Method for identifying at least one active sensor device of a vehicle and vehicle

Abstract

The invention relates to a method (100) for identifying at least one active sensor device (12, 22, 32, 42) of a vehicle (10, 20, 30, 40), comprising at least the following steps: providing (102) at least one first identification signal (16) indicating a first unique identification feature of at least one first active sensor device (12) by means of the first active sensor device (12) of a first vehicle (10); and receiving (104) the at least one first identification signal (16) by means of at least one second active sensor device (22) of a second vehicle (20); providing (106) at least one second identification signal (26) indicating a second unique identification feature of the second active sensor device (22) by means of the second active sensor device (22); and receiving (108) the at least one second identification signal (26) by means of the first active sensor device (12).The procedure (100) provides increased safety and is also cost-effective to implement on a vehicle.

Description

The invention relates to a method for identifying at least one active sensor device of a vehicle and to a vehicle.Vehicle thefts are a very cumbersome situation with high financial damage, which still cannot be completely prevented despite modern theft warning systems. The vehicles may be deployed without damage, for example, by a man-in-the-middle attack on a key fob system. Prior art solutions for finding the deployed vehicle may be the use of location data of a global navigation satellite system. However, these solutions can be made rapidly inoperative by replacing the corresponding module on the vehicle.Furthermore, DE 10 2022 109 566 A1 discloses a method for identifying a stolen vehicle, in which characteristic vibration data are transmitted from one vehicle and detected by a sensor of another vehicle and are matched to a database.From DE 10 2022 203 909 A1 a method for detecting a stolen target vehicle is further known, comprising the following steps: detecting a theft of a target vehicle; reporting the theft of the target vehicle, in particular to a central control unit; sending theft information to a plurality of external vehicles in the environment of the target vehicle, e.g. by means of ultrasonic sensors and / or radar sensors, wherein the external vehicles belong to a common vehicle fleet; detecting the stolen target vehicle by the external vehicles and determining a position of the stolen target vehicle by the external vehicles; continuously reporting the position of the target vehicle to the central control unit.It is an object of the invention to provide a method which provides increased safety and at the same time can be realized at low cost on a vehicle.The object is achieved by the features of the independent claims. Advantageous refinements are the subject matter of the dependent claims and of the following description.According to a first aspect, a method for identifying at least one active sensor device of a vehicle is described, comprising at least the following steps: providing at least one first identification signal, which indicates a first unique identification feature of at least one first active sensor device, by means of the first active sensor device of a first vehicle; and receiving the at least one first identification signal by means of at least one second active sensor device of a second vehicle; providing at least one second identification signal, which indicates a second unique identification feature of the second active sensor device, by means of the second active sensor device; and receiving the at least one second identification signal, by means of the first active sensor device.The method for identifying at least one active sensor device of a vehicle can thus be used to perform a handshake between two active sensor devices of two different vehicles. The handshake may be defined by the steps of the method listed above. For this purpose, a first vehicle transmits a first identification signal via the first active sensor device, with which the first unique identification feature is displayed. The first identification signal can be received by the second active sensor device of a second vehicle, whereupon the second active sensor device transmits a second identification signal, with which the second identification feature is displayed. This second identification signal can in turn be received by the first active sensor device of the first vehicle. It is also conceivable, for example, that upon the respective receipt of the identification signal of the respective other vehicle, an acknowledgment of the receipt is provided with an acknowledgment signal. By exchanging the identification features, the vehicles can identify themselves to one another by means of their active sensor device. Because the identification features are associated with the active sensor devices, replacement of the active sensor device cannot be used to change the identification feature of a vehicle. However, this does not oppose the fact that the vehicle itself can have its own vehicle identification feature. For the provision of the identification signal, for example, already existing active sensor devices can be used, which are only controlled accordingly in order to provide unique identification features in each case. The method can thus provide increased safety without additional components necessarily having to be installed on a vehicle. It is only sufficient to assign a unique identification feature to the respective active sensor device, which can also be effected by software, for example. In