KR102803204B1 - Vehicle communication control apparatus and method - Google Patents

Abstract

One aspect of the present invention discloses a vehicle communication control device capable of remote driving. The vehicle device capable of remote driving according to one aspect of the present invention may include an autonomous vehicle unit that can be driven by receiving driving control by a signal, a remote driving sensor unit that receives sensor data from at least one sensor located inside and outside the autonomous vehicle unit, a network status processing unit that calculates a delay time for a network path between the vehicle unit and the server unit and generates target bit rate information based on the delay time, a data encoding unit that encodes remote environment data including the sensor data based on the target bit rate information, and a transmission unit that transmits the encoded data to a remote driving control server unit.

Description

{VEHICLE COMMUNICATION CONTROL APPARATUS AND METHOD}

The present invention relates to a communication control device and method for an autonomous vehicle, and more specifically, to a vehicle communication control device and method for controlling the vehicle to perform autonomous driving while stably maintaining 5G uplink communication in a vehicle-mounted network device.
This study was conducted with the support of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport/Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Promotion (Project No. RS-2021-KA160548, Development of mobility service technology to support the movement of transportation disadvantaged people (disabled people, elderly people, transportation-deprived areas, etc.)).

Recently, much research has been conducted on technologies to efficiently collect vehicle-related sensor data and transmit it to external servers through vehicle communication.

Figure 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a system for transmitting conventional vehicle data to an external server.

Referring to FIG. 1, a plurality of vehicles (110-1, 110-2, 110-3) transmit data to an external server (130-1, 130-2) via a network (120). At this time, the vehicles (110-1, 110-2, 110-3) can perform data processing and communication via various vehicle communications (V2X), such as vehicle-to-base station communication (V2I) or vehicle-to-vehicle communication (V2V). The network (120) may be a network in which various communication protocols, such as 5G, 4G, and Wi-Fi, are mixed. The servers (130-1, 130-2) are mostly 3rd party collection devices, but in some embodiments, OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) collection devices and 3rd party collection devices are distinguished and a communication method between them is proposed.

Figure 2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a detailed system for transmitting vehicle data.

Referring to FIG. 2, the system is composed of a sensor unit that detects various data related to a vehicle, a processing unit that processes the sensor data, a network device for transmitting vehicle data to the outside or receiving external data from the vehicle, and a network and external data collection device.

Referring to previous studies related to these systems, the key to collecting data generated from automobiles is to overcome the characteristics of automobile data (heterogeneous) and network characteristics (limited network resources), and therefore, various studies related to this are being conducted.

In particular, during these studies, monitoring the network status of autonomous vehicles and responding to it by appropriately processing and transmitting data related to autonomous driving is a very important field.

Previous research in this field of technology has been limited to data transmission in vehicles. For example, only the network processing technology (channel bonding, etc.) installed in the vehicle was used to measure the network speed and use it for data transmission.

However, the problem with these conventional methods is that when many autonomous vehicles simultaneously transmit large amounts of data such as video/lidar images to a server in real time via 5G uplink, there is a problem that network confusion is aggravated, including other devices using general 5G communications in the area. In particular, autonomous vehicles transmit countless data until the 5G uplink bandwidth is exhausted, and only then do they stop data communications when the network becomes unavailable. At this time, the network in the area is already paralyzed, which causes serious safety/convenience problems.

In particular, data transmission is mainly concerned with single autonomous vehicles transmitting data, and is transmitted through compression, channel bonding, etc., so from the perspective of the entire service (control), there was no concern about whether all autonomous vehicles registered in the service could transmit data simultaneously. In other words, there was no concern about the current mobile network being unavailable due to data transmission from autonomous vehicles in service.

In addition, the autonomous driving can be extended to remote driving. Remote driving refers to a service in which a driver at a control center controls an autonomous vehicle by remote driving when safe autonomous driving is difficult. In this case, the large amount of data must be transmitted to the server, and in order for the remote driving to be performed safely, real-time transmission of the data must be guaranteed. To this end, the technical task of avoiding paralysis of the network connecting the autonomous vehicle and the server as well as constantly measuring the status of the network to prevent communication from being cut off arises.

An object of one aspect of the present invention for solving the above-described problem is to provide a vehicle communication control device and method that can be installed in an autonomous vehicle capable of remote driving, which can monitor network conditions and control transmission of autonomous driving and/or remote driving data accordingly.

According to one aspect of the present invention for achieving the above-described object, a vehicle device capable of remote driving may include: an autonomous vehicle unit that can be driven by receiving driving control by a signal; a remote driving sensor unit that receives sensor data from at least one sensor located inside and outside the autonomous vehicle unit; a network status processing unit that calculates a delay time for a network path between the vehicle unit and the server device and generates target bit rate information based on the delay time; a data encoding unit that encodes remote environment data including the sensor data based on the target bit rate information; and a transmission unit that transmits the encoded data to a remote driving control server device.

The above remote driving unit may further include a receiving unit that receives control information for remote driving from the remote driving control server device, and a remote driving ECU that generates the driving signal based on the control information.

The above network status processing unit may include a probe packet generation unit that generates a probe packet for analyzing the status of the network, a probe packet transmission unit that transmits the probe packet to the server device, a network status analysis unit that receives delay time information of the network from the server device, and a bit rate control unit that generates target bit rate information based on the delay time information.

According to one aspect of the present invention for achieving the above-described purpose, a remote driving server device for controlling a vehicle capable of remote driving may include a data decryption unit for decrypting remote environment data received from a vehicle device that is a target of remote driving, a network delay prediction unit for calculating a network delay time for a network path between the vehicle device and the server device and transmitting the network delay time information to the vehicle device, and a remote driving driver's seat unit for generating a remote driving control instruction for the vehicle.

The device may further include a remote driving ECU that receives a remote driving instruction from the remote driving driver's seat and generates remote driving control information based on the remote driving instruction, and a transmitter that transmits the remote driving control information to the vehicle device.

The above network delay prediction unit may include a delay time calculation unit that receives a probe packet for network status analysis from the vehicle device and calculates a delay time for a network path with the vehicle, and a delay information transmission unit that generates network delay information based on the calculated delay time and transmits the network delay information to the vehicle.

The above network delay prediction unit may further include a control information receiving unit that receives control information for remote driving, and a storage unit that stores the calculated delay time and the control information.

According to one aspect of the present invention for achieving the above-described object, a method for controlling a vehicle capable of remote driving may include a step of generating a probe packet from a vehicle device capable of remote driving, a step of transmitting the probe packet to a remote driving control server device, a step of receiving the probe packet and calculating a delay time for a network path with the vehicle, a step of generating network delay information based on the delay time, a step of transmitting the network delay information to the vehicle, a step of generating target bit rate information based on the network delay information, a step of encoding remote environment information transmitted from the vehicle device based on the target bit rate information, a step of transmitting the remote environment information to the remote driving control server device, and a step of the remote driving control server device transmitting remote driving control information to the vehicle device based on the remote environment information.

