Determining a scope of environmental information to be provided to a vehicle in the manner of an electronic horizon

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for determining a scope of environmental information to be provided to a vehicle (10) in the manner of an electronic horizon, in particular with information relating to speed limits to be applied to the vehicle (10), comprising the steps of detecting an environment (38) of the vehicle (10) at its position, predicting a reception situation of the vehicle (10) for receiving the environmental information based on the detected environment (38), and determining the scope of the environmental information to be provided to the vehicle (10) based on the predicted reception situation of the vehicle (10).The invention also relates to a corresponding driving assistance system (12) for a vehicle (10) for carrying out at least one driving assistance function based on environmental information to be provided to the vehicle (10) in the manner of an electronic horizon, in particular with information relating to speed limits to be applied to the vehicle (10), which is designed to carry out the above method for determining a scope of environmental information to be provided to the vehicle (10) in the manner of an electronic horizon, in particular with information relating to speed limits to be applied to the vehicle (10).

Description

The present invention relates to a method for determining a scope of environmental information to be provided by a vehicle in the manner of an electronic horizon, in particular with information relating to speed restrictions to be applied for the vehicle.The present invention also relates to a driving assistance system for a vehicle for carrying out at least one driving assistance function on the basis of surrounding information, which is to be provided on the vehicle, in the manner of an electronic horizon, in particular with information relating to speed restrictions to be applied for the vehicle.Furthermore, the present invention relates to a system having a driving support system above and a cloud server for cloud-based provision of environmental information of the type of an electronic horizon, in particular with information relating to speed restrictions to be applied.Systems of the electronic horizon type, for example eHor, are technical platforms which extend a visible horizon of vehicles in such a way that even features which are not themselves visible / recognizable can be recognized in advance by a respective vehicle. Features of the environment of the vehicle can thus be detected reliably. This also includes behind curves or domes. Based on this information, accidents can be avoided by predictive driving and a travel distance as well as travel parameters, for example, a travel speed, can be optimized in order to reach a destination in the shortest possible time with a low fuel consumption and the greatest possible safety. For this purpose, various types of information, for example relating to topography, road geometry, navigation information, traffic sign information, traffic information, weather information and / or road condition, can be provided and / or transmitted to the vehicle. Depending on the information provided, a three-dimensional image of a route ahead may be generated in the vehicle, for example.An electronic horizon of a vehicle, starting from its current position, can serve as a basis for various assistance or information functions. In addition, such a system is of particular importance for at least partially automated driving. As a result, the vehicle can optimize its route being traveled or increase the speed before an upward gradient and correspondingly reduce it before a downward gradient, to name just a few examples.Environmental information in the manner of the electronic horizon can be provided in each case alone or in combination from a memory of the vehicle or from the cloud, that is to say from an external cloud server, via a data connection.If the environmental information is provided in the memory of the vehicle according to the type of the electronic horizon, the electronic horizon can be generated directly in the vehicle. However, this requires a high computing power in the vehicle and a provision and periodic update of the stored environmental information, for example map data. Accordingly, frequent updates with large amounts of data are required to update the environmental information stored in the vehicle.When the environment information is provided in the cloud according to the type of the electronic horizon and transmitted to the vehicle as needed, storage and update of large amounts of data in the vehicle is not required. However, this requires a provision of continuously high transmission rates for transmitting the electronic horizon for a respective current region depending on a position of the vehicle. This is not always possible in practice, since mobile communication networks with a sufficient bandwidth are not available everywhere, and this can also be associated with high costs. Particularly when a plurality of users use such a service in parallel, the available bandwidth of such mobile communication networks can be used up quickly. The risk is further increased, for example in the case of a traffic jam.This problem can be reduced by providing a coverage map for the wireless transmission of data over the mobile communication networks, so that areas with a restricted data transmission can be displayed. The electronic horizon can thus be provided from the cloud and transmitted to the vehicle in such a way that, when it is located in the areas with restricted data transmission, it receives the electronic horizon for these areas beforehand from the cloud.This already represents a facilitation for the continuous provision of an electronic horizon from the cloud. However, such a card merely indicates a general provision of the mobile communication networks at a location. In addition, such a coverage map is also subject to errors and cannot take account of sufficient dynamic changes in the provision and performance of the mobile communication networks. For example, such mobile communication networks may be overloaded even when they are correctly provided and function, so that the continuous provision of the electronic horizon from the cloud may be impaired.An important part of such environmental information in the manner of an electronic horizon is speed restrictions to be applied. This information is used by smart cruise assist (ISA) systems to determine a speed limit currently to be applied to the vehicle. Smart cruise assist systems may inform and / or warn a vehicle operator of the current maximum allowed speed when the current maximum allowed speed is exceeded and / or set the preferred speed for a cruise control system. Legislation (e.g., EU GSR2) and NCAP safety ratings (e.g., Euro NCAP) require high performance of the ISA in all vehicles, which means that the error rate must be low.The environmental information on the type of electronic horizon with the speed restrictions to be applied can thus be used in addition or alternatively to a camera-based detection of the speed restrictions to be applied. In order to achieve the required power, access to current environmental information is therefore required. This can be hardly ensured practically based on environmental information stored in the vehicle. Cloud-based applications are therefore preferred. This poses the problem of an optimum extension of the electronic horizon, i.e. for which distance, including all possible routes which the driver can take within this distance, the information should be transmitted to the vehicle in advance in order on the one hand to ensure a required quality / performance of the system and on the other hand to ensure the required bandwidth and the amount of the transmitted environmental information. Anticipated as well as unpredictable temporary or continuous interruptions of the reception of the environmental information must also be taken into account.Proceeding from the aforementioned prior art, the object of the invention is thus to specify a method for determining a scope of environmental information to be provided by a vehicle in the manner of an electronic horizon, in particular with information relating to speed restrictions to be applied for the vehicle, and a driving assistance system for a vehicle for carrying out at least one driving