Interoperable HD Map Mediation for Cross-Provider AV Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Autonomous vehicles face challenges in utilizing High Definition (HD) maps due to proprietary formats that are not interoperable across different HD map providers, leading to limited coverage and difficulties in crowdsourcing and quality-of-service requirements.
Innovation Solution
An interoperable HD map server system that translates universal HD map tiles into proprietary formats usable by various autonomous vehicles, allowing them to share and update HD map data across different proprietary systems, and negotiates quality-of-service requirements with proprietary HD map servers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If proprietary HD map formats are used by different HD map providers, then each provider can maintain its own quality-of-service standards and data structure, but HD maps become non-interoperable across different providers, limiting coverage and preventing vehicles from utilizing maps from non-subscribed providers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an interoperable HD map server as an intermediary between proprietary HD map providers and autonomous vehicles. This server receives HD map tiles from multiple providers in their proprietary formats, converts them into a standardized interoperable format, and distributes them to vehicles. This mediator resolves the contradiction by allowing vehicles to access diverse map coverage while providers maintain their own quality standards through the conversion process.
Solution Approach 2:
The interoperable HD map server implements a universal data structure that can represent HD map information from multiple proprietary formats. This universal format serves multiple functions: it maintains compatibility with various provider formats, enables cross-provider interoperability, and preserves quality-of-service requirements through structured data relationships. The server translates between proprietary and universal formats, allowing one system to serve multiple providers.
2Measurement precision
If autonomous vehicles rely on crowdsourcing to update HD maps, then map coverage and accuracy can be improved, but proprietary communication protocols prevent vehicles from contributing data to non-subscribed providers, limiting the effectiveness of crowdsourcing
Solution Approach 1:
The interoperable HD map server acts as a central intermediary for crowdsourced data. Vehicles contribute sensor data and map updates to the server in standardized formats, and the server distributes this information to all subscribed vehicles regardless of their original provider. This eliminates protocol barriers and enables universal participation in crowdsourcing initiatives.
Solution Approach 2:
The system merges crowdsourced data from vehicles using different proprietary formats into a unified data structure at the interoperable server. By combining data from multiple sources and formats into a single standardized representation, the system maximizes the value of crowdsourcing while maintaining compatibility across all vehicle-provider relationships.
3Reliability
If each HD map provider uses its own proprietary format, then it can optimize its data structure for its specific quality-of-service requirements, but the complexity of supporting multiple formats increases and prevents seamless navigation across different map sources
Solution Approach 1:
The interoperable HD map server consolidates format conversion complexity into a single intermediary system. Rather than each vehicle supporting multiple proprietary formats, the server handles all translation from various provider formats to the universal interoperable format. This centralizes complexity and simplifies the vehicle architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The server creates standardized copies of HD map data from proprietary formats. Instead of requiring vehicles to process multiple proprietary formats directly, the server generates unified copies in the interoperable format that preserve the essential information and quality characteristics of the original provider formats while enabling universal use.
Data Source
AI summary
Technologies for managing interoperable high definition (HD) maps for autonomous vehicles includes a HD map server to distribute interoperable HD map tiles to various autonomous vehicles, each of which may be configured to utilize proprietary HD map tiles of different propriety formats. As such, each of the autonomous vehicles is configured to translate the interoperable HD map tile to the proprietary format used by that particular vehicle. Additionally, each autonomous vehicle may submit crowd-sourced sensor data to the interoperable HD map server using a universal data set by converting the sensor data to a universal data structure.