Vehicle Wireless Cabling Sharing via Switched Multiplexing
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing complexity and cost of manufacturing and packaging for cabling within vehicles, due to the need for multiple cables to facilitate wireless signaling between various systems, lead to increased component costs and vehicle weight.
Innovation Solution
A system utilizing switches to selectively connect multiple endpoints to shared cabling, allowing them to operate as if connected to dedicated cables, with a controller managing these connections based on vehicle operating characteristics to prioritize important endpoints and optimize cabling usage without disrupting operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple dedicated cables are used to connect each antenna to its transceiver, then communication reliability is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple cable connections are merged into a single shared cable infrastructure. The patent combines multiple dedicated cable paths into one common cable that serves multiple antenna-transceiver pairs, reducing the total number of cables required while maintaining communication functionality through time-multiplexed switching.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically switches cable connections between different antenna-transceiver pairs based on operational requirements. The switching mechanism allows the cable topology to change dynamically, enabling different endpoints to access the shared cable at different times, thus providing adaptability while reducing static cabling complexity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple cables are installed throughout the vehicle, then communication coverage is improved, but vehicle weight increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple communication pathways are merged into a single shared cable, reducing the total cable mass in the vehicle. By consolidating multiple cable runs into one shared infrastructure that serves multiple endpoints through switching, the overall weight of the cabling system is significantly reduced.
Solution Approach 2:
A single cable is designed to serve multiple functions and multiple endpoint connections. The shared cable infrastructure can connect to different antenna-transceiver pairs depending on which system is actively using the communication channel, making the cable universal rather than dedicated to a single function.
3Ease of operation
If dedicated cables are used for each endpoint, then ease of operation is improved, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
Switches are introduced as intermediary devices that manage the shared cable connections. These switches automatically handle the complexity of cable sharing, presenting a simplified interface to the endpoints while managing the complex switching logic in the middle, thus maintaining ease of operation at the endpoints while reducing manufacturing costs through shared cabling.
Solution Approach 2:
The switching system automatically manages cable allocation and connection management without requiring manual intervention or complex endpoint configuration. The system self-regulates which endpoints access the shared cable based on operational needs, eliminating the need for complex addressing or collision avoidance protocols at the endpoint level.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for multiple wireless systems of vehicle to share cabling. The system may include a plurality of first antennas to interface signals with a first transceiver as part of a first wireless system and a plurality of second antennas to interface signals with a second transceiver as part of a second wireless system. The system may include a first switch configured to selectively connect the first and second antennas to first and second cables and a second switch configured to selectively connect the first and second transceivers to the first and second cables such that the first and second antennas and transceivers share the first and second cables.