the unmanned equipment is in data communication with vehicle-mounted units of other unmanned equipment in a communication range through a first link. Data communication with the cloud control center is carried out through a second link; the road side unit is in data communication with the vehicle-mounted unit in the coverage area of the road side unit through a third link, and is in data communication with the cloud control center through a fourth link; wherein the data communication at least comprises data routing forwarding. The communication quality of the unmanned equipment in the mining area can be improved, and the capability of coping with a complex environment is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to the field of communication technology for unmanned driving equipment, and more specifically, to a communication system and a communication method for unmanned driving equipment in mining areas. Background Technology

[0002] Unmanned transportation in mining areas is a crucial component of smart mine construction. Mining environments are characterized by: undulating terrain, communication blind spots, severe weather effects such as dust, rain, and snow, and wireless signal blockage caused by large machinery. These factors lead to communication quality issues such as interruptions, delays, and packet loss for unmanned equipment (e.g., unmanned mining trucks) during operation in mining areas, posing a serious threat to their safe and efficient operation.

[0003] Therefore, there is an urgent need for a communication system and method for unmanned mining equipment that can adapt to the complex environment of mining areas.

[0004] It should be noted that the information in the background section above is only used to enhance the understanding of the background of this disclosure, and therefore may include information that does not constitute prior art known to those skilled in the art. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The purpose of this disclosure is to provide a communication system and method for unmanned driving equipment in mining areas, thereby improving the communication quality of unmanned driving equipment in mining areas and enhancing its ability to cope with complex environments.

[0006] Other features and advantages of this disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description, or may be learned in part from practice of this disclosure.

[0007] According to one aspect of this disclosure, a communication system for unmanned driving equipment in mining areas is provided. The communication system includes a roadside unit, a cloud control center, and an on-board unit deployed on the unmanned driving equipment. The on-board unit of the unmanned driving equipment communicates with other on-board units of unmanned driving equipment within its communication range via a first link and with the cloud control center via a second link. The roadside unit communicates with on-board units within its coverage area via a third link and with the cloud control center via a fourth link. The data communication includes at least data routing and forwarding.

[0008] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the on-board unit in any autonomous driving device includes multiple communication modules, which communicate with the roadside unit, the cloud control center, and the on-board units in other autonomous driving devices within the communication range, respectively.

[0009] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the autonomous driving device is within the coverage area of ​​the roadside unit; the on-board unit of the autonomous driving device is further configured to perform: collecting performance index data of associated communication links, the associated communication links including at least one of a first link, a second link, and a third link; calculating the link communication quality of each associated communication link based on the performance index data; and determining a primary communication link from the associated communication links based on the link communication quality of each associated communication link, the primary communication link being used to transmit high-priority target vehicle data.

[0010] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the on-board unit of the autonomous driving device is further configured to perform: for each associated communication link, standardize the different performance index data of the associated communication link to obtain multiple standardization results; and according to the weight information of each performance index data, weightedly fuse the multiple standardization results to obtain the link communication quality of the associated communication link.

[0011] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the on-board unit of the autonomous driving device is further configured to perform: if the link communication quality of the main communication link is lower than a preset quality threshold, determine a candidate communication link based on the currently calculated link communication quality of each associated communication link; and switch the candidate communication link to the current main communication link.

[0012] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the communication system further includes multiple data processing units deployed in the vehicle-mounted unit, the roadside unit, and the cloud control center, respectively. Each data processing unit is configured to add data identification information to the data to be forwarded when performing data routing and forwarding. The data identification information includes source unmanned vehicle identification information, data sequence number information, timestamp information, and relay node identification. The relay node identification is used to indicate the identification of the unmanned driving device that performs data routing and forwarding as a relay.

[0013] In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, any data processing unit is further configured to perform: based on the data identification information, perform at least one of the following processing on each data received through different links: data deduplication, verification, and timestamp alignment, to obtain trusted vehicle status information, which is used for routing and forwarding.

[0014] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a communication method for a mine unmanned device is provided, which is applied to a communication system for the unmanned device, the communication system comprising a roadside unit, a cloud control center and a vehicle-mounted unit deployed on the unmanned device, and the method comprises: performing data communication between the vehicle-mounted unit of the unmanned device and the vehicle-mounted units of other unmanned devices within a communication range through a first link, and performing data communication with the cloud control center through a second link; performing data communication between the roadside unit and the vehicle-mounted units within the coverage of the roadside unit through a third link, and performing data communication with the cloud control center through a fourth link; wherein the data communication at least comprises data routing forwarding.

