Method for assigning the current position of a vehicle to a country, electronic vehicle guidance system and vehicle

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for assigning the current position (38) of a vehicle (10) to a country in the surroundings (30) of the vehicle (10). Map data of the surroundings (30) is provided, said map data comprising coordinates of structural elements; a data structure is generated for assigning a respective structural element to a respective country and for assigning a country code assigned to the respective country to the respective structural element; position data of the vehicle (10) is detected, said position data describing the current position (38) of the vehicle (10); the current position (38) of the vehicle (10) is assigned to a respective structural element; the country code assigned to the respective structural element is read out from the data structure; the country code assigned to the respective structural element is assigned to the current position (38) of the vehicle (10); and the current position (38) of the vehicle (10) is assigned to the country in the surroundings (30) corresponding to the country code on the basis of the country code assigned to the current position (38) of the vehicle (10).

Description

[0001] Method for assigning a current position of a vehicle to a country, electronic vehicle guidance system and vehicle

[0002] The invention relates to a method for assigning a current position of a vehicle, in particular a motor vehicle, to a country in the vehicle's surroundings. Further aspects of the invention relate to an electronic vehicle guidance system for a vehicle, a vehicle with such an electronic vehicle guidance system, and a method for at least partially autonomously operating the vehicle using the electronic vehicle guidance system.

[0003] For vehicles or other mobile devices, such as drones, it may be necessary or helpful to know the country in which the vehicle or device is located at a given time. Especially for vehicles traveling on public roads, such as passenger cars, buses, trucks, or even motorcycles, knowledge of the country is advantageous in order to be able to adapt the behavior of the vehicle or the behavior of a driver or remote operator of the vehicle to country-specific regulations, such as country-specific speed limits. Different country-specific regulations may also apply to drones, for example, regarding the permitted flight altitude.

[0004] Human drivers generally know which country they are currently in with their vehicle. However, technical systems, such as driver assistance systems or electronic vehicle guidance systems, that control or implement an at least partially autonomous, automated, or piloted driving mode of a vehicle, require a technical solution to determine the country the vehicle is currently in. The country can be determined by determining a country code valid for the current location, where the country code is a type of identifier for the current country.

[0005] Existing solutions use some type of global positioning system, such as GPS (global positioning system), to determine a vehicle's current location in a coordinate system. They then access a map system and / or a navigation system to compare the vehicle position with a location and / or street on that map. A data structure, such as a look-up table, can then be used to look up the country in which this location and / or street is located. This process is commonly known as "reverse geocoding," and involves assigning a generally understandable street or place name to the coordinates of a location, such as longitude and latitude information.

[0006] In existing solutions, the required map or navigation system is installed in the individual vehicle, while some newer approaches utilize a central navigation / map system in a cloud or an internet-based off-board computing device. For the latter, wireless communication between the vehicle and the cloud is provided. Combinations of a map or navigation system in the vehicle and partial outsourcing of the reverse geocoding process to the cloud are also known.

[0007] The approaches described are known, for example, from EP 2299370 A1, US 2011 072 020 A1 or US 2015 185 041 A1.

[0008] DE 10 2022 100 506 A1 discloses a method for determining a current speed limit for a vehicle using camera-based detection of the vehicle's surroundings. The vehicle's camera sensors detect traffic signs in the vehicle's surroundings, and the detected traffic signs are evaluated together with provided location information describing the vehicle's passage through a location. Based on this evaluation, the current speed limit for the vehicle is then determined as a fusion of the detected traffic signs and the determined location through which the vehicle passes.

[0009] Common to existing solutions is that the costs, effort, energy consumption, and / or required storage capacity of the data storage units involved are comparatively high due to the additional communication bandwidth between two or more devices as well as additional external hardware and software (e.g., transceivers, cloud applications, etc.). This makes the known methods complex and expensive.

[0010] The invention is therefore based on the object of providing a possibility for efficiently identifying the country in which a vehicle is currently located. The invention provides a method for assigning a current position of a vehicle to a country in the vehicle's surroundings. The vehicle can be a motor vehicle, for example a passenger car, a passenger bus, a truck or even a motorcycle. However, the vehicle can also be an aerial drone. The vehicle can be partially or fully autonomous, whereby in fully autonomous operation no intervention by a human driver is necessary or intended.

[0011] A country within the meaning of this disclosure can be a state in the constitutional sense. However, a country within the meaning of this disclosure can be understood as any demarcated area in which there are general traffic rules that must be followed by road users. For the country of Germany, the road traffic regulations can be regarded as the canon of general traffic rules. For a country in which, for example, a general speed limit applies on certain public roads, this speed limit can be understood as a general traffic regulation in this sense. Regulations that apply to the member states of the European Union (EU) and that are implemented on the basis of EU regulations, for example within the framework of the General Safety Regulation (GSR or GSR2), can also be understood as a general traffic regulation in this sense.In general, electronic vehicle guidance systems or driver assistance systems, such as intelligent speed assist (ISA), can be based on such traffic regulations.

[0012] According to the invention, map data is provided for the surrounding area, which may include several countries. For example, the map data can cover the territory of the 27 EU member states (EU27). This can be advantageous, for example, if the method described here is to meet the requirements for operating at least partially autonomous vehicles according to GSR2 or other EU-wide traffic regulations. However, the map data can also only cover border areas that, for example, extend over a few square kilometers into neighboring countries or states. This can reduce the storage space required for storing or maintaining the map data. The map data can, for example, be stored in a memory unit of the vehicle and made available there for further processing.The map data can also be provided externally to the vehicle, for example in a cloud server external to the vehicle or in a computing device external to the vehicle, and can be retrieved as needed, for example, by the vehicle or a computing unit of the vehicle when the method according to the invention is to be carried out. The map data can be retrieved cyclically depending on the current operating time of the vehicle and / or repeated according to a predetermined repetition pattern. Alternatively or additionally, the map data can be processed in the vehicle before use, for example to provide only relevant map features to an internal and / or external vehicle memory. Relevant map features can be features that correspond to a predetermined relevance criterion, i.e., for example, are located within a radius around the vehicle that is relevant for the vehicle's current driving maneuvers.The relevant map features can in turn be parsed and / or interpreted by the in-vehicle application.

[0013] The map data includes coordinates of structural elements in the vehicle's surroundings. The structural elements can, for example, describe or represent characteristic features and / or locations and / or so-called points of interest (POIs). A structural element can, for example, be a known border crossing between two countries in the surrounding area and / or a border between two countries in the surrounding area. A structural element can also be any point on such a border. A structural element in this sense can therefore be point-shaped, linear, or even planar. In particular, the structural elements can be assigned to specific structural element classes, whereby a predetermined number of structural elements per class can be present in the map data for each country. Coordinates can, for example, be longitude and latitude or easting and northing.A structural element can also form the origin of a common coordinate system for the structural element and the vehicle. In other words, a common coordinate system can be created for the structural element and the vehicle, wherein the structural element can be placed at the origin of this coordinate system. In this way, it is particularly easy to determine the spatial relationship between the vehicle and the structural element and / or how this spatial relationship changes over time. According to the invention, a data structure is created for assigning a respective structural element to a respective country and for assigning a country code assigned to the respective country to the respective structural element. In other words, a structure-element-based assignment of the country code is carried out. In a simple case, the data structure can comprise a table which contains structural elements ortheir coordinates, countries, and country codes. There may also be other forms of the data structure, which will be discussed in more detail below. In any case, the data structure is designed to efficiently assign a respective country code to the structural elements.

