Blockchain Map Data Verification for Autonomous Vehicle Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous vehicles face challenges in accurately determining their location, especially in environments where GPS signals are unreliable or unavailable, such as urban areas, tunnels, and under bridges, due to limited accuracy and interference.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a blockchain-based map control system that relies on high-definition maps, where autonomous vehicles (AVs) use sensors to detect changes and verify updates through a process involving first verification AVs, initial verification AVs, and subsequent verification AVs, with the use of proof-of-work blocks to ensure data integrity and trustworthiness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If GPS is used for location determination, then location information can be obtained, but accuracy is limited to within 4.9m and reliability deteriorates in dense city areas, tunnels, and under bridges
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the location determination task into multiple components: GPS provides coarse location, while blockchain-verified map data provides fine-grained positioning. This segmentation allows the system to use GPS when available but switch to alternative methods when GPS fails, resolving the contradiction between maintaining location accuracy and ensuring reliability in GPS-denied environments
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces blockchain technology as an intermediary layer between the vehicle and map data. The blockchain verifies and stores map data from multiple sources, creating a trusted intermediary that provides reliable location reference information even when GPS signals are blocked, thus improving both accuracy and reliability simultaneously
2Ease of manufacture
If a centralized map system is used, then map data can be updated, but the system becomes vulnerable to malicious alterations and single points of failure
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges map data from multiple independent sources (different vehicles, mapping companies, government agencies) into a single blockchain-verified dataset. This merging approach allows easy updates from any source while the blockchain consensus mechanism ensures trustworthiness by requiring multiple verifications, thus resolving the contradiction between update ease and data reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The blockchain system provides self-verification of map data through cryptographic proofs and consensus mechanisms. Each map data update is automatically verified by multiple nodes in the network without requiring external trust, enabling easy updates while maintaining inherent trustworthiness through the self-service verification process
3Reliability
If multiple verification AVs are required for map data validation, then data trustworthiness increases, but system complexity and verification time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system creates cryptographic copies (hashes) of map data that can be efficiently verified without requiring full data replication. Multiple verification AVs work with these compact cryptographic representations, reducing the complexity of coordination while maintaining high trustworthiness through distributed verification of the same data copies across the blockchain network
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the verification parameter from validating entire map datasets to validating cryptographic hashes and consensus proofs. This parameter change reduces the computational and communication overhead for each verification AV, lowering system complexity while maintaining reliability through the mathematical guarantees of cryptographic verification
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for updating map data for updating map data for an autonomous vehicle (AV) is provided. The method includes collecting, using one or a plurality of AV sensors of a first AV, sensor data, and comparing the sensor data collected against map data for determining a presence of potential changed data. The method further includes generating a proof of work (PoW) block including the potential changed data, and collecting, using one or a plurality of AV sensors of a second AV, first verification sensor data. The potential changed data is then compared with the first verification sensor data for generating a first verified map block based on the first verification sensor data, and adding the first verified map block to a first verified map blockchain.