[0015] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the unmanned device is within the coverage of the roadside unit; the data communication between the vehicle-mounted unit of the unmanned device and the vehicle-mounted units of other unmanned devices within a communication range through a first link, and the data communication with the cloud control center through a second link, comprises: collecting performance index data of associated communication links, the associated communication links comprising at least one of the first link, the second link and the third link; calculating the link communication quality of each associated communication link according to the performance index data; determining a main communication link from each associated communication link according to the link communication quality of each associated communication link; receiving first data sent by the vehicle-mounted unit of the other unmanned device through the first link by the vehicle-mounted unit of the unmanned device, and sending the first data and the own data of the unmanned device to the cloud control center through the main communication link.

[0016] In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the data communication between the roadside unit and the vehicle-mounted units within the coverage of the roadside unit through a third link, and the data communication with the cloud control center through a fourth link, comprises: receiving second data sent by the vehicle-mounted units within the coverage of the roadside unit through the third link by the roadside unit; sending the second data to the cloud control center based on the fourth link by the roadside unit.

[0017] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a computer program product is provided, comprising a computer program, which, when executed by a processor, implements the method of any one of the above.

[0018] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, an electronic device is provided, comprising: a processor; and a memory for storing executable instructions of the processor; wherein the processor is configured to execute the method of any one of the above via execution of the executable instructions.

[0019] The communication system for mine unmanned equipment in the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure includes a roadside unit, a cloud control center, and a vehicle-mounted unit deployed on the unmanned equipment, wherein: the vehicle-mounted unit of the unmanned equipment and the vehicle-mounted units of other unmanned equipment within the communication range communicate data through a first link, and communicate data with the cloud control center through a second link; the roadside unit communicates data with the vehicle-mounted units within the coverage range of the roadside unit through a third link, and communicates data with the cloud control center through a fourth link; wherein the data communication at least includes data routing forwarding. In one aspect, by introducing direct communication between vehicle-mounted units (first link) and local coverage of roadside units (third link), a distributed communication capability independent of a single central node is formed. When a certain link is interrupted due to terrain obstruction or network congestion, key data interaction can still be performed between devices or roadside units, enhancing the survival ability of the system in harsh environments. On the other hand, the roadside unit as a fixed communication infrastructure can effectively cover signal blind spots or weak areas, be deployed at key nodes in the mine, and relay and extend the control instructions and information services of the cloud control center, ensuring that the unmanned equipment can maintain effective network connection in any corner of the mine. In addition, by forming a mesh communication network between the vehicle end, the road end, and the cloud end, the optimal data routing path can be selected according to different communication needs and real-time network conditions, thereby facilitating efficient use of communication resources.

[0020] It should be understood that the above general description and the following detailed description are only exemplary and explanatory, and cannot limit the present disclosure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0021] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be more apparent from the following detailed description read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which several embodiments of the present disclosure are shown by way of example and not limitation. In the drawings:

[0022] Figure 1 A communication system architecture diagram according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0023] Figure 2 Some steps performed by the vehicle-mounted unit of any unmanned equipment according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure are shown.

[0024] Figure 3 A flowchart of a communication method of an unmanned equipment according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0025] Figure 4 A block diagram of an electronic device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0026] In the accompanying drawings, the same or corresponding reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts. Detailed Implementation

[0027] Exemplary embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, exemplary embodiments can be implemented in many forms and should not be construed as limited to the examples set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be more comprehensive and complete, and will fully convey the concept of exemplary embodiments to those skilled in the art. The same reference numerals in the drawings denote the same or similar structures, and therefore their detailed description will be omitted.

[0028] Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics can be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. Numerous specific details are provided in the following description to give a thorough understanding of embodiments of this disclosure. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that the technical solutions of this disclosure can be practiced without one or more of the specific details described, or other methods, components, apparatuses, steps, etc., can be employed. In other instances, well-known structures, methods, apparatuses, implementations, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring various aspects of this disclosure.

[0029] The block diagrams shown in the accompanying drawings are merely functional entities and do not necessarily correspond to physically independent entities. That is, these functional entities can be implemented in software, or in one or more software-hardened modules, or in different network and / or processor devices and / or microcontroller devices.

[0030] Unmanned transportation in mining areas is a crucial component of smart mine construction. Mining environments are characterized by: undulating terrain, communication blind spots, severe weather effects such as dust, rain, and snow, and wireless signal blockage caused by large machinery. These factors lead to communication quality issues such as interruptions, delays, and packet loss for unmanned equipment (e.g., unmanned mining trucks) during operation in mining areas, posing a serious threat to their safe and efficient operation.