According to one aspect of the present invention for achieving the above-described object, a system for controlling a vehicle capable of remote driving includes an autonomous vehicle capable of being driven by receiving driving control by a signal, an autonomous driving device controlling the autonomous vehicle, a control server device transmitting remote driving control information to the autonomous driving device, and a remote driving driver's seat transmitting a remote driving instruction to the control server device, wherein the autonomous driving device includes a network status processing unit that calculates a delay time for a network path between the autonomous driving device and the control server device and generates target bit rate information based on the delay time, a data encoding unit that encodes remote environment data including the sensor data based on the target bit rate information, a transmission unit that transmits the encoded data to the control server device, a receiving unit that receives the remote driving control information from the control server device, and a remote driving ECU that generates the driving signal based on the remote driving control information, wherein the control server device includes a data decoding unit that decodes remote environment data received from a vehicle device that is a target of the remote driving, a network delay time for a network path between the vehicle device and the server device, and a remote driving ECU that generates the driving signal based on the remote driving control information. The device may include a network delay prediction unit that transmits the network delay time information to the device, a remote driving ECU that receives a remote driving instruction from the remote driving driver's seat and generates remote driving control information based on the remote driving instruction, and a transmitter that transmits the remote driving control information to the vehicle device.

According to the vehicle communication control device and method of the present invention, when autonomous vehicles connected to an autonomous driving service (control) transmit data to a server, the current network status is measured and shared between the vehicle and the control, and autonomous vehicles registered in the service can maintain a stable network by controlling the amount of transmitted data to maintain the network throughput above a certain level, thereby having the effect of always enabling mobile network communication.

Figure 1 is a conceptual diagram showing a system for transmitting conventional vehicle data to an external server.
Figure 2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a detailed system for transmitting vehicle data.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the structure of a vehicle communication control system according to one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of an autonomous vehicle including a vehicle communication control device according to one embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 5 is a conceptual diagram schematically illustrating a 5G network environment in which multiple autonomous vehicles of Figure 4 exist.
Figure 6 is a detailed block diagram specifically showing the structure of the data control unit on the vehicle and server side of Figure 3.
Figure 7 is a flow chart showing a vehicle communication control method according to one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the structure of a vehicle communication control system corresponding to remote driving according to one embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 9 is a block diagram showing the structure of a network status processing unit according to one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the structure of a network delay prediction unit according to one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a vehicle communication control method for remote driving according to one embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention can have various modifications and various embodiments, and specific embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and described in detail. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments, but should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents, or substitutes included in the spirit and technical scope of the present invention.

Although the terms first, second, etc. may be used to describe various components, the components should not be limited by the terms. The terms are only used to distinguish one component from another. For example, the first component could be referred to as the second component, and similarly, the second component could also be referred to as the first component, without departing from the scope of the present invention. The term "and/or" includes any combination of a plurality of related listed items or any of a plurality of related listed items, and is non-exclusive unless otherwise indicated. The listing of items in this application is merely an exemplary description to easily explain the spirit and possible implementation methods of the present invention, and therefore, is not intended to limit the scope of embodiments of the present invention.

As used herein, “A or B” can mean “only A”, “only B”, or “both A and B”. In other words, as used herein, “A or B” can be interpreted as “A and/or B”. For example, as used herein, “A, B or C” can mean “only A”, “only B”, “only C”, or “any combination of A, B and C”.

As used herein, a slash (/) or a comma can mean "and/or". For example, "A/B" can mean "A and/or B". Accordingly, "A/B" can mean "only A", "only B", or "both A and B". For example, "A, B, C" can mean "A, B, or C".

As used herein, “at least one of A and B” can mean “only A”, “only B” or “both A and B”. Additionally, as used herein, the expressions “at least one of A or B” or “at least one of A and/or B” can be interpreted identically to “at least one of A and B”.

Additionally, in this specification, "at least one of A, B and C" can mean "only A", "only B", "only C", or "any combination of A, B and C". Additionally, "at least one of A, B or C" or "at least one of A, B and/or C" can mean "at least one of A, B and C".

When it is said that a component is "connected" or "connected" to another component, it should be understood that it may be directly connected or connected to that other component, but that there may be other components in between. On the other hand, when it is said that a component is "directly connected" or "directly connected" to another component, it should be understood that there are no other components in between.

The terminology used in this application is only used to describe specific embodiments and is not intended to limit the present invention. The singular expression includes the plural expression unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In this application, it should be understood that the terms "comprises" or "has" and the like are intended to specify the presence of a feature, number, step, operation, component, part or combination thereof described in the specification, but do not exclude in advance the possibility of the presence or addition of one or more other features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts or combinations thereof.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Terms defined in commonly used dictionaries, such as those defined in common usage dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the meaning they have in the context of the relevant art, and shall not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense, unless expressly defined in this application.

In describing the invention in this application, the embodiments may be described or illustrated in terms of unit blocks that perform the described function or functions. The blocks may be expressed as one or more devices, units, modules, parts, etc. in this application. The blocks may be implemented in hardware by one or more logic gates, integrated circuits, processors, controllers, memories, electronic components, or information processing hardware implementation methods that are not limited thereto. Alternatively, the blocks may be implemented in software by application software, operating system software, firmware, or information processing software implementation methods that are not limited thereto. One block may be implemented by being separated into multiple blocks that perform the same function, or conversely, one block may be implemented to perform the functions of multiple blocks simultaneously. The blocks may also be implemented by being physically separated or combined by any criterion. The blocks may be implemented to operate in an environment where their physical locations are not specified and are separated from each other by a communication network, the Internet, a cloud service, or a communication method that is not limited thereto. All of the above implementation methods are within the scope of various embodiments that can be taken by a person skilled in the field of information and communication technology to implement the same technical idea, and therefore, any detailed implementation method should be interpreted as being included within the scope of the technical idea of the invention of the present application.

Hereinafter, with reference to the attached drawings, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail. In order to facilitate an overall understanding in describing the present invention, the same reference numerals are used for the same components in the drawings, and duplicate descriptions of the same components are omitted. In addition, it is assumed that the multiple embodiments are not mutually exclusive, and that some embodiments can be combined with one or more other embodiments to form new embodiments.

Vehicle communication control system, device, and method

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the structure of a vehicle communication control system according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the vehicle communication control system according to one embodiment of the present invention may include a vehicle (310) and a server device (320).

Referring to FIG. 3, the vehicle (310) may include an autonomous driving unit (312), a data transmission unit (314), and a data control unit (316). The autonomous driving unit (312) is in charge of the autonomous driving function of the vehicle. The autonomous driving unit (312) receives sensor data from a plurality of sensors arranged inside or around the vehicle and uses the data for autonomous driving. At this time, the plurality of sensors detect various information related to the vehicle's surroundings, such as the front, rear, and side of the vehicle, and the driving or safety of the vehicle. The autonomous driving unit (312) performs autonomous driving using various sensor data detected in real time. The sensors and operations related to autonomous driving are described in more detail below with reference to FIG. 4.

