Apparatus and method for use in a vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10059343-B2
Application number	US-201515118353-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 3, 2015
Priority date	Feb 12, 2014
Publication date	Aug 28, 2018
Grant date	Aug 28, 2018

Abstract

Apparatus for determining the ground speed of a vehicle, comprising a plurality of sensing systems each of which is configured to provide a respective data source indicative of the ground speed of the vehicle; a controller configured to receive each of the data sources from the plurality of sensing systems; wherein the controller is configured to arbitrate between the received plurality of data sources from the plurality of sensing systems, determine a ground speed parameter from one of the data sources, and output the ground speed parameter for use within the vehicle. The invention also resides in a method for determining the ground speed of a vehicle and a computer program product that embodies said method.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An apparatus for determining a ground speed of a vehicle, comprising:
a plurality of vehicle-mounted sensing systems each of which is configured to provide a respective data source indicative of the ground speed of the vehicle; and
a controller configured to receive each of the data sources from the plurality of vehicle-mounted sensing systems, wherein the controller is configured to arbitrate between the received plurality of data sources from the plurality of vehicle-mounted sensing systems, determine a ground speed parameter from one of the data sources, and output the ground speed parameter for use within the vehicle, wherein arbitrating between the received plurality of data sources comprises: prioritizing the data sources, assessing the reliability of the highest priority data source and, in the event that the data source is determined not to be reliable, reprioritizing the data sources, and further wherein the plurality of vehicle-mounted sensing systems for providing a data source indicative of the vehicle ground speed of the vehicle include a GNSS system; a radar Doppler system; and an acoustic Doppler system.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the GNSS system forms part of a satellite navigation system of the vehicle.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the radar Doppler system forms part of an adaptive cruise control system of the vehicle.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the acoustic Doppler system forms part of a parking assist system of the vehicle.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller outputs a ground speed parameter to one or more client systems of the vehicle.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the client systems are selected from one or more of i) a hill descent system, ii) a launch control system, iii) a controlled stop system, iv) a stability control system, v) a torque vectoring system and vi) a terrain response system.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the assessment of reliability is based on a metric indicative of the confidence level of the data sources.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to determine a vehicle operating condition and to select one of the data sources for determining the ground speed parameter based on the vehicle operating condition.

9. The A method of determining a ground speed of a vehicle, comprising:
a controller receiving a plurality of data sources indicative of vehicle ground speed from a respective plurality of vehicle-mounted sensing systems; and
the controller arbitrating between the plurality of data sources so as to select one of the plurality of data sources to be used in determining a ground speed parameter of the vehicle by prioritizing the data sources, assessing a reliability of a highest priority data source and, in the event that the data source is determined not to be reliable, reprioritizing the data sources, wherein the plurality of data sources are received from sensing systems including a GNSS system, a radar Doppler system, and an acoustic Doppler system.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the assessment of reliability is based on a metric indicative of the confidence level of the data sources.

11. The method of claim 9 , including determining a vehicle operating condition and selecting one of the data sources to be used in determining the ground speed parameter in dependence on the vehicle operating condition.

12. The method of claim 9 , including outputting the ground speed parameter to one or more client system of the vehicle.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the client systems are selected from one or more of i) a hill descent system, ii) a launch control system, iii) a controlled stop system, iv) a stability control system, v) a torque vectoring system and vi) a terrain response system.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein the GNSS system forms part of a satellite navigation system of the vehicle.

15. The method of claim 9 , wherein the acoustic Doppler system forms part of a parking assist system of the vehicle.

16. The method of claim 9 , further comprising outputting a ground speed parameter to one or more client systems of the vehicle.

17. A vehicle including an apparatus for determining a ground speed of the vehicle, the apparatus comprising:
a plurality of vehicle-mounted sensing systems each of which is configured to provide a respective data source indicative of the ground speed of the vehicle; and
a controller configured to receive each of the data sources from the plurality of vehicle-mounted sensing systems, wherein the controller is configured to arbitrate between the received plurality of data sources from the plurality of vehicle-mounted sensing systems, determine a ground speed parameter from one of the data sources, and output the ground speed parameter for use within the vehicle, wherein arbitrating between the received plurality of data sources comprises: prioritizing the data sources, assessing the reliability of the highest priority data source and, in the event that the data source is determined not to be reliable, reprioritizing the data sources, and further wherein the plurality of vehicle-mounted sensing systems for providing a data source indicative of the vehicle ground speed of the vehicle include a GNSS system; a radar Doppler system; and an acoustic Doppler system.

18. The vehicle of claim 17 , wherein the GNSS system forms part of a satellite navigation system of the vehicle.

19. The vehicle of claim 17 , wherein the radar Doppler system forms part of an adaptive cruise control system of the vehicle.

20. The vehicle of claim 17 , wherein the acoustic Doppler system forms part of a parking assist system of the vehicle.

Assignees

• Jaguar Land Rover Ltd

Inventors

• Hoare Edward
• Tran Thuy-Yung
• Daniel Liam
• Cherniakov Mikhail

Classifications

• B60W40/105 Primary

  Speed · CPC title

• B60W2556/50

  of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data · CPC title

• B60W2520/10

  Longitudinal speed · CPC title

• G01P3/56

  for comparing two speeds · CPC title

• B60W30/143

  Speed control (B60W30/16 takes precedence) · CPC title