[0031] Based on this, the present disclosure provides a communication system for unmanned driving equipment in mining areas, which can improve the communication quality of unmanned driving equipment in mining areas and enhance its ability to cope with complex environments.

[0032] It should be noted that the embodiments disclosed herein can be applied to the communication process of unmanned driving equipment in open-pit mines. Of course, the systems and methods of the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure are also applicable to other scenarios with complex environments, potential blind spots, and incomplete network coverage.

[0033] like Figure 1 The diagram shown is a communication system architecture diagram according to an embodiment of this disclosure.Figure 1 As shown, the communication system includes a road side unit 110 (RSU), a cloud control center 120, and a vehicle-mounted unit 130 deployed on an unmanned device. Among them, the road side unit 110 can be set on the high point of the mining area or the signal tower, of course, it can also be flexibly set according to the actual mining area scene. The number of unmanned devices can be one or several, which is not limited. The unmanned device can be an unmanned mining truck, an unmanned mining truck, a mining dump truck, a mining truck, a dump truck, and other unmanned transportation vehicles, and the specific type of the present embodiment is not limited.

[0034] Specifically, the vehicle-mounted unit 130 is a unit / module installed on each unmanned device, responsible for information interaction with the external world (other devices, infrastructure, cloud), and performs local decision-making. The road side unit 110 is a fixed infrastructure deployed in key geographic locations in the mining area (such as crossroads, sharp bends, slope tops, loading areas, and crushing station entrances), and is a relay hub for connecting mobile vehicles and remote clouds. The cloud control center 120 is a central server or server cluster located in a remote data room.

[0035] It should be understood that, as Figure 1 For the unmanned device A, the unmanned device B is the other unmanned device in the communication range with it. Correspondingly, for the unmanned device B, the unmanned device A is the other unmanned device in the communication range with it. The unmanned device B is in the coverage range of the road side unit 110.

[0036] Among them, the vehicle-mounted unit of the unmanned device and the vehicle-mounted unit of the other unmanned device in the communication range communicate data through the first link, and communicate data with the cloud control center through the second link.

[0037] The road side unit and the vehicle-mounted unit in the coverage range of the road side unit communicate data through the third link, and communicate data with the cloud control center through the fourth link; wherein the data communication at least includes data routing forwarding.

[0038] Still taking Figure 1For example, the vehicle-mounted unit of unmanned device A communicates data with the vehicle-mounted unit of unmanned device B through a first link. The first link can be V2V (Vehicle-to-Vehicle, vehicle-to-vehicle communication). Unmanned device A also communicates data with the cloud control center 120 through a second link. The second link can be V2N (Vehicle-to-Network, vehicle-to-network communication) 4G / 5G, etc. The roadside unit 110 can communicate data with the unmanned device B within its communication range through a third link, which can be V2I (Vehicle-to-Infrastructure, vehicle-to-infrastructure communication). The roadside unit 110 also communicates data with the cloud control center through a fourth link, which can be through optical fiber, microwave, etc. Of course, the specific types of the first link to the fourth link are not specially limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure, and can be adjusted according to actual network deployment and scene requirements.

[0039] The communication system for mine unmanned devices in the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure forms a distributed communication capability that does not depend on a single central node by introducing direct communication between vehicle-mounted units (first link) and local coverage of roadside units (third link). When a certain link is interrupted due to terrain obstruction or network congestion, key data interaction can still be performed through devices or roadside units, enhancing the survival ability of the system in harsh environments. On the other hand, as a fixed communication infrastructure, the roadside unit can effectively cover signal blind areas or weak areas, and be deployed at key nodes in the mine area to relay and extend the control instructions and information services of the cloud control center, ensuring that the unmanned devices can maintain effective network connection in any corner of the mine area. In addition, by forming a mesh communication network between the vehicle end, the road end, and the cloud end, the optimal data routing path can be selected according to different communication needs and real-time network conditions, thereby facilitating efficient use of communication resources.

[0040] The communication system for mine unmanned devices in the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in more detail below.

[0041] In an exemplary embodiment, the vehicle-mounted unit in any unmanned device includes multiple communication modules that respectively communicate data with roadside units, cloud control centers, and vehicle-mounted units in other unmanned devices within the communication range.

[0042] Among them, the vehicle-mounted unit includes multiple communication modules that are independent, simultaneously workable physical modules on the hardware, and each module is responsible for one or a type of communication technology.

[0043] Exemplarily, a vehicle-mounted unit can include a V2V communication module, a V2I communication module, and a V2N communication module. The V2V communication module is configured to communicate data with vehicle-mounted units of other unmanned devices within a communication range, the V2I communication module is configured to communicate data with a roadside unit, and the V2N communication module is configured to communicate data with a cloud control center.

