Abstract:
A cell-based vehicle driving control system includes a local server for obtaining road environment information on roads within a cell and target vehicle information on a target vehicle within the cell and generating local waypoints based on the road environment information and the target vehicle information; a global server for monitoring the target vehicle information, the road environment information and local server information on the local server received from the local server; and a vehicle control terminal, mounted in the target vehicle, for receiving the local waypoints from the local server and controlling the target vehicle based on the local waypoints. The road environment information is obtained by using at least one sensor installed on the roads.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to a vehicle driving control technology; and, more particularly, to a cell-based vehicle driving control method and system, in which vehicle driving is controlled based on cell-based road infrastructure information including vehicle information, obstacle information and road environment information in a cell. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Recently, researches on automated vehicle driving have been actively being conducted. As a result, intelligent active safety and driver assistance systems using sensors equipped in a vehicle were developed to prevent accidents during driving and improve driver&#39;s convenience and driving feeling. Further, unmanned autonomous vehicle systems for traveling to a destination by controlling various control devices in a vehicle without driver&#39;s manipulation are being studied. 
         [0003]    The conventional intelligent vehicle systems and unmanned autonomous vehicle systems mount effective sensors on a vehicle to recognize driving environment and situation in local areas. However, since not only the sensors are expensive but also recognition ranges of the conventional systems are limited to local areas, it is difficult to commercialize the conventional systems. 
         [0004]    Therefore, there comes a need for autonomous driving or autonomous vehicle guidance technology based on interaction between road infrastructure devices and vehicle devices, rather than independently operating systems using sensors mounted in a vehicle. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    In view of the above, the present invention provides a cell-based vehicle driving control technology, in which road infrastructure devices, i.e., a global server and local servers, collect information on driving conditions to provide control information to a vehicle, i.e., a vehicle control terminal, and the vehicle control terminal performs vehicle driving control based on the received control information. 
         [0006]    In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cell-based vehicle driving control method, including: 
         [0007]    obtaining road environment information on roads within a cell and target vehicle information on a target vehicle within the cell; and 
         [0008]    generating local waypoints based on the road environment information and the target vehicle information and transmitting the local waypoints to the target vehicle. 
         [0009]    Preferably, the road environment information is obtained by using at least one sensor installed on the roads and includes information on obstacles on the roads and road condition of the roads. 
         [0010]    Preferably, said at least one sensor includes an image sensor, a laser sensor, a radar sensor and an ultrasonic sensor. 
         [0011]    Preferably, the local waypoints are coordinate spaces within the cell on which the target vehicle can travel. 
         [0012]    In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cell-based vehicle driving control method, including: 
         [0013]    receiving local waypoints in a cell from a local sever provided for the cell; 
         [0014]    measuring a location and driving status of a target vehicle within the cell; 
         [0015]    generating vehicle control data for the target vehicle based on the received local waypoints and the measured location and driving status of the target vehicle; and 
         [0016]    controlling the target vehicle according to the generated vehicle control data. 
         [0017]    Preferably, the location of the target vehicle is measured by using one or more of GPS (Global Positioning System) information and IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) information of the target vehicle. 
         [0018]    Preferably, the driving status of the target vehicle includes one or more of a headway angle of the target vehicle with respect to a traveling traffic lane and a steering wheel angle of the target vehicle. 
         [0019]    Preferably, the vehicle control data includes one or more of a rotation angle of a steering wheel and a stepping amount of an accelerator or a brake. 
         [0020]    The vehicle driving control method of may further include collecting the driving status of the target vehicle; analyzing the collected driving status to generate target vehicle information; and transmitting the target vehicle information to the local server. 
         [0021]    In accordance still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cell-based vehicle driving control system, including: 
         [0022]    a local server for obtaining road environment information on roads within a cell and target vehicle information on a target vehicle within the cell and generating local waypoints based on the road environment information and the target vehicle information, the road environment information being obtained by using at least one sensor installed on the roads; 
         [0023]    a global server for monitoring the target vehicle information, the road environment information and local server information on the local server received from the local server; and 
         [0024]    a vehicle control terminal, mounted in the target vehicle, for receiving the local waypoints from the local server and controlling the target vehicle based on the local waypoints. 