assistance function based on environmental information to be provided by the vehicle in the manner of an electronic horizon, in particular with information relating to speed restrictions to be applied for the vehicle, and a system having a above driving assistance system and a cloud server for cloud-based provision of environmental information in the manner of an electronic horizon, in particular with information relating to speed restrictions to be applied, This enables an improved provision of environmental information in the manner of an electronic horizon for vehicles.The object is achieved according to the invention by the features of the independent claims. Advantageous embodiments of the invention are specified in the dependent claims.According to the invention, a method for determining a scope of environmental information to be provided by a vehicle in the manner of an electronic horizon, in particular with information relating to speed restrictions to be applied for the vehicle, is thus specified, comprising the steps of detecting an environment of the vehicle at its position, predicting a reception situation of the vehicle for reception of the environmental information based on the detected environment, and determining the scope of the environmental information to be provided to the vehicle based on the predicted reception situation of the vehicle.According to the invention, a driving support system for a vehicle for carrying out at least one driving support function based on environment information to be provided on the vehicle in the manner of an electronic horizon, in particular with information relating to speed restrictions to be applied for the vehicle, is also specified, having a communication unit for establishing a communication connection with a cloud server, a computing unit, and a data connection which connects the communication unit and the computing unit to one another, wherein the driving support system is designed to carry out the above method for determining an amount of environment information to be provided by the vehicle in the manner of an electronic horizon, in particular with information relating to speed restrictions to be applied for the vehicle.Furthermore, according to the invention, a system is specified having an above driving support system and a cloud server for cloud-based provision of environmental information in the manner of an electronic horizon, in particular having information relating to speed restrictions to be applied, the cloud server comprising a communication device for establishing a communication connection with the communication unit of the driving support system, a database having environmental information in the manner of an electronic horizon, in particular having information relating to speed restrictions to be applied, and a computing device, wherein the communication device, the database and the computing device are connected in terms of data, and the system is implemented to carry out the above method for determining an amount of environmental information to be provided by the vehicle in the manner of an electronic horizon, in particular having information relating to speed restrictions to be applied for the vehicle.The basic idea of the present invention is therefore to determine in advance an amount of environmental information to be provided by the vehicle depending on the prediction of the reception situation, so that the environmental information required by the vehicle can always be provided currently and functions based thereon, such as various driving support functions, can be provided reliably and without failures. The prediction of the reception situation of the vehicle for the reception of the environmental information is a dynamic prediction, which is carried out here depending on the environment of the vehicle. It can thus be determined by the predicted reception situation whether the amount of environmental information to be provided to the vehicle needs to be adjusted. Therefore, when it is found from the predicted reception situation that the surrounding information cannot be sufficiently provided to the vehicle in the future, the surrounding information required by the vehicle may be already transmitted to the vehicle in advance. By adapting the scope of the environmental information to be provided to the vehicle, it is possible, for example, to reduce the transmission of the environmental information to a required minimum on the one hand in the case of a good reception situation, wherein it is ensured on the other hand that sufficient environmental information is provided in the vehicle for all required applications in the event of a deterioration of the reception situation. This reduces in sum the amount of data to be transmitted and, associated therewith, the costs for the data transmission.The prediction of the reception situation goes beyond the use of a static map of a coverage or supply to a mobile radio network. Such a static map can only insufficiently cover the real reception situation, wherein in particular dynamic changes of the reception situation cannot be taken into account.Based on the thus determined amount of the environmental information to be provided to the vehicle, depending on the further configuration of the method as well as the driving assistance system or also the system with the driving assistance system and the cloud server, a transmission of the environmental information from the cloud server to the vehicle or the driving assistance system can be carried out. If the vehicle or the driving support system determines the amount of the environmental information to be provided to the vehicle, it can request a transmission of the corresponding environmental information from the cloud server. Alternatively, the cloud server may determine the amount of environmental information to be provided to the vehicle and perform the transmission of the corresponding environmental information to the vehicle or the driving support system.Based on the environmental information provided to the vehicle in the manner of an electronic horizon, the vehicle or any driving assistance system can perform a corresponding assistance function. This relates, for example, to an intelligent speed assistance system (ISA) that determines a speed limit currently to be applied for the vehicle. Such an intelligent speed assistance system can inform a vehicle driver about a currently permissible maximum speed and / or warn him if the currently permissible maximum speed is exceeded. Alternatively or additionally, the ISA may establish a preferred speed for a cruise control system.By detecting the environment of the vehicle at its position, information can be detected to predict the reception situation of the vehicle for reception of the environment information. Details are set forth below.The prediction of the reception situation of the vehicle for a reception of the environmental information can take into account different detected features of the environment alone or jointly, as is likewise explained in detail below. The prediction of the reception situation of the vehicle can include both short-term and long-term aspects, so that, for example, in the case of a deteriorated reception situation, the environmental information to be provided to the vehicle can be provided in good time before the reception situation of the vehicle no longer permits this.The amount of the surrounding information to be provided to the vehicle is determined based on the predicted reception situation of the vehicle such that the surrounding information is continuously provided in the vehicle in the manner of the electronic horizon, so that functions based thereon can be provided without interruption. Based on the predicted reception situation of the vehicle, the scope of the environmental information to be provided can thus be adjusted accordingly.The driving support system is configured to perform at least one driving support function based on environment information to be provided to the vehicle in the manner of an electronic horizon. In particular, the driving assistance system is implemented as an intelligent speed assistance system (ISA).The communication unit is used to establish the communication connection with the cloud server in order to receive the environmental information via it and optionally to perform a further communication with the cloud server.The computing unit may be any computing device per se