[0044] Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure break the conventional thinking of a single communication mode by configuring multiple heterogeneous communication modules into a parallel communication system, so as to enable the most suitable communication link for different types of data and communication needs, thereby achieving an optimal balance between communication performance, reliability, and cost.

[0045] In an exemplary embodiment, the unmanned device is within the coverage range of the roadside unit. For example Figure 1 As shown, the unmanned device B is within the coverage range of the roadside unit 110. The following description is based on the unmanned device B as the unmanned device and the unmanned device A as the other unmanned device, and the description will not be repeated.

[0046] Based on this, as Figure 2 As shown, the vehicle-mounted unit of any unmanned device (such as the unmanned device B) is also configured to perform the following steps: Step S210: Collecting performance indicator data of associated communication links, the associated communication links including at least one of the first link, the second link, and the third link.

[0047] The associated communication link is a communication path currently available to the vehicle-mounted unit. The vehicle-mounted unit can collect performance indicator data of each associated communication link in real time. The performance indicator data is an original parameter for quantitatively evaluating the quality of link communication, including but not limited to signal strength, data packet round-trip delay, packet loss rate, available bandwidth, throughput, etc.

[0048] Step S220: Calculating the link communication quality of each associated communication link according to the performance indicator data.

[0049] Based on the obtained performance indicator data, the link communication quality of each associated communication link can be calculated. The performance indicator data can be a score or a level for comparing the advantages and disadvantages of different links by weighting and calculating a plurality of performance indicator data through an algorithm or a model.

[0050] Specifically, the vehicle-mounted unit of the unmanned device is also configured to perform: For each associated communication link, different performance indicator data of the associated communication link are respectively standardized to obtain a plurality of standardized processing results.

[0051] According to the weight information of each performance index data, the multiple standardized processing results are weighted and fused to obtain the link communication quality of the associated communication link.

[0052] Among them, since different performance indicators have different dimensions and numerical ranges, the standardization processing is to map all these different dimensional indicators to a dimensionless standard score range with the same trend (for example, between 0 and 1, or between 0 and 100) through mathematical transformation, where the higher the score represents the better performance. For example, for signal strength, the standardized score = (current measured signal strength - worst acceptable strength) / (optimal strength - worst acceptable strength). When the measured strength approaches the optimal, the score approaches 1. Of course, different types of performance indicator data are processed differently, and exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure can select the corresponding standardization processing method according to the type of indicator.

[0053] The weight information is a preset or dynamically configured parameter that reflects the relative importance of different performance indicators in comprehensive evaluation. For example, for high-priority safety data, the weights of delay and packet loss rate will be set higher because real-time and reliability are crucial; while for background log uploading, the weight of bandwidth may be higher. Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure can determine the weight information of each performance indicator data according to the correspondence between the type of data to be processed and different indicator data. Further, the multiple standardized scores can be weighted and combined into a single comprehensive score, i.e. link communication quality, based on the weight information. The larger the score, the higher the link communication quality, and vice versa.

[0054] Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure closely associate the selection of the link with the link communication quality, thereby providing fundamental guarantees for the reliability, real-time performance and efficiency of core data communication in complex and variable mine environments.

[0055] Step S230: According to the link communication quality of each associated communication link, determine the main communication link from each associated communication link, and the main communication link is used to transmit high-priority target vehicle data.

[0056] The high-priority target vehicle data is classified according to the data's impact on vehicle safety and mission criticality. This type of data usually has low delay and high reliability transmission requirements, such as real-time position information, control instructions, etc. Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure can determine the type of vehicle data according to actual needs, such as marking, etc., without limitation to this mode.

[0057] According to the link communication quality of each associated communication link, the communication link with the best quality is determined as the main communication link for transmitting high-priority target vehicle data. Correspondingly, the vehicle data of subsequent levels can be transmitted through other links, or the vehicle data of subsequent levels can also be transmitted through the main communication link after the high-priority target vehicle data is completely transmitted through the main communication link.

[0058] According to the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, by collecting performance data in real time and calculating communication quality, the best communication link in the current state can be dynamically and automatically selected from multiple available links according to the mine environment, so as to always provide the best transmission path for critical data, thereby maximizing the low-delay and high-reliability transmission of such data, improving the operation safety and execution efficiency of unmanned equipment in complex environments, and effectively avoiding the core communication interruption caused by the deterioration of a single link quality.