         [0025]    Preferably, said at least one sensor includes an image sensor, a laser sensor, a radar sensor and an ultrasonic sensor. 
         [0026]    Preferably, the local server information includes a location and operational status of the local server. 
         [0027]    Preferably, the global server administrates a handover procedure of the target vehicle when the target vehicle moves from the cell managed by the local server to a cell managed by another local server. 
         [0028]    Preferably, the local server wirelessly receives the target vehicle information from the vehicle control terminal and wirelessly transmits the local waypoints to the vehicle control terminal; and wherein the local server transmits the target vehicle information, the road environment information and the local server information to the global server. 
         [0029]    Preferably, the road environment information includes information on obstacles on the roads and road condition of the roads. 
         [0030]    Preferably, the global server includes an interface for receiving the target vehicle information and the road environment information from the local server; an analysis unit for analyzing the target vehicle information and the road environment information received via the interface; and a road network database for storing therein road network data modeled from actual road data, wherein analysis unit manages the road network data by using analysis results thereof. 
         [0031]    Preferably, the road network data includes node data and link data. 
         [0032]    Preferably, the local server includes an interface for receiving the target vehicle information from the vehicle control terminal, transmitting the local waypoints to the vehicle control terminal and transmitting the target vehicle information, the road environment information and the local server information to the global server; an information collection unit for collecting the target vehicle information received via the interface; a sensing unit for obtaining the road environment information by using said at least one sensor and detecting abnormalities of said at least one sensor; and an analysis unit for generating the local waypoints and providing the local waypoints to the interface. 
         [0033]    Preferably, the target vehicle information includes whether the target vehicle can move or not, status of components of the target vehicle and whether abnormalities have occurred in the target vehicle. 
         [0034]    Preferably, the vehicle control terminal includes an interface for receiving the local waypoints from the local server; an information collection unit for collecting the local waypoints received via the interface; a sensing unit for obtaining driving status of the target vehicle, the driving status including a location of the target vehicle, a headway angle of the target vehicle with respect to a traveling traffic lane and a steering wheel angle of the target vehicle; an analysis unit for analyzing the local waypoints collected by the information collection unit and the driving status of the target vehicle sensed by the sensing unit; and a vehicle control unit for generating vehicle control data based on the local waypoints and the driving status information analyzed by the analysis unit, and controlling the target vehicle according to the generated vehicle control data. 
         [0035]    According to the vehicle driving control method and system using road infrastructure of the present invention, since information on obstacles on the road and road condition are collected by road infrastructure and vehicle control information generated based on such information is provided to a target vehicle, convenient and safe autonomous vehicle driving can be provided while reducing device complexity of the target vehicle. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0036]    The above features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
           [0037]      FIG. 1  illustrates an exemplary view of a cell-based vehicle driving control system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0038]      FIG. 2  illustrates a detail view of the global server of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0039]      FIG. 3  illustrates a data structure of node data in the road network DB of  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0040]      FIG. 4  illustrates a data structure of link data in the road network DB of  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0041]      FIG. 5  illustrates a detail view of the local server of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0042]      FIG. 6  illustrates a detail view of the vehicle control terminal of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0043]      FIG. 7  illustrates a flowchart of a procedure in which the local server transmits control information to the vehicle control terminal; 
           [0044]      FIG. 8  illustrates a flowchart of a procedure in which the local server transmits vehicle information to the global server; 
           [0045]      FIG. 9  illustrates a flowchart of a procedure in which the vehicle control terminal controls a vehicle; and 
           [0046]      FIG. 10  illustrates a flowchart of a procedure in which the vehicle control terminal transmits vehicle status information to the local server. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
       [0047]    Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof. 
         [0048]      FIG. 1  illustrates an exemplary view of a cell-based vehicle driving control system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0049]    The vehicle driving control system includes a global server  10 , local servers  20  and  20 ′ and a vehicle control terminal  30 . 
         [0050]    The following description of the embodiment is based on the assumption that various types of sensors, e.g., image sensors, laser sensors, radar sensors and ultrasonic sensors, can be installed on the road. By using these sensors, vehicle driving information and vehicle status information in a specific cell can be detected. 