The data transmission unit (314) adjusts the bit rate of the transmission target data associated with the vehicle appropriately based on the control signal of the data control unit (316) and transmits it to the server (320) through the network (305). The data transmission unit (314) includes a communication module for wired or wireless communication.

The data control unit (316) communicates with the data control unit (324) on the server side and generates a packet for measuring the network status. Then, it receives the target bit rate information determined by the server side data control unit (324) and generates a signal for controlling the bit rate of the transmission target data related to the vehicle and provides it to the data transmission unit (314).

The network (330) is a communication network for enabling data to be exchanged between an autonomous vehicle (310) and a server (320). According to an embodiment of the present invention, the network (330) may be implemented as various types of wireless networks such as 5G, 6G, 4G, LTE, 3G, and WIBRO. Preferably, it may be implemented as a 5G network. However, even if it is expressed as a 5G network or an entity related thereto (e.g., gNodeB), it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it may be implemented as a 4G network, a 3G network, or an entity related thereto (eNodeB, NodeB).

The server (320) may be an Internet data collection server that collects data via the Internet. It may be called a data collection server, a control server, or a service server. The server (350) may include a service/control unit (322) that receives data transmitted from a vehicle and performs services such as autonomous driving-related positioning and control, and a data control unit (324) that adjusts the bit rate of data from the vehicle (310) through network status analysis.

In addition, although not shown in the drawing, the service/control unit (322) may perform the function of controlling the autonomous driving of multiple vehicles (310) in general while collecting data related to autonomous driving of the autonomous vehicle (310) and transmitting appropriate information so that autonomous driving can be performed smoothly. This may be implemented as a separate server device.

The data control unit (324) includes equipment for monitoring the status of the network. For example, it may include a network monitoring device provided by a network operator. This may include a backhaul monitoring device, a core network monitoring device, etc. The data control unit (324) predicts and analyzes the current network status on the packet path based on the packet transmitted from the vehicle-side data control unit (324). Then, based on the analysis result, information on communication-related parameters optimized for data communication with the vehicle (310) (e.g., target bit rate information) may be generated and provided to the vehicle-side data control unit (316) via the network (330). Just as the service/control unit (322) may be implemented as a separate device, the data control unit (324) may also be implemented as an independent device.

In this specification, the data control unit (316, 324) may be called a vehicle communication control device.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of an autonomous vehicle including a vehicle communication control device according to one embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 4, an autonomous vehicle according to one embodiment of the present invention may include sensors (410), mechanical devices (412), an autonomous driving controller (420), a mechanical controller (422), an EDR (430: Event Data Recorder), a DSSAD (432: Data Storage System for Autonomous Driving), other storage (434), and a communication control device (440).

Referring to FIG. 4, sensors (410) are installed in a vehicle or around a vehicle, and include sensing data used as data for autonomous driving. The sensors (410) include a plurality of cameras, a plurality of LiDARs, a plurality of radars, etc. Most of them are composed of a plurality of sensors that produce a large amount of data. The sensors (410) output raw data and also output various recognition results processed from the raw data. Additionally, the sensors (410) include sensors of various ECUs (Electronic Control Units) installed in the vehicle. The information generated by the sensors of these ECUs may include information on various vehicle operation states, such as vehicle speed, tire pressure, steering angle, whether an air bag is opened or closed, brake force, and whether ESC (Electric Stability Control) is in operation.

The autonomous driving controller (420) uses sensor data generated from sensors (410) to perform path, location recognition, object recognition, risk judgment, etc., and issues commands to the machine controller (422), and controls the machine devices (412) based on this.

At this time, various sensor data generated and control signals related to autonomous driving are stored in storage (storage) (which may be called a storage unit) such as EDR (432), DSSAD (434), and other storage (436).

At least some of the sensor data (which may be referred to as vehicle data) stored in the storage may be reconstructed through the communication control device (440) and transmitted to an external device (e.g., an autonomous driving control server) via a 5G network (450).

Figure 5 is a conceptual diagram schematically illustrating a 5G network environment in which multiple autonomous vehicles of Figure 4 exist.

Referring to FIG. 5, autonomous vehicles (520-1 to 520-3, 522-1 to 522-3, 524-1 to 524-3) each have a communication control device that controls communication, and the communication control device securely processes communication data to connect the inside of the vehicle and the outside of the vehicle. The communication control device can transmit vehicle data to a specific server upon request from the autonomous driving controller or an external source, and may not transmit vehicle data upon a counter request.

In general, communication devices are equipped with functions such as channel bonding, channel coding, data bit rate control, compression amount control, network coding, and network optimization for data communication, and use these functions to transmit vehicle data to a server.

Autonomous vehicles (for general passengers, government offices, special local government vehicles, vehicles for the transport of the disabled, delivery robots, etc.) are currently being tested in a small number of sections, but in the future, a large number of vehicles will be driving throughout urban areas as shown in Fig. 5. However, in urban areas, not only autonomous vehicles but also video services for the general public are increasing explosively, and there are more mobile devices and they will competitively use 5G networks (uplink 10 Gbps, downlink 20 Gbps) to transmit faster data. In such an environment, for autonomous driving to be performed properly, communication control for vehicle data transmission that adaptively responds to the network environment may be required.

Referring to FIG. 5, multiple autonomous vehicles (520-1 to 520-3, 522-1 to 522-3, 524-1 to 524-3) may be located on a 5G network. Each autonomous vehicle (520-1 to 520-3, 522-1 to 522-3, 524-1 to 524-3) is connected to the network through a base station (gNodeB: 510-1, 510-2, 510-3) in a specific region and a RAN (Radio Access Network). That is, each individual base station (510-1, 510-2, 510-3) controls wireless communication within its own cell (512-1, 512-2, 512-3) through the RAN and manages wireless communication of vehicles located within these individual cells. Vehicles (520-1 to 520-3) are located in cell 1 (512-1), vehicles (522-1 to 522-3) are located in cell 2 (512-2), and vehicles (524-1 to 524-3) are located in cell 3 (512-3), so that each cell controls wireless communication of the vehicles located within its own cell.

Meanwhile, vehicle data wirelessly transmitted to each base station (510-1, 510-2, 510-3) may be connected to a router (530-1, 530-2, 530-3) via a wired connection, and may be connected to a core network (CN: 550) (which may be referred to as an upper network, backbone network) via a gateway (540-1, 540-2, 540-3). The core network (550) is connected to the Internet, and at least one or more control servers (560-1, 560-2) for autonomous driving control may be arranged in at least one of the core network (550) and the Internet to control the driving rate of vehicles (520-1 to 520-3, 522-1 to 522-3, 524-1 to 524-3) within the RAN. Here, routers (530-1, 530-2, 530-3) and gateways (540-1, 540-2, 540-3) are included in the backhaul technology.