that performs the method for determining the amount of environmental information to be provided by a vehicle. Such computing units are known in the automotive field as electronic control units (ECU).The data connection connects the communication unit and the computing unit to one another. The data connection can comprise a data bus which connects the communication unit and the computing unit and further optional components. In the automotive sector, various bus systems such as CAN, FlexRay, LON or others are known as data buses. Alternatively, the data connection can comprise at least one point-to-point connection between the communication unit and the computing unit.The system including the driving support system and the cloud server enables provision of the environmental information to the vehicle. Moreover, the system may perform the method for determining an amount of environmental information to be provided to a vehicle in a distributed manner, wherein the driving support system and the cloud server collectively perform all required steps.The cloud server is in communication connection with the vehicle, i.e. with the communication unit of the driving support system, via the communication device. The database stores environmental information of the electronic horizon type, in particular with information relating to speed restrictions to be applied. Corresponding systems for providing the environmental information in the manner of the electronic horizon are known per se.The computing device can be any data processing device per se. The communication device, the database and the computing device can be connected for example via a data bus in terms of data technology. Alternatively or additionally, at least one point-to-point connection can be provided between the communication device, the database and the computing device.In a particularly advantageous manner, the system comprises not only one driving support system but a plurality of driving support systems. The cloud server can thus easily determine the scope of environmental information to be provided by the respective vehicle for a plurality of vehicles.In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the detection of an environment of the vehicle at its position comprises a detection of weather features in the environment of the vehicle that restrict or prevent reception of the environmental information, in particular precipitation, air humidity, weathering or the like, and a prediction of a reception situation of the vehicle for reception of the environmental information based on the detected environment is carried out taking into account the weather features in the environment of the vehicle that restrict or prevent reception of the environmental information. In practice, in particular, air humidity as well as various types of precipitation lead to an impairment in the reception of the environmental information, for example via a mobile telecommunication network, which is why the information about the weather characteristics can help to assess the transmission of the environmental information via the mobile telecommunication network in advance and to determine the scope of the environmental information to be provided to the vehicle on the basis thereof. The detection of the weather features in the environment of the vehicle that restrict or prevent the reception of the environmental information can be carried out, for example, with corresponding sensors of the vehicle, such as a rain sensor or a sensor that detects an actuation of the windscreen wiper. Alternatively or additionally, for example, an environment sensor of the vehicle, in particular an optical camera, can be used to record the weather features on the basis of image information of the optical camera. The same applies correspondingly when using other environmental sensors such as LiDAR-based environmental sensors, radar sensors or also ultrasonic sensors. Last can detect the occurrence of spray, for example, when the vehicle is moving, which indicates precipitation. Alternatively, the capturing of the weather features in the environment of the vehicle, which restrict or prevent the reception of the environmental information, can be effected by receiving weather information, for example from a cloud server as a cloud weather service, depending on a location of the vehicle.In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the detection of an environment of the vehicle at its position comprises a detection of environmental features in the environment of the vehicle that restrict or prevent reception of the environmental information, in particular tunnels, galeries, silts, valleys or the like, and a reception situation of the vehicle for reception of the environmental information is predicted on the basis of the detected environment taking into account the environmental features in the environment of the vehicle that restrict or prevent reception of the environmental information. In practice, for example, structures such as tunnels or gallerys with a high proportion of iron or generally metal lead to an impairment in the reception of the environmental information, for example via a mobile telecommunication network, which is why the information about the environmental features can help to assess the transmission of the environmental information via the mobile telecommunication network in advance and to determine the scope of the environmental information to be provided to the vehicle on the basis thereof. The same also applies to vegetation or corresponding terrain structures. In the presence of such environmental features restricting or preventing the reception of the environmental information, the environmental information can be transmitted to the vehicle as required before this is possible only to a limited extent / unreliable extent, if at all, on account of the environmental features present. The detection of the environmental features in the environment of the vehicle that restrict or prevent the reception of the environmental information can be carried out, for example, with corresponding environmental sensors of the vehicle, in particular an optical camera, in order to detect the environmental features on the basis of image information of the optical camera. The same applies correspondingly when using other environmental sensors such as LiDAR-based environmental sensors or radar sensors. Alternatively or additionally, the detection of the environmental features in the environment of the vehicle that restrict or prevent the reception of the environmental information can take place based on map or navigation data stored in the vehicle, in which information about such environmental features is contained, and a position of the vehicle. Further alternatively or additionally, the capturing of the environmental features restricting or preventing the reception of the environmental information in the environment of the vehicle can take place based on environmental information from the cloud, for example from a cloud server as cloud information service, and the position of the vehicle.In the aforementioned cases, the electronic horizon can be extended, for example, upon detection of corresponding weather or environmental features, as a result of which environmental information for a relatively large region of the environment of the vehicle can be transmitted to the vehicle, and vice versa.In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, predicting a reception situation of the vehicle for receiving the environmental information based on the detected environment comprises ascertaining a current reception situation of the vehicle and predicting the reception situation taking into account the current reception situation of the vehicle. The prediction of the reception situation can be easily performed based on the current reception situation. As a result, local and current influences during the reception of the environmental information can be reliably taken into account in predicting the reception situation of the vehicle for the future. For example, the current reception situation can be projected into the future for predicting the reception situation, wherein a slow change of the current reception situation is assumed, for example. If the current reception situation is monitored over a specific period of time, the prediction of the reception situation can comprise interpolating the reception situation on the basis of a profile