         [0051]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , the global server  10  receives from the local servers  20  and  20 ′ information on obstacles on the road, e.g., pedestrians and vehicles on the road, and information on locations and operational status of the local servers  20  and  20 ′ and monitors the received information. 
         [0052]    The global server  10  may administrate a handover procedure between a target vehicle and the local servers  20  and  20 ′. The handover procedure is necessary for seamless vehicle driving control on a target vehicle travelling on the road. For example, as shown in  FIG. 1 , when a target vehicle having the vehicle control terminal  30  equipped therein and moving from a cell coverage A of the local server  20  to a cell coverage B of the local server  20 ′ is located in an area AB where the cell coverage A and the cell coverage B overlap each other, the global server  10  may perform a handover procedure such that a connection between the local server  20  and the vehicle control terminal  30  is switched to a connection between the local server  20 ′ and the vehicle control terminal  30 . The global server  10  will be described in detail later with reference to  FIG. 2 . 
         [0053]    The local server  20  may wirelessly transmit and receive information to and from the vehicle control terminal  30  located within its cell coverage A. The local server  20  may store and analyze the received information to provide analyzed information to the vehicle control terminal  30  and the global server  10 . 
         [0054]    The local server  20 ′ may wirelessly transmit and receive information to and from the vehicle control terminal  30  located within its cell coverage B. The local server  20 ′ may store and analyze the received information to provide analyzed information to the vehicle control terminal  30  and the global server  10 . 
         [0055]    Here, the information handled by the local server  20  or  20 ′ may include road infrastructure information to be transmitted to the vehicle control terminal  30 , road infrastructure information to be transmitted to the global server  10  and target vehicle information received from the vehicle control terminal  30  of a target vehicle located in the cell coverage of the local server. The road infrastructure information to be transmitted to the vehicle control terminal  30  includes, e.g., information on obstacles and road environment. The road infrastructure information to be transmitted to the global server  10  includes, e.g., information on the target vehicle, status of sensors, status of the local server. The target vehicle information includes, e.g., information on whether the target vehicle can move or not, information on status of vehicle components and information on whether abnormalities have occurred in the vehicle. 
         [0056]    For convenience of explanation, only the local server and the local server  20 ′ are connected to the global server  10  and to the vehicle control terminal  30  in  FIG. 1 . However, it should be noted that the vehicle driving control system may include one or more additional local servers which can transmit and receive information to and from the vehicle control terminal  30  and the global server  10 . 
         [0057]    The vehicle control terminal  30  is mounted in the target vehicle and is configured to receive local waypoints (to be described later) from the local server  20  or  20 ′. The vehicle control terminal  30  may determine vehicle control data for the target vehicle, e.g., steering angle control information, accelerator control information and brake control information, based on the local waypoints and generate drive control signals to control the target vehicle. The vehicle control terminal  30  will be described in detail later with reference to  FIG. 6 . 
         [0058]      FIG. 2  illustrates a detail view of the global server  10  of  FIG. 1 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , the global server  10  may include an interface  102 , an information collection unit  104 , an analysis unit  106 , a road network database (DB)  108  and a handover administration unit  110 . 
         [0059]    The interface  102  receives information provided by the local servers  20  and  20 ′, e.g., information on obstacles on the road and information on locations and operational status of the local servers  20  and  20 ′. Further, the interface  102  transmits analysis results provided by the analysis unit  106  (to be described later) to the local servers  20  and  20 ′. 
         [0060]    The information collection unit  104  collects the information received from the local servers  20  and  20 ′ via the interface  102  and provides the collected information to the analysis processing unit  106 . 
         [0061]    The analysis unit  106  analyzes the collected information provided by the information collection unit  104  by using data stored in the road network DB  108  and provides analysis results to the interface  102 . 
         [0062]    The road network DB  108  stores therein road network data obtained by modeling actual road data. The road network data may be managed by the analysis unit  106 . The road network data may include node data containing information on a specific node and link data containing information on a link between two nodes. 
         [0063]      FIG. 3  illustrates a data structure of node data in the road network DB  108  of  FIG. 2 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , the node data includes a node identifier, coordinates of the node and a plurality of attribute fields. 
         [0064]      FIG. 4  illustrates a data structure of link data in the road network DB  108  of  FIG. 2 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , the link data includes a link identifier, two node identifiers and a plurality of attribute fields. 
         [0065]    Referring back to  FIG. 2 , the handover administration unit  110  administrates a handover procedure when a target vehicle moves from a cell managed by a local server to a cell managed by other local server. For example, as shown in  FIG. 1 , when the vehicle control terminal  30  is located within the area AB where the cell coverage A and the cell coverage B overlap each other, the handover administration unit  110  administrates a handover procedure such that a connection between the local server  20  and the vehicle control terminal  30  is switched to a connection between the local server  20 ′ and the vehicle control terminal  30 . 
         [0066]      FIG. 5  illustrates a detail view of the local server  20  and  20 ′ of  FIG. 1 . As shown in  FIG. 5 , the local server  20  and  20 ′ may include an interface  202 , an information collection unit  204 , an analysis unit  206 , a sensing unit  208  and a vehicle sensing information database (DB)  210 . 
         [0067]    The interface  202  receives information on a target vehicle, e.g., information on whether the target vehicle can move or not, information on status of components of the target vehicle and information on whether abnormalities have occurred in the target vehicle, from the vehicle control terminal  30 . Further, the interface  202  transmits local waypoints (to be described later) generated by the analysis unit  206  to the vehicle control terminal  30 , and transmits information on status of the local server  20  or  20 ′ to the global server  10 . 
         [0068]    The information collection unit  204  collects the information received via the interface  202 . 
         [0069]    The analysis unit  206  generates the local waypoints based on the information collected by the information collection unit  204  and information sensed by the sensing unit  208  (to be described later). Further, the analysis unit  206  analyzes information on the status of the local server  20  or  20 ′ itself. Thus generated local waypoints and the analyzed status information are provided to the interface  202 . 
         [0070]    The sensing unit  208  obtains information on road environment by using sensors, e.g., image sensors, laser sensors, radar sensors and ultrasonic sensors, installed on the road and detects whether abnormalities have occurred in those sensors. The information obtained by the sensing unit  208  is provided to the analysis unit  206 . 
         [0071]    The vehicle sensing information DB  210  stores therein the road environment information obtained by the sensing unit  208  and the target vehicle information received via the interface  202 . 
         [0072]      FIG. 6  illustrates a detail view of the vehicle control terminal  30  of  FIG. 1 . As shown in  FIG. 6 , the vehicle control terminal  30  may include an interface  302 , an information collection unit  304 , an analysis unit  306 , an intra-vehicle sensing unit  308  and a vehicle control unit  310 . 
         [0073]    The interface  302  receives the local waypoints from the local server  20  or  20 ′ and transmits the local waypoints to the information collection unit  304 . 
         [0074]    The information collection unit  304  collects the local waypoints received via the interface  302  and provides the local waypoints to the analysis unit  306 . 
         [0075]    The analysis unit  306  analyzes both the local waypoints collected by the information collection unit  304  and current driving status of the target vehicle sensed by the intra-vehicle sensing unit  308  (to be described later). 
         [0076]    The intra-vehicle sensing unit  308  senses the current driving status of the target vehicle, e.g., information on a location, a headway angle with respect to a traveling traffic lane and a steering wheel angle of the target vehicle. Here, the location of the target vehicle can be measured by using a GPS (Global Positioning System) and an IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit, for example. 
         [0077]    The vehicle control unit  310  generates vehicle control data necessary for driving the target vehicle, e.g., information on a rotation angle of a steering wheel and a stepping amount of an accelerator or a brake, based on the local waypoints and the driving status of the target vehicle analyzed by the analysis unit  306 . The vehicle control unit  310  controls the target vehicle according to thus generated vehicle control data in cooperation with interworking devices of the target vehicle, e.g., an ECU (Electronic Control Unit), a steering system and a suspension. 
         [0078]    Hereinafter, a cell-based vehicle driving control method using the above-described vehicle driving control system will be described in detail with reference to  FIGS. 7 to 10 . Below, it is assumed that the target vehicle is located within the cell coverage A of the local server  20 . 
         [0079]      FIG. 7  illustrates a flowchart of a procedure in which the local server  20  transmits control information to the vehicle control terminal  30 . 
