Communication of sensor data in a motor vehicle communication network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12413656-B1
Application number	US-202318238976-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Aug 28, 2023
Priority date	Oct 13, 2020
Publication date	Sep 9, 2025
Grant date	Sep 9, 2025

Abstract

In a vehicular communication network, a processor receives a packet that includes data corresponding to a sensor, the packet being in a first format. The processor reformats the packet in the first format to a second format different than the first format. The reformatting of the packet includes the processor generating an intermediate frame that includes a header in the second format and a payload in the second format, the payload including the data corresponding to the sensor. The processor provides the frame to an Ethernet network interface, which encapsulates the frame in an Ethernet packet. The Ethernet network interface then transmits the Ethernet packet via an Ethernet link.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for communicating in a vehicular communication network, the method comprising:
receiving, at a processor, a packet that includes data corresponding to a sensor, the packet being in a first format defined by a camera serial interface (CSI) protocol of the Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) Alliance;
reformatting, at the processor, the packet in the first format defined by the CSI protocol to a second format that does not conform to any CSI protocol of the MIPI alliance, the reformatting including: i) selecting, based on a first field in the packet in the first format, a data type value from a set of multiple data type values corresponding to different respective types of data, ii) generating an intermediate frame that does not include the packet in the first format, the intermediate frame being generated to include a header in the second format and a payload in the second format, the payload including the data corresponding to the sensor, and iii) generating the header to include one or more second fields set to the data type value;
providing, by the processor, the intermediate frame to an Ethernet network interface;
encapsulating, at the Ethernet network interface, the intermediate frame in an Ethernet packet; and
transmitting, by the Ethernet network interface, the Ethernet packet via an Ethernet link.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein reformatting the packet in the first format defined by the CSI protocol to the second format comprises:
selecting, based on a data identifier (ID) field in the packet in the first format, the data type value from the set of multiple data type values corresponding to different respective types of data, the set of multiple data type values including at least i) a first data type value corresponding to video data from a camera, and ii) a second data type value corresponding to non-video data.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein:
the processor is communicatively coupled to the sensor via multiple communication links;
the method further comprises determining, at the processor, a communication link, among the multiple communication links, via which the data corresponding to the sensor was received; and
selecting the data type value from the set of multiple data type values comprises: selecting the data type value further based on the determined communication link, among the multiple communication link, via which the data corresponding to the sensor was received.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the intermediate frame is a first intermediate frame, the header of the first intermediate frame is a first header, the payload of the first intermediate frame is a first payload, and the Ethernet packet is a first Ethernet packet, and wherein the method further comprises:
receiving, at the processor, one of i) general purpose input/output (GPIO) data corresponding to the sensor, ii) diagnostic data corresponding to the sensor, and iii) Operation and Management (OAM) data corresponding to the sensor;
generating, at the processor, a second intermediate frame to include a second header in the second format and a second payload in the second format, wherein generating the second intermediate frame includes:
selecting a data type value for the second intermediate frame from the set of multiple data type values, including selecting the data type value to be a value corresponding to the one of i) GPIO data, ii) diagnostic data, and iii) OAM data,
generating the second header of the second intermediate frame in the second format to include one or more third fields set to the selected data type value to indicate a type of data included in the second payload of the second intermediate frame, and
generating the second payload of the second intermediate frame to include the one of i) the GPIO data corresponding to the sensor, ii) the diagnostic data corresponding to the sensor, and iii) the OAM data corresponding to the sensor;

providing, by the processor, the second intermediate frame to the Ethernet network interface;
encapsulating, at the Ethernet network interface, the second intermediate frame in a second Ethernet packet; and
transmitting, by the Ethernet network interface, the second Ethernet packet via the Ethernet link.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the intermediate frame is a first intermediate frame, the header of the first intermediate frame is a first header, the payload of the first intermediate frame is a first payload, and the Ethernet packet is a first Ethernet packet, and wherein the method further comprises:
receiving, at the processor, data corresponding to the sensor in a user-defined format;
generating, at the processor, a second intermediate frame to include a second header in the second format and a second payload in the second format, wherein generating the second intermediate frame includes:
selecting a data type value for the second intermediate frame from the set of multiple data type values, including selecting the data type value to be a value indicating the second payload includes user-defined data,
generating the second header of the second intermediate frame in the second format to include one or more third fields set to the selected data type value to indicate a type of data included in the second payload of the second intermediate frame, and
generating the second payload of the second intermediate frame to include the data corresponding to the sensor in a user-defined format;

providing, by the processor, the second intermediate frame to the Ethernet network interface;
encapsulating, at the Ethernet network interface, the second intermediate frame in a second Ethernet packet; and
transmitting, by the Ethernet network interface, the second Ethernet packet via the Ethernet link.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the processor is a first processor, the header is a first header, the payload is a first payload, and the Ethernet network interface is a first Ethernet network interface, the method further comprising:
receiving, at a second Ethernet network interface, the Ethernet packet, the Ethernet packet received via the Ethernet link;
decapsulating, at the second Ethernet network interface, the intermediate frame from the Ethernet packet, the intermediate frame including the first header in the second format and the payload in the second format;
providing, by the second Ethernet network interface, the intermediate frame to a second processor; and
generating, at the second processor, the packet in the first format defined by the CSI protocol of the MIPI Alliance, including i) using header information in the first header of the intermediate frame to populate one or more header fields of a second header of the packet in the first format, and ii) using payload information in the intermediate frame to generate a second payload of the packet in the first format.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein:
generating the packet in the CSI protocol format comprises using the data type value in the one or more fields of the first header to set a data identifier (ID) field in the second header of the packet in the first format.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein:
the first header of the intermediate frame includes i) a general data type field set to a general data type value from a set of multiple general data type values corresponding to different respective groups of types of data, and ii) a data sub-type field to a data sub-type value from a set of multiple data sub-type values, wherein the general data type value and the data sub-type value together indicates the type of data included in the first payload of the intermediate frame; and
using the data type value to set the data ID field in the second header comprises using the general data type value an

Assignees

• Marvell Asia Pte Ltd

Inventors

• Bar-Niv Amir
• Wu Dance

Classifications

• H04L65/65

  Network streaming protocols, e.g. real-time transport protocol [RTP] or real-time control protocol [RTCP] · CPC title

• H04N21/85403

  by describing the content as an MPEG-21 Digital Item · CPC title

• H04W4/40

  for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P] · CPC title

• H04N21/85406

  involving a specific file format, e.g. MP4 format · CPC title

• H04L12/4645

  Details on frame tagging (routing of packets H04L45/00; support for virtual LAN H04L49/354) · CPC title