Method for transmitting information from a tire sensor unit to a receiving device

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for transmitting information from a tire sensor unit to a receiving device via a radio network (1) formed from a plurality of radio cells (10), comprising establishing a wireless signal connection between the tire sensor unit and a radio cell (10) located within range of the tire sensor unit for transmitting radio telegrams from the tire sensor unit to the receiving device, wherein the radio telegrams include, in addition to measured values ​​from the tire sensor unit, a time signal and the coordinates of the radio cell (10) of the established signal connection, and in the receiving device an operating profile of the tire sensor unit is created from the received time signals and coordinates.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a method for transmitting information from a tire sensor unit to a receiving device.

[0002] Vehicle tires, especially those for commercial vehicles, are often optimized for different application profiles, for example, for long-distance, urban, or regional transport. However, it is difficult for the manufacturer or user of such vehicle tires to understand the actual use and application profile of the vehicle tires. This can lead to vehicle tires being used in a specific application profile for which the specific vehicle tire is not optimized or even unsuitable. There is therefore a need to review the application profile of vehicle tires in order to then offer tires better adapted to this application profile, for example, if the application profile is unsuitable, and to be able to fit them on a specific vehicle.

[0003] Solutions proposed so far for this purpose are based on the use of additional devices that track the mission profile via GPS, but this requires a high installation effort and leads to additional costs.

[0004] On the other hand, vehicle tires usually have tire sensor units, such as TPMS sensors for monitoring air pressure, which currently transmit the measured values ​​to the vehicle electronics and in the future, for example via a 0g-IOT network, such as the Sigfox network, will regularly send their data directly to a mobile network with a large number of radio cells in order to transmit them to a remote receiving device.

[0005] The object of the invention is to propose a method for transmitting information from a tire sensor unit to a receiving device, with which a classification of the driving profile is possible in a simple manner.

[0006] To achieve the stated object, the invention proposes a method according to the features of patent claim 1.

[0007] Advantageous embodiments and further developments of the invention are the subject of the dependent claims.

[0008] The inventive proposal is based on transmitting information from a tire sensor unit to a receiving device via a radio network formed by a plurality of radio cells. A wireless signal connection is established between the tire sensor unit and a radio cell located within range of the tire sensor unit in order to transmit radio telegrams from the tire sensor unit to the receiving device. According to the invention, the radio telegrams include, in addition to measured values ​​from the tire sensor unit, a time signal and the coordinates of the radio cell of the established signal connection, and a deployment profile of the tire sensor unit is created in the receiving device from the received time signals and coordinates.

[0009] According to the invention, the tire sensor units transmit their data to a suitable mobile network, recording not only the original TPMS data but also the coordinates of the radio cell via which this data was received and the time of transmission. From this radio cell data, the receiving device can create a long-term usage profile of the vehicle tire.

[0010] According to one proposal of the invention, different key figures or values ​​are used to create the mission profile in the receiving device, whereby the receiving device stores the time signals and coordinates in a database to create the mission profile. Different key figures or values ​​can then be used from this database to create the mission profile. Examples include - the number of radio cells used in a given time interval, - the radius of the coordinates of the radio cells or the radius of the area in which all used radio cells are located, - the spatial distribution of the radio cells or the shape of the area in which all radio cells are located, for example, elongated or rather round, - the highest frequency of radio cells used in a given time interval and / or - Distribution of the frequency across the radio cells used in a given time interval.

[0011] Of course, other key figures or parameters can also be used to create the deployment profile.

[0012] According to a further proposal of the invention, the receiving device assigns a predeterminable driving profile, for example city traffic, long-distance traffic, etc., to the tire sensor unit from the data stored in the database by means of a classification algorithm.

[0013] The radio network used in the method according to the invention can, for example, be a Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN), such as the Sigfox network with a bandwidth of 200 kHz, which has now been extensively expanded.

[0014] In a manner known per se, the tire sensor unit can be formed by a TPMS sensor, which is installed as standard on vehicle pneumatic tires and is capable of transmitting its information or measured values ​​in the form of a radio telegram to a radio network formed from a plurality of radio cells.

[0015] In addition, it can be provided that radio telegrams transmitted by the tire sensor unit are transmitted to the receiving device at regular, predetermined intervals, for example 12 times a day.