[0059] In an exemplary embodiment, the vehicle-mounted unit of the unmanned equipment is further configured to perform: If the link communication quality of the main communication link is lower than the preset quality threshold, a backup communication link is determined according to the currently calculated link communication quality of each associated communication link. The backup communication link is switched as the current main communication link.

[0060] The preset quality threshold is a threshold value preset for judging whether the link communication quality is acceptable. When the performance of the main link declines and reaches this line, the system will start the switching process. Alternatively, the threshold value can be fixed or dynamically adjusted according to the type of transmitted data. For example, when transmitting real-time control instructions, the threshold value is set higher, and when transmitting non-real-time logs, the threshold value can be appropriately reduced.

[0061] The backup communication link is the link with the highest link communication quality among all associated communication links except the main communication link, and usually needs to meet the preset threshold. It can be the second high-quality link in the last link quality evaluation. Alternatively, it can also be determined according to the real-time system continuously monitoring all links and calculating the communication link quality, so the backup link is known and ready. Further, the transmission path of high-priority target vehicle data can be migrated from the current main communication link with substandard quality to the newly determined backup communication link for transmission.

[0062] Compared with the conventional scheme, when the main communication link fails, only the preset alternative link can be switched to, and the optimal path cannot be selected according to the real-time environment. The exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure can adapt to the changes of the network environment and quickly switch to the standby link when the quality of the current main link decreases through quality evaluation of the collected performance index data, thereby greatly enhancing the robustness and stability of the entire communication system under harsh working conditions.

[0063] In an exemplary embodiment, the communication system further comprises a plurality of data processing units respectively deployed in the vehicle-mounted unit, the roadside unit and the cloud control center, wherein: Any data processing unit is configured to add data identification information to the data to be forwarded when performing data routing forwarding; wherein the data identification information comprises source unmanned vehicle identification information, data sequence number information, timestamp information and relay node identification, and the relay node identification is used to indicate the identification of the unmanned device acting as a relay for data routing forwarding.

[0064] Specifically, the data processing unit is a functional logic unit, which can be an independent hardware module or a software process / chip integrated in the vehicle-mounted unit, the roadside unit or the cloud server. The data identification information is identification information attached to the original data packet, which records the key metadata of the data in the transmission process. The source unmanned vehicle identification information is the unique identification ID of the original producer of the data, and the data sequence number information can be a number assigned to each piece of data to solve the problems of data packet disorder, repetition or loss. The timestamp information is the time when the data is generated at the source node. The relay node identification is used to represent the identification of the node currently forwarding the data, that is, the identification of the unmanned device acting as a relay for data routing forwarding.

[0065] The exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure add data identification information to the data to be forwarded, so that the data forwarding process is traceable and measurable, thereby facilitating the improvement of the observability, reliability and maintainability of the communication system in the complex mine environment, and providing a key communication guarantee foundation for large-scale deployment of unmanned devices.

[0066] In an exemplary embodiment, any data processing unit is further configured to perform: At least one of data deduplication, verification and timestamp alignment processing on each data received through different links to obtain trusted vehicle state information, and the trusted vehicle state information is used for routing forwarding.

[0067] Wherein, due to the existence of multiple parallel communication links (such as V2V and V2I) in the system, the same vehicle state data may arrive at the same data processing unit (such as the cloud control center) through different paths, in succession or at the same time. Directly processing these duplicate data will cause waste of resources and confusion in decision-making. Therefore, by using the source unmanned vehicle identifier and data sequence number in the data identification information, the same data copy received repeatedly can be identified and discarded, ensuring that the same data is processed only once.

[0068] Due to the possibility of errors, tampering or defects in data during transmission due to interference, packet loss or node failure, the rationality of the data can be detected through verification, such as whether the vehicle position coordinates are within the mine geographical fence and whether the speed value is within the physical possible range. Data integrity verification can also be performed to check whether the data packet is received completely. Different link transmission delays result in different arrival times of data describing the vehicle state at the same time. If the received time is used directly for processing, a distorted vehicle state will be obtained. The source timestamp in the data identification information is used as a reference to align and sort all data, thereby reconstructing a continuous vehicle state history trajectory based on the occurrence time in the data processing unit.

[0069] Based on this, the trusted vehicle state information obtained after at least one of the above cleaning, verification and other standardized processes can represent the latest information known by the system about the state of a vehicle, and is a reliable basis for accurate vehicle control, traffic scheduling and safety warning. The trusted vehicle state information is then routed and forwarded to avoid duplication, inaccurate information and other problems.

[0070] The following still takes the system architecture shown in Figure 1 as an example to illustrate the communication process of the mine unmanned equipment.