[0014] In addition, according to the invention, the current position data of the vehicle are recorded, wherein the current position data describe the current position of the vehicle in the environment. The current position data can be specified in the above-described common coordinate system for the structural element and the vehicle. The current position data can be recorded using a global positioning system. Alternatively or additionally, the vehicle can have an environment sensor system, wherein sensors of the environment sensor system can be designed to detect objects, for example structural features, in the environment of the vehicle. In one specific embodiment, it can be provided that a camera sensor of the vehicle detects a border crossing in the environment and determines the current position of the vehicle in relation to the border crossing.Alternatively or additionally, the vehicle can establish a communication connection to an infrastructure component in the surrounding area and locate itself relative to the infrastructure component. The infrastructure component can be, for example, a radio mast that can be assigned a radio cell. Accordingly, the vehicle can be located as being in the radio cell.

[0015] The next step is to assign the vehicle's current position to a respective structural element. The country code assigned to the respective structural element is then read from the data structure and / or determined and / or determined and assigned to the vehicle's current position. The vehicle's current position thus receives its country code through the assignment to the structural element.

[0016] The assignment of the current position of the vehicle to the respective structural element can, for example, be based on a distance between the current position of the vehicle and the structural element, whereby a respective current position of the vehicle is assigned to the respective structural element as soon as a predetermined distance between the two is undershot. In other words, the assignment can therefore take place as soon as the vehicle moves into a predetermined area around the structural element. If the vehicle leaves the predetermined area again, a new position determination and / or assignment can be triggered, for example. The assignment of the current position to the structural element can also take place taking into account a direction of movement and / or a speed of movement of the vehicle in relation to the structural element, in other words based on a change in the current position of the vehicle in relation to the structural element.

[0017] If the assignment between the current position of the vehicle and the structural element has been made or is at least sufficiently probable, the country code assigned to the structural element can be read from the data structure and / or determined and / or assigned to the current position of the vehicle.

[0018] Finally, based on the country code, the vehicle's current position can be assigned to the country in the vehicle's vicinity corresponding to the country code. If the vehicle is operated using an electronic vehicle guidance system, the electronic vehicle guidance system can adjust a driving parameter for the vehicle, such as the current driving speed, based on the country assigned to the vehicle's current position.

[0019] The described method according to the invention has the advantage that the identification of the current country or region or current location of the vehicle can be performed in an efficient manner that does not require frequent or extensive bandwidth access to a cloud or any cloud access at all, and that does not require large local storage space, e.g., several gigabytes of storage space for a complete map of European roads.

[0020] The invention includes further embodiments which provide additional advantages.

[0021] One embodiment provides for the data structure to be compressed and stored in a data storage unit of the vehicle, in particular in a non-volatile data storage unit of the vehicle. Compression may, for example, comprise interpolating the coordinates of neighboring structural elements, resulting in a data reduction. Compression may also include considering fewer structural elements in the map data in areas of a respective country remote from the border, since in areas remote from the border, for example, 50 kilometers or more from a respective national border, it is very unlikely that the vehicle will soon cross the border, thus necessitating an updated country assignment.For this purpose, in a preparatory step, the map data covering the areas far from the border can include fewer structural elements in the surrounding area than areas close to the border, which are, for example, 50 kilometers or less from the nearest national border. The compressed data structure requires comparatively little storage space and can therefore be easily stored in a data storage unit of the vehicle. Storing the compressed data structure in the vehicle's data storage unit advantageously further increases the independence of the described method from the operation of a communication connection to a vehicle-external cloud or server device.

[0022] According to a further embodiment, creating the data structure for assigning a respective structural element to a respective country and for assigning a country code assigned to the respective country to the respective structural element comprises creating a two-dimensional image of the environment. The two-dimensional image can be, for example, a grayscale coded image. The image can be created on the basis of the map data. The image comprises a plurality of cells, wherein each cell depicts or encompasses or covers a predetermined area of ​​the environment. In other words, the two-dimensional image is further subdivided by the cells. The cells can be rectangular, in particular square. However, the cells can also be circular or irregularly shaped. In particular, the shape of a cell can be based on or depict the course of a nearest national border.For example, in areas close to the border, especially those less than 20 kilometers from the nearest border, more and smaller cells can be provided than in areas farther from the border. A winding or curved border can also be mapped using a higher granularity of cells than is necessary for a straight border.

[0023] The cells can be specified or delimited by longitude and latitude, making it easy to assign each cell to a nearby country. For example, a regularly shaped rectangular cell in a Central European country, i.e., in mid-latitudes, might have a longitude of 1° and an altitude or latitude of 1°, which corresponds to an area of ​​approximately 100 km x 100 km at mid-latitudes. By selecting a different longitude, for example, a longitude of 0.1° and a latitude of 0.3°, a correspondingly smaller area can be selected for the cell.

[0024] Based on the assignment of the cells to the countries in the surrounding area, the country codes assigned to the countries can be assigned to the cells, whereby each country code is assigned to a respective cell in the form of a cell value. The cell value can be a gray value, for example, if the image is a gray-value-coded image of the surrounding area. In this way, the country code can be encoded directly in the two-dimensional image, which enables efficient storage of the country code for the respective cell. If the image is a pixel-based image of the surrounding area, the cell value can be a pixel value.

[0025] According to the embodiment described here, the structural elements can then be assigned to the cells, whereby it is also conceivable for one structural element to form a cell. Alternatively or additionally, one or more structural elements can be assigned to a cell, for example by detecting whether the coordinates of a respective structural element correspond to the coordinates of a respective cell, or, if the cell covers an area with a coordinate range, whether the coordinates of the structural element lie in the coordinate range of the planar cell. After the assignment has been completed, the country code assigned to the respective cell can then be assigned to the structural element assigned to the cell.

[0026] A further development provides that the two-dimensional image is a pixel-based image, whereby the respective country code is assigned to the respective cell in the form of a pixel value.

[0027] As described, a respective cell can be defined as a latitude and longitude range of the environment.

[0028] In the event that a cell can be assigned to multiple countries, particularly to multiple neighboring countries in the vicinity, for example because it is cross-border or because a border between two countries is sharply curved while the cell is rectangular, one embodiment provides for one of the countries to be selected and the cell as a whole to be assigned to the selected country. The country that makes up the majority or predominant area of ​​the cell can be considered as a selection criterion. Thus, the cell as a whole can be assigned to the country in which it is predominantly located.

[0029] Alternatively or additionally, if a particular cell can be assigned to multiple countries, the country with the highest density of public roads can be selected, and the cell as a whole can be assigned to the selected country. The underlying idea is that a vehicle in such a cell that can be assigned to multiple countries is likely to be located in the country with the highest road density. Therefore, the cell as a whole can also be assigned to that country.

[0030] Public roads can be weighted according to an expected traffic density, with this weighting being taken into account when selecting the country to which the cell as a whole is assigned. For example, if two neighboring countries, both of which can be assigned to the same cell, have approximately the same road density, but the expected or known traffic density is higher in one of the countries than in the other, it is more likely that the vehicle is located in the country with the higher traffic density. Therefore, the cell as a whole can be assigned to that country.

[0031] A further development provides that, in order to compress the data structure, the two-dimensional, in particular pixel-based, image is compressed by combining the country codes of neighboring cells. In other words, a predetermined number of neighboring cells are combined according to an assignment rule of the data structure, with the combined cells being assigned the same country code. This is based on the idea that neighboring cells, particularly in areas far from the border, usually have the same country code. For implementation, the same cell value, for example the same gray value, can be assigned to the combined neighboring cells, whereby, as described above, the cell value represents the country code. This makes it possible to reduce the overall amount of information that must be encoded in the image. This compresses the image and thus the data structure.A further development provides that, in order to read and / or determine and / or ascertain the country codes from the data structure, the compressed image is provided for a parsing algorithm, wherein individual cells are read from the compressed image using the parsing algorithm. In other words, the compressed image can be decrypted using the parsing algorithm. The parsing algorithm can be configured to access individual cells of the compressed image, so that the entire compressed image does not have to be decompressed to access an individual cell. This advantageously reduces the size of the required RAM.