At this time, the bandwidth of the 5G network transmitted through each backhaul is 100 Gbps. In other words, the more user terminals (UEs) are connected through the RAN, the more the network throughput decreases, and as the throughput approaches the bandwidth of 100 Gbps, the communication status becomes increasingly unstable.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the control server (560-1, 560-2) for controlling autonomous vehicles (520-1 to 520-3, 522-1 to 522-3, 524-1 to 524-3) may be configured in a core network (550) configured by each telecommunications company for fast and safe communication, or may be installed in the general Internet, like the telematics services of OEMs currently manufacturing each vehicle.

Basically, the data transmission technology of autonomous vehicles can mainly be installed on the server on the Internet. However, in this case, the vehicle data communication control device installed in the vehicle mainly uses channel bonding to secure the highest possible throughput, and the server installed on the Internet only plays a role in receiving and processing data. In other words, even if the throughput approaches the bandwidth allowed in a specific RAN area (uplink 100 Gbps in the case of 5G), the data communication cannot be controlled, so the communication failure is detected only after the throughput exceeds the bandwidth or the latency increases.

This phenomenon can paralyze communications in the relevant RAN area, and as 5G NR is introduced and numerous 5G applications that transmit large amounts of data using the uplink are created, this problem can become even more serious.

In addition, since the numbers of vehicles (520-1 to 520-3, 522-1 to 522-3, 524-1 to 524-3) connected to each RAN are different, the throughput within each RAN may be different. In one RAN, multiple autonomous vehicles (520-1 to 520-3, 522-1 to 522-3, 524-1 to 524-3) equipped with a communication control function according to an embodiment of the present invention may be driving autonomously, and each vehicle (520-1 to 520-3, 522-1 to 522-3, 524-1 to 524-3) may transmit a large amount of data (such as a camera, lidar, and other sensors) to the control service center. At this time, the throughput of each RAN may be different depending on the type and size of data being transmitted between the vehicles connected to the RAN and the control center.

Therefore, it is important to provide a communication control device according to one embodiment of the present invention to each vehicle (520-1 to 520-3, 522-1 to 522-3, 524-1 to 524-3) and a service (control) server to control the network throughput. In particular, it is desirable to actively measure the network status between the vehicles and the service server for autonomous vehicles registered in the service, thereby controlling the data generated by multiple autonomous vehicles simultaneously connected to the server so that all autonomous vehicles can safely drive autonomously.

Fig. 6 is a detailed block diagram specifically showing the structure of the vehicle and server-side data control units of Fig. 3. As shown in Fig. 6, the vehicle-side data control unit (610) may include a network analysis unit (612) and a bit rate control unit (614), and the server-side data control unit (620) may include a network analysis unit (622) and a target bit rate generation unit (624).

Referring to FIG. 6, the network analysis unit (612) of the vehicle data control unit (610) generates a packet for one-way packet transmission from the autonomous vehicle side to the server side to measure the network status.

The bit rate control unit (614) of the vehicle data control unit (610) transmits a signal to increase or decrease the data generation and/or transmission bit rate of the autonomous driving system based on information about the target bit rate received from the server side.

The network analysis unit (622) of the server data control unit (620) receives packets transmitted from the vehicle network analysis unit (612) and performs the function of predicting and analyzing the network status on the packet path.

The target bit rate generation unit (624) of the server data control unit (620) increases or decreases the current bit rate based on the network status analyzed by the network analysis unit (622) to create a target bit rate and sends it to the vehicle data control unit (610).

Figure 7 is a flowchart illustrating a vehicle communication control method according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7, a vehicle communication control method according to one embodiment of the present invention is largely divided into (1) an initialization operation, (2) a network status analysis operation, and (3) an operation to control the amount of data generated from the vehicle, and the entire sequence is as follows.

First, (1) in the initialization phase, the network analysis unit of the vehicle transmits the data specifications of the vehicle to the server. The data specifications of the vehicle may include information on the types of data (camera, lidar, car sensor, driver information, etc.) that the vehicle transmits to the service server (control server), the amount of each data, and the maximum bit rate. The network analysis unit of the server that received the information transmits an acknowledgement signal (ACK) to the vehicle. Then, the received specification information is transmitted from the network analysis unit of the server to the target bit rate generation unit.

Second, (2) in the status analysis step, the network analysis unit of the vehicle that has received the confirmation signal (ACK) begins to periodically transmit packets for network status analysis to the service server. The server analyzes the received packets and predicts and analyzes the network status based on information such as packet delay between the vehicle and the server. At this time, the Active Network Monitoring method can be utilized.

More specifically, the network analysis unit extracts information about the time at which the packet arrives from the vehicle to the server. Additionally, the network analysis unit (622) can calculate request transmission time, response delay time (latency), response data transmission time (response time), etc. based on the response packet for the network analysis packet, the arrival time of vehicle data transmitted based on the response packet, etc. In one example, the round trip arrival time (RTT) information of the packet on the network between the vehicle and the server is calculated. Assuming a basic synchronization scenario, the vehicle initially transmits a synchronization signal (SYN), the server receives it, and the server can transmit the synchronization signal and the response signal (ACK) together in response to the received synchronization signal. Then, the vehicle that receives it can transmit a response signal (ACK) in response to the signal from the server. The transmission and reception of these three signals can be called a 3-way handshake. Based on this, various indices related to the above network performance can be calculated.

In addition, based on the source ID of packets of a plurality of vehicles currently being transmitted to the service server, the server can determine from which region (particularly, which cell) the packets are being transmitted, and calculate information related to the allocation of network bandwidth by region. In addition, when the server cannot respond to a request, the number of sessions waiting for a response (wait) can also be calculated based on the number of sessions in this state. In addition, UPS (User Per Second) information indicating the number of vehicle terminals that can be connected per second, CPS (Connection Per Second) information indicating the number of new sessions connected per second, and TPS (Transaction Per Second) information indicating the number of transactions occurring per second can also be calculated. Furthermore, BPS (Bit Per Second) information by region can also be calculated.

Finally, (3) in the data amount control step, the target bit rate generation unit of the server generates the network target bit rate of the vehicle based on the data specification information generated by the vehicle and the above network analysis information, and transmits it to the bit rate control unit of the vehicle. If the data specification generated by the vehicle consists of data with a large amount, such as a camera or lidar sensing signal (image signal), and the network status of the cell where the vehicle is currently located is not good, it is preferable to generate a relatively lower target bit rate than in other cases.