of the current reception situation. Further preferably, the current reception situation for a plurality of vehicles at or in the vicinity of the position of the vehicle can be taken into account by this information being provided by a plurality of vehicles and being processed jointly, for example by a cloud server.In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the method comprises ascertaining a current reception situation of the vehicle and storing the current reception situation together with the position of the vehicle, in particular in the case of poor and / or interrupted reception of the environmental information, and the prediction of the reception situation of the vehicle takes place on the basis of the stored reception situation(s) at the position of the vehicle. The reception situation is stored together with the associated position in the vehicle, for example in the driving assistance system, for example when a route is traversed. When the route is traveled again, the stored data can then be accessed. In this case, the reception situation can be detected, for example, by detecting whether sufficient environmental information according to the type of the electronic horizon was available at a position. In this case, the reception situation can be detected independently of, for example, a respectively current network coverage of a mobile radio network, since the measure for the reception situation is defined by the result of the provision of the environmental information, i.e. the data processing and provision. Thus, even at a position where network coverage of the mobile radio network is principally present, the reception situation may be poor and vice versa.In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the current reception situation can be stored together with the position of the vehicle of a plurality of vehicles, for example in the cloud. Thus, based on reception situations of a plurality of vehicles at a position, a reliable prediction of the reception situation of the vehicle can be made.In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, predicting a reception situation of the vehicle for receiving the environmental information based on the detected environment comprises predicting the reception situation based on a basic reception situation, which results in particular from a reception map in the region of the position of the vehicle, in combination with a dynamic reception situation of the vehicle for receiving the environmental information based on the detected environment. The basic reception situation defines a state from which the dynamic reception situation is deviated. The base reception situation may be a global value, or the base reception situation may be different for different positions of the vehicle. In particular, the basic reception situation can be specified based on the reception map, which specifies, for example, a basic network coverage of a mobile communication network. Such a basic reception situation can be determined particularly easily. The dynamic reception situation can be defined by an actual reception situation, or also independently of network coverage by information as to whether sufficient environmental information according to the type of electronic horizon was previously available at a respective position.In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the method comprises a step for determining a minimum value for the amount of the environmental information to be provided to the vehicle, and the determination of the amount of the environmental information to be provided to the vehicle on the basis of the minimum value for the amount of the environmental information to be provided to the vehicle comprises expanding the amount of the environmental information to be provided to the vehicle on the basis of the reception situation of the vehicle. The minimum value indicates, for example, a minimum distance from the vehicle for which the environmental information must be provided in the vehicle in order to provide the electronic horizon. Alternatively or additionally, the minimum value can indicate, for example, a minimum travel duration of the vehicle for which the environmental information must be provided in the vehicle. Other definitions of the minimum value are also possible. In this case, the minimum value may already contain a buffer for possible problems when receiving the environmental information. A corresponding quantity of environmental information must therefore always be provided in order to provide the electronic horizon on the basis of the minimum value. By expanding the scope of the environmental information to be provided to the vehicle, correspondingly more environmental information is provided, i.e. additional environmental information is transmitted to the vehicle. In the event of a subsequent deterioration of the reception situation or even a failure of the data transmission in the vehicle, enough environmental information is thus available for the electronic horizon until the reception situation is expected to improve again.In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the detection of the surroundings of the vehicle at its position comprises a detection of the surroundings of the vehicle on the basis of sensor information provided by at least one surroundings sensor of the vehicle, which at least partially cover the surroundings of the vehicle. Accordingly, the driving assistance system has at least one environment sensor for providing sensor information which at least partially covers the environment of the vehicle. Such environmental sensors can provide various sensor information for predicting the reception situation of the vehicle. Such environmental sensors can be selected and used, for example, from a group comprising optical cameras, LiDAR-based environmental sensors, radar sensors, ultrasonic sensors or rain sensors alone or in any combination. In this case, the environmental sensors can be used to directly or indirectly detect different features. For example, an optical camera may be used to detect environmental features, but also to detect weather features such as fog. Ultrasonic sensors can detect weather features, for example, via a detection of spray.In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the method comprises detecting the position of the vehicle based on the reception of satellite navigation signals, and detecting an environment of the vehicle at its position comprises detecting the environment of the vehicle based on map information at the detected position of the vehicle. The environment of the vehicle at its position can be detected already when the position of the vehicle is known, and information for detecting the environment can be performed based on the position of the vehicle. For example, the information relating to the environment of the vehicle can be stored in the manner of a map or also in the manner of the stored reception situation(s) at different positions of the vehicle, i.e. in the manner of a reception map, and can be retrieved from the memory depending on the position of the vehicle. The map information can in this case contain, in particular, information about environmental features such as tunnels, galeries, smokes or the like, which can be correspondingly evaluated, while the stored reception situation(s) can be used directly. In particular, the map information can be used in the vehicle in order to capture, for example, environmental features. Such environmental features are typically non-variable or at least highly static, so that no updates are required.The position of the vehicle may be determined based on receipt of satellite navigation signals using a global navigation satellite system satellite data receiver. The satellite data can be received according to one of the GPS, Galileo, Beidou or GLONASS standards. Corresponding receivers are known per se. A combination of multiple global navigation satellite systems may also be used to determine the position of the vehicle. In particular in the area with poor or disturbed reception of satellite data, for example in tunnels, the position of the vehicle can be continued using odometry data, for example wheel revolutions (wheel tics) or a steering angle.In principle, the map information can be stored in the vehicle, so that the vehicle or the driving assistance system can autonomously detect the environment of the vehicle. In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the