Patent Description:
Document <CIT> describes an Autonomous Vehicle Enhancement System (AVES) and method for monitoring and managing a virtual or existing fleet of autonomous vehicles in a transportation network and dispatching the autonomous vehicles to users. The AVES includes an AVES Central Operations Center (COC) that communicates with AVES vehicle equipment installed in the autonomous vehicles and AVES applications installed on computing devices accessible by the users. The AVES improves the operating efficiency of a transportation network by monitoring the condition of autonomous vehicles, optimizing the geographical distribution of the autonomous vehicles and optimizing assignment of the autonomous vehicles to users requesting services.

Document <CIT> describes a method in which a vehicle compares a trajectory of another vehicle driving in front to its own desired trajectory. If a similarity level of the trajectories is high enough, automated driving is used to follow the desired trajectory. If differences are high, manual driving can be used. Document <CIT> discloses a concept for determining a reference trajectory by a scout vehicle. The reference trajectory can be provided to following vehicles. A quality of the trajectory ultimately determines whether it is used by the following vehicles. Document <CIT> also describes a concept for determining a trajectory by a scout vehicle. A similarity between the environments of the scout vehicle and the following vehicles may determine whether the trajectory of the scout vehicle reused. Document <CIT> discloses evaluation of a similarity of trajectories and a similarity of environments of scout and following vehicles. A safe drives mode may be activated in case of differences above a threshold.

Document <CIT> describes computer devices, systems, and methods for an autonomous passenger vehicle. An unexpected driving environment can be identified. Information based on the unexpected driving environment received from one or more sensors disposed on the vehicle can be sent to a remote operator using a remote server. A command sent by the remote operator relating to one or more vehicle systems can be received. The command can be sent to the one or more vehicle systems for execution.

Conventional concepts consider management and organization of automated vehicles. There are, however, traffic situations, which are difficult to resolve with fully automated driving algorithms. There is a demand for an improved concept for overcoming exceptional traffic situations for automated driving.

Embodiments are based on the finding that there are traffic situations, e.g. if an obstacle is in the regular way, which cannot be resolved by means of automated driving mechanisms. For example, if an object (parking/unloading vehicle) blocks a one-way street a way passing said vehicle may require driving a short section on the sidewalk. Driving on a side walk may, however, not be allowed in normal automated driving mode. Embodiments are based on the finding that once such an exceptional traffic situation is detected a communication with a network component can resolve the situation, for example, by switching to tele-operated driving and/or by receiving instructions on a route section that resolves the traffic situation.

Embodiments provide a method for a vehicle to determine a route section. The method comprises operating the vehicle in an automated driving mode and determining an exceptional traffic situation. The method further comprises transmitting information related to the exceptional traffic situation to a network component using a mobile communication system. The method further comprises receiving information related to driving instructions for the route section to overcome the exceptional traffic situation from the network component. The receiving of the driving instructions comprises tele-operating the vehicle along the route section to overcome the exceptional traffic situation. Embodiments may enable network assisted route adaptation in case of unexpected traffic situations for automated driving. Embodiments may enable to switch from an automated driving mode to a tele-operated driving mode in case of an unexpected traffic situation. A tele-operator or tele-driver may then remotely steer the vehicle out of the traffic situation.

The method may further comprise providing information related to an environmental model of the vehicle, information related to vehicle data, and information related to video data to the network component in addition to the information related to the exceptional traffic situation. Tele-operation may be enabled by embodiments through the provision of data from the vehicle, e.g. environmental, video and sensor data such that a tele-operator may have a detailed representation of the vehicle's traffic situation.

According to the invention, during a first period of fully tele-operating, the method comprises transmitting video data with a first higher data rate and wherein, during a second period of partially tele-operating, the method comprises transmitting video data with a second lower data rate. This enables an adaption of a video data rate, where during an initial phase or period of the tele-operation the data rate may be higher than in a subsequent phase. Embodiments may enable efficient video data rate adaptation in tele-operated driving.

For example, during the second period of partially tele-operating, the method comprises transmitting video data in terms of visual snapshots. The data rate may be reduced by replacing a full video data stream with snapshots of a coarser time scale, e.g. when there are no obstacles or complications foreseen during a certain (partial) route section.

