Patent Publication Number: US-2023142252-A1

Title: Method for determining reliability of received data

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to a computer implemented method for determining a reliability level of data received by an ego vehicle from a target vehicle being different from the ego vehicle. The present disclosure also relates to a corresponding control system and to a computer program product. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Recently there have been great advances in driver assistance and safety functions, such as adaptive cruise control, pedestrian detection, front and rear collision warning, lane departure warning and general obstacle detection. To achieve such functionality the vehicles are typically equipped with sophisticated sensors and advanced internal computer systems. 
     Vehicle-to-vehicle-based communication (V2V) is a further method for allowing a plurality of vehicles therebetween, for example to be used in relation to traffic management, collision warning, and collision avoidance. Such systems can extend an ego vehicle&#39;s range of awareness of surrounding environmental conditions by providing relevant information regarding the status of traffic in addition to any safety related events occurring in proximity to or detected by vehicles near the ego vehicle. 
     A substantial cost is involved in incorporating security protection regards to V2V applications. The cost incurred is that of the computational power required to process security, specifically for creating a secure message at the transmitter and to verify the integrity of this secure message at a receiving node. The information exchanged between the vehicles in V2V communications must be secured to prevent a malicious user from hacking into the communication system and presenting false data which disrupts the V2V application service. 
     One approach for securing that the data received at the ego vehicle is correct is disclosed in US20110080302, suggesting that the received data is compared to what may be considered to be “physically correct”, by comparing the data with known physical laws. Such an approach will of course limit any form of “extreme” data to be erroneously introduced when operating the ego vehicle. However, solely relying on physical laws may still allow the introduction of “fairly” relevant data that still is malicious and as such will impact the operation of the ego vehicle in a negative manner. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide further enhancements for improving handling of data received from other vehicles, ensuring a safe operation of the ego vehicle. 
     SUMMARY 
     According to an aspect of the present disclosure, the above is at least partly alleviated by a computer implemented method for determining a reliability level of data received by an ego vehicle from a target vehicle being different from the ego vehicle and arranged in a vicinity of the ego vehicle, the ego vehicle comprising a control unit, wherein the method comprises the steps of receiving, at the control unit and using wireless communication, a first set of operational data relating to the target vehicle, and determining, by the control unit, the reliability level based on the first set of operational data and a predetermined model indicative of an expected behavior of the first set of operational data. 
     The overall idea with the present disclosure is to further improve the way data received from another vehicle, denoted above as a target vehicle, is ensured to be reliable. The operational data may for example be vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) data relating to at least one of a velocity, an acceleration, a retardation, etc. for the target vehicle. In line with the present disclosure, this is achieved by comparing data received from said target vehicle with a predetermined model indicative of an expected behavior of the first set of operational data. Accordingly, the present inventors have, as indicated above, identified that it will be insufficient to only rely on known physical laws when deciding of received data is to be considered reliable. Rather, in line with the present disclosure a holistic approach is taken in regards to how to handle the data, reviewing the behavior of the data rather than simply comparing the data to general thresholds. 
     Advantages following the use of the presently disclosed solution will allow for an overall improvement in safe operation of the ego vehicle and as a consequence vehicle and persons in the vicinity of the ego vehicle, since the risk of relying on erroneous data when operating the ego vehicle is reduced. 
     In an embodiment of the present disclosure the predetermined model is further dependent on the target vehicle. That is, it may in line with the present disclosure be possible to form different models for different vehicle, for example based on different vehicle types, models, etc. As such, a step in operating the vehicle based on the received data may include requesting the target vehicle to present an identification, such that e.g. the ego vehicle in turn may perform the determination of the reliability level based on a model selected for the specific target vehicle. In one embodiment, the ego vehicle is arranged in communication with e.g. an external server for acquiring the predetermined model for the specific target vehicle. However, a plurality of different predetermined models may also, as an alternative, be stored onboard the ego vehicle. The identification of the target vehicle may also or alternatively be performed by means of a (second) sensor comprised with the ego vehicle. 
     Preferably, it may be desirable to allow the predetermined model to be further dependent on an expected variation over time of the first set of operational data. That is, as indicated above it is in line with the present disclosure desirable to look at an overall behavior of the data then just compare a single data point to e.g. a preset threshold. Looking at the overall behavior over time will greatly improve the determination of the reliability level for the received data. 