method comprises transmitting the detected position of the vehicle to a cloud server, and the steps of detecting the environment of the vehicle are carried out in the cloud server, wherein the detection of the environment of the vehicle is carried out on the basis of map information at the detected position of the vehicle by the cloud server, predicting a reception situation of the vehicle for a reception of the environment information on the basis of the detected environment, and determining the scope of the environment information to be provided to the vehicle on the basis of the predicted reception situation of the vehicle. The method is thus carried out in a distributed manner in that the cloud server itself can capture the environment of the vehicle on the basis of its map information at the captured position of the vehicle. In addition, the cloud server may perform the required steps to determine the amount of environmental information to be provided to the vehicle. Subsequently, the cloud server can immediately start a transmission of the environmental information to be provided to the vehicle to the vehicle. This is overall a simple implementation of the method, since on the one hand the vehicle only has to capture its position and transmit it to the cloud server, and on the other hand the cloud server can directly start the transmission of the environmental information to be provided to the vehicle to the vehicle. A possible time delay is thus minimized, as is an amount of data to be transmitted. In this case, the environment can be captured by the cloud server in different ways. For example, the cloud server may take into account environmental features as well as weather features when detecting the environment.In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the driving support system comprises a position determination unit for detecting the position of the vehicle based on the reception of satellite navigation signals, wherein the position determination unit has, in particular, a receiver for satellite data of a global navigation satellite system. The receiver for satellite data can be designed according to one of the standards GPS, Galileo, Beidou or GLONASS. Corresponding receivers are known per se. A combination of multiple global navigation satellite systems may also be used. In addition, an odometry sensor may be used to supplement the position of the vehicle using odometry data, for example wheel rotations (wheel tics) or a steering angle.Features as well as advantages of the described methods may be easily transferred to the described driving assistance system and / or the described system and vice versa. Individual steps of the methods can also be carried out in an order which is arbitrary per se. The methods are not limited to the sequence of method steps described by way of example, as is obvious to the person skilled in the art from the description.The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the attached drawing on the basis of preferred embodiments. The features shown can represent an aspect of the invention both individually and in combination. Features of various exemplary embodiments can be transferred from one exemplary embodiment to another.It shows FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a vehicle having a driving assistance system according to a first preferred embodiment, FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a system including the driving support system of the vehicle of FIG. 1 along with a cloud server and a communication link established therebetween in accordance with the first embodiment, FIG. 3 shows a flow chart of a method for determining a scope of environmental information to be provided by a vehicle in the manner of an electronic horizon, in particular with information relating to speed restrictions to be applied for the vehicle, according to a first embodiment, FIG. 4 shows a flow chart of a method for determining a scope of environmental information to be provided by a vehicle in the manner of an electronic horizon, in particular with information relating to speed restrictions to be applied for the vehicle, according to a second embodiment, and FIG. 5 shows a flow chart of a method for determining a scope of environmental information to be provided by a vehicle in the manner of an electronic horizon, in particular with information relating to speed restrictions to be applied for the vehicle, according to a third embodiment.FIG. 1 shows a vehicle 10 having a driving assistance system 12 according to a first preferred embodiment. The driving assistance system 12 can be part of a combination of different driver assistance systems known under the term ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems), or else part of another driving assistance system or part of a system for autonomous or semi-autonomous driving.In this exemplary embodiment, the driving assistance system 12 is designed to perform at least one driving assistance function on the basis of environmental information to be provided on the vehicle 10 in the manner of an electronic horizon. Specifically, the driving support system 12 in this embodiment is implemented as an intelligent speed assist system (ISA). The ISA informs a human driver of the vehicle 10 of a current speed limit and additionally alerts it when the current speed limit is exceeded. To this end, the driving support system 12 uses the electronic horizon-type environmental information with the information regarding speed constraints to be applied for the vehicle 10. Alternatively, the driving support system 12 may be part of another driving support system 12, for example a higher-order driving support system.The driving support system 12 includes, in this embodiment, a position determination unit 14 for detecting the position of the vehicle 10 based on reception of satellite navigation signals based on satellite data received with a global navigation satellite system receiver. In this exemplary embodiment, the receiver is embodied integrally with the position determination unit 14. The receiver can be implemented according to one of the GPS, Galileo, Beidou or GLONASS standards. Corresponding receivers are known per se. A combination of a plurality of global navigation satellite system receivers or a receiver for receiving satellite data of a plurality of global navigation satellite systems may also be used.In this exemplary embodiment, the driving assistance system 12 also comprises a communication unit 16 for establishing a communication connection in order to receive the environmental information via it and optionally to perform a further communication.In this exemplary embodiment, the driving assistance system further comprises an environment sensor 36 for providing sensor information which at least partially covers an environment 38 of the vehicle 10. In this exemplary embodiment, the environment sensor 36 is designed as an optical camera.The driving support system 12 in this embodiment additionally includes a computing unit 18. the computing unit 18 is a computing unit itself, and includes a processor and a memory to execute a program for performing a support function of the driving support system 12, as well as to perform the method described below. Such computing units 18 are known in the automotive field as electronic control units (ECU). The arithmetic unit 18 receives and processes the position of the vehicle 10 determined by the position determination unit 14 and sensor information from the surroundings sensor 36.The driving assistance system 12 further comprises a data connection 20 which connects the position determination unit 14, the communication unit 16, the environment sensor 36 and the computing unit 18 to one another. The data connection 20 can comprise a data bus which connects the position determination unit 14, the communication unit 16, the environment sensor 36 and the computing unit 18 and further optional components to one another. In the automotive sector, various bus systems such as CAN, FlexRay, LON or others are known as data buses. Alternatively, the data connection 20 can be implemented with point-to-point connections between the position determination unit 14, the communication unit 16, the environment sensor 36 and the computing unit 18.In FIG. 2, the driving support system 12 is shown together with a cloud server 22. The cloud server 22 is used for cloud-based provision of