[0071] For any unmanned equipment (taking unmanned equipment A as an example), when it sends its own data to the cloud control center 120 through the second link (the current main communication link), it also sends the first data sent by the unmanned equipment B received through the first link to the cloud control center 120.

[0072] For any road side unit, when communicating with the cloud control center 120 through optical fiber or microwave (fourth link), it also sends the second data sent by the unmanned equipment (unmanned equipment B) in its coverage range through the third link to the cloud control center 120.

[0073] Based on this, through the formed mesh communication network, even if the vehicle is in a signal blind area, the vehicle can send its own data to other unmanned devices or road side units within the communication range, and then the other unmanned devices or road side units forward the data to the cloud control center 120. Conversely, the instructions from the cloud can also be sent to the vehicle through other unmanned devices or road side units.

[0074] In this process, since the vehicle-mounted unit, the road side unit or the cloud control center can receive data from different links about the same unmanned device, at this time, at least one of data deduplication, verification and timestamp alignment processing can be performed on each data received through different links based on the data identification information to obtain trusted vehicle state information, so as to ensure that the data used for decision making is unique and up-to-date, and system logic confusion caused by repeated reception can be avoided.

[0075] It should be noted that although several modules or units of the communication system for unmanned devices are mentioned in the foregoing detailed description, such division is not mandatory. In fact, according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, the features and functions of two or more modules or units described above can be embodied in one module or unit. Conversely, the features and functions of one module or unit described above can be further divided into a plurality of modules or units.

[0076] The communication system for mine unmanned devices in the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, on the one hand, forms a distributed communication capability that does not depend on a single central node by introducing direct communication between vehicle-mounted units (first link) and local coverage of road side units (third link). When a certain link is interrupted due to terrain obstruction or network congestion, key data interaction can still be performed between devices or road side units, enhancing the survival ability of the system in harsh environments. On the other hand, as a fixed communication infrastructure, the road side unit can effectively cover signal blind areas or weak areas, and is deployed at key nodes in the mine area, can relay and extend the control instructions and information services of the cloud control center, and ensure that the unmanned devices can maintain effective network connection in any corner of the mine area. In addition, by forming a mesh communication network between the vehicle end, the road end and the cloud end, the optimal data routing path can be selected according to different communication needs and real-time network conditions, thereby facilitating efficient use of communication resources.

[0077] In the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, a communication method for mine unmanned devices is also provided. The communication method is applied to a communication system for unmanned devices, and the communication system includes a road side unit, a cloud control center and a vehicle-mounted unit deployed on an unmanned device, such as the communication system shown in Figure 1 Referring to Figure 3 the communication method for unmanned devices can include: Step S310: data communication between the vehicle-mounted unit of the unmanned device and the vehicle-mounted units of other unmanned devices within the communication range through the first link, and data communication with the cloud control center through the second link; Step S320: data communication between the road side unit and the vehicle-mounted units within the coverage of the road side unit through the third link, and data communication with the cloud control center through the fourth link; Wherein, the data communication at least includes data routing forwarding.

[0078] It should be noted that the execution order of steps S310 and S320 can not be strictly executed according to the step sequence number, but according to the actual data routing forwarding requirement.

[0079] In an exemplary embodiment, the unmanned device is within the coverage of the road side unit; the data communication between the vehicle-mounted unit of the unmanned device and the vehicle-mounted units of other unmanned devices within the communication range through the first link, and the data communication with the cloud control center through the second link, includes: Collecting performance index data of associated communication links, the associated communication links including at least one of the first link, the second link and the third link; According to the performance index data, the link communication quality of each associated communication link is calculated respectively; According to the link communication quality of each associated communication link, the main communication link is determined from each associated communication link; The vehicle-mounted unit of the unmanned device receives the first data sent by the vehicle-mounted unit of other unmanned device through the first link, and sends the first data and the self data of the unmanned device to the cloud control center through the main communication link.

[0080] In an exemplary embodiment, the data communication between the road side unit and the vehicle-mounted units within the coverage of the road side unit through the third link, and the data communication with the cloud control center through the fourth link, includes: The road side unit receives the second data sent by the vehicle-mounted units within the coverage of the road side unit through the third link; The road side unit sends the second data to the cloud control center based on the fourth link.

[0081] Since the detailed content of the communication method for the mine unmanned device of the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure has been described in the above exemplary embodiments of each functional module of the communication system for the mine unmanned device, it will not be repeated here.

[0082] The exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a computer program product. The computer program product includes a computer program which, when executed by a processor, implements the above-described communication method for mine unmanned equipment.

