Cooperative Driving Control for Mixed-Autonomy Vehicle Traffic

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Solution Overview

Problem

Autonomous vehicles struggle to effectively coordinate with varying levels of autonomy and dynamic factors among surrounding vehicles, impacting traffic efficiency and safety.

Innovation Solution

Implementing a Vehicle Autonomous Driving System (VADS) that uses sensor information and V2V communications to determine Autonomous Capability Metrics (ACMs) for surrounding vehicles, adjusting driving parameters and forming cooperative driving engagements based on these metrics to enhance safety and efficiency.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If autonomous vehicles form cooperative driving engagements with varying levels of autonomy, then traffic efficiency and safety are improved, but coordination complexity and communication requirements increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetraffic efficiencyVSAvoidcoordination complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system changes the parameter of autonomy level classification, categorizing vehicles into different levels (fully manual, partial automation, high automation, full automation) to simplify coordination complexity while enabling efficient cooperative driving engagements among vehicles with varying capabilities

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Solution Approach 2:

The cooperative engagement system is designed to work universally with vehicles at all autonomy levels, allowing the same communication framework and coordination protocols to handle diverse vehicle types, thereby improving traffic efficiency without requiring separate systems for each vehicle type

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

2Reliability

If autonomous vehicles communicate and coordinate with surrounding vehicles, then safety and operational advantage are improved, but communication overhead and processing requirements increase

Engineering Contradiction:
ImprovesafetyVSAvoidcommunication overhead
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The system extracts and processes only the essential autonomy level information and engagement status from vehicle communications, filtering out unnecessary data to reduce communication overhead and processing requirements while maintaining safety and operational advantage

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The system implements feedback mechanisms where vehicles share their autonomy level and engagement status, allowing the autonomous vehicle to adjust its behavior based on real-time information from surrounding vehicles, improving safety without requiring continuous high-bandwidth communication

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

Data Source

PatentEP3906537B1Methods and systems for establishing cooperative driving engagements with vehicles having varying levels of autonomy
Publication Date: 2026.03.18 QUALCOMM INC
  • EP3906537B1 patent drawingFigure 1A~1B
  • EP3906537B1 patent drawingFigure 1c
  • EP3906537B1 patent drawingFigure 2

AI summary

Methods, devices and systems enable controlling an autonomous vehicle by identifying vehicles that are within a threshold distance of the autonomous vehicle, determining an autonomous capability metric of each of the identified vehicles, and adjusting a driving parameter of the autonomous vehicle based on the determined autonomous capability metric of each of the identified vehicles. Embodiments may further include determining, based on the determined ACMs, whether one or more identified vehicles would provide an operational advantage to the autonomous vehicle in a cooperative driving engagement, and initiating a cooperative driving engagement with the one or more identified vehicles in response to determining that the one or more identified vehicles would provide an operational advantage to the autonomous vehicle in a cooperative driving engagement.