this way, a cost-effective method can be provided.According to some exemplary embodiments, it is conceivable that the first and / or the second identification signal can be part of at least one measurement signal, preferably part of at least one measurement signal pulse, of the first and / or the second active sensor device, and / or that the first and / or second identification signal can be formed as a modification of the at least one measurement signal, preferably as a modified phase offset and / or a modified frequency sequence, and / or that the first and / or second identification signal can be provided after at least one measurement signal pulse.The identification features can thus be provided by the respective active sensor device simultaneously with the measurement signal or the measurement signal pulses according to a first exemplary embodiment mentioned above. For this purpose, they can be part of a measurement signal or measurement signal pulse, for example. For this purpose, for example, the identification signal can be incorporated into the measurement signal. A section of the measurement signal can be designed for this purpose, for example, as an identification signalAccording to the second embodiment mentioned above, the measurement signal can be changed in its entirety to form the identification signal. For this purpose, the identification signal can be superimposed on the measurement signal, for example. Furthermore, for example, a modified phase offset or a modified frequency sequence can be integrated into the measurement signal.According to the third exemplary embodiment mentioned above, the respective active sensor device can also operate in two phases. In a first phase, the measurement signal can be emitted, for example as measurement signal pulses. In a second phase, the identification signal can be transmitted. The identification signal can thus be transmitted separately in time from the measurement signal. The order of the phases may be arbitrary.According to some exemplary embodiments, it is conceivable that the method may further comprise at least the following steps: transmitting a protocol signal which indicates encounter data between the first and second active sensor devices, in particular the first and second identification features, to a central electronic memory, in particular to a database; and storing the encounter data on the central electronic memory.The exchange of the identification features between the vehicles can thus be logged using the encounter data. Furthermore, when the protocol signal is transmitted to a central electronic memory, which can have a database, for example, the protocol can be stored externally, for example to the cloud. In this way, the encounter data can be retrievable from anywhere.According to some exemplary embodiments, it is conceivable that the encounter data can be stored as at least one block in at least one first blockchain, which can be assigned to the first active sensor device, and / or in at least one second blockchain, which can be assigned to the second active sensor device.By using a blockchain as the storage form of the encounter data, each encounter can be added as a block to the chain. In this way, the history of the encounter data of a vehicle with different vehicles can be stored in an impunciable manner. The use of the blockchain also makes it easier to detect inconsistencies in tampering attempts.According to some exemplary embodiments, it is conceivable that the encounter data can each have a vehicle identification feature of the first vehicle and of the second vehicle.In addition to the identification feature of the active sensor device, a vehicle identification feature can thus also be stored in the encounter data. Thus, when the active sensor device is exchanged, for example when the active transmitter device of two vehicles is exchanged, the manipulation can be detected more easily or the effort for the manipulation can be increased.According to some exemplary embodiments, it is conceivable that the method can further comprise at least the following steps: ascertaining a first current position of the first vehicle and / or a second current position of the second vehicle; and linking the first current position to the received second identification feature and / or linking the second current position to the received first identification feature.By linking the current position of the vehicles to the received identification features, a plausibility check can be facilitated. For example, in the case of a suspected manipulation, the location information of the vehicles can also be used to determine whether the encounter data are plausible. The current position of a vehicle can be determined, for example, using a global navigation satellite system.According to some exemplary embodiments, it is conceivable that as long as the first active sensor device detects the second vehicle, at least the steps of the handshake explained above are not repeated.As long as the vehicles have a visual connection to one another, renewed identification or renewed handshake between the vehicles can be dispensed with. The measurement signals emitted by the active sensor device can thus be used more efficiently.According to some exemplary embodiments, it is conceivable that the first and / or second identification signal can be embodied as a radar signal, lidar signal and / or ultrasonic signal.Radar, lidar and / or ultrasonic devices may already be present on the vehicle as active sensor devices. This makes it possible to avoid the costs for retrofitting a vehicle. Furthermore, the active sensor device can