     In one embodiment of the present disclosure the method further comprises the steps of determining, by the control unit, a second set of operational data relating to the target vehicle using a first sensor comprised with the ego vehicle, and determining, by the control unit, a difference between the first set of operational data and the second set of operational data, wherein the determination of the reliability level is further based on the determined difference. The first sensor may in some embodiments be at least one of a radar, a LiDAR sensor or a camera. Accordingly, in such an embodiment the data may be correlated with “reference data” that is to be collected “locally” at the ego vehicle. That said, it may in some instances not be possible to achieve the same granularity of the data collected by the ego vehicle, thus not making the comparison to be a one-to-one comparison. For example, data collected using a radar sensor comprised with the ego vehicle may not be directly comparable to speed data received by the target vehicle, since the radar sensor may have an in comparison slower response curve. Accordingly, it may in some instances of the present disclosure be useful to form an expected behavior of the second set of operational data, possibly being dependent on a response curve for the sensor generating the second set of data. Thus, to be reliable the data received from the target vehicle should behave in a specific way as compared to the “behavior” of the second set of data. It should be understood that the predetermined model in some embodiments may represent a statistical behavior for the sets of operational data. 
     It may in line with the present disclosure be possible to use the reliability level as e.g. a “weight” when using the data received from the target vehicle. That is, data having an in comparison low reliability level may be given an in comparison lower weight when operating the vehicle, as compared to data considered to have an in comparison high reliability level. That said, it may also, as an alternative be possible to further include the step of defining the operational data from the target vehicle as reliable only if the reliability level is above a first predetermined threshold. In such an embodiment it may for example be possible to simply discard data from the target vehicle that is considered to have a “too low” (below the threshold) reliability level. The threshold may be fixed, dependent on the type of vehicle, the type of data or based on a history of data received from the target vehicle. 
     In line with the above discussion, it may in a corresponding manner be possible to define the operational data from the target vehicle as unreliable if the reliability level is below a second predetermined threshold. Accordingly, the data received from the target vehicle may for example be “weighted” in when operating the ego vehicle, as long as the data at least is above the second threshold. Also, the second threshold may be dependent on the type of vehicle, the type of data or based on a history of data received from the target vehicle. The second threshold is typically lower as compared to the first threshold. 
     Furthermore, in some embodiments it may be possible to also update the model for the vehicle. It may however be desirable to only update the model if the received data is considered to be in comparison highly reliable. Accordingly, in some embodiments of the present disclosure a third threshold is used, where the reliability level is compared to the third threshold, the third threshold being higher as compared to the first threshold. In this case, the model is only updated if the reliability level is above the third threshold. 
     According to another aspect of the present disclosure there is provided a control system comprised with an ego vehicle, the control system adapted for determining a reliability level of data received by the ego vehicle from a target vehicle being different from the ego vehicle and arranged in a vicinity of the ego vehicle, the control system comprising a control unit, wherein the control unit is adapted to receive, using wireless communication, a first set of operational data relating to the target vehicle, and determine the reliability level based on the first set of operational data and a predetermined model indicative of an expected behavior of the first set of operational data. This aspect of the present disclosure provides similar advantages as discussed above in relation to the previous aspect of the present disclosure. 
     The control system may in one embodiment include an electronic control unit (ECU), typically provided as an onboard component of the vehicle. Correspondingly, the first sensor may for example include sensors for determining what is happening in a surrounding of the vehicle, for example including at least one of a radar, a LiDAR sensor and/or a camera. Other sensors for measuring speed, acceleration, inclination, torque, vehicle mass, etc. may be equally used in line with the present disclosure. 
     Furthermore, the vehicle may for example be any one of a truck, a car, a bus or a working machine. The vehicle may furthermore be a vehicle operated by a driver/operator or an autonomous vehicle. Since the vehicle may be one of e.g. a construction equipment or a working machine, the expression road as used above should be interpreted broadly, including any dedicated areas where the vehicle is operating. The vehicle may furthermore be at least one of a pure electrical vehicle (PEV) and a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV). 