[0083] In an embodiment, the computer program product can be a tangible product containing the computer program, such as a computer-readable storage medium storing the computer program. The readable storage medium can be a storage medium based on electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, etc. signals, including but not limited to: random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), magnetic tape, floppy disk, flash memory (Flash), mechanical hard disk (HDD), solid state disk (SSD), etc. For example, the computer program product can be implemented as a non-volatile storage medium storing the computer program, such as a read-only memory, a Nand flash memory, etc.

[0084] In an embodiment, the computer program product can be an intangible product containing the computer program. For example, the computer program product can be implemented as a virtual digital product, such as an executable file, an installation package, etc. digital file storing the computer program.

[0085] The code of the computer program can be written in one or more programming languages. Programming languages such as C, Java, C++, etc. The program code can be executed entirely on a user computing device, or partially on a user computing device, or as a separate software package, or partially on a user computing device and partially on a remote computing device, or entirely on a remote computing device or server. In the case involving a remote computing device, the remote computing device can be connected to the user computing device through any kind of network, such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), etc., or can be connected to an external computing device (for example, through an Internet connection provided by an operator).

[0086] The computer program can be carried or transmitted by electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, etc. signals. The electronic device can convert the signal carrying the computer program into a digital signal, and then run the computer program. When the computer program is running on the electronic device, its code is used to make the electronic device execute (more specifically, can make the processor of the electronic device execute) the method steps of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, such as the above-described communication method for mine unmanned equipment.

[0087] Furthermore, in exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, an electronic device capable of implementing the above-described method is also provided. Those skilled in the art can understand that various aspects of the present disclosure can be implemented as a system, a method or a program product. Therefore, various aspects of the present disclosure can be embodied as a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment (including firmware, microcode, etc.), or an embodiment combining hardware and software aspects, which can be collectively referred to as "circuitry", "module" or "system" herein.

[0088] The electronic device 400 according to this embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to Figure 4 Figure 4 The display electronic device 400 is merely an example and should not impose any limitation on the functions and use range of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0089] As Figure 4 shown, the electronic device 400 is in the form of a general computing device. The components of the electronic device 400 can include, but are not limited to, the above-mentioned at least one processing unit 410, the above-mentioned at least one storage unit 420, a bus 430 connecting different system components (including the storage unit 420 and the processing unit 410), and a display unit 440.

[0090] The storage unit stores program codes which can be executed by the processing unit 410, so that the processing unit 410 performs the steps according to various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure described in the above "Exemplary Method" section of the present specification.

[0091] The storage unit 420 can include a readable medium in the form of a volatile storage unit, such as a random access memory (RAM) 421 and / or a cache memory 422, and can further include a read-only memory (ROM) 423.

[0092] The storage unit 420 can further include program / utility 424 having a set of (at least one) program modules 425, including but not limited to, an operating system, one or more application programs, other program modules, and program data, each of which or a combination thereof can include implementation of a network environment.

[0093] The bus 430 can represent one or more of several types of bus structures, including a storage unit bus or storage unit controller, a peripheral bus, a graphics acceleration port, a processing unit bus, or a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures.

[0094] ​The electronic device 400 can also communicate with one or more external devices 500 such as a keyboard or pointing device, a Bluetooth device, or a database, and can communicate with one or more devices enabling user interaction with the electronic device 400 (for example, a display, a speaker, a vibration motor, etc.) and / or one or more devices enabling communication of the electronic device 400 with other computing devices (for example, a router, a modem, etc.). Such communication can occur via Input / Output (I / O) interface 450. Still yet, the electronic device 400 can communicate with one or more networks (for example, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), and / or the public network, for example, the Internet) via network adapter 460. As depicted, network adapter 460 communicates with the other components of the electronic device 400 via bus 430. It should be appreciated that although not shown, other hardware and / or software modules could be used in connection with the electronic device 400. These include, but are not limited to, microcode, device drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays, RAID systems, tape drives, and data archival storage systems, etc.

[0095] From the above description of the embodiments, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the example embodiments described herein can be implemented by software and / or by hardware coupled with software. Accordingly, the technical solutions according to the embodiments of the present disclosure can be embodied in the form of a software product. The software product can be stored in a non-volatile storage medium (for example, a CD-ROM, a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, etc.) or a network, and includes a number of instructions for causing a computing device (for example, a personal computer, a server, a terminal device, or a network device, etc.) to perform the methods according to the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0096] In addition, the above-described figures are only schematic illustrations of the processes included in the methods according to the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, and are not intended to be limiting. It will be readily understood that the processes shown in the above-described figures do not indicate or limit the time sequence of the processes. In addition, it will be readily understood that the processes can be performed synchronously or asynchronously, for example, in a plurality of modules.

