Autonomous Vehicle Black Box Dual-Buffer Sensor Data Retention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous driving vehicles face challenges in recording and retaining raw sensor data due to high storage costs and potential data loss during power interruptions, especially when uncompressed data is required for accident analysis.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a dual cyclic buffer system within the black box data recorder, where one buffer records raw data in volatile memory and another records compressed data in non-volatile memory, ensuring data retention even during power disruptions, with the compressed data being stored in non-volatile storage for retrieval.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If non-volatile memory is used to store vehicle sensor data, then data retention during power loss is improved, but storage cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides sensor data into two segments: raw uncompressed data stored in volatile memory for immediate access, and compressed data stored in non-volatile memory for long-term retention. This segmentation allows the system to optimize for both speed and reliability without paying full cost for non-volatile storage of all data.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the compression parameter of the data before storing it in non-volatile memory. By compressing the sensor data, the storage capacity required is significantly reduced, thereby lowering the overall storage cost while still maintaining data retention capability in non-volatile memory.
2Measurement precision
If uncompressed sensor data is stored, then data quality for accident analysis is improved, but storage space requirement increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments data storage into two quality levels: uncompressed raw data maintained in volatile memory for high-quality analysis, and compressed data stored in non-volatile memory for space-efficient archival. This allows the system to maintain high data quality where needed while reducing overall storage space requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies compression parameters to sensor data before storing in non-volatile memory, transforming the data from uncompressed to compressed format. This parameter change reduces storage space requirements while preserving the ability to retrieve and analyze data when needed.
3Quantity of substance
If volatile memory is used to store sensor data, then storage cost is reduced, but data loss during power interruption occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates a copy of the sensor data and stores it in non-volatile memory. This copying mechanism ensures that even if power is lost and volatile memory data is lost, a backup copy exists in non-volatile memory, preventing complete data loss while using cheaper volatile memory for primary storage.
Solution Approach 2:
The system prepares for potential power loss by proactively storing compressed data in non-volatile memory before any interruption occurs. This beforehand cushioning ensures data protection against power failures without requiring expensive volatile memory for all data.
Data Source
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 second cyclic buffer will survive and be accessible.