     The expression “autonomous vehicle” should be interpreted broadly and relates to a vehicle that is operated in a fully or partially autonomous mode. In a partially autonomous vehicle, some functions can optionally be manually controlled (e.g. by a driver) some or all of the time. Further, a partially autonomous vehicle may be configured to switch between a fully-manual operation mode and a partially-autonomous and/or a fully-autonomous operation mode. 
     According to a further aspect of the present disclosure there is provided a computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer program means for operating a control system comprised with an ego vehicle, the control system adapted for determining a reliability level of data received by the ego vehicle from a target vehicle being different from the ego vehicle and arranged in a vicinity of the ego vehicle, the control system comprising a control unit, wherein the computer program product comprises code for receiving, at the control unit and using wireless communication, a first set of operational data relating to the target vehicle, and code for determining, by the control unit, the reliability level based on the first set of operational data and a predetermined model indicative of an expected behavior of the first set of operational data. Also this aspect of the present disclosure provides similar advantages as discussed above in relation to the previous aspects of the present disclosure. 
     The computer readable medium may be any type of memory device, including one of a removable nonvolatile random-access memory, a hard disk drive, a floppy disk, a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, a USB memory, an SD memory card, or a similar computer readable medium known in the art. 
     Further advantages and advantageous features of the present disclosure are disclosed in the following description and in the dependent claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       With reference to the appended drawings, below follows a more detailed description of embodiments of the present disclosure cited as examples. 
       In the drawings: 
         FIGS.  1 A  illustrates a truck,  1 B a bus and  1 C a wheel loader in which the control system according to the present disclosure may be incorporated; 
         FIG.  2    illustrates a conceptual control system in accordance to a currently preferred embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  3    exemplifies an operation of the control system, and 
         FIG.  4    illustrates the processing steps for performing the method according to the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION 
     The present disclosure will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which currently preferred embodiments of the present disclosure are shown. This disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided for thoroughness and completeness, and fully convey the scope of the disclosure to the skilled addressee. Like reference characters refer to like elements throughout. 
     Referring now to the drawings and to  FIG.  1 A  in particular, there is depicted an exemplary vehicle, here illustrated as a truck  100 , in which a control system  200  (as shown in  FIG.  2   ) according to the present disclosure may be incorporated. The control system  200  may of course be implemented, possibly in a slightly different way, in a bus  102  as shown in  FIG.  1 B , wheel loader as shown in  FIG.  10   , a car, a bus, etc. 
     The vehicle may for example be one of an electric or hybrid vehicle, or possibly a gas, gasoline or diesel vehicle. The vehicle comprises an electric machine (in case of being an electric or hybrid vehicle) or an engine (such as an internal combustion engine in case of being a gas, gasoline or diesel vehicle). The vehicle may further be manually operated as well as fully or semi-autonomous. 
       FIG.  2    shows a conceptual and exemplary implementation of the control system  200 , comprising a control unit  202 , such as an electronic control unit (ECU), adapted for operating an ego vehicle, e.g. any one of the vehicles  100 ,  102 ,  104 . The ECU  202  implements an interface for receiving data from a plurality of sensors  204 ,  206 ,  208 , such as e.g. a radar  204 , a LiDAR sensor arrangement  206  and a camera  208 . The control system  200  further comprises a transceiver  210 , arranged in communication with the control unit  202 , where the transceiver  210  is adapted for wirelessly receiving data from a target vehicle  302  (as shown in  FIG.  3   ) in a vicinity of the ego vehicle. 
     For reference, the ECU  202  may for example be manifested as a general-purpose processor, an application specific processor, a circuit containing processing components, a group of distributed processing components, a group of distributed computers configured for processing, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), etc. The processor may be or include any number of hardware components for conducting data or signal processing or for executing computer code stored in memory. The memory may be one or more devices for storing data and/or computer code for completing or facilitating the various methods described in the present description. The memory may include volatile memory or non-volatile memory. The memory may include database components, object code components, script components, or any other type of information structure for supporting the various activities of the present description. According to an exemplary embodiment, any distributed or local memory device may be utilized with the systems and methods of this description. According to an exemplary embodiment the memory is communicably connected to the processor (e.g., via a circuit or any other wired, wireless, or network connection) and includes computer code for executing one or more processes described herein. 
