Vehicle Sensor Timestamp Synchronization Without External Hardware
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Solution Overview
Problem
Synchronizing systems and sensors in vehicles from different manufacturers is challenging due to compatibility and proprietary signaling issues, often requiring external hardware that increases complexity and costs, potentially impacting safety by introducing processing delays.
Innovation Solution
A synchronization system that uses internal data and timestamps from sensors to synchronize computing devices without external control, detecting vehicle movement to identify synchronization points and maintain synchronization until the next stop, thereby reducing reliance on external hardware.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If external hardware is used to synchronize sensors, then synchronization reliability is improved, but device complexity and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the synchronization function from external hardware and relocates it to the computing devices themselves. Each computing device uses its internal clock and timestamp mechanisms to autonomously synchronize with others, eliminating the need for external synchronization hardware while maintaining synchronization reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
Computing devices perform self-synchronization using their own internal resources (clocks, buffers, timestamps). The system serves its own synchronization needs without external assistance, reducing device complexity while maintaining reliability through autonomous timestamp comparison and data alignment.
2Reliability
If external hardware is used to synchronize sensors, then synchronization reliability is improved, but costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The synchronization function is extracted from expensive external hardware and integrated into standard computing devices already present in the vehicle. This eliminates the need for additional synchronization equipment, reducing manufacturing costs while maintaining reliability through software-based timestamp synchronization.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses inexpensive software-based timestamp mechanisms and existing computing device clocks instead of costly external synchronization hardware. The approach leverages readily available, low-cost components to achieve reliable synchronization without increasing manufacturing expenses.
3Reliability
If external hardware is used for synchronization, then synchronization capability is improved, but processing delays increase impacting safety
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary timestamp recording at the moment each sensor captures data, storing timestamps in buffers before any synchronization processing is needed. When synchronization is required, the pre-recorded timestamps enable immediate alignment without waiting for external signals, reducing processing delays and improving safety response time.
Solution Approach 2:
Computing devices autonomously perform synchronization using their own timestamps without waiting for external synchronization signals. This self-service approach eliminates the processing delays inherent in external hardware-based synchronization, enabling faster safety-critical responses while maintaining synchronization capability.
Data Source
AI summary
System, methods, and other embodiments described herein relate to improving the synchronizing of systems in a vehicle without relying on external controls or hardware. In one embodiment, a method includes detecting a stop of a vehicle according to data acquired from two or more sensors. The method also includes identifying motion from the stop according to the data and corresponding timestamps from the two or more sensors, wherein the data and the corresponding timestamps are internal to the two or more sensors. The method also includes synchronizing the two or more sensors according to the corresponding timestamps. The method also includes controlling the motion of the vehicle using the two or more sensors.