Vehicle Positioning Security Unit for ASIL Reliability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current vehicle positioning systems, especially in autonomous driving, face challenges in achieving high accuracy and functional safety due to the limitations of existing GPS systems, which can lead to fatal consequences if incorrect positions are intervened by driving assistance systems.
Innovation Solution
A method and device that utilize a security unit to independently process satellite navigation data, comparing and evaluating the determined vehicle position for accuracy and safety, ensuring that the security unit is error-free and providing a trustworthy basis for position evaluation, thereby enhancing the reliability of position data used in driving assistance systems.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a standard processing unit is used to determine vehicle position, then device complexity and cost are reduced, but positioning reliability and safety are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a simplified copy of the position determination process within the security unit. Instead of duplicating the entire complex processing unit, the security unit implements a condensed version that extracts position data using the same satellite navigation algorithm, enabling verification without requiring identical hardware complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The security unit acts as an intermediary between the satellite navigation data and the vehicle control systems. It receives raw satellite data, independently calculates position, verifies the main processing unit's results, and only releases verified position data to control systems, thereby ensuring reliability without requiring complete system duplication.
2Reliability
If aviation-grade safety systems are implemented, then positioning safety meets highest standards, but cost and device size become prohibitive for vehicles
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the safety function from the main processing unit by implementing a separate, dedicated security unit. This segmentation allows the safety-critical verification function to be isolated and optimized independently, using only the essential algorithms needed for position verification rather than full aviation-grade system duplication.
Solution Approach 2:
The security unit is designed as a cost-effective, dedicated component that performs a single safety verification function. Rather than using expensive, multi-functional aviation-grade hardware, the patent employs a simplified security unit that can be manufactured at vehicle-production scales, making high safety standards economically viable.
3Reliability
If position data is verified through independent calculation, then error detection capability improves, but processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The security unit performs partial verification by focusing only on the essential position calculation algorithm rather than complete signal processing. It receives already-filtered satellite data and performs a condensed position calculation, verifying critical parameters without replicating the entire processing chain, thus reducing verification time while maintaining error detection capability.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a method and apparatus for estimating a position of a vehicle, in particular an autonomously driven vehicle, by means of an apparatus for ascertaining a position of a vehicle. The invention proposes ascertaining a first absolute position by means of a conventional GNSS receiver. This should be compared with a second absolute position, which is ascertained in a protected safety unit or a protected ASIL-compatible chip, however, and is therefore always plausible.