TWI867471B - Vehicle positioning device and vehicle positioning application system - Google Patents

Abstract

A vehicle positioning device, comprises a wireless communicator, at least one ultra-wideband transceiver and a signal processor. The ultra-wideband transceiver is disposed in a vehicle and configured to receive a pulse wave signal with source information from another ultra-wideband transceiver. The signal processor is connected to the at least one ultra-wideband transceiver and a speed measuring device of the vehicle, and configured to generate a position information according to the signal value of the pulse wave signal and the source information and transmit the position information and a vehicle speed information obtained from the speed measuring device through the wireless communicator to a server, and receive a driving information associated with the position information and the vehicle speed information from the server through the wireless communicator.

Description

Vehicle positioning device and vehicle positioning application system

The present invention relates to a vehicle positioning device and a positioning application system, in particular to a vehicle positioning device and a vehicle positioning application system using ultra-wideband positioning (UWB positioning) technology.

At present, when driving on highways or in bad traffic conditions, vehicles in front often have insufficient reaction time due to sudden deceleration and braking, which can easily lead to traffic accidents. In addition, vehicles often drive too slowly and occupy the inner lane, which often causes traffic jams. After switching lanes, they find that there is an accident in front and then brake urgently. Various driving situations often make road users nervous, causing increasing psychological pressure on drivers and making them more prone to anxiety.

In view of the above, the present invention provides a vehicle positioning device and a vehicle positioning application system.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a vehicle positioning device includes a wireless communicator, at least one ultra-wideband transceiver and a signal processor. The ultra-wideband transceiver is disposed on a vehicle and is used to receive a pulse signal with source information from another ultra-wideband transceiver. The signal processor is connected to the at least one ultra-wideband transceiver and a speed meter of the vehicle and is used to generate position information according to the signal value of the pulse signal and the source information, transmit the position information and vehicle speed information obtained from the speed meter to a server through the wireless communicator, and receive driving information related to the position information and the vehicle speed information from the server through the wireless communicator.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a vehicle positioning application system includes a plurality of road positioning devices, a plurality of vehicle positioning devices, and a server. The plurality of road positioning devices are disposed on a road surface, and each of them includes a first ultra-wideband transceiver. The plurality of vehicle positioning devices are disposed on a plurality of vehicles, and each of them includes: a wireless communicator, at least one second ultra-wideband transceiver, and a signal processor. The at least one second ultra-wideband transceiver is used to receive a pulse signal with source information from at least one of the first ultra-wideband transceiver and another second ultra-wideband transceiver. The signal processor is connected to the at least one second ultra-wideband transceiver and a speedometer of the vehicle, and is used to generate a position information according to the signal value of the pulse signal and the source information, and output the position information and the vehicle speed information obtained from the speedometer through the wireless communicator. The server is connected to the multiple vehicle positioning devices, and is used to generate a driving information corresponding to each of the multiple vehicle positioning devices according to the position information and the vehicle speed information of the multiple vehicle positioning devices, and transmit the driving information to the signal processor through the wireless communicator of each of the multiple vehicle positioning devices.

In summary, the vehicle positioning device disclosed in this case can obtain accurate location information through the ultra-wideband transceiver installed in the vehicle, the vehicle itself, and another external ultra-wideband transceiver, and transmit the location information and vehicle speed information to the server for calculation to obtain accurate traffic conditions and corresponding driving information. The vehicle positioning application system disclosed in this case can provide location information between each other through the ultra-wideband transceiver installed in the vehicle, or/and provide location information of the vehicle on the road through the ultra-wideband transceiver of the vehicle and the ultra-wideband transceiver on the road, so that after the cloud server receives the speed information of each vehicle and the above-mentioned location information, it can perform big data calculations to grasp the traffic conditions on the lane and generate corresponding driving information to be sent back to the vehicle. In this way, through the high-precision ultra-wideband transceiver (accuracy can reach about 10-30 cm), the system can distinguish the traffic conditions of different lanes, and then instruct the driver to drive the route with better road conditions, reducing traffic jams or traffic accidents. Furthermore, by using a small-sized and low-power UWB transceiver, it can be easily installed in various locations of the vehicle and reduce the power consumption of the positioning device.

The above description of the disclosed content and the following description of the implementation methods are used to demonstrate and explain the spirit and principle of the present invention, and provide a further explanation of the scope of the patent application of the present invention.

The following detailed description of the features and advantages of the present invention is provided in the implementation mode, and the content is sufficient to enable any person skilled in the relevant art to understand the technical content of the present invention and implement it accordingly. Moreover, according to the content disclosed in this specification, the scope of the patent application and the drawings, any person skilled in the relevant art can easily understand the relevant purposes and advantages of the present invention. The following embodiments are to further explain the viewpoints of the present invention in detail, but are not to limit the scope of the present invention by any viewpoint.

Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a functional block diagram of a vehicle positioning device and related devices according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle positioning device 10 includes a wireless communicator 11, at least one ultra-wideband transceiver 12 and a signal processor 13. The ultra-wideband transceiver 12 is disposed on a vehicle and is used to receive a pulse signal with source information from another ultra-wideband transceiver. The signal processor 13 is connected to the at least one ultra-wideband transceiver 12 and a speed meter 31 of the vehicle, and is used to generate a position information according to the signal value of the pulse signal and the source information, transmit the position information and the vehicle speed information obtained from the speed meter 31 to a server 20 through the wireless communicator 11, and receive a driving information related to the position information and the vehicle speed information from the server 20 through the wireless communicator 11.

In this example, the wireless communication device 11 may be a communication device using a global positioning system (GPS) communication protocol, 5G technology or long term evolution (LTE) technology, and the signal is connected to the cloud server 20. The ultra-wideband transceiver 12 may be a signal transceiver installed in a positioning device on a vehicle, and is used to send out ultra-wideband signals for receiving by ultra-wideband transceivers 12 on other vehicles, or to receive ultra-wideband signals sent by ultra-wideband transceivers 12 on other vehicles. The ultra-wideband transceiver 12 in this case uses ultra-wideband signals to perform ultra-wideband positioning (UWB positioning). The so-called ultra-wideband signal has a wider bandwidth and can achieve a narrower pulse width than a general radio frequency signal, and can be used to transmit a relatively large amount of data with a smaller power consumption (about hundreds of microwatts), thereby reducing the time delay (latency) of the data transmission process, and the ultra-wideband transceiver 12 is also small in size and easy to install on the vehicle. Compared with the general Bluetooth or wireless network technology that uses the wireless received signal strength (Received Signal Strength Information, RSSI) for positioning, ultra-wideband positioning uses Time of Flight (ToF) technology to directly measure the optical path difference between the two ends of the transmitter and receiver to obtain the distance between the two ends, so the positioning accuracy of ultra-wideband positioning technology can reach about 10-30 cm.

In this example, a UWB transceiver on a vehicle can send a pulse signal with source information to a UWB transceiver on another vehicle, or a UWB transceiver on a vehicle can receive a pulse signal with source information from a UWB transceiver on another vehicle. The source information includes the vehicle identity information of the vehicle. The signal processor 13 can be a microprocessor, which can also be called a vehicle gateway, and has the function of data transfer and integration to serve as a transmission interface for various signals. In one embodiment, the signal processor 13 is connected to the ultra-wideband transceiver 12 to receive the pulse signal with source information and the vehicle's own speed sensor, so as to generate position information according to the signal value of the pulse signal and the source information, and obtain the current speed of the vehicle. Specifically, the position information indicates a time difference according to the time-of-flight (ToF) technology, or a relative distance converted from the time difference, and is combined with the source information to be a relative distance information with a specific vehicle. Furthermore, when the UWB transceivers of multiple vehicles exchange signals with each other to generate multiple position information, the server 20 that collects the multiple position information can use triangulation to calculate the relative position relationship between the multiple vehicles.

The signal processor 13 can transmit the above-mentioned position information and vehicle speed information to the cloud server 20 through the wireless communicator 11, and can also receive driving information related to the above-mentioned position information and vehicle speed information from the cloud server 20 through the wireless communicator 11. For example, the cloud server 20 can generate driving information based on the above-mentioned position information and vehicle speed information and transmit it to the vehicle through the wireless communicator 11. For example, the driving information includes changing the driving direction, changing the vehicle speed, etc., and the algorithm used can be, for example, the algorithm used by the general navigation system. Furthermore, the cloud server can receive location information and speed information from multiple vehicles, so it can integrate the information of each vehicle to generate driving information for different vehicles. For example, for two vehicles that are too close to each other, the cloud server can send a driving information indicating acceleration to the front vehicle and send a driving information indicating deceleration to the rear vehicle.