[0097] Other embodiments of the present disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the features disclosed herein. The present disclosure is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the present disclosure following the general principles thereof and including such departures from the present disclosure that come within known use or custom in the art. The specification and examples are to be regarded as illustrative only, and the true scope and spirit of the present disclosure are indicated by the claims.

Claims

1. A communication system for unmanned driving equipment in mining areas, characterized in that, The communication system includes a roadside unit, a cloud control center, and an onboard unit deployed on the autonomous driving equipment, wherein: The onboard unit of the unmanned driving device communicates with the onboard units of other unmanned driving devices within the communication range via a first link, and communicates with the cloud control center via a second link. The roadside unit communicates with the vehicle-mounted unit within its coverage area via a third link and with the cloud control center via a fourth link. The data communication includes at least data routing and forwarding.

2. The communication system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The on-board unit in any autonomous driving device includes multiple communication modules, which communicate with the roadside unit, the cloud control center, and the on-board units of other autonomous driving devices within the communication range through the multiple communication modules.

3. The communication system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The unmanned driving device is within the coverage area of ​​the roadside unit; the onboard unit of the unmanned driving device is also configured to perform: Collect performance index data of associated communication links, wherein the associated communication links include at least one of the first link, the second link, and the third link; Calculate the link communication quality of each associated communication link based on the performance index data; Based on the link communication quality of each associated communication link, a primary communication link is determined from each of the associated communication links, and the primary communication link is used to transmit high-priority target vehicle data.

4. The communication system according to claim 3, characterized in that, The onboard unit of the unmanned vehicle is also configured to perform: For each associated communication link, the different performance index data of the associated communication link are standardized to obtain multiple standardized processing results; Based on the weight information of each performance index data, the multiple standardized processing results are weighted and fused to obtain the link communication quality of the associated communication link.

5. The communication system according to claim 3, characterized in that, The onboard unit of the unmanned vehicle is also configured to perform: If the link communication quality of the main communication link is lower than a preset quality threshold, then alternative communication links are determined based on the currently calculated link communication quality of each associated communication link. Switch the alternative communication link to the current primary communication link.

6. The communication system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The communication system also includes multiple data processing units, deployed respectively in the vehicle-mounted unit, roadside unit, and cloud control center, wherein: Any data processing unit is configured to add data identification information to the data to be forwarded when performing data routing and forwarding; The data identification information includes source unmanned vehicle identification information, data sequence number information, timestamp information, and relay node identification. The relay node identification is used to indicate the identification of the unmanned driving device that acts as a relay for data routing and forwarding.

7. The communication system according to claim 6, characterized in that, Any data processing unit is also configured to execute: Based on the data identification information, at least one of the following processes is performed on each data received through different links: data deduplication, verification, and timestamp alignment, to obtain trusted vehicle status information, which is used for routing and forwarding.

8. A communication method for unmanned driving equipment in mining areas, characterized in that, A communication system for use in autonomous driving equipment, the communication system including a roadside unit, a cloud control center, and an onboard unit deployed in the autonomous driving equipment, the method comprising: The vehicle-mounted unit of the autonomous driving device communicates with the vehicle-mounted units of other autonomous driving devices within the communication range via a first link, and communicates with the cloud control center via a second link. The roadside unit communicates with the vehicle-mounted unit within its coverage area via a third link, and communicates with the cloud control center via a fourth link. The data communication includes at least data routing and forwarding.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, The unmanned driving equipment is within the coverage area of ​​the roadside unit; The process of communicating data between the onboard unit of the autonomous driving device and the onboard units of other autonomous driving devices within communication range via a first link, and communicating data with the cloud control center via a second link, includes: Collect performance index data of associated communication links, wherein the associated communication links include at least one of the first link, the second link, and the third link; Calculate the link communication quality of each associated communication link based on the performance index data; Based on the link communication quality of each associated communication link, the main communication link is determined from each of the associated communication links; The vehicle-mounted unit of the autonomous driving device receives first data sent by the vehicle-mounted units of other autonomous driving devices through the first link, and sends the first data and the autonomous driving device's own data to the cloud control center through the main communication link.

10. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that, The process of communicating data with the vehicle-mounted unit within the coverage area of ​​the roadside unit via a third link and with the cloud control center via a fourth link includes: The roadside unit receives second data transmitted via a third link from an onboard unit within its coverage area. The second data is sent to the cloud control center via the roadside unit based on the fourth link.

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