     The ECU  202  may preferably also be arranged in communication with e.g. a radionavigation system, for example including a GPS receiver  220  as well as a map database  222  e.g. 
     holding map navigation data relating to a road where the vehicle  100 ,  102 ,  104  is travelling. 
     During operation of the control system  200  for use in relation to the vehicle  100 ,  102 ,  104 , with further reference to  FIGS.  3  and  4   , the ECU  202  is adapted to implement the scheme according to the present disclosure for determining a reliability level of data received by an ego vehicle (exemplified as vehicle  100 ) from a target vehicle  302  being different from the ego vehicle  100 . 
     In an exemplary implementation, the transceiver  210  (nor explicitly shown in  FIG.  3   ) is connected to an antenna  304  comprised with the ego vehicle  100 , where the antenna  304  is adapted to receive wireless signals transmitted from e.g. the target vehicle  302 . The target vehicle  302  may, typically, be equipped with a corresponding antenna  304  and a transceiver  308 . The target vehicle  302  may typically also be equipped with an ECU  310 . 
     In  FIG.  3    the ego vehicle  100  is shown as following the target vehicle  302 , in relation to an overall travel direction. At a front end of the ego vehicle  100  there are arranged the previously mentioned radar  204  and a camera  208 . As indicated above, other sensors are possible and within the scope of the present disclosure. The radar  204  may be adapted to continuously collect data that may be used to determine a distance between e.g. the front end of the ego vehicle  100  and a back end of the target vehicle  302 . Inherently, the data collected using the radar  204  must be processed by the ECU  202  for determining the distance between the vehicles  100 ,  302 . In addition, the radar  204  has a response time, while still being in comparison short, that will impact the distance determination. That is, in case the target vehicle  302  performs a quick braking action it will take a little bit of time until such an action is identified at the ego vehicle  100 . 
     Accordingly, in line with the present disclosure the target vehicle  302  may be adapted to regularly or continuously transmit its momentary speed, acceleration, etc. In some embodiments the wireless transmission may be essentially instantaneously provided between the vehicles  100 ,  302 , such that e.g. the ego vehicle  100  in a situation as discussed above with the quick braking action possibly may allowed to react quicker as compared to if the ego vehicle  100  was to rely solely on the data collected by the radar  204  arranged onboard the ego vehicle  100 . 
     However, wireless transmission of data, such as in the exemplary implementation so called vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) data may possibly be manipulated, such as by injecting erroneous data or by manipulating the transmitted data. As discussed above, the present disclosure provides means to contravene this risk and uncertainty. This is specifically achieved by adapting the ECU  202  to determine a reliability level of at least some of the data received at the ego vehicle  100  from the target vehicle  302 . 
     Accordingly, the ECU  202  will as a first step receive, S 1 , at the ego vehicle  100 , the V2V data (above also denoted as a first set of operational data) using the antenna  304  and the transceiver  210 . Subsequently, the ECU  202  determines the reliability level for the received V2V data based on a content of the V2V data and a predetermined model indicative of an expected behavior of the V2V data. That is, in line with the present disclosure an analysis of the V2V data is performed whereby the V2V data for example may be mapped or otherwise correlated with an expectation of the data. Specifically, rather than just perform a thresholding of the V2V data, typically form removing possible extremes (such as “impossible” velocities or accelerations that are breaking general physical laws), the present disclosure takes a holistic approach whereby e.g. a trend of the content of the V2V data is mapped towards an expectation of the content of the V2V data. In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the predetermined model is made dependent on a statistical and/or historical behavior of the related receive the V2V data, or the type and/or model of the target vehicle  302 . 
     Rather than just removing extremes, it may be possible to identify also erroneous trends in the V2V data received from the target vehicle  302 , to such an extent that also errors relating to a sensor comprised with the target vehicle  302  could possibly be identified. To make this possible the ECU  202  is equipped or is arranged to receive the predetermined model, where the predetermined model holds information being indicative of the expected behavior of the V2V data. The comparison between the received V2V data and the predetermined model may in some embodiments be performed by e.g. setting thresholds on the allowed differences between means and variances of the expected behavior and the actual behavior of the content of the V2V data. 