[0032] As described, one of the cells of the two-dimensional image can represent or describe a structural element within the meaning of the present disclosure. In this context, a further development provides that in order to assign the current position of the vehicle to a respective structural element and to read out and / or determine and / or ascertain the country code assigned to the respective structural element from the data structure, the current position of the vehicle is first transferred into the two-dimensional image of the environment. For example, the current position of the vehicle, which may be known from a GPS measurement, for example, can be converted into the coordinate system of the two-dimensional image. In this converted form, the position of the vehicle can therefore be displayed in the image. The current position of the vehicle is then assigned to one of the cells of the image.For example, the vehicle's current position can be assigned to the cell containing the coordinates of the vehicle's current position. Finally, using the described parsing algorithm, for example, the country code can be read from the cell value of the assigned cell and assigned to the vehicle's current position.

[0033] One embodiment provides that the structural elements describe border sections of at least one national border between at least two countries in the vicinity of the vehicle. A border section can comprise a predetermined length, for example 0.5 to 10 km, in particular 2 km to 5 km, of the national border. The length of a border section can be defined as a function of the total length of the national border. Longer national borders can be divided into more border sections than shorter national borders. The embodiment provides that in order to create the data structure for assigning a respective structural element to a respective country and for assigning a country code assigned to the respective country to the respective structural element, the data structure is first created as a network, wherein the structural elements, i.e. the border sections, comprise nodes of the network and their connecting lines.A net in the sense of the present disclosure does not necessarily have meshes, but can also be realized in the form of a “pearl necklace,” wherein the knots form the pearls of this fictitious pearl necklace.

[0034] According to the embodiment described here, the nodes and their connecting lines of the network describe a geometry of the national border. In other words, the nodes and their connecting lines replicate or approximate the geometry or course of the national border. The number of nodes can be selected or varied depending on the course. For example, more nodes can be provided along a curved, winding, or curved border section than along a comparatively straight border section.

[0035] In a further step, the country codes of at least two countries separated by the national border approximated by the network can then be assigned to the connecting lines. In other words, the country codes and the connecting lines (i.e. the structural elements) are assigned to one another. In this case, a first of the country codes is assigned to a first side of a respective connecting line, with the first country code belonging to the country on one side of the connecting line. Then, a second of the country codes is assigned to a second side of the connecting line, with the second country code belonging to the country on the other side of the connecting line. In other words, when the data structure is created, it is saved for each connecting line which country code applies to which side of the connecting line.

[0036] A further development provides that in order to assign the current position of the vehicle to a respective structural element, to read out and / or determine and / or ascertain the country code assigned to the respective structural element from the data structure, and to assign the country code assigned to the respective structural element to the current position of the vehicle, the node closest to the current position of the vehicle and its immediate neighboring nodes are first determined. For this purpose, for example, the coordinates of the nodes of the network can be compared with the coordinates of the current position of the vehicle. As described above, a common coordinate system can be created for the structural elements (here the nodes and the connecting lines) and the current position of the vehicle, whereby one of the structural elements (for example, one of the nodes) can form the origin of this common coordinate system.In such a shared coordinate system, it is easy to determine which node is closest to the current position of the vehicle. When determining the node closest to the current position of the vehicle, the course of the boundary section can also be taken into account.

[0037] The connecting lines connecting the nearest node and its neighboring nodes are then determined. The side of each of the connecting lines on which the vehicle's current position lies is then determined. This can also be done using the coordinate comparison described above. Finally, the country code that belongs to the country that lies on the same side of the respective connecting line as the vehicle's current position is assigned to the vehicle's current position. Detailed explanations of the coordinate comparison, which can be used to determine the country code in relation to the vehicle, the respective connecting line and / or other structural elements, are described in more detail below.

[0038] If the vehicle is moving along the border section, i.e. driving or flying essentially parallel to it, the node closest to the vehicle is constantly changing, which can make determining the correct country code complex. To simplify this process, a further development provides for the node closest to the vehicle's current position to be determined once and for all, with the network being processed starting from this initially determined node as the process progresses. In other words, the initially determined nearest node serves as the starting point for determining the nearest node at a later point in time. In this way, the network can always be processed relative to the initially determined nearest node, without having to read out the absolute positions or coordinates of the vehicle and node.

[0039] One embodiment provides for an artificial neural network to be trained to identify structural elements in the map data based on predetermined characteristics. Here and below, an artificial neural network can be understood as software code that is stored on a computer-readable storage medium and represents one or more networked artificial neurons or can simulate their function. The software code can also contain several software code components that can, for example, have different functions. In particular, an artificial neural network can implement a non-linear model or a non-linear algorithm.which maps an input to an output, where the input is given by an input feature vector or an input sequence and the output may include, for example, an output category for a classification task, one or more predicted values, or a predicted sequence.

[0040] In other words, characteristics can be defined that characterize structural elements, for example, a spatial extent or geometry of the structural elements belonging to a particular class. As described above, a boundary section can also be a structural element. As such, it will have a more elongated extent than a geometry. This characteristic geometry can be used by the artificial neural network to efficiently identify boundary sections as structural elements in the map data. A type of object recognition algorithm can also be used for this purpose.

[0041] Alternatively or additionally, the artificial neural network can be trained to adjust the density of the structural elements in the data structure based on a predetermined desired accuracy of the assignment of the vehicle to the country in the vehicle's surroundings. In other words, the neural network can be trained to intelligently manage a data volume in the data structure by adjusting the density of the structural elements as needed. Applied, for example, to the above-described embodiment of the data structure as a two-dimensional image divided into cells, this can mean that the neural network assigns several neighboring cells remote from the border to a common country code.

[0042] A further embodiment provides that the acquisition of current position data of the vehicle, wherein the current position data describe the current position of the vehicle in the surroundings, comprises defining or generating a predetermined radius around the current position of the vehicle, wherein the assignment of the country to the current position of the vehicle also includes assigning the same country to future positions of the vehicle within the radius. In other words, an area is defined around the current position of the vehicle within which it is assumed that the country code does not change. Thus, the country code only needs to be determined again when the vehicle leaves the area.

[0043] The area or perimeter can be generated in a circle around the current position of the vehicle. However, the area can also be irregularly or asymmetrically shaped around the current position of the vehicle. The current position of the vehicle can also not be in the center of the area, but at any point within the area. In particular, the shape and size of the area or perimeter can be generated depending on the distance to the nearest national border and / or the course of the nearest national border. This makes it possible to always select the largest possible perimeter, i.e. the perimeter covers as much as possible of the immediate future route that the vehicle will travel in the current country. There is therefore no need to unnecessarily assign country codes while driving in the same country.However, there may also be an upper limit to the size of the area or perimeter, or a compromise to allow efficient calculation of the perimeter or area, resulting in a more efficient system at the expense of a slightly smaller area or perimeter than the maximum possible.

[0044] Alternatively or additionally, the radius can be defined or generated depending on a known planned route for the vehicle and / or depending on a current direction of movement and / or speed of movement in relation to the nearest national border or even in relation to a predetermined national border that is not the nearest national border. For example, if a vehicle's navigation system knows that the vehicle will cross a certain national border during a planned journey, the radius can be generated depending on the distance of the vehicle's current position in relation to this national border and can be repeatedly adjusted as the distance decreases. For example, the radius can be continuously reduced the closer the vehicle gets to the national border.

[0045] Alternatively or additionally, it may be provided to provide information on the national border that the vehicle is approaching for the continued operation of the vehicle. This can preferably take place together with the continuous reduction of the radius. For example, the information can be provided automatically when the radius falls below a predetermined threshold, e.g. a radius of 5 km. Information on a nearest border crossing can then be provided, for example. This information can include the automatic suggestion of a travel route to this border crossing and / or information on a country code applicable beyond the border crossing. The radius or area can be provided based on a request to assign a country code to a current position of the vehicle by a computing device external to the vehicle.In other words, the vehicle can submit an assignment request to the off-board computing device, optionally transmitting its current position to the off-board computing device along with the request. If the vehicle is located in a region far from the border at the time of the request, the radius can be set larger than if the vehicle is located in a region close to the border. For example, if the vehicle leaves the radius or area, the request can be repeated automatically.