[0016] Further details of the method according to the invention will become apparent from the drawings illustrating an exemplary embodiment. They show: Fig. 1 the distribution of radio cells of a radio network with a usage profile of a vehicle tyre on a vehicle moving in urban traffic; Fig. 2 the distribution of the radio cells of a radio network with an application profile of a vehicle tire on a vehicle moving in long-distance transport.

[0017] From the Fig. 1 shows the network coverage of a radio network 1 comprising a plurality of radio cells 10 in an unspecified region. Within this radio network 1, an exemplary vehicle is moving. This vehicle is equipped with vehicle tires carrying a tire sensor unit in the form of a TPMS sensor. The tire sensor unit is capable of establishing a signal connection with a radio cell 10 within range in order to transmit its measured values, as well as a time signal and the coordinates of the radio cell, in the form of a radio telegram to a receiving device (not shown) at regular intervals, for example, 12 times a day. The receiving device stores the received radio telegrams, in particular the time signals they contain and the associated coordinates of the radio cell 10 of the established signal connection, in a database.From these time signals and coordinates stored in the database, the receiving device can then use a classification algorithm to create an application profile for the respective tire sensor unit.

[0018] For this purpose, various indicators or key figures from the time signals and coordinates stored in the database are evaluated using the classification algorithm. For example, the number of radio cells 10 in use, the radius of all radio cells 10 in use, and the highest frequency of radio cells 10 in use within a given time interval, for example, within 24 hours, are determined and used to create the deployment profile.

[0019] The Fig. 1 shows a typical usage profile of a vehicle which is used locally, for example in city traffic, since in the illustrated embodiment only five adjacent radio cells 10 arranged approximately in a circle relative to one another were used in the time interval under consideration with the shown frequencies between 2-fold and 6-fold for establishing the signal connection within the radio network 1.

[0020] However, the illustration according to Fig. 2 shows a typical deployment profile of a vehicle which has established a maximum of 2 signal connections in the radio network 1 along elongated areas with only low frequencies of the radio cells 10 used, which reliably indicates use in long-distance transport.

[0021] The method according to the invention explained above therefore enables a simple, reliable determination of the usage profile of the respective tire sensor unit and the associated tire using tire sensor units already installed for pressure measurement. Additional component expenditure is therefore unnecessary. Furthermore, tires can be monitored independently of the vehicle using the respective tire sensor units, which is particularly advantageous when changing tires between vehicles and, for example, when swapping trailers between different vehicles.

[0022] The application profile created in the method according to the invention can be used to improve the user's tire selection, and an analysis of the color profiles of all tires can be carried out in order to better adapt tire development to actual conditions. List of reference symbols: 1 radio network 10 Radio cell

Claims

[1] Method for transmitting information from a tire sensor unit to a receiving device via a radio network (1) formed from a plurality of radio cells, comprising establishing a wireless signal connection between the tire sensor unit and a radio cell (10) located within range of the tire sensor unit for transmitting radio telegrams from the tire sensor unit to the receiving device, wherein the radio telegrams comprise, in addition to measured values ​​of the tire sensor unit, a time signal and the coordinates of the radio cell (10) of the established signal connection, and an application profile of the tire sensor unit is created in the receiving device from the received time signals and coordinates. [2] Method according to claim 1, characterized bythat the receiving device stores the time signals and coordinates in a database for creating the deployment profile and determines from the data stored in the database the number of radio cells (10) in a predetermined time interval, the radius of the coordinates of the radio cells (10), the spatial distribution of the radio cells (10), the greatest frequency of the radio cells (10) used and / or the distribution of the frequency of the radio cells (10) used in a predetermined time interval. [3] Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by that the receiving device assigns a predeterminable driving profile to the tire sensor unit by means of a classification algorithm. [4] Method according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized by that the radio network (1) is designed as a Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN). [5] Method according to claim 4, characterized bythat the Sigfox network with a bandwidth of 200 kHz is used as the radio network (1). [6] Method according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized by that the tire sensor unit is formed by a TPMS sensor of a pneumatic tire. [7] Method according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized by that the radio telegrams are transmitted to the receiving device at regular, specified intervals.

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