The target bit rate generated from the server is transmitted to the vehicle and used as a control signal for bit rate generation within the vehicle. At this time, the target bit rate can be generated based on the communication resources of the RAN (Radio Access Network) associated with the vehicle (which may be communication resources for each cell). In addition, the target bit rate can be generated with reference to the network bandwidth allowed for the RAN region associated with the vehicle. That is, if more traffic is generated in the first cell region than in the second cell region, a control signal for generating a lower target bit rate than in the second cell region can be generated in the first cell region. In addition, the target bit rate can be determined by determining whether the data amount of the data specification information is higher or lower than a reference value in comparison with the network bandwidth allowed for the RAN region. If it is higher than the reference value, the target bit rate can be controlled to decrease, and if it is lower than the reference value, the target bit rate can be controlled to increase. At this time, the reference value can be determined in proportion to the network bandwidth allowed for the RAN region associated with the vehicle. The reference value can be set higher as the allowed network bandwidth increases.

Examples of remote driving

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the vehicle communication control system according to the present invention can be implemented and implemented for the purpose of remote driving.

Remote driving may mean a method and/or a service that provides such a function, in which a remote driver or driving system located in a service/control unit controls a self-driving vehicle by remote driving instructions in a case where autonomous driving is unsafe. For the remote driving, the autonomous vehicle may be configured to transmit at least some of a large amount of data including front and side camera images and other sensor data acquired for autonomous driving to the service/control unit as data related to remote driving via a network (including a mobile communication network), and the service/control unit may generate a remote driving instruction by referencing the received data, thereby driving the autonomous vehicle located in a remote location.

As described above, the remote driving instructions may be generated by a human driver through various input means, such as input of a command via a computer, or input via a simulator simulating conventional vehicle driving operations, or may be generated by a separate autonomous driving function unit configured to be suitable for remote driving of the autonomous vehicle in the service/control unit, or may be generated and provided by a method not limited to these generation methods.

In order for the above remote driving to be performed safely, data related to the remote driving and information related to the remote driving instructions may need to be transmitted and received in real time through the service/control unit. In addition, network stability may be required to ensure such transmission. In order to secure the above stability, the status of the network path connecting the autonomous vehicle and the service/control unit may need to be continuously measured and evaluated, and information on the results may need to be collected. In addition, the service/control unit may need to have a function that provides information on the status of the network path to at least one autonomous vehicle connected thereto periodically, aperiodically, or temporarily.

Fig. 8 is a block diagram showing the structure of a vehicle communication control system corresponding to remote driving according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 8, the vehicle communication control system according to one embodiment of the present invention may include a vehicle (810) and a server system (820). The vehicle (810) and the server system (820) may be connected through a network (830).

The above network (830) is a communication network for enabling data to be transmitted and received between the vehicle (810) and the server (820). According to an embodiment of the present invention, the network (830) may be implemented as various types of wireless networks such as 5G, 6G, 4G, LTE, 3G, and WIBRO. Preferably, it may be implemented as a 5G network. However, even if it is expressed as a 5G network or an entity associated therewith (e.g., gNodeB), it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it may be implemented as a 4G network, a 3G network, or an entity associated therewith (eNodeB, NodeB).

Referring to FIG. 8, the vehicle (810) may include a remote driving unit (812) and an autonomous vehicle unit (819). The remote driving unit (812) is a functional unit that is in charge of a remote driving function of the vehicle, and may be composed of at least one partial functional unit and/or module. The remote driving unit (812), according to an embodiment of the present invention, may be configured to simultaneously realize the functions of an autonomous driving unit, a data transmission unit, and a data control unit (such as modules such as symbols (312), (314), and (316) shown in FIG. 3) in an autonomous vehicle, and may be implemented as a common functional unit or a device or system including at least one common functional unit that operates in some cases as an embodiment of the autonomous driving method described above, and in other cases as an embodiment of the remote driving method described below, depending on specific conditions, environments, and situations.

The above autonomous vehicle unit (819) may be understood as including mechanical, electronic, and/or other functional parts of the vehicle body that can be driven by receiving driving control in a manner including electronic signals by the remote driving unit (812), or as a concept that collectively refers to such functional parts.

The above remote driving unit (812) may include a remote driving sensor unit (813), a data encoding unit (814), a network status processing unit (816), and a remote driving ECU (818). Each of the above functions and functional units may be configured as a single device, configured as independent devices, or configured as a mixture of some of them and some of them as independent devices.

The above remote driving sensor unit (813) may be configured to receive sensor data from a number of sensors arranged inside or around the vehicle. At this time, the number of sensors detect various information related to the vehicle's surroundings, such as the front, rear, and side of the vehicle, and the driving or safety of the vehicle.

The above data encoding unit (814) may be configured to encode remote driving data including sensor data received by the remote driving sensor unit (813). The encoding may mean a procedure of reprocessing at least one of the remote driving data into an information sequence in a form suitable for communication by using at least one of concatenation, merging, listing, transforming, and encryption according to a predetermined information syntax. The encoding may mean a reversible information processing method that is capable of decoding. The above data encoding unit (814) can change the encoding method of the data based on the bit rate adjustment signal provided from the network delay prediction unit (824), and by changing the encoding method, the data can be processed using at least one method among shortening, quantization, sampling, omitting, lossless compression, and lossy compression to match the target bit rate.

The above data encoding unit (814) may be configured to include a function of appropriately adjusting a transmission bit rate of data related to remote driving of a vehicle, for example, data about a remote environment, by various methods including the above-described method, and then transmitting the same to the server system (820) via (830), or may include a function unit and/or module that performs such a function. In this case, the transmitting function may include a function for wired or wireless communication with respect to the network (830). Alternatively, the data encoding unit (814) may be configured to provide the transmission target data to the remote driving ECU (818), and for the remote driving ECU (818) to transmit the data to the server system (820).

The above network status processing unit (816) may be configured to communicate with the network delay prediction unit (824) of the server system (820) and generate a packet for measuring the network status and exchange it through the network (830). The packet may be referred to as a probe packet. In addition, the network status processing unit (816) may be configured to receive target bit rate information determined by the network delay prediction unit (824) and generate target bit rate information for adjusting the bit rate of transmission target data related to remote driving of the vehicle, and may provide the target bit rate information to the data encoding unit (814) so that data encoding at a desired bit rate may be performed.

The above remote driving ECU (818) may be a functional unit configured to control the autonomous vehicle unit (819) in conjunction with the remote driving ECU (828) of the server system (820) on the vehicle side. The control may include a function of directly providing information related to a remote driving instruction received from the server-side remote driving ECU (828) to at least one vehicle function included in the autonomous vehicle unit (819). The control may include a function of generating a vehicle control instruction based on the received remote driving information and then controlling the autonomous vehicle unit (819) based on the vehicle control instruction. The control may include a function of intentionally omitting, supplementing, or correcting and relaying information related to driving control provided from the server-side remote driving ECU (828) that is unsuitable or incomplete for achieving control of the autonomous vehicle unit (819).

The above remote driving ECU (818) may include a function of transmitting information for the purpose of feedback regarding information related to the driving control received from the server-side remote driving ECU (828) to the server-side remote driving ECU (828). The remote driving ECU (818) may include a function of receiving data related to a remote environment associated with the remote driving from at least one of the autonomous vehicle unit (819), the remote driving sensor unit (813), and the data encoding unit (814) and transmitting the same to the server-side remote driving ECU (828), or may be configured to include a functional unit and/or module that performs such a function. In this case, the transmitting function may include a function for wired or wireless communication with respect to the network (830).