[0046] A further embodiment provides that at least one piece of additional information is taken into account when assigning the current position of the vehicle to a country in the vehicle's vicinity. The additional information can already be stored in the vehicle's memory unit. However, the additional information or its update can also be provided automatically by the vehicle-external computing device. The additional information can also be provided upon request by the vehicle-external computing device.

[0047] The additional information may include at least:

[0048] - a current distance of the current position of the vehicle to a structural element, in particular to a border crossing, and / or

[0049] - a direction of movement of the vehicle in relation to the structural element, in particular the border crossing, and / or

[0050] - an angle of the direction of movement of the vehicle in relation to the structural element, in particular in relation to the border crossing, and / or

[0051] - an angle between the direction of movement of the vehicle and a tangent representing a main direction of extension of the structural element, in particular a main direction of extension of the border crossing, and / or

[0052] - a speed of movement of the vehicle in relation to the structural element, in particular in relation to the border crossing, and / or

[0053] - a size of the structural element, in particular the border crossing, and / or

[0054] - information relating to a country located beyond the structural element, in particular beyond the border crossing, from the vehicle's point of view and / or

[0055] - a planned route for the vehicle. To determine the spatial relationship between the current position of the vehicle and the structural element, in particular the border crossing, the structural element can be placed at the origin of a global coordinate system, whereby a vector relationship is established between the current position of the vehicle and the structural element in the global coordinate system. Based on this vector relationship, the spatial position and its changes of the vehicle and the structural element relative to each other can then be determined.In particular, it can also be provided that an area is generated around the structural element, for example a circle with a radius of a few hundred meters up to 5 km, wherein when the vehicle enters this area, an automatic request is made by the vehicle to the aforementioned vehicle-external computing device to assign the country code to the current position of the vehicle within the circle or area around the structural element.

[0056] A further development provides for the detection of a crossing of the structural element based on the vehicle's direction of movement relative to the structural element, and the assignment of the vehicle's current position to a country in the vicinity of the vehicle, taking the crossing of the structural element into account. Specifically, this can mean detecting a border crossing. If such a border crossing is detected, the country beyond the border can be assigned to the vehicle's new position after crossing the border, without the need for a further, complex position determination.

[0057] A further embodiment provides that at least one of the method steps described above is repeated depending on the current travel speed and / or the current direction of travel and / or the vehicle's operating time. This ensures that the assignment of the surrounding country to the vehicle's current position is always kept as up-to-date as possible.

[0058] As already mentioned, the method described here can be outsourced in whole or in part to a computing device external to the vehicle. At least one of the method steps described so far can therefore be carried out in the computing device external to the vehicle, for example in an internet-based cloud environment. In particular, at least one of the method steps described so far can be carried out triggered by a corresponding request in the cloud environment. Such a request can be triggered, for example, when the vehicle leaves the area or perimeter generated around its current position. Alternatively or additionally, the request can be triggered by the vehicle entering a perimeter or area around a structural element, for example around a border crossing. The request can involve the vehicle communicating its current position to the computing device external to the vehicle.

[0059] For applications or application situations that may arise in a method according to the invention and which are not explicitly described herein, it may be provided that, according to the method, an error message and / or a request to enter user feedback is output and / or a standard setting and / or a predetermined initial state is set.

[0060] A further aspect of the invention relates to an electronic vehicle guidance system which is designed to carry out the method according to the invention.

[0061] An electronic vehicle guidance system can be understood as an electronic system that is designed to guide a vehicle, for example a motor vehicle, fully automatically or fully autonomously by generating at least one control signal, in particular without requiring intervention by a driver. The vehicle automatically performs all required functions, such as steering, braking, and / or acceleration maneuvers, monitoring and detecting road traffic, and corresponding reactions. In particular, the electronic vehicle guidance system can implement a fully automatic or fully autonomous driving mode of the motor vehicle according to level 5 of the SAE J3016 classification. An electronic vehicle guidance system can also be understood as an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), which supports the driver in partially automated or semi-autonomous driving.An example of this would be a speed assistant or intelligent speed assist (ISA). In particular, the electronic vehicle guidance system can implement a partially automated or semi-autonomous driving mode according to levels 1 to 4 of the SAE J3016 classification. Here and below, "SAE J3016" refers to the corresponding standard in the April 2021 version.

[0062] The at least partially automated vehicle guidance may therefore include driving the vehicle according to a fully automated or fully autonomous driving mode of Level 5 according to SAE J3016. The at least partially automated vehicle guidance may also include driving the vehicle according to a partially automated or semi-autonomous driving mode according to Levels 1 to 4 according to SAE J3016.

[0063] The at least one control signal can, for example, be provided to one or more actuators of the vehicle, including, for example, one or more brake actuators and / or one or more steering actuators and / or one or more drive motors of the vehicle. The one or more actuators can influence a longitudinal and / or lateral control of the vehicle in order to guide the vehicle at least partially automatically.

[0064] The electronic vehicle guidance system can also generate assistance information for a driver or a vehicle's remote operator. The assistance information can be output via an output device on the vehicle or a driver's cab for the vehicle, for example, a display and / or an audio output system and / or a haptic output system.

[0065] A further aspect of the invention relates to a vehicle, in particular a motor vehicle, with such an electronic vehicle guidance system. The motor vehicle can be a passenger car, a truck, a passenger bus, or a motorcycle. The vehicle can also be, for example, an aerial drone.

[0066] A further aspect of the invention relates to a method for at least partially autonomously operating a vehicle according to the invention by means of an electronic vehicle guidance system according to the invention, wherein the electronic vehicle guidance system sets at least one travel parameter, in particular a current travel speed of the vehicle, on the basis of the country assigned to the current position of the vehicle.

[0067] Further embodiments of the further aspects of the invention follow directly from the various embodiments of the method according to the invention, and vice versa. In particular, individual features and corresponding explanations as well as advantages relating to the various embodiments of the method according to the invention can be transferred analogously to corresponding embodiments of the further aspects of the invention. In particular, the electronic vehicle guidance system according to the invention is designed or programmed to carry out a method according to the invention. In particular, the electronic vehicle guidance system according to the invention carries out the method according to the invention.

[0068] Further features of the invention emerge from the claims, the figures and the description of the figures. The features and combinations of features mentioned above in the description as well as the features and combinations of features mentioned below in the description of the figures and / or shown in the figures can be encompassed by the invention not only in the respectively specified combination, but also in other combinations. In particular, the invention can also encompass embodiments and combinations of features that do not have all the features of an originally formulated claim. Furthermore, the invention can encompass embodiments and combinations of features that go beyond the combinations of features set out in the backreferences to the claims or deviate from them.

[0069] The invention is explained in more detail below using specific embodiments and associated schematic drawings. In the figures, identical or functionally equivalent elements may be provided with the same reference numerals. The description of identical or functionally equivalent elements may not necessarily be repeated for different figures.

[0070] If, in the context of the present disclosure, it is stated that a component is configured, designed, constructed, or the like to carry out or implement a specific function, to achieve a specific effect, or to serve a specific purpose, this can be understood to mean that the component, beyond the fundamental or theoretical usability or suitability of the component for this function, effect, or purpose, is concretely and actually capable of carrying out or implementing the function, achieving the effect, or serving the purpose through appropriate adaptation, programming, physical design, and so on.

