Autonomous Vehicle Black Box Dual-Buffer Sensor Data Recording
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Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous driving vehicles face challenges in efficiently recording and preserving raw sensor data, especially during power loss, which can result in data loss, and uncompressed data requires significant storage, making it expensive.
Innovation Solution
Implementing two cyclic buffers, one volatile for raw data and one non-volatile for compressed data, ensuring data preservation during power loss, with the non-volatile buffer storing a lossy compressed version to reduce storage needs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If volatile memory is used to store raw sensor data, then data integrity is maintained, but data is lost during power loss
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a copy of the sensor data from volatile memory to non-volatile memory. The volatile memory (first cyclic buffer) maintains data integrity while the non-volatile memory (second cyclic buffer) serves as a backup that preserves data during power loss events
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary action by continuously writing data to non-volatile memory in advance of potential power loss events. This ensures that even if power is lost, the data has already been preserved in the non-volatile buffer
2Loss of information
If non-volatile memory is used to store sensor data, then data is preserved during power loss, but storage cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by using different memory types in different locations within the system. The first cyclic buffer uses volatile memory for primary storage while the second cyclic buffer uses non-volatile memory for backup, optimizing both cost and reliability for each specific function
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of storing all sensor data in expensive non-volatile memory, the system uses partial action by only storing a portion of the data (compressed version) in the second cyclic buffer, reducing overall storage costs while still providing power loss protection
3Measurement precision
If uncompressed sensor data is stored, then data quality is maintained, but storage requirements increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different quality levels to different storage locations. The first cyclic buffer stores uncompressed high-quality data for current analysis, while the second cyclic buffer stores compressed lower-quality data for long-term preservation and power loss recovery
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a compressed copy of the sensor data for storage in the second cyclic buffer. This copying approach allows the original high-quality uncompressed data to be maintained in volatile memory while a space-efficient compressed version is kept for backup purposes
Data Source
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AI summary
An improved black box data recorder for use with autonomous driving vehicles (AVD). In one embodiment, two cyclic buffers are provided to record vehicle sensors data. A first cyclic buffer records raw vehicle sensor data on a volatile memory, while a second cyclic buffer records the same vehicle sensor data, as compressed data, on a non-volatile memory. In a case of a collision or near collision, in one embodiment the buffers are flushed into a non-volatile (NV) storage for retrieval. As long as there is no power interruption, the raw vehicle sensor data will be accessible from the NV storage. If a power interruption occurs, the raw vehicle sensor data held in the volatile memory of the first cyclic buffer will be lost and only the compressed form of the vehicle sensor data from the NV second cyclic buffer will survive and be accessible.