Please refer to FIG. 2, which is a schematic diagram of the configuration of a vehicle positioning device on a vehicle according to another embodiment of the present invention. In this example, the vehicle positioning device installed on the vehicle includes a wireless communicator 11, a signal processor 13, and four ultra-wideband transceivers 12a, 12b, 12c, and 12d, wherein the four ultra-wideband transceivers are respectively installed on the two sides of the front and the two sides of the rear of the vehicle. By installing ultra-wideband transceivers at the four corners of the vehicle, it is possible to effectively receive signals from different directions or send signals to different directions. For example, the UWB transceivers 12a and 12b may be used to receive vehicle position information from the front lane, the UWB transceivers 12c and 12d may be used to receive vehicle position information from the rear lane, the UWB transceivers 12a and 12d may be used to receive vehicle position information from the left lane, and the UWB transceivers 12b and 12c may be used to receive vehicle position information from the right lane. Specifically, when the ultra-wideband transceivers 12a, 12b, and 12d of the vehicle (A) receive a pulse signal from the same vehicle (B), the signal processor 13 can identify the three pulse signals as a group of signals based on the fact that the pulse signals received by the three ultra-wideband transceivers have the same source information (vehicle identity information), and calculate the distance and direction between vehicle A and vehicle B (for example, B is in the left lane in front of A). In addition, the present case does not limit the location and number of ultra-wideband transceivers. For example, in other embodiments, the ultra-wideband transceivers can be set at the front, rear, left, and right sides of the vehicle, and the number of ultra-wideband transceivers set on each side can be multiple.

Please refer to FIG3, which is a functional block diagram of a vehicle positioning device and related devices according to another embodiment of the present invention. In this example, the wireless communicator 11, ultra-wideband transceiver 12 and signal processor 13 of the vehicle positioning device 10 have similar functions to the above-mentioned embodiment, and the wireless communicator 11 is also signal-connected to the server 20, and its repeated contents are omitted here. The difference from the above-mentioned embodiment is that the signal processor 13 is not only connected to the vehicle speed meter 31, but also connected to the vehicle automatic driving system 32 and the data output interface 33, so as to control the automatic driving system 32 according to the driving information, generate a notification according to the driving information, and output the notification to the driver through the signal output interface 33. The automatic driving system 32 and the data output interface 33 can be automatic driving systems and display interfaces for general vehicles, and the vehicle positioning device and system of the present case are not limited to automatic driving systems that can only be applied to specific automatic driving levels. For example, for a vehicle without automated driving, the signal processor 13 can transmit the notification of driving information to the data output interface 33; for a vehicle with assisted driving function, the automatic driving system 32 can assist in correcting the lane deviation of the vehicle according to the driving information; for a vehicle with partial automatic driving function, the automatic driving system 32 can control the vehicle according to the driving information to respond to changes in road conditions or traffic flow, such as braking and acceleration and deceleration. In addition, the automatic driving system 32 and the data output interface 33 are both optional configurations.

Please refer to FIG. 4, which is a functional block diagram of a vehicle positioning application system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the vehicle positioning application system 1 includes a plurality of road positioning devices 40_1 and 40_2 (two as an example), a plurality of vehicle positioning devices 10_1 and 10_2 (two as an example) and a server 20. The plurality of road positioning devices 40_1 and 40_2 are disposed on a road surface, and each includes a first ultra-wideband transceiver 41_1 or 41_2. The plurality of vehicle positioning devices 10_1 and 10_2 are respectively disposed on a plurality of vehicles, and each of them comprises: a wireless communicator 11_1 (or 11_2), at least one second ultra-wideband transceiver 12_1 (or 12_2), and a signal processor 13_1 (or 13_2). The at least one second ultra-wideband transceiver 12_1 (or 12_2) is used to receive a pulse signal with source information from at least one of the first ultra-wideband transceivers 41_1 and 41_2 and another second ultra-wideband transceiver 12_2 (or 12_1). The signal processor 13_1 (or 13_2) is connected to the at least one second ultra-wideband transceiver 12_1 (or 12_2) and a speed meter of the vehicle (not shown), and is used to generate position information according to the signal value of the pulse signal and the source information, and output the position information and the vehicle speed information obtained from the speed meter through the wireless communicator 11_1 (or 11_2). The server 20 is connected to the multiple vehicle positioning devices 10_1 and 10_2, and is used to generate driving information corresponding to each of the multiple vehicle positioning devices according to the position information and the vehicle speed information of the multiple vehicle positioning devices, and transmit the driving information to the signal processors 13_1 and 13_2 through the wireless communicators 11_1 and 11_2 of the multiple vehicle positioning devices.

For the cooperative operation between the vehicle positioning devices 10_1 and 10_2 and the server 20 in the vehicle positioning application system 1 shown in this example, please refer to the relevant description of Figures 1 and 2, which will not be repeated here. In this example, the road surface positioning devices 40_1 and 40_2 can be positioning devices set at fixed points on the road surface, and each road surface positioning device can pre-store the positioning information of the fixed point it is set, specifically, it can be longitude and latitude information or specific mileage information of a specific road (or further includes information of a specific lane). Each road surface positioning device includes an ultra-wideband transceiver, wherein the ultra-wideband transceiver is essentially the same as the ultra-wideband transceiver set in the vehicle positioning device.