[0071] The figures show:

[0072] Fig. 1 is a schematic representation of a vehicle with an electronic vehicle guidance system; Fig. 2 is a schematic representation of a two-dimensional image of an environment (here Germany and areas of neighboring countries), comprising a plurality of cells;

[0073] Fig. 3 a schematic representation of border sections of a national border (here of Germany), described by nodes and connecting lines;

[0074] Fig. 4 schematic representations of exemplary circles or areas generated around current vehicle positions depending on various parameters;

[0075] Fig. 5 is a schematic representation of a driving situation at a border crossing;

[0076] Fig. 6 schematic representations of the determination of a spatial relationship between a vehicle and a structural element using geometric methods;

[0077] Fig. 7 shows a further schematic representation of a driving situation at a border crossing, with a border section being approximated by a polynomial; and

[0078] Fig. 8 is a schematic representation of a method for assigning a current position of a vehicle to a country in an environment of the vehicle.

[0079] Fig. 1 shows a schematic representation of a vehicle 10, illustrated here as a motor vehicle, namely a passenger car. The vehicle 10 can be any other vehicle 10, in particular an aerial drone or another remote-controlled vehicle 10.

[0080] The vehicle 10 has an electronic vehicle guidance system 12. In the example shown, the electronic vehicle guidance system 12 comprises a plurality of sensor systems 14, each of which may comprise a plurality of sensors that are not shown in detail for the sake of clarity. The sensor systems 14 may be environmental sensor systems that may be configured, for example, to detect a position and / or orientation of the vehicle 10. These may include, for example, optical or acoustic environmental sensor systems, such as camera sensor systems and / or ultrasonic sensor systems. The electronic vehicle guidance system 12 preferably also comprises a global positioning system, GPS for short, to determine a global position of the vehicle 10.

[0081] The electronic vehicle guidance system 12 can also include a communication interface 16, which can be configured to establish and operate a wireless communication connection 18 to a vehicle-external computing device 20. Data can be exchanged between the vehicle 10 or the electronic vehicle guidance system 12 and the vehicle-external computing device 20 by means of the communication connection 18. For example, information about a current position of the vehicle 10 can be transmitted to the computing device 20. On the other hand, information regarding a country code applicable at the current position can be transmitted from the computing device 20 to the vehicle 10 or the electronic vehicle guidance system 12.

[0082] The electronic vehicle guidance system 12 may also include an in-vehicle, in particular non-volatile, memory unit 22, a display device 24, and a control device 26 for controlling one or more actuators of the vehicle 10. The display device 24 may, for example, include one or more screens or displays that can present assistance displays to an occupant of the vehicle 10 that can be generated by the electronic vehicle guidance system 12. The display device 24 may also include actuators that can provide the occupant with haptic and / or acoustic accompaniment to a driving maneuver of the vehicle 10 performed by the electronic vehicle guidance system 12. Using the control device 26, several additional actuators of the vehicle 10 can be controlled to perform such a driving maneuver.The actuators can influence the longitudinal and / or lateral control of the vehicle 10 in order to guide the vehicle 10 at least partially automatically. The actions of the electronic vehicle guidance system 12 can be coordinated in an in-vehicle computing device 28. The connections of the individual components of the vehicle guidance system 12, as described here and below, are shown in Fig. 1 purely by way of example and schematically, without excluding other possible connections and logical links. It is understood that the connections can be configured either wirelessly or wired.

[0083] Fig. 2 shows a schematic representation of a two-dimensional image of an environment 30 (here Germany and areas of neighboring countries), comprising a plurality of cells 32. As shown on the right in Fig. 2, the cells 32 can be combined to form a cell network which, in the example shown here, at least partially approximates or fills the area of ​​Germany. In other words, each of the cells 32 represents a predetermined area of ​​the environment 30, in this case Germany. The further the respective predetermined area is from the border, the larger a cell 32 can be. The closer the respective area is to the border, the more finely granular the cell network is. The cells 32 shown in Fig. 2 can all be assigned to Germany, since they are all located within the German border. All of the cells 32 shown therefore have the country code for Germany.The country code can be encoded in a respective cell 32 as a cell value, for example, as a color value. The cells 32 can be defined with longitude and latitude, the orientation of which is schematically illustrated in the right part of Figure 2 by an upward and a rightward arrow.

[0084] According to one embodiment of the method according to the invention, individual structural elements, for example, individual border sections, characteristic features or locations or POIs in the environment 30, can be assigned to the cells 32. A cell 32 as such can also be defined as a structural element within the meaning of the present invention. If a determination of the current position of the vehicle 10 shows that it is located within one of the cells 32, the country code of Germany can also be assigned to the current position according to the example explained in Fig. 2. Based on this, the electronic vehicle guidance system 12 can, for example, set a recommended speed applicable in Germany as the maximum permitted travel speed for the vehicle 10. Fig. 3 shows a schematic representation of border sections of a national border (here of Germany), described by nodes 34 and connecting lines 36.For the sake of clarity, only two of the nodes 34 and the connecting line 36 connecting them are provided with reference symbols in Fig. 3. In the example shown, the nodes 34 and their connecting lines 36 approximate the border of Germany. In the example shown, France lies on the western side of the connecting line 36, and Germany lies on the eastern side of the connecting line 36.

[0085] According to one embodiment of the method according to the invention, the left or western side of the connecting line 36 can be assigned the country code of France, while the eastern or right side can be assigned the country code of Germany. If a determination of the current position of the vehicle 10 shows that it is located on the eastern side of the connecting line 36, the current position can also be assigned the country code of Germany according to the example explained in Fig. 3. Based on this, the electronic vehicle guidance system 12 can, for example, set a recommended speed applicable in Germany as the maximum permitted speed for the vehicle 10.

[0086] Fig. 4 shows schematic representations of exemplary perimeters 40 or areas generated depending on various parameters in relation to current vehicle positions 38. The perimeters 40 can be provided, for example, in response to a request from the vehicle 10 or the electronic vehicle guidance system 12 directed to the vehicle-external computing device 20.

[0087] According to one embodiment of the method according to the invention, the assignment of the country to the current position 38 of the vehicle 10 may also include the assignment of the same country to future positions 38 of the vehicle 10 within this radius 40.

[0088] As mentioned, a radius 40 can be provided by the vehicle-external computing device 20 in response to a request. The vehicle-external computing device 20 can take into account how far the current position 38 of the vehicle 10 is from the nearest national border or from a national border to be crossed in the future according to a planned route. To enable the vehicle-external computing device 20 to take this into account, the request can include the electronic vehicle guidance system 12 transmitting the current position 38 of the vehicle 10, for example in the form of global coordinates, to the vehicle-external computing device 20.If the vehicle-external computing device 20 then determines that the vehicle 10 is currently further than a predetermined threshold value, for example, further than 50 km, from the national border, the radius 40 can be selected to be as large as possible without crossing the national border. Accordingly, the vehicle 10 can travel the longest possible distance within the radius 40. If the vehicle 10 reaches the boundary of the radius 40, a new request can be triggered to the vehicle-external computing device 20, which includes the request to inform the vehicle 10 which country code applies at its current position 38. Reaching the boundary of the radius 40 is shown in the middle column of Fig. 4. The middle image of the middle column of Fig. 4 shows how a smaller radius 40 is generated based on the new request.The response to the renewed query can also contain information on the size of a border crossing 42, as schematically illustrated in the middle column of Fig. 4 in the bottom section of the image. If the vehicle 10 is within the border crossing 42, it can be checked whether and in which direction the vehicle is leaving the border crossing 42. In the example shown here, the vehicle 10 is leaving the border crossing 42 in a northeasterly direction (NE). Accordingly, upon leaving the border crossing 42, the country code of the neighboring country, in this case the Czech Republic, can be assigned to the now new position 38 of the vehicle 10 according to the previously determined direction of travel. A new radius 40 can then be calculated on the Czech side (see Fig. 4, right column, bottom image).

