Vehicle Sensor Data Sharing via Controller-Based Distribution
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle systems face challenges in efficiently sharing sensor data between multiple controllers, leading to increased costs and complexity due to the need for multiple physical connections, which can compromise vehicle autonomy and safety.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a sensor data distributor that uses converters, serializers, and repeaters to aggregate and transmit sensor data between physically diverse controllers, reducing the number of direct connections and maintaining redundancy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a sensor is connected to multiple ECUs through multiple physical outputs, then redundancy and failover support are improved, but device complexity and installation cost increase due to additional electronic circuitry and cabling
Solution Approach 1:
A communication bus serves as an intermediary medium between the sensor and multiple ECUs. Instead of direct physical connections from the sensor to each ECU, the sensor communicates with a central controller or directly to the bus, which then distributes data to all ECUs including backup units. This eliminates the need for multiple physical sensor outputs and associated cabling while maintaining redundancy through logical data distribution over the shared communication medium.
2Reliability
If multiple physical connections are used to connect sensors to multiple controllers, then data redundancy is improved, but manufacturing cost and installation complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple data distribution functions are merged into a single communication bus infrastructure. Instead of implementing separate physical connection paths from each sensor to multiple controllers, the system combines all data transmission into a shared bus network. This single bus serves multiple ECUs simultaneously, reducing the total number of physical connections, simplifying manufacturing, and lowering installation costs while maintaining data redundancy through the bus's ability to broadcast to multiple recipients.
3Reliability
If sensors include additional electronic circuitry for multiple outputs, then failover support capability is improved, but sensor cost and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The data distribution functionality is extracted from the sensor itself and relocated to the communication bus and controller system. Instead of embedding multiple output circuits within the sensor, the sensor provides a single output that connects to the bus, and the distribution logic resides in the controller or bus arbitration mechanism. This extraction simplifies the sensor's electronic circuitry while maintaining failover capability through the external distribution infrastructure.
Data Source
AI summary
This disclosure presents an assisted driving vehicle system, including autonomous, semi-autonomous, and technology assisted vehicles, that can share sensor data among two or more controllers. A sensor can have one communication channel to a controller, thereby saving cabling and circuitry costs. The data from the sensor can be sent from one controller to another controller to enable redundancy and backup in case of a system failure. Sensor data from more than one sensor can be aggregated at one controller prior to the aggregated sensor data being communicated to another controller thereby saving bandwidth and reducing transmission times. The sharing of sensor data can be enabled through the use of a sensor data distributor, such as a converter, repeater, or a serializer/deserializer set located as part of the controller and communicatively coupled to another such device in another controller using a data interface communication channel.