Referring back to FIG. 8, the server system (820) may include a remote driving server (822) and a remote driving driver's seat (829). The remote driving server (822) is a functional unit in charge of transmitting a remote driving instruction to the vehicle (810), and may be composed of at least one partial functional unit and/or module. The remote driving server (822), according to an embodiment of the present invention, may be configured to simultaneously realize the functions of a service/control unit and a data control unit (such as modules of symbols (322) and (324) shown in FIG. 3) in an autonomous driving server, and may be implemented as a device or system including a common functional unit or at least one common functional unit that operates in some cases as an embodiment for providing an autonomous driving service described above, and in other cases as an embodiment for providing a remote driving instruction described below, depending on specific conditions, environments, and situations.

The above remote driving driver's seat (829) may refer to a functional unit configured to drive the autonomous vehicle located at a remote location by generating a remote driving instruction by referring to data received through the remote driving server (822). In one embodiment, the remote driving driver's seat (829) may include a human-computer interface (HMI) device including various input means, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a trackball, a touch screen, etc. for a computer. In another embodiment, the remote driving driver's seat (829) may include a driving simulator device configured to include a vehicle driver's seat component including a steering wheel, a gear box, and pedals so as to be able to simulate conventional vehicle driving operations, and a display that represents a virtual driving environment implemented by referring to the data. In another embodiment, the remote driving driver's seat (829) may be an automatic judgment device that performs a function corresponding to the autonomous driving component, and may include a separate autonomous driving-purpose functional unit configured to be suitable for generating a remote driving instruction of the autonomous vehicle. The remote driving driver's seat (829) can be configured in a manner other than the above embodiment, and the remote driving instructions generated by the remote driving driver's seat (829) can be input to the remote driving server (822).

The above remote driving server (822) may include a data decryption unit (825), a network delay prediction unit (824), and a remote driving ECU (828). Although not shown separately, the above remote driving server (822) may further include the function of an Internet data collection server that collects data via the Internet. Each of the above functions and functional units may be configured as a single device, as independent devices, or as a mixture of some of them and some of them as independent devices.

The above data decryption unit (825) may be configured to decode data received from the vehicle (810), for example, if remote environment data is encoded. The decryption may refer to a procedure of reprocessing at least one of the remote driving data received via the network (830) into data in a form that the remote driving driver's seat (829) can refer to for generating remote driving instructions, by using at least one of partition, separation, selection, inverse transform, and decryption. The decryption may refer to restoration of encoded information as a reversible information processing method. The above data decoding unit (825) can change the decoding method of the data based on the bit rate adjustment signal provided from the network delay prediction unit (824), and by changing the decoding method, the data can be restored using at least one method among padding, inverse quantization, interpolation, extrapolation, and decompression.

The above network delay processing unit (824) may include equipment for monitoring the status of the network. For example, it may include a network monitoring device provided by a network operator. This may include a backhaul monitoring device, a core network monitoring device, etc. The network delay processing unit (824) may be configured to predict and analyze the current network status on the packet path based on a packet (for example, a probe packet) transmitted from the network status processing unit (816) on the vehicle (810) side. Then, based on the analysis result, information on communication-related parameters optimized for data communication with the vehicle (810) (for example, target bit rate information) may be generated and provided to the network status processing unit (816) via the network (830).

The above remote driving ECU (828) may be a functional unit configured to generate control information for controlling an autonomous vehicle unit (819) from a remote location by linking with a remote driving ECU (818) on the vehicle (810) side as a server-side unit. The control information may include information generated for the purpose of transmitting information related to a remote driving instruction received from the remote driving driver's seat (829) to the vehicle (810), and/or the remote driving unit (812) of the vehicle, and/or the vehicle-side remote driving ECU (818) of the remote driving unit. The control may include a function of generating a vehicle control instruction based on the received remote driving information and then generating information for transmitting to the ECU based on the vehicle control instruction. In the process of generating the above information, if information related to remote driving instructions provided from the remote driving driver's seat (829) is unsuitable or incomplete for achieving control of the vehicle (810), a function for intentionally omitting, supplementing, or correcting the same may be included.

In the process of generating the above information, the remote driving ECU (828) may refer to control information. The control information may be environmental information for controlling the remote driving, and according to an embodiment, may include information such as weather-related information at the location of the vehicle (810) and the minimum required delay time required for remote driving of the vehicle (810). According to an embodiment, the control information may also be supplied to the network delay processing unit (824).

The above remote driving ECU (828) may include a function for directly transmitting information related to driving control to the vehicle-side remote driving ECU (818), or may be configured to include a functional unit and/or module that performs such a function. In this case, the transmitting function may include a function for wired or wireless communication with respect to the network (830). In addition, the transmitting function may include a function for encoding information similar to the operation of the data encoding unit (814) described above, depending on the embodiment, and in this case, the vehicle-side remote driving ECU (818) may be configured to include a function for decoding information similar to the operation of the data decoding unit (825) described above.

Fig. 9 is a block diagram showing the structure of a network status processing unit according to one embodiment of the present invention. Referring to Fig. 9, a network status processing unit (910) according to one embodiment of the present invention may include a probe packet generation module (920), a network status analysis module (930), and a bit rate adjustment module (940).

The above probe packet generation module (920) can be configured to generate a probe packet for measuring network delay time and transmit the probe packet to a network delay measuring device of a remote driving server (925).

The above network status analysis module (930) can be configured to receive (935) the packet delay estimation time transmitted by the network delay measurement unit of the remote driving server, analyze the current network status, and transmit the analysis result to the bit rate adjustment module (940).

The bit rate control module (940) can receive the current network status transmitted by the network status analysis module (930) and send a request corresponding to one of an increase, maintenance, and decrease in the communication bit rate to the remote driving ECU and/or the data encoding unit.

Figure 10 is a block diagram showing the structure of a network delay prediction unit according to one embodiment of the present invention. Referring to Figure 10, a network delay prediction unit (1010) according to one embodiment of the present invention may include a delay time prediction module (1020) and a delay information transmission module (1030).

The above delay time calculation module (1020) may be configured to receive (1025) a probe packet transmitted by the probe packet generation module that may be included in the network status processing unit, calculate a delay time occurring in the network based on the received probe packet, and provide information related to the calculated delay time to the delay time transmission module (1030).

The above delay time transmission module (1030) may be configured to determine the content of the final delay information by using the information related to the provided delay time and the control information related to remote driving shared by the server-side remote driving ECU, and transmit the delay information to a network status analysis module that may be included in the network status processing unit. The control information may be information for controlling the environment in which the remote driving is performed, and depending on the embodiment, may include information related to the weather at the location of the vehicle that is the target of the remote driving, and the minimum required delay time required for the remote driving.