[0089] Fig. 5 shows a schematic representation of a driving situation at a border crossing 42. The border crossing 42, or the course of the border within the border crossing 42, is geometrically approximated by a tangent 46. The vehicle 10 is approaching the border crossing 42, or a perimeter 44 around the border crossing 42. According to the situation schematically illustrated here, a request as described above can be transmitted to the vehicle-external computing device 20 when the vehicle 10 enters the perimeter 44.

[0090] Alternatively or additionally, a country code can be assigned to the border crossing 42 of Fig. 5. Furthermore, it can be provided that when the vehicle 10 enters the perimeter 44, i.e., its current position 38 lies within the perimeter 44, the border crossing 42 is assigned to the current position 38 as a structural element within the meaning of the present invention. Accordingly, the country code of the border crossing 42 can also be assigned to the current position 38.

[0091] Preferably, the border crossing 42 forms the origin of a common coordinate system with the vehicle 10. This enables a simple determination of the spatial relationship between the vehicle 10 and the border crossing 42. If it is determined that the vehicle 10 is entering the perimeter 44, it can be determined whether the vehicle 10 is moving further toward the border crossing 42. This can be detected, for example, by the shortening of a movement vector 48 (see Fig. 6), along which the vehicle 10 is moving and which is directed toward the border crossing 42.

[0092] In a similar manner, it can be determined whether the vehicle 10 moves away from the border crossing 42 after crossing the border. This situation is schematically illustrated on the right side of Fig. 6, where motion vector 50 represents the movement of the vehicle 10 away from the border crossing 42.

[0093] In connection with the explanations for Figs. 5 and 6, Fig. 7 shows that the border crossing 42 can be approximated not only by the tangent 46, but that the border line in the vicinity of the border crossing 42 can also be approximated by interpolating known or assumed border points 52. This allows the expected border line to be predicted. Based on this representation of the border, it can then be determined which country code is to be assigned to the current position 38 of the vehicle 10.

[0094] Fig. 8 shows, with reference to the components shown and described in the preceding figures, a schematic representation of a method for assigning a current position 38 of a vehicle 10 to a country in an environment 30 of the vehicle 10.

[0095] In a step S1, map data relating to the environment 30 are provided, the map data comprising coordinates of structural elements in the environment 30. In a step S2, a data structure is created for assigning a respective structural element to a respective country and for assigning a country code assigned to the respective country to the respective structural element. In a step S3, current position data of the vehicle 10 are acquired, the current position data describing the current position 38 of the vehicle 10 in the environment 30. In a step S4, the current position 38 of the vehicle 10 is assigned to a respective structural element. In addition, the country code assigned to the respective structural element is read out and / or determined and / or ascertained from the data structure. In a step S5, the country code assigned to the respective structural element is assigned to the current position 38 of the vehicle 10.Finally, in a step S6, based on the country code assigned to the current position 38 of the vehicle 10, the current position 38 of the vehicle 10 is assigned to the country in the environment 30 of the vehicle 10 corresponding to the country code.

[0096] The solution described can therefore include

[0097] - first, using available map data covering the region to be covered by the system, e.g. the EU27 countries for a system supporting GSR ISA in the EU, create a data structure mapping locations in the region to a list of country codes, with typically one such country code value per supported country in the region;

[0098] - secondly, converting this data structure into a data structure optimized for the purposes of the invention, which is small in size and which allows a kind of location-based search for the country code to be carried out efficiently;

[0099] - third: storing this optimized, small-sized data structure in a non-volatile memory of the target device where the country code information is required;

[0100] - fourth, when the vehicle is in operation or moving, or when the country code information should be available, collect some location data, using a location data service that is already available in the vehicle for other purposes, e.g., collecting coordinate information from a global positioning system installed in a car because it is part of the usual e-call system in that car;

[0101] - fifth, using this location data with the help of a computer and an algorithm that extracts some data from the optimized data structure and generates the current country information for use, for example, as part of a GSR ISA system.

[0102] As described, according to one embodiment of the invention, the data structure is generated as a two-dimensional image of the environment 30 divided by cells 32. In other words, a type of 2D image can initially be generated that covers the environment 30 with a 2D grid of small squares or cells 32, e.g., each square measuring approximately 100 m by 100 m, which allows for easy assignment of coordinates, such as the coordinates of a structural element, to a specific small square. A simple approach to assignment is to make each of these squares not actually a square, but rather a specific area within the longitude / latitude coordinate system. This results in unequal sizes, since "squares" near the poles are smaller than squares near the equator, but for an application in Central Europe, for example, this should be acceptable. The "edges" of the squares could, for example,be defined as a degree with 3 decimal places.

[0103] The country code can then be determined for each square and stored in the 2D image, meaning that the value of each "pixel" is the country code for the region covered by that square. If a square spans areas from multiple countries, one of them can be selected, as described, and the square as a whole can be assigned to that country. A simple approach is to select the country code for which the country covers the largest part of the square compared to the neighboring countries, or (better) to select the country that has the largest proportion of public roads within that square, or (even better) to weight the public roads for this approach according to the expected traffic density to minimize the overall probability of incorrectly assigning a vehicle 10 in traffic to a country code.

[0104] This 2D image can then be compressed, taking advantage of the fact that neighboring cells 32 usually contain the same country code. Preferably, the compressed format should allow access to individual cells 32 using a parsing algorithm without first having to decompress the entire 2D image, as this would temporarily consume a large amount of memory.

[0105] If an update of the country code is desired, for example, because a long distance has been covered by vehicle 10 in the meantime, the current position 38 of vehicle 10 can be determined, e.g., by a GPS system. The coordinates of the current position 38 can then be converted into the coordinate system of the 2D image, rounded to a 2D set of integer pixel coordinates, and read out using the aforementioned parsing algorithm to obtain the country code value for the pixel from the compressed data structure. This country code can then be output as the result.

[0106] As described, a further embodiment may provide for creating a network for geometrically reproducing a border between two or more countries. Another possible approach for creating and using the compact data structure is to create a structure that describes the geometry of the relevant borders as a network / graph with points / nodes 34 at specific locations and with edges / connections 36 between the points, and then access this structure to identify the current country code.

[0107] To do this, several boundary coordinates can first be determined with the required resolution based on the application-specific accuracy requirements. These nodes 34 can be connected to edges 36 for an initial, very coarse representation. The created data structure stores the location for each point or node 34 and the country codes for "left side" and "right side" for each edge or connecting line 36. The network can then be compressed into a compact data structure, for example, by interpolating individual boundary sections.

[0108] For access, the ego position 38 of vehicle 10 can then be determined and the nearest neighbor point 34 can be found. The adjacent points 34 can then be identified, and the connecting lines 36 formed by the nearest neighbor and the adjacent point can be searched for. It can then be calculated on which side of these edges the ego position 38 lies. The country codes for that side can then be read out, and the resulting single country code can be calculated from all this information. A possible refinement of this alternative approach is that the "heavy work" of determining the nearest neighbor from all points on the map only needs to be performed once. Afterward, a refined algorithm can use the results and "crawl" along the network, and only once.

[0109] Another approach could involve using an artificial neural network to store the compact "map" and query the country code. The artificial neural network receives two coordinates as input and produces the country code as output. This network can then be trained with data from the position-Z country overview map described above. To minimize memory and computational power requirements, the complexity of the network (number of layers / neurons / connections) is adjusted. Starting with a very small number of layers / neurons / connections, this can be increased until performance is just acceptable.

[0110] Optionally, a cloud-based service can be implemented, for example with the aid of a vehicle-external computing device 20, which uses the described data structure and can output the country code applicable at the current position 38 of the vehicle 10 upon request.

