Abstract:
A device for distributing data about a vehicle, has a first sensor data reception interface for receiving first sensor data from a first sensor, a second sensor data reception interface for receiving second sensor data from a second sensor, and a transmission interface for transmitting the data about the vehicle on the basis of the first sensor data and the second sensor data to a receiver. A vehicle and an on-board system which incorporate the devise are also encompassed herein.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to German Patent Application No. 10 2011 082 525.8, filed Sep. 12, 2011 and PCT/EP2012/067844, filed Sep. 12, 2012. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to a device for distributing data about a motor vehicle, to an on-board system including the device, and to a vehicle having the on-board system. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     In current motor vehicle architectures, sensors and/or sensor elements are primarily allocated to certain functions and/or certain functional facilities. 
     It is the object of this invention to improve the vehicle architecture. 
     The object is achieved by the features of the system described herein. Preferred developments are also described. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to one aspect of the invention, a device for distributing at least data about a vehicle includes a first sensor data reception interface for receiving first sensor data, a first sensor, a second sensor data reception interface for receiving second sensor data from a second sensor and a transmission interface for transmitting the data about the vehicle on the basis of the first sensor data and the second sensor data to a receiver. 
     In a development of the specified device, the first sensor data reception interface is provided for receiving position data from a position data sensor as the first sensor. 
     In another development of the specified device, the second sensor data reception interface is provided as a databus interface for receiving the second sensor data from the second sensor which is connected to a databus. 
     In yet another development of the specified device, the second sensor data are steering angle data from a steering angle sensor as the second sensor. 
     In a particular development of the specified device, the transmission interface includes a fusion facility for linking the first sensor data and the second sensor data. 
     In an alternative development of the specified device, the transmission interface includes a filter for filtering the data about the vehicle from the linked position data and sensor data. 
     According to another aspect of the invention, an on-board system for a vehicle includes a databus, a sensor, connected to the databus, which is configured for feeding sensor data into the databus and a specified device, connected to the databus, for distributing at least data about a vehicle on the basis of the sensor data. 
     In a development, the specified on-board system includes an antenna for wirelessly transmitting the data about the vehicle. 
     According to a further aspect of the invention, a vehicle includes a specified on-board system. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The characteristics, features and advantages of this invention, described above, and the manner in which these are achieved will become clearer and more distinctly understandable in conjunction with the following description of the exemplary embodiments which will be explained in greater detail in conjunction with the drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  shows a diagrammatic view of a section from a vehicle on-board system; 
         FIG. 2  shows a diagrammatic view of a section from an alternative vehicle on-board system; 
         FIG. 3  shows a diagrammatic view of a section from an alternative vehicle on-board system; 
         FIG. 4  shows a diagrammatic view of a section from an alternative vehicle on-board system; 
         FIG. 5  shows a diagrammatic view of a section from an alternative vehicle on-board system; 
         FIG. 6  shows a diagrammatic view of a section from an alternative vehicle on-board system; 
         FIG. 7  shows a diagrammatic view of a section from an alternative vehicle on-board system; 
         FIG. 8  shows a diagrammatic view of a section from an alternative vehicle on-board system; and 
         FIG. 9  shows a diagrammatic view of a section from an alternative vehicle on-board system. 
     
    
    
     In the figures, identical technical elements are provided with identical reference symbols and described only once. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Reference is made to  FIG. 1  which shows a diagrammatic view of a section from an on-board system  2  for a vehicle not shown in further detail. 
     The on-board system  2  includes a databus  4  which can be, for example, a Controller Area Network bus, called CAN bus, or a FlexRay bus, known to the expert. These data buses are standardized and their operation can be looked up in the relevant specifications. 
     To the databus  4 , various modules are connected, all or which communicate with one another via the databus  4 . These modules include controller  6  for an electronic stability control of the vehicle not shown in greater detail, called 
     ESC controller  6  in the text which follows, a controller  8  for an electronic steering angle support of the vehicle not shown in further detail, called EPS controller  8  in the text which follows, a controller  10  for an airbag of the vehicle not shown in further detail, and further controllers  12  in the vehicle not shown in further detail, for which the reference symbol  12  will be used jointly in the text which follows. These further controllers  12  may further include a controller for an electronic braking assistant, a controller for an electronic steering assistant and a controller for an automatic speed control. 
     Furthermore, the display device  14 , which, in the text which follows, will be called HMI device  14  for “Human Machine Interface” device, is connected to the databus  4 . It can also feed data into the databus  4  in a manner not shown if, for example, the HMI device  14  is constructed as a touchscreen. 
     Finally, a device  16  for distributing data about the vehicle, not shown, is also connected to the databus  4  which, in the text which follows, will be called M2XPro device  16  for “motion information to different providers” device  16 . 
     The M2XPro device  16  is embedded in an M2XPro cluster  18  which provides an electrical power supply  20 , hardware interfaces and protective means  22  and a housing  24  for the M2XPro device  16 . 