         [0080]    As shown in  FIG. 7 , the local server  20  obtains information on road environment within its cell coverage A by using the sensors installed on the road. To be specific, the local server  20  detects obstacles within the cell coverage A (step S 700 ) and road condition within the cell coverage A (step S 702 ). The detection of the obstacles and road condition may be performed by the sensing unit  208  of the local server  20 . Here, the detection of the obstacles may be implemented by image sensors, laser sensors, radar sensors and ultrasonic sensors installed on the road. The obstacles may include objects interrupting travelling of the target vehicle, e.g., vehicles other than the target vehicle and pedestrians. The detection of the road condition may refer to the detection of freezing or damage of the road and landslide, for example. 
         [0081]    The local server  20  detects the target vehicle within the cell coverage A (step S 704 ). The detection of the target vehicle may be performed via the interface  202  of the local server  20 . Here, the target vehicle denotes a vehicle to be driven under a control of the local server  20 . The target vehicle may have the vehicle control terminal  30  mounted therein. 
         [0082]    After the steps S 700 , S 702  and S 704 , the local server  20  collects relevant obtained information and target vehicle information and generates local waypoints based on thus collected information (step S 706 ). The term ‘local waypoints’ means spaces within the cell coverage A on which the target vehicle can stably travel and may be defined by a set of X and Y coordinates of the node data of  FIG. 3  or images. 
         [0083]    Thus generated local waypoints are transmitted to the vehicle control terminal  30  via the interface  202  (step S 708 ). 
         [0084]      FIG. 8  illustrates a flowchart of a procedure in which the local server  20  transmits vehicle information to the global server  10 . 
         [0085]    As shown in  FIG. 8 , the local server  20  determines whether the target vehicle information, e.g., information on whether the vehicle can move, information on the status of vehicle components and information on whether abnormalities have occurred in the target vehicle, has been received from the vehicle control terminal  30  (step S 800 ). If it is determined in the step S 800  that the target vehicle information has been received, the local server  20  analyzes operational status of the target vehicle, the sensors installed on the road and the local server  20  itself (step S 802 ). 
         [0086]    Thereafter, the local server  20  collects and stores the received target vehicle information (step S 804 ) and transmits the target vehicle information to the global server  10  (step S 806 ). 
         [0087]      FIGS. 9 and 10  are flowcharts illustrating a vehicle control method using a network according to an embodiment of the present invention, in detail, a vehicle control process performed by the vehicle control terminal  30 . 
         [0088]      FIG. 9  illustrates a flowchart of a procedure in which the vehicle control terminal  30  controls the target vehicle. 
         [0089]    It is determined whether the local waypoints have been received from the local server  20  (step S 900 ). 
         [0090]    If it is determined in the step S 900  that the local waypoints have been received, the vehicle control terminal  30  measures the location and the driving status of the target vehicle in the cell coverage A (step S 902 ). Here, the location of the target vehicle can be measured by using GPS (Global Positioning System) information and IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) information, for example. The driving status of the target vehicle can be measured by detecting the steering wheel angle and the headway angle of the target vehicle with respect to the traveling traffic lane, for example. 
         [0091]    Based on the local waypoints and the location and driving status of the target vehicle, the vehicle control terminal  30  generates vehicle control data, e.g., information on a rotation angle of a steering wheel and a stepping amount of an accelerator or a brake (step S 904 ). 
         [0092]    The vehicle control terminal  30  controls the target vehicle in cooperation with the interworking devices of the target vehicle, e.g., an ECU, a steering system and a suspension, based on the vehicle control data generated in the step S 904  (step S 906 ). 
         [0093]      FIG. 10  illustrates a flowchart of a procedure in which the vehicle control terminal  30  transmits vehicle status information to the local server  20 . 
         [0094]    The vehicle control terminal  30  collects and stores the driving status of the target vehicle (step S 1000 ). 
         [0095]    Thereafter, the vehicle control terminal  30  analyzes the driving status of the target vehicle to generate the target vehicle information (step S 1002 ). 
         [0096]    The vehicle control terminal  30  transmits the target vehicle information generated in the step S 1002  to the local server  20  via the interface  302  (step S 1004 ). 
         [0097]    While the invention has been shown and described with respect to the embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modification may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.