Please refer to FIG5, which is an application flow chart of a vehicle positioning application system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG5, the application flow of this system may include step S11: the ultra-wideband transceivers of multiple vehicles exchange location information with each other; step S12: the ultra-wideband transceivers of multiple vehicles exchange location information with ultra-wideband transceivers on the road; step S13: the cloud server generates driving information based on the above location information and vehicle speed information; and step S14: the cloud server transmits the driving information to the vehicle via a wireless communicator. In step S11, multiple vehicles can exchange position information by transmitting and receiving pulse signals including source information through the UWB transceiver, and the signal processor can be used to mark the position information as relative position information when the source information indicates that the pulse signal is sent from one of the vehicles. In step S12, multiple vehicles can exchange position information by transmitting and receiving pulse signals including source information through the UWB transceiver and the UWB transceiver of the road positioning device, and mark the position information as absolute position information when the source information indicates that the pulse signal is sent from the road. Here, step S11 and step S12 do not have a certain order relationship, and can be performed simultaneously or one at a time.

Please refer to FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 , FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle positioning application system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is another schematic diagram of a vehicle positioning application system according to an embodiment of the present invention. After the signal processor transmits the position information and the vehicle speed information to the cloud server via the wireless communicator, that is, in step S13, the cloud server can calculate the absolute positioning information based on the position information between the vehicle and the road positioning device, and can calculate the relative positioning information based on the position information between the vehicles, and obtain the driving information based on the above positioning information, wherein the method of obtaining the driving information can be realized, for example, by the algorithm of the existing navigation system. In one embodiment, when the signal processor transmits the above position information (e.g., 1 km distance to the traffic ahead) and vehicle speed information (current vehicle speed is 90 km/hr) to the server via a wireless communicator, if the server detects that the traffic ahead is beginning to become congested, it can return driving information with a speed reduction message or lane change via the wireless communicator, allowing the driver to react early. As shown in FIG6 , the above road surface positioning device is set in each of the cat eyes RS1 to RS4 on the road. The vehicle V1 traveling on the road can exchange position information with the road positioning devices in the nearby cat eyes RS1 and RS2 and transmit the data back to the cloud server. The server can further calculate the absolute position of the vehicle V1 on the road by triangulation based on the position information between the vehicle V1 and the cat eyes RS1 and RS2 with given positions, wherein the absolute position information may include, for example, specific road information, specific lane information, and specific mileage information. The positioning method between other vehicles V2 and V3 and the road positioning devices is similar and will not be elaborated here. It should be noted that a vehicle can be positioned with multiple road positioning devices at the same time, depending on the installation distance of the road positioning devices in actual application. The distance between the road positioning devices is preferably close to the working distance of the ultra-wideband transceiver, for example, about 10 meters, but the present case is not limited to this.

As shown in FIG. 7 , multiple vehicles V1 to V4 can exchange position information with each other and transmit the data back to the cloud server. The server can calculate the relative positions of multiple vehicles V1 to V4 on the road by triangulation based on the position information between vehicles. In this way, the cloud server can calculate the driving information based on the above position information and vehicle speed information and transmit it to the vehicle (step S14 in FIG. 5 ). For example, the cloud server can generate driving information based on the relative position calculation between vehicles V1 and V4 to prompt the driver of vehicle V1 to avoid accelerating to maintain the driving distance between it and vehicle V4, or generate driving information based on the relative position calculation between vehicles V3, V2 and V4 to prompt vehicle V3 to maintain the direction of travel to avoid sudden lane changes and danger.

Please refer to Figures 8 to 10, which are schematic diagrams of three application scenarios of the vehicle positioning application system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 8, when the cloud server finds through calculation that vehicle V is driving too slowly and occupies the inner lane, and there are too many vehicles behind it and there is no congestion in front of it, it reminds the road user through driving information to increase the speed along route R1 or change to driving in the outer lane along route R2. As shown in Figure 9, when the cloud server finds through calculation that there are multiple cars in front of vehicle V and the speed of vehicles in all lanes has begun to slow down, it reminds the road user through driving information to start reducing the speed along route R3. As shown in FIG10 , when the cloud server finds through calculation that a vehicle in a lane in front of vehicle V has a speed of 0, it determines that an accident or crowding event may occur ahead, and reminds the road user through driving information to switch lanes along route R4 or R5 (or avoid the accident lane).