     The M2XPro device  16  has a vehicle dynamics interface  26 , a wheel speed interface  28 , a steering angle interface  30 , a Global Position System interface  32 , called GPS interface  32  in the text which follows, and an output interface  33 . 
     At the vehicle dynamics interface  26 , vehicle dynamics data are received which are provided by an optional pitch rate sensor  34 , an optional roll rate sensor  36  and a yaw rate sensor  38  in a known manner. In detail, the vehicle dynamics data therefore includes an optional pitch rate  40 , an optional roll rate  42  and a yaw rate  44 . In a manner not shown, a longitudinal, transverse and vertical acceleration can also be received correspondingly by a longitudinal, transverse and vertical acceleration sensor via the vehicle dynamics interface  26 . 
     At the wheel speed interface  28 , the wheel revolutions  46  of the individual wheels of the vehicle, not shown in further detail, can be received in a manner still to be described. 
     At the steering angle interface  30 , a steering angle  48  of a steering wheel of the vehicle, not shown in further detail, can be received in a manner still to be described. 
     Finally, position data  50  can be received at the GPS interface  32  from a GPS receiver  52  which can be arranged outside the M2XPro cluster  18 . 
     The received data  40  to  50  received via the various reception interfaces  26  to  32 , are delivered to the output interface  33  which, in the present embodiment, also performs the transformation of the received data  40  to  50  into transmission data, yet to be written, beyond the pure delivery of the data  40  to  50  to other modules. For this purpose, the output interface  33  has a fusion facility  54  in the present embodiment, which receives the received data  40  to  50  and, on the basis of these, generates the above-mentioned data about the vehicle, not shown. 
     These data can be any information about the vehicle. Thus, for example, this information can include verified data which have been checked for their reliability on the basis of redundant information. This can be, for example, a verified yaw rate  44  which has been stabilized by means of the steering angle  48  since the steering angle  48  and the yaw rate  44  are related to one another. As an alternative or additionally, this information can include, for example, also position data which cannot be supplied by the GPS receiver  52 . If the vehicle, not shown in greater detail, drives at locations at which no GPS signals can be received, such as in a tunnel, position data which cannot be supplied by the GPS receiver  52  can be derived, for example, by the fusion facility  54  on the basis of the last position data  50  received from a GPS receiver  52 , the steering angle  48  and a speed, derived from the wheel revolutions  46 , of the vehicle, not shown. The fusion facility  54  is thus configured for generating new sensor data from sensor data present in the vehicle, not shown in further detail, or verifying sensor data already existing, for example by means of validation. 
     The data  56  generated by the fusion facility  54  can be fed back into the databus  4 , on the one hand, or transferred to a first filter  58 . The generated data  56  fed into the databus  4  are then available to the other modules for further processing. 
     The generated data transferred to the first filter  58  can be filtered in the first filter  58  in a manner not specified in greater detail and transferred to a distributor antenna  60  with a second filter  62 . The distributor antenna  60  is used for communication of the vehicle, not shown, with other vehicles and will therefore be called Car2X antenna  60  in the text which follows. The communication may take place wirelessly, a so-called automotive WLAN possibly being employed, be based on IEEE 802.11p, and can have further protocol layers correspondingly based thereon such as IST-G5 in Europe or IEEE 1609 in the USA. The first filter  62  can therefore transfer filtered generated data  56  to the Car2X antenna  60  or receive data from the Car2X antenna  60 . 
     The filtered generated data  56  or the received data can be used as input data for the most varied applications  66 . These applications  66  can include, for example, the derivation of position data previously mentioned if the GPS signal  50  can no longer be received. As an alternative or additionally, these applications  66  can include information applications which inform, for example, about jams or other traffic situations or traffic-related traffic situations. In the text which follows, the applications  66  are combined under the term Car2X applications  66  which, in turn, can feed their output data  68 , that is to say the forwarded position data or the traffic information, into the databus  4 . 
     The interfaces  26  to  33  mentioned above can be combined in a hardware interface  70  in the M2XPro device  16 . To implement the other functions in the M2XPro device  16 , further hardware elements  72  can be provided. 
     The output data  68  such as the ongoing position data or the traffic information can be displayed, for example, on the HMI device  14  for navigation. 
     The input data  64  or the generated data  56  can be distributed to other modules in the vehicle not shown which, in turn, can have Car2X applications  66 . In the present embodiment, this is shown by means of the ESC controller  6 . Furthermore, system algorithms  74  which use the generated data  56  directly can also be present in the individual controllers  6  to  12 . 
     In the present embodiment, the wheel revolutions  46  and the steering angle  48  are acquired accordingly with the ESC controller  6  and the EPS controller  8  which must acquire these data in any case for their intended operation. 
     Reference is made to  FIG. 2  which shows a diagrammatic view of a section from an alternative vehicle on-board system  2 . 
     In  FIG. 2 , the wheel revolutions  46  are fed directly into the M2XPro device  16  from the individual wheel speed sensors, not shown in greater detail. They can then be fed into the system algorithms  74  of the ESC controller  6 , for example as generated data  56 , so that they are available for the basic functionality of the ESC controller  6 . 