environmental information in the manner of an electronic horizon.The cloud server 22 includes a communication device 24 via which it communicates with the vehicle 10, i.e., with the communication unit 16 of the driving support system 12. For this purpose, a communication connection 26 is established between the communication unit 16 and the communication device 24. In this exemplary embodiment, the communication unit 16 and the communication device 24 are designed for communication on the basis of a mobile communication standard such as UMTS, LTE or 5G.The cloud server 22 also comprises a database 28 containing environmental information of the electronic horizon type, in particular information relating to speed restrictions to be applied, and a computing device 30, wherein the communication device 24, the database 28 and the computing device 30 are connected in terms of data via a communication bus 32. The computing device 30 may be any computing device per se.The cloud server 22 and the driving assistance system 12 may additionally form a system 34 for determining an amount of environmental information to be provided by the vehicle 10 in the manner of an electronic horizon, in particular with information relating to speed restrictions to be applied for the vehicle 10.A method for determining an amount of environmental information to be provided by a vehicle 10 in the manner of an electronic horizon is described below, in particular with information relating to speed restrictions to be applied for the vehicle 10. As will be apparent from the description below, not all components of the driving support system 12 described above are required in all embodiments.A method according to a first embodiment begins in step S 100 with a determination of a minimum value for the amount of the environmental information to be provided to the vehicle 10. The minimum value indicates, for example, a minimum distance from the vehicle 10 for which the environmental information is provided in the vehicle 10 to provide the electronic horizon. Alternatively or additionally, the minimum value may indicate a minimum travel duration of the vehicle 10 for which the environmental information is provided in the vehicle 10.Step S 110 relates to detecting the position of the vehicle 10 based on the reception of satellite navigation signals.The position of the vehicle 10 is determined using the global navigation satellite system satellite data receiver of the positioning unit 14. In particular in the area with poor or disturbed reception of satellite data, for example in tunnels, the position of the vehicle 10 can be continued using odometry data, for example wheel revolutions (wheel tics) or a steering angle.Step S 120 relates to detecting an environment 38 of the vehicle 10 at its position.The detection of the environment 38 of the vehicle 10 at its position comprises in this exemplary embodiment a detection of the environment 38 of the vehicle 10 based on map information at the detected position of the vehicle 10. The map information comprises information about environmental features such as tunnels, galeries, silts or the like, while the stored reception situation(s) can be used directly. Thus, detecting the environment 38 of the vehicle 10 at its location includes detecting such environmental features that restrict or prevent receipt of the environmental information in the environment 38 of the vehicle 10, i.e., tunnels, gale, silts, valleys, or the like.In the first exemplary embodiment, information relating to the environment 38 of the vehicle 10 is stored in the vehicle 10 in the manner of a map or else in the manner of stored reception situation(s) at different positions of the vehicle 10, i.e. in the manner of a reception map, and can be retrieved depending on the position detected as in step S 110. The map information includes information about environment features that restrict or prevent receipt of the environment information in the environment 38 of the vehicle 10, such as tunnels, galeries, smokes, or the like, while the stored receipt situation(s) may be used immediately.Step S 130 relates to ascertaining a current reception situation of the vehicle 10 and storing the current reception situation together with the position of the vehicle 10, in particular in the case of poor and / or interrupted reception of the environmental information. The reception situation is stored together with the associated position in the vehicle 10, for example in the driving assistance system 12, for example when a route is traversed.The reception situation can be detected by detecting whether sufficient environmental information according to the type of the electronic horizon was available at a position. Alternatively or additionally, the reception situation may be detected by detecting a speed of transmission of the environmental information to the communication unit 16 of the driving support system 12 at the respective position.The stored reception situation together with the corresponding position of the vehicle 10 constitutes the above-mentioned reception map used in the repeated driving at the position in step S 120.Step S 140 relates to predicting a reception situation of the vehicle 10 for a reception of the environmental information based on the detected environment 38.Predicting the reception situation of the vehicle 10 for the reception of the surrounding information is a dynamic prediction depending on the surrounding environment 38 of the vehicle 10.The prediction of the reception situation is carried out on the basis of the current reception situation. Predicting the reception situation comprises interpolating the reception situation based on a profile of the current reception situation. In addition, the prediction of the reception situation of the vehicle 10 for a reception of the environmental information based on the detected environment 38 takes place taking into account the environmental features in the environment 38 of the vehicle 10 that restrict or prevent the reception of the environmental information.The prediction of the reception situation of the vehicle 10 for the reception of the environmental information is effected here on the basis of a basic reception situation which results from the reception map in the region of the position of the vehicle 10, in combination with a dynamic reception situation of the vehicle 10 for a reception of the environmental information on the basis of the detected environment 38. The base reception situation may be a global value, or the base reception situation may be different for different positions of the vehicle 10. In this embodiment, the basic reception situation is specified based on the reception map. The dynamic reception situation is defined by the actual reception situation together with the detected environmental features.In step S 150, the scope of the environmental information to be provided to the vehicle 10 is determined based on the predicted reception situation of the vehicle 10.If it is found from the predicted reception situation that the surrounding information cannot be sufficiently provided to the vehicle 10 in the future, the amount of the surrounding information to be provided to the vehicle 10 is increased. Thus, the surrounding environment information required by the vehicle 10 can be already transmitted to the vehicle 10 in advance.In detail, based on the reception situation of the vehicle 10, from the minimum value for the amount of surrounding information to be provided to the vehicle 10, the amount of surrounding information to be provided to the vehicle 10 is expanded as necessary, whereby additional surrounding information can be transmitted to the vehicle 10.As is apparent from the above description, the environment sensor 36 is not required for performing the method of the first embodiment. The cloud server 22 is also not required for carrying out the method. The method is performed entirely in the driving assistance system 12 of the vehicle 10. The communication unit 16 serves here merely to provide the environmental information in the scope as determined in the vehicle 10, for example from the cloud server 22.A method for determining a scope of environmental information to be provided by a vehicle 10 in the manner of an electronic horizon, in particular with information relating to speed restrictions to be applied for the vehicle 10, according to a second embodiment, is described below.The method of the second