LiDAR Chip Safety Isolation for Independent Anomaly Detection

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing LiDAR systems lack effective mechanisms to reliably detect and respond to anomalies, which can compromise safety and stability, particularly in critical applications like autonomous driving.

Innovation Solution

A LiDAR chip design incorporating a functional processing system and a safety management system operating on separate power supplies and clocks, with decoupled data buses, to detect and report anomalies independently, ensuring stable operation and safe data transmission.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If a single integrated system is used for LiDAR processing, then device complexity is reduced, but reliability deteriorates due to potential anomalies affecting the entire system

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesystem reliabilityVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The LiDAR system is divided into two independent parts: a functional processing system and a safety management system. Each system has its own data bus, power supply, and clock, allowing them to operate independently. This segmentation ensures that anomalies in one system do not propagate to the other, thereby improving reliability while maintaining manageable complexity through modular design.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

2Reliability

If separate power supplies and clocks are used for functional and safety systems, then reliability is improved through isolation, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveanomaly detection reliabilityVSAvoidsystem architecture complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system architecture is segmented into distinct power domains and clock domains. The functional processing system and safety management system each have dedicated power supplies and clocks, creating physical and logical isolation. This segmentation prevents anomaly propagation and ensures that safety functions remain operational even when the functional system experiences failures.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

3Reliability

If data buses are decoupled between functional and safety systems, then safety and stability are improved, but information transmission efficiency deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedata transmission safetyVSAvoiddata transmission efficiency
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

Two separate data buses are implemented: a first data bus for the functional processing system and a second data bus for the safety management system. This segmentation ensures that data transmission in the safety system is isolated from potential anomalies in the functional system, prioritizing transmission safety over efficiency. The decoupling prevents corruption or interference of safety-critical data by functional system errors.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentEP4671820A1Lidar chip and lidar
Publication Date: 2025.12.31 SUTENG INNOVATION TECHNOLOGY CO LTD
  • EP4671820A1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP4671820A1 patent drawingFigure 3
  • EP4671820A1 patent drawingFigure 4

AI summary

A LiDAR chip and a LiDAR are provided. The LiDAR chip comprises a functional processing system and a safety management system. The functional processing system implements and detects first-part functions, and outputs first detection results, the functional processing system including a first data bus. The safety management system detects second-part functions to obtain second detection results, and when determining that the first-part functions and/or second-part functions exhibit anomalies, outputs anomaly signals to an external device based on at least part of the anomalous functions. The safety management system includes a decoupling module and a second data bus, the decoupling module performing decoupling between the first data bus and the second data bus, with the functional processing system and the safety management system having different power supplies and clocks.