     Reference is made to  FIG. 3  which shows a diagrammatic view of a section from an alternative vehicle on-board system  2 . 
     In  FIG. 3 , the yaw rate sensor  38  is accommodated in the ESC controller  6 . As an alternative, it can also be accommodated in the airbag controller  10 . The yaw rate  44  is therefore fed into the M2XPro device  12  via the databus  4 . In the same way, the longitudinal, transverse and vertical acceleration sensor, not shown in greater detail, can also be accommodated in the ESC controller  6  or in the airbag controller  10  and correspondingly feed the longitudinal, transverse and vertical acceleration into the vehicle dynamics interface  25  of the M2XPro device  12  via the databus  4 . 
     Reference is made to  FIG. 4  which shows a diagrammatic view of a section from an alternative vehicle on-board system  2 . 
     The embodiment of  FIG. 4  is based on the embodiment according to  FIG. 3  where the wheel revolutions  46  can again be supplied directly to the M2XPro device  16  analogously to  FIG. 2 . 
     Reference is made to  FIG. 5  which shows a diagrammatic view of a section from an alternative vehicle on-board system  2 . 
     In  FIG. 5 , the M2XPro device  16  is accommodated in the ESC controller  6 . In this manner, the wheel revolutions  46  can be conducted to the M2XPro device  12  internally in the ESC controller  6 . Furthermore, the M2XPro cluster  18  with its hardware components  20 ,  22 ,  24  is omitted completely. 
     Reference is made to  FIG. 6  which shows a diagrammatic view of a section from an alternative vehicle on-board system  2 . As can be seen from  FIG. 6 , the M2XPro device  16  can be accommodated in any controller of the vehicle, not shown in further detail, which is illustrated, for example, by way of the airbag controller  10 . 
     Reference is made to  FIG. 7  which shows a diagrammatic view of a section from an alternative vehicle on-board system  2 . The embodiment of  FIG. 7  is based on the embodiment according to  FIG. 6 , where the wheel revolutions  46  can again be supplied directly to the M2XPro device  16  analogously to  FIG. 2 . 
     Reference is made to  FIG. 8  which shows a diagrammatic view of a section from an alternative vehicle on-board system  2 . In the embodiment of  FIG. 8 , additional sensor signals  76  are fed into the databus  4 , which can then be received in the M2XPro device  16  via an additional interface  78  and processed in the fusion facility  54 . 
     Reference is made to  FIG. 9  which shows a diagrammatic view of a section from an alternative vehicle on-board system  2 . The embodiment of  FIG. 9  is based on the embodiment according to  FIG. 8 , where the wheel revolutions  66  can be supplied directly to the M2XPro device  16  again analogously to  FIG. 2 . 
     By means of the proposed architectures, the fusion facility  54  and the software and hardware necessary for its operations are easily integrated into the architecture of the vehicle not shown in greater detail. For this purpose, a separate unit is used, for example, in the form of the M2XPro cluster  18 , or pre-existing controllers  6  to  12  are used. In addition, the signals needed for the fusion which can consist, for example, of the GPS signals  50 , the vehicle dynamics signals  40 ,  44  or the wheel speed sensors  46  and the steering angle  48 , can be supplied to the M2XPro device  16  in real time which is ensured, for example, by the databus  4 . Finally, the M2XPro device  16 , as a host, represents the possibility to execute M2XPro applications  66  and thus to integrate further software. 
     As already mentioned, the M2XPro device  16  can be accommodated in a separate cluster  18  or in a pre-existing module of the vehicle not shown such as, for example, one of the controllers  6  to  12 . As can be seen from the wheel revolutions  46 , individual sensor signals can be supplied to the M2XPro device  16  either directly or via a pre-existing controller  6  to  12  which uses the corresponding sensor signal itself, in any case. As can be seen from the inertial sensors  34  to  38 , individual sensors can also be accommodated themselves in the M2XPro device  16 . 
     In the present embodiments, a similar feature of all architectures is that a databus  6  distributes the data of the sensors distributed outside the M2XPro device  12 . A steering angle sensor, not shown in greater detail and connected to the ESP controller  8 , also always applies the steering angle to the databus  6 . The GPS antenna  52  and the Car2X antenna  60  can be combined in a manner not shown in greater detail in a common antenna module and have a common interface to the M2XPro device  16 . In the M2XPro device, Car2X applications  66  are accommodated which, for example, handle non-safety-critical evaluations for the HMI unit  14 . By contrast, Car2X applications  66  which are appropriate for the operation of the respective controllers  6  to  12  such as, for example, securing measurement data on the basis of redundantly present measurement data from other sensors, are accommodated in the individual controllers  6  to  12 . 
     While the above description constitutes the preferred embodiment of the present invention, it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible to modification, variation and change without departing from the proper scope and fair meaning of the accompanying claims.