embodiment begins in step S 200 with a determination of a minimum value for the amount of the environmental information to be provided to the vehicle 10, as already described above for step S 100.Step S 210 relates to detecting the position of the vehicle 10 based on the reception of satellite navigation signals, as already described above for step S 110.Step S 215 relates to transmitting the detected position of the vehicle 10 to the cloud server 22, the position is transmitted from the computing unit 18 via the data connection 20 to the communication unit 16 and from there via the communication connection 26 to the communication device 24, which provides the detected position of the vehicle 10 via the communication bus 32 to the computing device 30.Step S220 relates to detecting an environment 38 of the vehicle 10 at its position. Step S220 is performed by the cloud server 22 in this embodiment.The detection of the environment 38 of the vehicle 10 at its position also includes, in the second exemplary embodiment, detection of the environment 38 of the vehicle 10 based on map information at the detected position of the vehicle 10, as described above with reference to step S 120. In contrast to step S 120, the map information is stored here in the database 28, which is accessed by the computing device 30 via the communication bus 32. This also relates to a map in the manner of stored reception situation(s).In this exemplary embodiment, the detection of the environment 38 of the vehicle 10 at its position additionally comprises a detection of weather features in the environment 38 of the vehicle 10 that restrict or prevent reception of the environmental information, in particular precipitation, air humidity, weathering or the like. The weather features are detected based on the detected position of the vehicle 10 in the cloud server 22.Step S 230 relates to ascertaining a current reception situation of the vehicle 10 and storing the current reception situation together with the position of the vehicle 10, in particular in the case of poor and / or interrupted reception of the environmental information, as already described above for step S 130.In this exemplary embodiment, step S 230 comprises transmitting the ascertained current reception situation of the vehicle 10 together with the position of the vehicle 10 to the cloud server 22, which uses the information for creating and maintaining the reception map.Step S 230 is optional, since the reception map can also be created and maintained in another way.Step S 240 relates to predicting a reception situation of the vehicle 10 for reception of the environment information based on the captured environment 38. step S 240 is performed by the cloud server 22 in this exemplary embodiment.Step S 240 is based on the above step S 140. Additionally, however, the weather features limiting or preventing receipt of the environmental information are considered in the environment 38 of the vehicle 10.In step S 250, the scope of the environmental information to be provided to the vehicle 10 is determined on the basis of the predicted reception situation of the vehicle 10, as already described above for step S 150. However, in the second exemplary embodiment, step S 250 is also carried out by the cloud server 22.As is apparent from the above description, the environment sensor 36 is not required for performing the method of the second embodiment.A method for determining a scope of environment information to be provided by a vehicle 10 in the manner of an electronic horizon, in particular with information relating to speed restrictions to be applied for the vehicle 10, according to a third embodiment, will be described below.The method of the third embodiment begins in step S 300 with a determination of a minimum value for the amount of the environmental information to be provided to the vehicle 10, as already described above for step S 100.Step S 320 relates to detecting an environment 38 of the vehicle 10 at its position. Step S 320 is performed by the driving support system 12 in this embodiment.In the third exemplary embodiment, the environment 38 of the vehicle 10 is detected at its position on the basis of sensor information provided by the environment sensor 36 of the vehicle 10, which sensor information at least partially covers the environment 38 of the vehicle 10.In the third exemplary embodiment, detecting an environment of the vehicle 10 at its position comprises detecting environmental features in the environment 38 of the vehicle 10 that restrict or prevent reception of the environmental information, in particular tunnels, galeries, shrubs, valleys or the like. The environmental features are captured based on the sensor information provided by the optical camera 36, i.e., image information of the optical camera 36. The environmental features are detected in the image information of the optical camera 36 using object detection methodsIn the third exemplary embodiment, the detection of the environment 38 of the vehicle 10 at its position additionally comprises a detection of weather features in the environment 38 of the vehicle 10, in particular precipitation, air humidity, weathering or the like, which are limiting or preventing reception of the environmental information. The weather features are detected based on the sensor information provided by the optical camera, i.e., image information of the optical camera 36.Step S 340 relates to predicting a reception situation of the vehicle 10 for a reception of the environmental information based on the detected environment 38.Predicting the reception situation of the vehicle 10 for the reception of the surrounding information is a dynamic prediction depending on the surrounding environment 38 of the vehicle 10.The prediction of the reception situation of the vehicle 10 for the reception of the environmental information based on the detected environment 38 takes place taking into account the environmental features limiting or preventing the reception of the environmental information as well as the weather features in the environment 38 of the vehicle 10.In step S 350, the scope of the environmental information to be provided to the vehicle 10 is determined on the basis of the predicted reception situation of the vehicle 10, as already described above for step S 150. Step S 350 is performed by the driving support system 12 in the second embodiment.If it is found from the predicted reception situation that the surrounding information cannot be sufficiently provided to the vehicle 10 in the future, the amount of the surrounding information to be provided to the vehicle 10 is increased. Thus, the surrounding environment information required by the vehicle 10 can be already transmitted to the vehicle 10 in advance.In detail, based on the reception situation of the vehicle 10, from the minimum value for the amount of surrounding information to be provided to the vehicle 10, the amount of surrounding information to be provided to the vehicle 10 is expanded as necessary, thereby transmitting additional surrounding information to the vehicle 10.As is apparent from the above description, the environment sensor 36 is used for the execution of the method of the third embodiment, but not the position determination unit 14.Following the described methods, a transmission of the environmental information from the cloud server 22 to the vehicle 10 or the driving support system 12 can be carried out on the basis of the thus determined amount of the environmental information to be provided to the vehicle 10. If the vehicle 10 or the driving support system 12 determines the amount of the environmental information to be provided to the vehicle 10, it can request a transmission of the corresponding environmental information from the cloud server 22. Alternatively, the cloud server 22 may determine the amount of environmental information to be provided to the vehicle 10 and automatically initiate and / or perform the transmission of the corresponding environmental information to the vehicle 10 or the driving support system 12.The system 24 with the driving support system 12 and the cloud server 22 enables provision of the environmental information to the vehicle 10.Depending on the performance of the method, various components of the driving assistance system 12 are optional and may be omitted. When performing the method, it is also apparent that the detection and use of the current reception situation is optional in the methods of the first and second specific embodiments.List of reference characters10 Vehicle 12 Driving assistance system 14 Position determination unit 16 Communication unit 18 Computing unit 20 Data connection 22 Cloud server 24 Communication device 26 Communication connection 28 Database 30 Computing device 32 Communication bus 34 System 36 Environment sensor, optical camera 38 Environment