     In one implementation the predetermined model is dependent on the type of the target vehicle  302 . As such an embodiment it may for example be necessary for the target vehicle  302  to transmit some form of reliable identification data to the ego vehicle  100  before the ego vehicle  100  is starting to receive the V2V data. The identification data may then be used by the ECU  202  to acquire a predetermined model that corresponds to the make and/or model or the target vehicle  302 . 
     Alternatively, e.g. the camera  208  comprised onboard the ego vehicle  100  may be used to collect image data relating to the target vehicle  302 , whereby the image data may be used by an image processing scheme performed at the ECU  202  to extract information that may be used for identifying the target vehicle  302 . For example, the extracted information could be sent from the ego vehicle  100  to a remote server (not shown) where the extracted information may be mapped to a large collection of stored data for determining e.g. the make and/or model of the target vehicle  302 . 
     As understood from the above, the V2V data could in one embodiment be used in an independent form for determining its reliability level. However, in some embodiments the V2V data may be correlated with data that is collected by one of the sensors  204 ,  206 ,  208  arranged onboard the ego vehicle  100  (above denoted as a second set of operational data relating to the target vehicle). It could for example be possible to compare or determine a difference between the V2V data and the data from the onboard sensors, where also the result of the comparison or the difference is used in the determination of the reliability level. For example, it could be possible for the ECU  202  to review a trend relating to the determined difference and compare this trend with the predetermined model. 
     Generally, once the reliability level has been determined for the V2V data, the ego vehicle 100 may select to simply discard the V2V data if the reliability level is below a first threshold. Put differently, if the V2V data is determined to be less reliable than the first threshold then the V2V data will not be used by the ego vehicle  100  in decisions relating to the operation of the ego vehicle. 
     However, in an alternative embodiment it may be possible to allow the reliability level to dictate at what level (or how much weight) that should be given to the V2V data when operating the ego vehicle 100. For example, if the reliability level is determined to be above 50% but below 70% then the V2V data is given a minor impact in operating the ego vehicle  100 . However, if the V2V data is determined highly reliable (e.g. a reliability level between 70-100%), then the V2V data may possibly be used as is in operating the ego vehicle  100 . 
     Within the scope of the present disclosure it may be possible to form the predetermined model at the ego vehicle  100 . The predetermined model may also or alternatively be formed at the remote server (or similar) or provided by e.g. the manufacturer of the target vehicle  302  to the remote server (such that the ego vehicle  100  may download and use the predetermined model). It is also possible, and within the scope of the present disclosure, to allow the predetermined model to be updated at the ego vehicle  100 . As such, it may over time be possible to allow the ego vehicle  100  to collect and amend the predetermined model to make the model increasingly reliable. It could also be possible to allow the updated model to be shared with other vehicles, such as by uploading the updated model to the remote server. 
     The present disclosure contemplates methods, devices and program products on any machine-readable media for accomplishing various operations. The embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented using existing computer processors, or by a special purpose computer processor for an appropriate system, incorporated for this or another purpose, or by a hardwired system. Embodiments within the scope of the present disclosure include program products comprising machine-readable media for carrying or having machine-executable instructions or data structures stored thereon. Such machine-readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer or other machine with a processor. 
     By way of example, such machine-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of machine-executable instructions or data structures and which can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer or other machine with a processor. When information is transferred or provided over a network or another communications connection (either hardwired, wireless, or a combination of hardwired or wireless) to a machine, the machine properly views the connection as a machine-readable medium. Thus, any such connection is properly termed a machine-readable medium. Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of machine-readable media. Machine-executable instructions include, for example, instructions and data that cause a general-purpose computer, special purpose computer, or special purpose processing machines to perform a certain function or group of functions. 
     Although the figures may show a specific order of method steps, the order of the steps may differ from what is depicted. In addition, two or more steps may be performed concurrently or with partial concurrence. Such variation will depend on the software and hardware systems chosen and on designer choice. All such variations are within the scope of the disclosure. Likewise, software implementations could be accomplished with standard programming techniques with rule-based logic and other logic to accomplish the various connection steps, processing steps, comparison steps and decision steps. 
     Additionally, even though the disclosure has been described with reference to specific exemplifying embodiments thereof, many different alterations, modifications and the like will become apparent for those skilled in the art. 
     Variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by the skilled addressee in practicing the claimed disclosure, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. Furthermore, in the claims, the word “comprising” does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality.