V2V Data Transmission for Autonomous Vehicle Situational Awareness

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Solution Overview

Problem

Autonomous vehicles face limitations in situational awareness due to areas blocked by sensors, which hinders accurate localization and mapping, and existing systems struggle to efficiently manage and transmit data for effective decision-making in autonomous driving.

Innovation Solution

A method and apparatus that determine the location of objects, assess bandwidth and latency of transmission channels, and transmit relevant data portions accordingly, enabling improved situational awareness and path planning through vehicle-to-vehicle communication, using sensors, processors, and transmitters to enhance data transmission efficiency.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If all available information is put into autonomous driving decision process, then decision-making accuracy is improved, but data management complexity and transmission burden increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedecision-making accuracyVSAvoiddata management complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts and transmits only the essential and critical data elements needed for autonomous driving decisions, rather than transmitting all available sensor information. This selective extraction reduces data management complexity while maintaining decision-making accuracy by focusing on the most relevant features and parameters.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent segments data transmission into different priority levels and categories, organizing information hierarchically by importance and urgency. This segmentation allows the system to manage data complexity by handling critical data separately from less important data, reducing overall management burden while ensuring accurate decision-making through prioritized information flow.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

2Measurement precision

If sensor coverage area is expanded to improve situational awareness, then perception accuracy is improved, but areas blocked by vehicle structure remain undetectable

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveperception accuracyVSAvoidsensor coverage area
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSArea of stationary object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges data from multiple sensors including cameras, LIDAR, radar, and ultrasonic sensors to create a comprehensive view of the environment. By combining different sensing modalities, the system overcomes the limitations of individual sensors and compensates for blind zones created by vehicle structure, improving overall perception accuracy without requiring any single sensor to cover the entire area.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent uses data fusion algorithms and processing systems as intermediaries to combine and reconcile information from multiple sensors. These intermediary processing layers integrate data from different sources, fill in gaps caused by blocked areas, and create a unified environmental model that compensates for physical sensor limitations.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Loss of information

If data transmission bandwidth is increased to improve data completeness, then information quality is improved, but transmission time and energy consumption increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveinformation qualityVSAvoidtransmission time
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of informationVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts only the most critical and time-sensitive data for immediate transmission, filtering out less urgent information. This selective extraction maintains information quality for decision-making while reducing transmission time by sending a optimized subset of data rather than all available information.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent implements periodic data transmission with different update frequencies based on data priority and environmental dynamics. Critical data is transmitted more frequently with higher bandwidth, while less critical data is transmitted periodically with lower bandwidth, optimizing the balance between information quality and transmission time.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #19Periodic action

Data Source

PatentUS10109198B2Method and apparatus of networked scene rendering and augmentation in vehicular environments in autonomous driving systems
Publication Date: 2018.10.23 GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
  • US10109198B2 patent drawing
  • US10109198B2 patent drawing
  • US10109198B2 patent drawing

AI summary

A system and method is taught for vehicles controlled by automated driving systems, particularly those configured to automatically control vehicle steering, acceleration, and braking during a drive cycle without human intervention. In particular, the present disclosure teaches a system and method for generation situational awareness and path planning data and transmitting this information via vehicle to vehicle communications where one vehicle has an obstructed view to objects not within an obstructed view of a second vehicle.