Vehicle Locator Synchronization for Low Power Battery Operation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Vehicle locating units in stolen vehicle recovery systems face challenges in reducing power consumption to meet automotive industry requirements and extending battery life to several years while maintaining synchronization with transmission towers.
Innovation Solution
A synchronization system utilizing a radio receiver and microprocessor to minimize power usage by turning the receiver on only for limited times to detect messages, using synchronization symbols to synchronize with the strongest signal, and reactivating when necessary to conserve battery life.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the receiver is kept on continuously to maintain synchronization with transmission towers, then synchronization reliability is improved, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The receiver operates in periodic cycles rather than continuously. It activates at specific intervals to receive synchronization messages from transmission towers, then enters low-power sleep mode. This periodic operation maintains synchronization capability while dramatically reducing average power consumption compared to continuous reception.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary synchronization during designated wake periods, acquiring timing and frequency information in advance. This preliminary action ensures that when the receiver returns to sleep mode, it remains synchronized without needing continuous monitoring, thus maintaining reliability while conserving energy.
2Reliability
If the receiver is activated frequently to detect messages, then message detection reliability is improved, but battery life decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The receiver follows a periodic activation schedule with extended sleep intervals. By waking only at predetermined times to check for messages and then returning to deep sleep, the system maintains adequate message detection capability while extending battery operational life through minimal active periods.
Solution Approach 2:
The receiver performs partial message detection by listening for specific synchronization signals or message headers rather than continuously processing all transmissions. This partial action approach maintains detection reliability for critical messages while consuming less power than full continuous monitoring would require.
3Use of energy by moving object
If the receiver activation timing is synchronized with transmission towers, then power consumption is reduced, but synchronization complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The receiver uses feedback from received synchronization messages to adjust its activation timing. By measuring the actual arrival time of tower transmissions and comparing it to expected times, the system automatically corrects drift and maintains synchronization without complex external coordination, reducing power consumption while managing complexity through self-correction.
Data Source
AI summary
Synchronization for achieving low power battery operation of a vehicle locating unit in a stolen vehicle recovery system whose radio receiver receives periodic transmissions, includes receiving periodic transmissions; turning on a radio receiver for a limited time to detect an expected message; if an expected message is not found, turning off the receiver and turning it on again after a time asynchronous with the transmission period; and after finding an expected message, waiting for the period of the transmissions less the length of an expected message and then looking for a synchronization symbol in the expected message and synchronizing subsequent actuation of the receiver using that synchronization symbol.