[0111] In this context, when the vehicle 10 is in operation or moving, or when the country code information should be available, some location data for the vehicle 10 can be collected using a location data service that is already available in the vehicle 10 for other purposes, e.g., collecting coordinate information from a global positioning system installed in a car because it is part of the common e-call system in that car, resulting in information about the current position 38 of the vehicle 10 with, e.g., longitudinal and lateral global coordinates. The vehicle 10, or an electronic vehicle guidance system 12 of the vehicle 10, can then send a request to the off-board computing device 20 containing the coordinates of the current position 38 of the vehicle 10.

[0112] The off-board computing device 20 can return a response that can be classified into Type A and Type B. Type A responses contain geographical and geometric information about an area in which the vehicle 10 is located and for which a specific country code applies. For example, Type A contains the current country code for the vehicle 10 as well as the center and radius of a circle 40, where the current position 38 transmitted in the request lies within the circle 40 and may be the center of the circle 40. Other geometries are also conceivable.

[0113] This Type A response means that the country code will not change as long as vehicle 10 remains within this radius of 40. This radius of 40 is typically "as large as possible" to allow this response to cover as much of the future route of vehicle 10 as possible, i.e., it is defined based on the nearest relevant border of the current country. However, there may be an upper limit, and there may be a compromise to enable efficient calculation and / or search for this radius, resulting in a more efficient system at the expense of a slightly smaller radius than possible.

[0114] A type A response may therefore be sent if the vehicle 10 is not near a boundary, where this "not near" may be determined by a fixed threshold or by a more sophisticated algorithm.

[0115] A type B response may contain the same country code and other geographical information, e.g., the described perimeter 40 or radius, as well as information about one or more nearby border crossings 42 that can be passed by the ego vehicle 10. Each of these pieces of information about a nearby border crossing 42 may include the location of this border crossing 42, optionally a size of this border crossing 42 to define an area, the country code when the border crossing 42 is taken, and the approximate direction in which this border crossing 42 must be taken, e.g., to bring the ego vehicle 10 into the other country.

[0116] The electronic vehicle guidance system 12, e.g. in vehicle 10, uses the received country code to configure, e.g., an ISA system to use the correct speed limits for different road types.

[0117] Optionally, the electronic vehicle guidance system 12 can subsequently determine the distance between the last ego position 38 and the current ego position 38 at predetermined temporal or spatial intervals when the request was sent to the cloud service. This distance can be compared with the determined radius 40. If the distance is greater than the radius 40, the system can send a new request to the vehicle-external computing device 20 and perform the described process again.

[0118] Optionally, if the response was of type B, the electronic vehicle guidance system 12 may subsequently perform similar distance calculations at some intervals with respect to the specified locations of the nearby border crossings 42. If the ego vehicle 10 is within the specified border crossing area 44, the electronic vehicle guidance system 12 also determines when the ego vehicle 10 leaves this border crossing area 44. At this time, the electronic vehicle guidance system 12 may check whether the direction of the exit matches the direction specified in the type B message in which the border crossing 42 must be taken or crossed to bring the vehicle 10 into the other country.

[0119] If the departure direction matches, the electronic vehicle guidance system 12 may accept the new country code specified in the type B message and may transmit a new request to the off-board computing device 20.

[0120] In the off-board computing device 20, the selection of the circle center and subsequently the circumcircle 40 can be adapted to the current position 38 of the vehicle 10 near a boundary. If the vehicle 10 is far from the boundaries, the off-board computing device 20 can transmit a Type A message with a circumcircle 40 that is approximately as large as possible and typically does not include areas close to the boundary, since the shape of a circle does not usually match the geometry of a boundary well.

[0121] If the current position 38 of the vehicle 10 is near a border, the off-board computing device 20 can transmit a radius 40 that ensures that nearby border crossings 42 are handled correctly.

[0122] Depending on the precision required, either the implementation of Type A or the processing of a combination of both messages can be considered. If only Type A messages are to be transmitted, Type A areas at national borders must be treated specially. It is not the position 38 of the vehicle 10 that determines the dimensions of this area, e.g., the radius of a circular perimeter 40, but the border crossing area itself.

[0123] For example, border crossings 42 can be handled as follows: Based on the current position 38 of the vehicle 10, information about a large or maximum-large radius 40 can be transmitted to the vehicle 10 by the vehicle-external computing device 20. If the vehicle 10 reaches or crosses the border at the border crossing 42, an area request can be sent to the vehicle-external computing device 20. This can transmit new area information, which in turn contains, for example, a circular area with a maximum size. The coordinates of the current position 38 of the vehicle 10 will in most cases not coincide with the center of this area. As described, further additional information can be taken into account when assigning a country to a current position 38 of a vehicle 10.In particular, a spatial relationship between the current position 38 of the vehicle 10 and a structural element in the environment 30, in particular a border crossing 42, can be taken into account. A change in this spatial relationship can also be taken into account. The spatial relationship or its change can be clarified using vector relationships. In other words, an embodiment of the invention describes an efficient approach for determining the country in which the vehicle 10 is currently located, using stored coordinates of structural elements or points of interest (POIs), the coordinates of the current position 38 of the vehicle 10, and the vector relationships of the vehicle 10 with respect to the POIs in a global coordinate system.

[0124] For this purpose, access is preferably provided to the current position 38 of the vehicle 10 in a global coordinate system. The coordinates of possible border crossings 42 (the POIs) can also be stored in the global coordinate system. Furthermore, stored country information or country codes can be stored for each border crossing coordinate. Additionally or alternatively, a representation of the associated border line (e.g., angle of the border line) at the border crossing 42 or the stored representation of the direction vector 48, 50 of the vehicle 10 when moving along a predefined route is stored for each border crossing coordinate.

[0125] This variant can provide for the distance to the nearest border crossing 42 to be calculated when the vehicle 10 is started. For this purpose, the coordinates of the current position 38 of the vehicle 10 and the coordinates of the border crossing 42, which can serve as the coordinate origin in a global coordinate system, can be used. Depending on the distance to the border crossing 42, the frequency of the distance calculation and the determination of the currently applicable country code can be adjusted. The entry of the vehicle 10 into a radius 44 around the border crossing 42 can serve as a trigger for the execution of various calculation steps.

[0126] After the initial distance calculation, if the vehicle 10 has a

[0127] distance threshold, the spatial relationship of the vehicle 10 to the

[0128] The coordinate origin or the coordinates of the border crossing 42, which can be the coordinate origin, can be calculated. If the vector relationship implies crossing the national border, the country code can be updated for the new ego position 38.

[0129] In addition to the procedure described above, coordinates can be stored in structural elements, for example, nodes 34 and their connecting lines 36, representing a border between two countries. Based on the country code applicable when starting the vehicle 10 (either configured or saved when the last driving session ended), the nearest structural element can be determined efficiently, e.g., by using an indexing and crawling mechanism at the position of the last nearest structural element. If the distance to the determined nearest structural element exceeds a certain threshold (e.g., 500 km), the nearest coordinates of all structural elements (except the priority one described above) can be calculated.

[0130] An alternative solution could be to store different types of points of interest and perform different calculation steps to determine the relationship between the current position 38 of the vehicle 10 and a national border. Instead of the coordinates of the border crossing 42, structural elements distributed along a country's border line could be stored. Alternatively or additionally, for example, a spline interpolation could be performed between coordinates of structural elements to create a border representation. A local coordinate system can be used for points of interest. The local coordinate system can be set to a specific distance, based on which the border crossing 42 can be determined.

[0131] For example, if the described system is used in a vehicle in Europe for Intelligent Speed ​​Assistance (ISA) as defined by the GSR2 law, it offers greater convenience and / or better quality of the ISA speed limit output compared to a "base system" in which the country code is set by default to the country in which the vehicle was purchased and the driver has the option to manually change this setting to another country. With such a base system, if the vehicle is frequently used across borders, the driver either has to make frequent, tedious manual adjustments, or the ISA system outputs incorrect speed limit information if the recognition algorithm receives a misclassification due to an incorrect country code input.