then carry out a plurality of functions, with the result that the number of components on a vehicle does not have to be increased during production despite an increased scope of functions.According to a second aspect, a vehicle comprising at least one first active sensor device and at least one control unit for controlling the first active sensor device is described, wherein the control unit is designed such that it causes the first active sensor device to provide at least one first identification signal which indicates a first unique identification feature of the active sensor device, and wherein the control unit is furthermore designed for determining a second unique identification feature from a second identification signal and / or measurement signal received from the first active sensor device.According to some exemplary embodiments, it is conceivable that the control unit can be further configured to cause the first active sensor device to provide the first identification signal as part of at least one measurement signal, preferably as part of at least one measurement signal pulse of the first active sensor device, and / or as a modification of the at least one measurement signal, preferably as a modified phase offset and / or a modified frequency sequence, and / or to provide the first identification signal after at least one measurement signal pulse.According to some exemplary embodiments, it is conceivable that the control unit may be further configured to transmit a protocol signal, which indicates encounter data between the first active sensor device and a second active sensor device, in particular the first identification feature and the received second identification feature, to a central electronic memory.According to some exemplary embodiments, it is conceivable that the encounter data can have a vehicle identification feature of the vehicle and the received second identification feature of a further vehicle.According to some exemplary embodiments, it is conceivable that the control unit can be further designed for ascertaining a current position of the vehicle and for linking the current position to the received second identification feature.According to some exemplary embodiments, it is conceivable that the control unit can furthermore be designed to ascertain a second identification feature from a second identification signal received from a further vehicle only once, as long as the first active sensor device detects the further vehicle.According to some exemplary embodiments, it is conceivable that the first active sensor device can be designed as a radar, lidar and / or ultrasonic sensor device.Advantages and effects and refinements of the vehicle result from the advantages and effects and refinements of the method described above. In order to avoid repetitions, reference is therefore made in this respect to the preceding description.The invention will be described below with reference to an exemplary embodiment by means of the attached drawings. The following are shown: FIG. 1 shows a flow chart of the method; FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary roadway situation; FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a measurement signal and an identification signal.The method for identifying at least one active sensor device of a vehicle is denoted in its entirety by the reference sign 100 according to FIG. 1.The method 100 includes steps 102-116, wherein steps 110-116 are optional.According to step 102, at least one first identification signal 16 is provided. The identification signal 16 indicates a first unique identifier of at least one first active sensor device 12 of a first vehicle 10. The identification feature can be, for example, character code, which can be provided in signal form as identification signal 16.The identification signal 16 can be embodied, for example, as a radar signal, a lidar signal and / or as an ultrasonic signal.The emission of the identification signal 16 is illustrated by way of example in FIG. 2, in which a roadway situation with a plurality of vehicles 10, 20, 30, 40 is illustrated. Each of the vehicles 10, 20, 30, 40 may include an active sensor device 12, 22, 32, 42. Further, each of the illustrated vehicles 10, 20, 30, 40 may be considered a first or second vehicle. That is, the method may begin with step 102 starting from each of the depicted vehicles.According to a further step 104, the at least one identification signal 16 can be received by the second active sensor device 22 of the second vehicle 20. Step 104 may be performed by each of the vehicles 10, 20, 30, 40 shown in FIG. 2, i.e., the second vehicle 20 may equally well be one of the other vehicles 10, 20, 30, 40 shown.In a further step 106, the second vehicle 20 can provide a second unique identifier with the second active sensor device 22 by means of a second identification signal 26. The second unique identifier identifies the second active sensor device 22.The second identification signal 26 can be received by means of the first active sensor device 12 according to step 108.Thus, the first vehicle 10 has exchanged the second vehicle 20 for the identification features of the active sensor devices 12, 22 assigned to them. The steps 102- 108 explained above can be understood as a handshake between the active sensor devices 12, 22 or between the vehicles 10, 20.In each vehicle 10, 20, 30, 40, the identification features that were transmitted and received can be logged as encounter data. The encounter data can be configured, for example, as a pair of the first identification feature and the second identification feature.Furthermore, according