Fig. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a vehicle communication control method for remote driving according to one embodiment of the present invention. Referring to Fig. 11, the network status processing unit (1110) may correspond to the network status processing unit (910) illustrated through Fig. 9, and the network delay prediction unit (1120) may correspond to the network delay prediction unit (1010) illustrated through Fig. 10.

The linkage between the above network status processing unit (1110) and the above network delay prediction unit (1120) may be configured to include a network status analysis step (1130) and a bit rate adjustment request step (1150).

The above network status analysis step (1130) may be performed in the following order according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but is not necessarily limited to this order.

First, in order to analyze the status of a network path (which may refer to, for example, the network (830) illustrated in FIG. 8) formed between a server system including at least a remote driving server (which may refer to, for example, the server system (820) illustrated in FIG. 8) and a remote driving vehicle (which may refer to, for example, the vehicle (810) illustrated in FIG. 8) connected to the server system, the probe packet generation module (1114) (which may refer to the module (920) illustrated in FIG. 9) may be configured to generate (1131) probe packets at regular time intervals and transmit them to the server system, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

The network delay time calculation module (1122) of the network delay prediction unit (1120) that receives the probe packet (1133) (which may refer to the module (1020) illustrated in FIG. 10) may be configured to calculate a delay time for packet communication. In some embodiments, the delay time may refer to a delay time for uplink communication. The network delay time calculation module (1122) may be configured to store (1137) information related to the calculated delay time in a storage space (1140).

According to an embodiment of the present invention, control information (1145) related to remote driving may be further stored in the storage space (1140). The control information (1145) may be information for controlling the environment in which the remote driving takes place, and according to an embodiment, may include information such as information related to the weather at the location of the vehicle (810) and the minimum required delay time required for remote driving of the vehicle (810).

The above bit rate adjustment request step (1150) may be performed in the following order according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but is not necessarily limited to this order.

First, the delay information transmission module (1123) may be configured to periodically generate (1151) delay information based on information related to the delay time stored (1137) in the storage space (1140), and, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, to transmit (1153) the delay information to the network status analysis module (1113). Based on the transmitted (1153) delay information, the network status analysis module (1113) may periodically generate (1155) information related to the network status and transmit (1157) the information to the bit rate control module (1112) according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The bit rate control module (1112) may be configured to generate (1159) information related to a specific bit rate control method based on the information, and transmit (1160) the information to the remote driving ECU.

Hereinafter, a detailed embodiment related to the details of the linkage process based on the above-described Fig. 11 will be described. The following embodiment may include a specific or schematic implementation result of the linkage process by the above-described Fig. 11, but the linkage process according to the present invention, the vehicle control method by such linkage process, and the device and/or system related to such method are not necessarily limited to the form of the following embodiment.

First, in one embodiment of the present invention related to the network status analysis step (1130), the operation of the probe packet generation module (1114) may include or be based on an operation represented by the following pseudocode.

SetTimer(Probe_Timer=1000ms)
LOOP:
TimerWait();
Send(Probe_Packet);
END LOOP

The generation (1131) and transmission (1133) of the above probe packets may be performed at regular time intervals, at irregular time intervals, or temporarily. However, the pseudocode representing a preferred embodiment of the present invention assumes a case in which the probe packets are generated and transmitted at regular time intervals. Accordingly, the embodiment of the pseudocode shows an example of generating (1131) a probe packet based on a timer with a 1-second interval and transmitting (1133) the probe packets using the same.

The content of the probe packet transmitted (1133) may be a communication packet based on a universal protocol including the following packet information.

1) VEH_ID; 2) MSG_ID; 3)ENC_TY; 4) RES.

The meaning of each of the above packet information may be, for example, as shown in the table below.

item Field name Example value explanation Size (Bit) Vehicle ID VEH_ID 0x33 Vehicle ID (0~255) 8 Message ID MSG_ID 0x01 Message ID (0~255) 8 Encoding type ENC_TY 0x01 Message encoding type (0: None, 1: JASON??) 8 reservation RES NULL Additional fields (reserved area) 8

In one embodiment of the present invention, the operation of the delay time calculation module (1122) may include or be based on an operation represented by the following pseudocode.

EVENT: Calculate Delay Time (Probe_Packet)
Receive_Packet = GetPacket();
Reordered_Packet = PacketReordering(Receive_Packet)
Now = GetTime(Reordered_Packet);
Delay Time = Now - Pre;
Save (Delay Time);
Pre = Now;
END EVENT

The delay time calculation module (1122) may operate (1135) whenever a probe packet is received (1133). However, probe packets received via a network path may not match the transmitted order and the received order and may have a possibility that their orders may be swapped. Therefore, in such a case, at least one of the received probe packets may be rearranged to the correct order. In one embodiment of the present invention, the delay time calculation module (1122) may operate (1135) to calculate the delay time of the network path connected between the network status processing unit (1110) and the network delay prediction unit (1120), that is, between the vehicle and the server system, by measuring the reception interval of the rearranged probe packets. In addition, the delay time calculation module (1122) may be configured to store (1137) information related to the calculated delay time in the storage space (1140), which may be considered as a part of the server system according to an embodiment.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, control information (1145) related to remote driving may be further stored in the storage space (1140). The control information (1145) may be information for controlling the environment in which the remote driving takes place, and according to an embodiment, may include information such as information related to the weather at the location of the vehicle (810) and the minimum required delay time required for remote driving of the vehicle (810).

Next, in one embodiment of the present invention related to the bit rate adjustment request step (1150), the operation of the delay information transmission module (1123) may include or be based on an operation represented by the following pseudocode.

SetTimer (Res_Timer=500ms);
LOOP:
Timer Wait();
Load(Delay_Time, Cont_Info);
Delay_Info = Make_Info(Delay_Time, Cont_Info);
Send (Delay_Info);
END LOOP

The above delay information transmission module (1123) may be configured to obtain (1147) information related to the delay time and the control information from the storage space (1140), and generate (1151) network delay information. The generation (1151) and transmission (1153) of the network delay information may be performed at regular time intervals, at irregular time intervals, or temporarily. However, the pseudocode representing a preferred embodiment of the present invention assumes a case where the information is generated and transmitted at regular time intervals. Therefore, the embodiment of the pseudocode shows an example of generating (1151) and transmitting (1153) the delay information based on a timer with an interval of 500 milliseconds.

The information transmitted (1153) above may include information related to the calculated delay time, and in addition, may include cases where the probe packet is not transmitted (1133) or where the control information received in the storage space (1140) includes important control information transmitted from the control system, and may be a communication packet based on a universal protocol including packet information such as the following.

1) VEH_ID; 2) MSG_ID; 3)ENC_TY; 4) RES.