[0132] In addition, the described system is cheaper and consumes less energy compared to a system that uses classic navigation map access with, for example,

[0133] The generation and analysis of a horizon data structure is used, with such a map / system being either installed in the vehicle or available in the cloud as a wireless online remote service, or a combination of both. Consequently, the described country code recognition mechanism can be considered a standalone solution, independent of other systems (except for the required input of longitude and latitude coordinates).

Claims

Patent claims 1. A method for assigning a current position (38) of a vehicle (10) to a country in an environment (30) of the vehicle (10), wherein the environment (30) at least partially comprises one or more countries, comprising the steps of a) providing map data for the environment (30), wherein the map data comprise coordinates of structural elements in the environment (30), b) creating a data structure for assigning a respective structural element to a respective country and for assigning a country code assigned to the respective country to the respective structural element, c) acquiring current position data of the vehicle (10), wherein the current position data describe the current position (38) of the vehicle (10) in the environment (30), d) assigning the current position (38) of the vehicle (10) to a respective structural element and reading out and / or determining and / or ascertaining the country code assigned to the respective structural element from the data structure,e) Assigning the country code assigned to the respective structural element to the current position (38) of the vehicle (10), and f) on the basis of the country code assigned to the current position (38) of the vehicle (10), assigning the current position (38) of the vehicle (10) to the country in the vicinity (30) of the vehicle (10) corresponding to the country code.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the data structure is compressed and stored in a data storage unit (22) of the vehicle (10), in particular in a non-volatile data storage unit (22) of the vehicle (10).

3. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein step b) comprises - Creating a two-dimensional image of the environment (30), comprising a plurality of cells (32), wherein a respective cell (32) depicts a predetermined area of ​​the environment (30), - Assigning the individual cells (32) to the countries in the surrounding area (30) and, based thereon, assigning the country codes assigned to the countries to the cells (32), wherein a respective country code is assigned to a respective cell (32) in the form of a cell value, - Assigning the structural elements to the cells (32) and assigning the country code assigned to a respective cell (32) to a respective structural element.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the two-dimensional image is a pixel-based image, wherein the respective country code is assigned to the respective cell (32) in the form of a pixel value.

5. The method according to claim 3 or 4, wherein a respective cell (32) is defined as a latitude and longitude range of the environment (30).

6. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein, if a respective cell (32) is assignable to several countries, one of the countries is selected and the cell (32) as a whole is assigned to the selected country, the country being selected which forms the majority of the respective cell (32).

7. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein, if a respective cell (32) can be assigned to a plurality of countries, one of the countries is selected and the cell (32) as a whole is assigned to the selected country, the country being selected which has a comparatively highest road density of public roads of the countries.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the public roads are weighted according to an expected traffic density, the weighting being taken into account in the selection of the country to which the respective cell (32) is assigned as a whole.

9. Method according to one of claims 2 and 3 to 8, wherein, in order to compress the data structure, the two-dimensional, in particular pixel-based, image is compressed by combining the country codes of adjacent cells (32).

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the compressed image is provided for a parsing algorithm, wherein individual cells (32), in particular the cell values ​​of individual cells (32), are read out from the compressed image by means of the parsing algorithm.

11. Method according to one of claims 3 to 10, wherein step d) comprises - transferring the current position (38) of the vehicle (10) into the two-dimensional image of the environment (30), - Assigning the current position (38) of the vehicle (10) to one of the cells (32) of the image, wherein step e) comprises - Reading and / or determining and / or ascertaining the country code from the cell value of the assigned cell (32) and assigning the country code to the current position (38) of the vehicle (10).

12. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the structural elements describe border sections of at least one national border between at least two countries in the environment (30) of the vehicle (10), wherein step b) further comprises - Creating the data structure as a network, wherein the structural elements comprise nodes (34) of the network and their connecting lines (36), wherein the nodes (34) and their connecting lines (36) of the network describe a geometry of the at least one country border, wherein a first of the countries lies on a first side of a respective connecting line (36) and a second of the countries lies on a second side of the respective connecting line (36), - Assigning the country codes of the at least two countries to the connecting lines (36), wherein a first of the country codes is assigned to the first side of a respective connecting line (36), wherein the first country code belongs to the country on the first side of the respective connecting line (36), and wherein a second of the country codes is assigned to the second side of the respective connecting line (36), wherein the second country code belongs to the country on the second side of the respective connecting line (36).

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein steps d) and e) comprise - Determining the node (34) closest to the current position (38) of the vehicle (10) and its immediate neighboring node (34), - Determining the connecting lines (36) connecting the nearest node (34) and its immediate neighbouring nodes (34), - determining the side of a respective connecting line (36) on which the current position (38) of the vehicle (10) lies, - Assigning the country code assigned to that country to the current position (38) of the vehicle (10) that is on the same side of the respective connecting line (36) as the current position (38) of the vehicle (10).

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the node (34) closest to the current position (38) of the vehicle (10) is initially determined once, wherein in the further course of the method the network is processed starting from this initially determined node (34).

15. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein an artificial neural network is trained to - to identify structural elements in the map data based on predetermined characteristics, and / or - to adapt a density of the structural elements in the data structure based on a desired accuracy of the assignment of the vehicle (10) to the country in the surroundings (30) of the vehicle (10).

16. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein step c) further comprises - defining a predetermined radius (40) around the current position (38) of the vehicle (10), wherein the assignment of the country to the current position (38) of the vehicle (10) also comprises the assignment of the same country to future positions (38) of the vehicle (10) within the radius (40).

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the current position (38) of the vehicle (10) is the center of the circumference (40).

18. The method according to one of claims 16 or 17, wherein the radius (40) is determined as a function of a current distance of the vehicle (10) to the nearest national border.

19. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein when assigning the current position (38) of the vehicle (10) to a country in the surroundings (30) of the vehicle (10), at least one additional information item is taken into account, wherein the additional information - a current distance of the current position (38) of the vehicle (10) to a structural element, in particular to a border crossing (42), and / or - a direction of movement (48, 50) of the vehicle (10) in relation to the structural element, in particular the border crossing (42), and / or - an angle of the direction of movement (48, 50) of the vehicle (10) in relation to the structural element, in particular in relation to the border crossing (42), and / or - an angle between the direction of movement (48, 50) of the vehicle (10) and a tangent (46) representing a main direction of extension of the structural element, in particular a main direction of extension of the border crossing (42), and / or - a speed of movement of the vehicle (10) in relation to the structural element, in particular in relation to the border crossing (42), and / or - a size of the structural element, in particular the border crossing (42), and / or - information relating to a country located beyond the structural element, in particular beyond the border crossing (42), from the perspective of the vehicle (10) and / or - includes a planned route for the vehicle (10).

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein a crossing of the structural element, in particular the border crossing (42), is detected on the basis of the direction of movement (48, 50) of the vehicle (10) with respect to the structural element, and the assignment of the current position (38) of the vehicle (10) to a country in the surroundings (30) of the vehicle (10) takes place taking into account the crossing of the structural element, in particular the border crossing (42).

21. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one of steps a) to f) is repeated as a function of a current travel speed and / or as a function of a current travel direction and / or as a function of an operating time of the vehicle (10).

22. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one of steps a) to f) is carried out in a vehicle-external computing device (28), in particular triggered by a corresponding request.

23. Electronic vehicle guidance system (12) designed to carry out a method according to one of the preceding claims.

24. Vehicle (10), in particular a motor vehicle, with an electronic vehicle guidance system (12) according to claim 23.

25. A method for at least partially autonomously operating a vehicle (10) according to claim 24 by means of an electronic vehicle guidance system (12) according to claim 23, wherein the electronic vehicle guidance system (12) sets at least one travel parameter, in particular a current travel speed of the vehicle (10), on the basis of the country assigned to the current position (38) of the vehicle (10).

Images