to step 110, a protocol signal 18 can be transmitted to a central electronic memory 11 which displays the encounter data. The central electronic memory 11 may store the encounter data according to step 112.Furthermore, the central electronic memory 11 can have, for example, a database which can be stored on a central server and in which the encounter data can be stored. The central server can be arranged, for example, in the so-called cloud. The encounter data can thus be collected and stored centrally.The encounter data may be stored within a blockchain. In this case, the encounter data of a encounter between two vehicles can form a block of the chain. A first blockchain for the first active sensor device 12 may be stored, for example, in a memory 19 in the first vehicle 10 and / or on the central electronic memory 11. A second blockchain may be stored for the second active sensor device 22 in a memory 29 in the second vehicle 20 and / or in the central electronic memory 11. Each vehicle 10, 20, 30, 40 may have its own blockchain in which the encounter data of that vehicle with other vehicles may be stored.Furthermore, the encounter data can have a vehicle identification feature of the respective vehicle 10, 20, 30, 40. The vehicle identification feature may be independent of the identification feature of the respective active control device 12, 22, 32, 42. Thus, replacement of the active control device 12, 22, 32, 42 in the corresponding vehicle may be detected.According to a further step 114, a first current position of the first vehicle 10 can be determined. Alternatively or additionally, a second current position of the second vehicle 20 can also be determined. The determination of the current position can be carried out by means of a global navigation satellite network 15 by means of a positioning signal 17. The current position can thus indicate the absolute position on the surface of the earth. At least three satellites are necessary for the use of the global navigation satellite network 15. For the sake of clarity, FIG. 2 shows only one satellite which is intended to stand for the entire global navigation satellite network 15.The current position can likewise be included in the encounter data and, according to step 116, be linked to the respective identification feature received. For example, in the first vehicle 10, the first current position of the first vehicle 10 can be linked to the received second identification feature of the second vehicle 20. It is thus possible to keep track of a vehicle where a meeting with another vehicle has taken place.For example, if the second vehicle 20 has been reported to be stolen, the method discussed above may locate the second vehicle 20. This can be done by the mutual identification with the vehicles 10, 30, 40, wherein the vehicles 10, 30, 40 also each perform a mutual identification with one another by the method 100 explained above by handshake.The vehicles 10, 20, 30, 40 can each have a control unit 14, 24, 34, 44 for controlling the respective active sensor devices 12, 22, 32, 42. The control unit 14, 24, 34, 44 may be configured to execute the above-explained steps of the method 100, which relate to only one vehicle.At least two control units 14, 24, 34, 44 can be configured in combination with one another to carry out all the steps of the method 100 explained above.FIG. 3 shows a diagram 50, which represents, by way of example, a measurement signal 56 and an identification signal 16.The right axis of the diagram 50 indicates the time t and the vertical axis the signal frequency f. The measurement signal 56 is divided into measurement signal pulses, which can be referred to as chirps.The identification signal 16 can be embodied, for example, as one of the measurement signal pulses, which differs from the other measurement signal pulses. A difference can be provided, for example, by a change in the frequency sequence of the measurement signal pulse. Alternatively or additionally, a phase shift of the measurement signal pulse can also be carried out.Furthermore, the identification signal 16 can alternatively or additionally also be generated after the measurement signal 56. Thus, for example, an identification phase 54 can follow a measurement phase 52 in chronological succession or vice versa. In the measurement phase, the measurement signal 56 can then be provided. In the identification phase 54, the identification signal 16 can be provided. In this exemplary embodiment, the identification signal 16 is represented as a frequency sequence which encodes the corresponding identification feature.The above example is not intended to limit the invention in any way. Rather, the invention may be modified in many ways. All the features of the invention described above, alone or in combination with one another, can be essential for the invention.List of reference characters10 Vehicle 11 Electronic memory 12 Active sensor device 14 Control unit 15 Navigation satellite network 16 Identification signal 17 Positioning signal 18 Protocol signal 19 Memory 20 Vehicle 22 Active sensor device 24 Control unit 26 Identification signal 29 Memory 30 Vehicle 32 Active sensor device 34 Control unit 40 Vehicle 42 Active sensor device 44 Control unit 50 Diagram 52 Measurement phase 54 Identification phase 56 Measurement signal

Claims