In one or more embodiments of the present invention, the vehicle-mounted electronic product of the present invention can be applied to vehicle-mounted devices, such as autonomous vehicles, electric vehicles, or semi-autonomous vehicles, etc.

In summary, the vehicle positioning device disclosed in this case can obtain accurate location information through the ultra-wideband transceiver installed in the vehicle, the vehicle itself, and another external ultra-wideband transceiver, and transmit the location information and vehicle speed information to the server for calculation to obtain accurate traffic conditions and corresponding driving information. The vehicle positioning application system disclosed in this case can provide location information between each other through the ultra-wideband transceiver installed in the vehicle, or/and provide location information of the vehicle on the road through the ultra-wideband transceiver of the vehicle and the ultra-wideband transceiver on the road, so that after the cloud server receives the speed information of each vehicle and the above-mentioned location information, it can perform big data calculations to grasp the traffic conditions on the lane and generate corresponding driving information to be sent back to the vehicle. In this way, through the high-precision ultra-wideband transceiver (accuracy can reach about 10-30 cm), the system can distinguish the traffic conditions of different lanes, and then instruct the driver to drive the route with better road conditions, reducing traffic jams or traffic accidents. Furthermore, by using a small-sized and low-power UWB transceiver, it can be easily installed in various locations of the vehicle and reduce the power consumption of the positioning device.

Although the present invention is disclosed as above with the aforementioned embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Any changes and modifications made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention are within the scope of patent protection of the present invention. Please refer to the attached patent application for the scope of protection defined by the present invention.

1: Vehicle positioning application system 10,10_1,10_2: Vehicle positioning device 11,11_1,11_2: Wireless communicator 12,12a,12b,12c,12d,12_1,12_2,41_1,41_2: Ultra-wideband transceiver 13,13_1,13_2: Signal processor 20: Server 31: Speed meter 32: Automatic driving system 33: Data output interface 40_1,40_2: Road positioning device S11-S14: Steps RS1-RS4: Cat's eye V,V1-V4: Vehicle R1-R5: Route

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a vehicle positioning device and related devices according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the configuration of a vehicle positioning device on a vehicle according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of a vehicle positioning device and related devices according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of a vehicle positioning application system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is an application flow chart of a vehicle positioning application system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a vehicle positioning application system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is another schematic diagram of a vehicle positioning application system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG8 is a schematic diagram of an application scenario of a vehicle positioning application system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG9 is a schematic diagram of another application scenario of a vehicle positioning application system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG10 is a schematic diagram of another application scenario of a vehicle positioning application system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

10: Vehicle positioning device

11: Wireless communicator

12:Ultra-wideband transceiver

13:Signal processor

20: Server

31: Speed meter

Claims (5)

A vehicle positioning application system includes: a plurality of road positioning devices, arranged on a road surface, each including a first ultra-wideband transceiver; a plurality of vehicle positioning devices, respectively arranged on a plurality of vehicles, wherein each of the vehicle positioning devices includes: a wireless communicator; at least one second ultra-wideband transceiver, used to receive a pulse signal with source information from at least one of the first ultra-wideband transceiver and another second ultra-wideband transceiver; and a signal processor, connected to the at least one second ultra-wideband transceiver and a speed meter of the vehicle, used to generate a position information according to the signal value of the pulse signal and the source information, and output the position information through the wireless communicator. The position information and the vehicle speed information obtained from the speedometer; and a server connected to the vehicle positioning devices, used to generate driving information corresponding to each of the vehicle positioning devices according to the position information and the vehicle speed information of the vehicle positioning devices, and transmit the driving information to the signal processor through the wireless communicator of each of the vehicle positioning devices; wherein the signal processor is used to mark the position information as relative position information when judging that the source information indicates that the pulse signal is sent from one of the vehicles, and mark the position information as absolute position information when judging that the source information indicates that the pulse signal is sent from the road surface. The vehicle positioning application system as described in claim 1, wherein the signal processor is further connected to an automatic driving system of one of the vehicles, and is further used to control the automatic driving system according to the driving information. The vehicle positioning application system as described in claim 1, wherein the signal processor is further connected to an information output interface of one of the vehicles, and is further used to generate a notification based on the driving information and output the notification through the signal output interface. The vehicle positioning application system as described in claim 1, wherein the number of the at least one second ultra-wideband transceiver is multiple, and the second ultra-wideband transceivers are respectively arranged on both sides of the front and both sides of the rear of each of the vehicles. A vehicle positioning application system as described in claim 1, wherein each of the road surface positioning devices is disposed in a cat's eye on the road surface.

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