Emergency Vehicle Peripheral Time Sync Using Master-Slave Timestamps
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Solution Overview
Problem
Emergency vehicles lack a means to synchronize peripherals such as sirens and light bars, leading to ambiguity in messages relayed to drivers.
Innovation Solution
A synchronization system with a master node and slave nodes, utilizing a PID controller to adjust local timers based on timestamp differences, ensuring precise synchronization of emergency vehicle peripherals.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If emergency vehicles use multiple peripherals (sirens, light bars) without synchronization, then the system is simple and easy to operate, but the message relayed to drivers becomes ambiguous and the alerting effectiveness is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a master node as an intermediary device that coordinates synchronization messages between peripherals. The master node receives timing information from a global time source and distributes synchronized timing signals to slave nodes controlling sirens, light bars, and other peripherals, thereby resolving the ambiguity without requiring direct complex interconnection between all peripherals
Solution Approach 2:
The synchronization system uses a universal timing protocol that can be applied to multiple different peripheral devices (sirens, light bars, I/O devices) through a common master-slave architecture. This allows the same synchronization mechanism to control diverse peripherals uniformly, improving reliability without proportionally increasing complexity for each additional device
2Measurement precision
If emergency vehicles implement precise time synchronization between peripherals, then the clarity and effectiveness of alerts is enhanced, but the system requires complex timestamp tracking and PID control mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback through PID (Proportional-Integral-Derivative) controllers in slave nodes that continuously monitor the difference between received timestamps and local timer values. This feedback mechanism automatically adjusts local timers to maintain precise synchronization with the master node, achieving high measurement precision through closed-loop control rather than open-loop timing
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts timing parameters including timestamp offsets, PID controller gains (Kp, Ki, Kd), and local timer reload values based on measured synchronization errors. By changing these parameters adaptively, the system maintains precise time synchronization even under varying operational conditions without requiring overly complex fixed control mechanisms
3Stability of the object's composition
If emergency vehicles use centralized time synchronization, then consistent messaging across peripherals is achieved, but the system requires master node transmission capabilities and slave node reception capabilities
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the timing function into a centralized master node that combines global time source reception, timestamp generation, and synchronization message distribution. This consolidation ensures messaging consistency across all peripherals by having a single authoritative time source, while reducing communication infrastructure complexity compared to distributed synchronization approaches where each node would need independent time source coordination
Data Source
AI summary
A system, method and storage medium for synchronization between nodes includes transmitting, by a first node, a first synchronization message; determining, by the first node, a first time at which the first synchronization message is transmitted; transmitting, by the first node, a second synchronization message containing a tx timestamp corresponding to the first time; receiving, by a second node, the first synchronization message from the first node; determining, by the second node, a second time at which the first synchronization message is received; storing, by the second node, a rx timestamp corresponding the second time; receiving, by the second node, the second synchronization message from the first node; determining, by the second node, a current local time at which the second synchronization message is received; reading, by the second node, the tx timestamp in the first synchronization message; adjusting, by the second node, the current local time of the second node by adding a difference between the tx timestamp and the rx timestamp; and setting, by the second node, the adjusted current local time as a global time.