Method (100) for identifying at least one active sensor device (12, 22, 32, 42) of a vehicle (10, 20, 30, 40), comprising at least the following steps: a. providing (102), by means of the first active sensor device (12) of a first vehicle (10), at least one first identification signal (16) indicating a first unique identification characteristic of at least one first active sensor device (12); and b. receiving (104), by means of at least one second active sensor device (22) of a second vehicle (20), the at least one first identification signal (16); c. providing (106), by means of the second active sensor device (22), at least one second identification signal (26) indicating a second unique identification characteristic of the second active sensor device (22); and d. receiving (108), by means of the first active sensor device (12), the at least one second identification signal (26).Method (100) according to Claim 1, characterized in that the first and / or the second identification signal (16, 26) are part of at least one measurement signal (56), preferably part of at least one measurement signal pulse, of the first and / or the second active sensor device (12, 22), and / or in that the first and / or second identification signal (16, 26) is designed as a modification of the at least one measurement signal (56), preferably as a modified phase offset and / or a modified frequency sequence, and / or in that the first and / or second identification signal (16, 26) is provided after at least one measurement signal pulse.Method (100) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the method (100) further comprises at least the following steps: a. transmitting (110) a protocol signal, which indicates encounter data between the first and second active sensor devices (12, 22), in particular the first and second identification features, to a central electronic memory (11), in particular to a database; and b. storing (112) the encounter data on the central electronic memory (11).Method (100) according to Claim 3, characterized in that the encounter data are stored as at least one block in at least one first blockchain which is assigned to the first active sensor device (12) and / or are stored in at least one second blockchain which is assigned to the second active sensor device (22).Method (100) according to Claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the encounter data each have a vehicle identification feature of the first vehicle (10) and of the second vehicle (20).Method (100) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the method (100) further comprises at least the following steps: a. determining (114) a first current position of the first vehicle (10) and / or a second current position of the second vehicle (20); and b. associating (116) the first current position with the received second identification feature and / or associating the second current position with the received first identification feature.Method (100) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that as long as the first active sensor device (12) detects the second vehicle (20), at least the steps (102-108) of claim 1 are not repeated.Method (100) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first and / or second identification signal (16, 26) is designed as a radar, lidar and / or ultrasonic signal.Vehicle (10) comprising at least one first active sensor device (12) and at least one control unit (14) for controlling the first active sensor device (12), wherein the control unit (14) is configured such that it causes the first active sensor device (12) to provide at least one first identification signal (16) indicating a first unique identification feature of the first active sensor device (12), and wherein the control unit (14) is further configured for determining a second unique identification feature from a second identification signal (26) and / or measurement signal (56) received from the first active sensor device (12).Vehicle (10) according to Claim 9, characterized in that the control unit (14) is furthermore designed to cause the first active sensor device (12) to provide the first identification signal (16) as part of at least one measurement signal (56), preferably as part of at least one measurement signal pulse of the first active sensor device (12), and / or as a modification of the at least one measurement signal (56), preferably as a modified phase offset and / or a modified frequency sequence, and / or to provide the first identification signal (16) after at least one measurement signal pulse.Vehicle (10) according to Claim 9 or 10, characterized in that the control unit (14) is furthermore designed to transmit a protocol signal which indicates encounter data between the first active sensor device (12) and a second active sensor device (22), in particular the first identification feature and the received second identification feature, to a central electronic memory (11).Vehicle (10) according to Claim 11, characterized in that the encounter data have a vehicle identification feature of the vehicle (10) and the received second identification feature of a second vehicle (20).Vehicle (10) according to one of Claims 9 to 12, characterized in that the control unit (14) is furthermore designed to determine a current position of the vehicle (10) and to link the current position to the received second identification feature.Vehicle (10) according to one of Claims 9 to 13, characterized in that the control unit (14) is furthermore designed to ascertain a second identification feature from a second identification signal (26) received from a second vehicle (20) only once as long as the first active sensor device (12) detects the second vehicle (20).Vehicle (10) according to one of Claims 9 to 14, characterized in that the first active sensor device (12) is designed as a radar, lidar and / or ultrasonic sensor device.

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