The meaning of each of the above packet information may be, for example, as shown in the table below.

item Field name Example value explanation Size (Bit) Vehicle ID VEH_ID 0X01 Vehicle ID (0~255) 8 Message ID MSG_ID 0x11 Message ID (0~255) 8 Encoding type ENC_TY 0x01 Message encoding type (0: None, 1: JASON??) 8 Delay information DLY_IF 0x3F Delay information
8~7bit: Network status
(00: 630ms or less, 01: 630ms or more
10: RESERVE, 11: Disconnection recommendation)
6~1bit: Uplink delay time
(value*10ms: 10ms ~ 630ms) 8

In one embodiment of the present invention, the operation of the network status analysis module (1113) may include or be based on an operation represented by the following pseudocode.

EVENT: Make Network Stat (Delay_Info)
Net Delay, Net_Info = GetPacket();
Updated = Yes;
END EVENT SetTimer (Stat_Timer=500ms);LOOP:
TimerWait();
Timer Count++;
IF (Updated || Timer_Count)
Req = Make_Requirement (Net_Delay, Net_Info);
Updated=No;
Timer_Count=0;
ELSE
Continue;
END LOOP

The delay information transmitted (1153) from the delay information transmission module (1123) (i.e., a functional unit of a network delay prediction unit (1120) that may be included in a remote driving server on the server system side, depending on the embodiment) may be configured to be input to the network status analysis module (1113) (i.e., a functional unit of a network status processing unit (1110) that may be included in a remote driving unit on the vehicle side, depending on the embodiment). The network status analysis module (1123) may operate dependently or irrespective of the reception (1153) of the delay information, and the operation may be performed at regular time intervals, irregular time intervals, or temporary. However, the pseudocode representing a preferred embodiment of the present invention assumes a case in which the operation is performed at regular time intervals irrespective of the reception (1153) of the delay information. Therefore, the above pseudocode embodiment shows an example of periodic operation (1155) based on a timer with an interval of 500 milliseconds.

The above network status analysis module (1113) may be configured to generate information related to the network status and transmit (1157) the information to the bit rate control module (1112) using information including the currently received (1153) delay information and the time elapsed without the delay information being received, according to the operation (1155).

The content of the message (Req) transmitted (1157) above may be, for example, as shown in the table below.

item Variable name Example value explanation Size (Bit) Request information Req 5 Bitrate adjustment (1~5)
(1: Bit rate reduction strong
2: Bit rate reduction approx.
3: Maintain bit rate
4: Bit rate increase approx.
5: Bitrate increase strong) 8

In one embodiment of the present invention, the operation of the bit rate control module (1112) may include or be based on an operation represented by the following pseudocode.

EVENT: Request (Req)
IF (Req < 3)
Reduce();
ELSE IF (Req >3)
Increase();
ELSE
END EVENT

The bit rate control module (1112) may operate (1159) whenever an information message about the network status is received (1157). As in the embodiment shown in the pseudocode, it may be configured to generate a request for a specific bit rate control method corresponding to any one of increasing, maintaining, and decreasing a communication bit rate and transmit (1160) the request to a remote driving unit installed in the vehicle (depending on the embodiment, the request may correspond to a functional unit including a data encoding unit and/or a remote driving ECU belonging to the remote driving unit).

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the drawings and embodiments, as already mentioned above, it does not mean that the protection scope of the present invention is limited by the drawings or embodiments presented above, and it will be understood that a person skilled in the art can variously modify and change the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention described in the scope of the following patent claims.

Claims (11)

In a vehicle device capable of remote driving,
A self-driving vehicle capable of being driven by receiving driving control based on driving signals;
A remote driving sensor unit receiving sensor data from at least one sensor;
A probe packet generation unit that generates a probe packet for analyzing the network path status between the vehicle device and the remote driving server;
A probe packet transmission unit that transmits the above probe packet to the remote driving server;
A network status analysis unit that receives network delay information for the network path calculated based on the probe packet from the remote driving server;
A data encoding unit that processes and encodes environmental data related to remote driving including the sensor data based on the network delay information; and
A device comprising a transmission unit that transmits the encoded data to the remote driving server.
In paragraph 1,
A receiving unit that receives control information for remote driving from the above remote driving server; and
A device further comprising a remote driving unit including a remote driving ECU that generates the driving signal based on the above control information.
delete In the second paragraph,
The above remote driving ECU is a device that receives the processing of the remote environment data from the data encoding unit and performs one of increasing, maintaining, and decreasing the data.
In paragraph 1,
The above data encoding unit is a device that processes the remote environment data using at least one of shortening, quantization, sampling, omitting, lossless compression, and lossy compression.
In a remote driving server for controlling a vehicle capable of remote driving,
A data decryption unit that decrypts environmental data related to remote driving received from a vehicle device that is the target of remote driving;
A network delay prediction unit that generates network delay information for a network path between the vehicle device and the remote driving server and transmits it to the vehicle device; and
A remote driving driver's seat unit for generating remote driving control instructions for the above vehicle;
The above network delay prediction unit,
A delay time calculation unit that receives a probe packet for network status analysis from the vehicle device and calculates the delay time for the network path with the vehicle; and
A device comprising a delay information transmission unit that generates network delay information based on the calculated delay time and transmits the network delay information to the vehicle.
In paragraph 6,
A remote driving ECU that receives a remote driving instruction from the above remote driving driver's seat and generates remote driving control information based on the remote driving instruction; and
A device further comprising a transmitter that transmits the remote driving control information to the vehicle device.
delete In paragraph 6,
The above network delay prediction unit,
A control information receiving unit for receiving control information for remote driving; and
It further includes a storage unit that stores the calculated delay time and the control information;
A device that generates the network delay information from the stored delay time and control information.
A method for controlling a vehicle capable of remote driving,
A step of generating a probe packet in a vehicle device capable of remote driving and transmitting it to a remote driving server;
A step of generating network delay information based on a delay time for a network path with the vehicle calculated by receiving the probe packet from the remote driving server and transmitting the information to the vehicle;
A step of encoding environmental data related to remote driving in the vehicle device based on the above network delay information and transmitting the encoded data to the remote driving server; and
A method comprising: a step in which the remote driving server transmits remote driving control information to the vehicle device based on environmental data associated with the remote driving.
In a system for controlling a vehicle capable of remote driving,
An autonomous vehicle that can be driven under signal-driven driving control;
An autonomous driving device that controls the above autonomous vehicle;
Includes a remote driving server that transmits remote driving control information to the autonomous driving device;
The autonomous driving device generates a probe packet for analyzing a network path status between the autonomous driving device and the remote driving server, transmits the probe packet to the remote driving server, receives network delay information for the network path from the remote driving server, encodes environmental data related to remote driving including sensor data based on the network delay information and transmits the encoded data to the remote driving server, and generates a driving signal based on remote driving control information received from the remote driving server.
The remote driving server is a system that receives the probe packet, calculates a delay time for the network path between the vehicle device that is the target of the remote driving and the remote driving server based on the probe packet, and generates network delay information based on the calculated delay time and transmits the network delay information to the vehicle device.

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