Claims

Method for determining a scope of environmental information to be provided by a vehicle (10) in the manner of an electronic horizon, in particular with information relating to speed restrictions to be applied for the vehicle (10), comprising the steps of detecting an environment (38) of the vehicle (10) at its position, predicting a reception situation of the vehicle (10) for a reception of the environmental information based on the detected environment (38), and determining the scope of the environmental information to be provided to the vehicle (10) based on the predicted reception situation of the vehicle (10).Method according to Claim 1, characterized in that the detection of an environment (38) of the vehicle (10) at its position comprises detection of weather features in the environment (38) of the vehicle (10) that restrict or prevent reception of the environmental information, in particular precipitation, air humidity, weathering or the like, and a reception situation of the vehicle (10) for reception of the environmental information is predicted on the basis of the detected environment (38) taking into account the weather features in the environment (38) of the vehicle (10) that restrict or prevent reception of the environmental information.Method according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the detection of an environment (38) of the vehicle (10) at its position comprises detection of environmental features in the environment (38) of the vehicle (10) that restrict or prevent reception of the environmental information, in particular tunnels, galeries, silts, valleys or the like, and a reception situation of the vehicle (10) for reception of the environmental information is predicted on the basis of the detected environment (38) taking into account the environmental features in the environment (38) of the vehicle (10) that restrict or prevent reception of the environmental information.Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the prediction of a reception situation of the vehicle (10) for reception of the environmental information on the basis of the detected environment (38) comprises a determination of a current reception situation of the vehicle (10) and a prediction of the reception situation taking into account the current reception situation of the vehicle (10).Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the method comprises a determination of a current reception situation of the vehicle (10) and a storage of the current reception situation together with the position of the vehicle (10), in particular in the case of poor and / or interrupted reception of the environmental information, and the prediction of the reception situation of the vehicle (10) is carried out on the basis of the stored reception situation(s) at the position of the vehicle (10).Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the prediction of a reception situation of the vehicle (10) for reception of the environmental information based on the detected environment (38) comprises a prediction of the reception situation based on a basic reception situation, which results in particular from a reception map in the region of the position of the vehicle (10), in combination with a dynamic reception situation of the vehicle (10) for reception of the environmental information based on the detected environment (38).Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the method comprises a step for determining a minimum value for the scope of the environmental information to be provided to the vehicle (10), and the determination of the scope of the environmental information to be provided to the vehicle (10) on the basis of the minimum value for the scope of the environmental information to be provided to the vehicle (10) comprises expanding the scope of the environmental information to be provided to the vehicle (10) on the basis of the reception situation of the vehicle (10).Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the detection of an environment (38) of the vehicle (10) at its position comprises a detection of the environment (38) of the vehicle (10) on the basis of sensor information provided by at least one environment sensor (36) of the vehicle (10), which at least partially cover the environment (38) of the vehicle (10).Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the method comprises detecting the position of the vehicle (10) based on the reception of satellite navigation signals, and detecting an environment (38) of the vehicle (10) at its position comprises detecting the environment (38) of the vehicle (10) based on map information at the detected position of the vehicle (10).Method according to claim 9, characterised in that the method comprises transmitting the detected position of the vehicle (10) to a cloud server (22), and the steps of detecting the environment (38) of the vehicle (10) are carried out in the cloud server (22), wherein the detection of the environment (38) of the vehicle (10) is carried out on the basis of map information at the detected position of the vehicle (10) by the cloud server (22), predicting a reception situation of the vehicle (10) for a reception of the environment information on the basis of the detected environment (38), and determining the scope of the environment information to be provided to the vehicle (10) on the basis of the predicted reception situation of the vehicle (10).Driving support system (12) for a vehicle (10) for carrying out at least one driving support function based on environment information of the type of an electronic horizon to be provided on the vehicle (10), in particular with information relating to speed restrictions for the vehicle (10) to be applied, having a communication unit (14) for establishing a communication connection (26) to a cloud server (22), a computing unit (18), and a data connection (20) which connects the communication unit (14) and the computing unit (18) to one another, wherein the driving support system (12) is designed to carry out the method for determining an extent of environment information of the type of an electronic horizon to be provided by the vehicle (10), in particular with information relating to speed restrictions for the vehicle (10) to be applied, according to one of Claims 1 to 9.Driving support system (12) according to claim 11, characterized in that the driving support system (12) comprises a position determination unit (14) for detecting the position of the vehicle (10) based on the reception of satellite navigation signals, wherein the position determination unit (14) in particular comprises a receiver for satellite data of a global navigation satellite system.Driving assistance system (12) according to either of Claims 11 and 12, characterized in that the driving assistance system (12) has at least one environment sensor (36) for providing sensor information which at least partially covers the environment (38) of the vehicle (10).System (34) having a driving support system (12) according to Claim 12 and a cloud server (22) for cloud-based provision of environmental information in the manner of an electronic horizon, in particular having information relating to speed restrictions to be applied, the cloud server (22) comprising a communication device (24) for establishing a communication connection (26) with the communication unit (16) of the driving support system (12), a database (28) having environmental information in the manner of an electronic horizon, in particular having information relating to speed restrictions to be applied, and a computing device (30), wherein the communication device (24), the database (28) and the computing device (30) are connected in terms of data technology, and the system (34) is designed, The method for determining a scope of environment information to be provided by the vehicle (10) in the manner of an electronic horizon, in particular with information relating to speed restrictions to be applied for the vehicle (10), according to claim 10.

Images