The method further comprises receiving information related to a partial route section. During the second period of partially tele-operating, the tele-operating may be supported by at least partially maneuvering the vehicle along the partial route section automatically. The method may then further comprise interrupting the at least partially automatic maneuvering, in case of a further exceptional traffic situation during the second period. Hence, the tele-operation may be aided by one or more sections of automated driving. During these sections the tele-operating may be in monitoring mode requiring less data. Embodiments may enable data rate reduction by combining tele-operation and automated driving.

The receiving of the driving instructions comprises receiving information on the route section from the network component. The method may further comprise verifying, whether the information related to the route section is suitable for the vehicle. The method may comprise automatically operating the vehicle along the route section in case the information related to the route section is suitable for the vehicle. Embodiments enable a verification at a vehicle on whether a proposed route section suits its requirements, e.g. length, width, weight, type of the vehicle etc..

The invention further provides a method for a network component to determine a route section for a vehicle. The method comprises receiving information related to an exceptional traffic situation from the vehicle using a mobile communication system. The method further comprises obtaining information related to driving instructions for the route section to overcome the exceptional traffic situation, and transmitting the information related to the driving instructions for the route section to the vehicle and tele-operating the vehicle out of the exceptional traffic situation. This enables a network component to assist an automated vehicle in overcoming an exceptional traffic situation by at least partial tele-operation. In further embodiments the obtaining of the information related to the driving instructions may comprise retrieving previously stored information related to the route section from a storage and/or by determining the route section based on receiving environmental information from the vehicle. In embodiments tele-operation may be aided by using information about an environmental model of the vehicle. Such information may enable more efficient data communication.

The method further comprises receiving information related to an environmental model of the vehicle, information related to vehicle data, and information related to video data from the vehicle in addition to the information related to the exceptional traffic situation. In embodiments availability of said information may enable fully tele-operated driving of a vehicle. A tele-operator may have a similar experience as a real driver, because of the data available.

As lined out above, according to the invention, during a first period of the tele-operation, the method comprises receiving video data with a first higher data rate and during a second period of the tele-operation, the method comprises receiving video data with a second lower data rate. A video data rate may be adapted to the needs of the tele-operation. For example, if there is a less critical partial route section, it may be solved using automated driving, but being monitored by a tele-operator. Embodiments may hence enable tele-monitored automated driving.

The invention also provides an apparatus for a vehicle. The vehicle apparatus comprises one or more interfaces, which are configured to communicate in a mobile communication system. The vehicle apparatus further comprises a control module, which is configured to control the one or more interfaces. The control module is further configured to perform one of the methods described herein. Likewise, embodiments provide an apparatus for a network component, which comprises one or more interfaces configured to communicate in a mobile communication system. The network component apparatus further comprises a control module, which is configured to control the one or more interfaces. The control module is further configured to perform one of the methods described herein.

Further embodiments are a vehicle comprising an embodiment of the vehicle apparatus and a network component comprising the network component apparatus.

Embodiments further provide a computer program having a program code for performing one or more of the above described methods, when the computer program is executed on a computer, processor, or programmable hardware component. A further embodiment is a computer readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by a computer, processor, or programmable hardware component, cause the computer to implement one of the methods described herein.

It will be further understood that the terms "comprises", "comprising", "includes" or "including", when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components or groups thereof.

<FIG> illustrates a block diagram of an embodiment of a method <NUM> for a vehicle to determine a route section. The method <NUM> comprises operating <NUM> the vehicle in an autonomous/automated driving mode and determining <NUM> an exceptional traffic situation. The method <NUM> further comprises transmitting <NUM> information related to the exceptional traffic situation to a network component using a mobile communication system. The method further comprises receiving <NUM> information related to driving instructions for the route section to overcome the exceptional traffic situation from the network component, wherein the receiving <NUM> of the driving instructions comprises tele-operating the vehicle <NUM> along the route section to overcome the exceptional traffic situation.

<FIG> illustrates a block diagram of an embodiment of a method <NUM> for a network component to determine a route section for a vehicle. The method <NUM> comprises receiving <NUM> information related to an exceptional traffic situation from the vehicle using a mobile communication system. The method <NUM> further comprises obtaining <NUM> information related to driving instructions for the route section to overcome the exceptional traffic situation. The method <NUM> further comprises transmitting <NUM> information related to the driving instructions for the route section to the vehicle <NUM> and tele-operating the vehicle out of the exceptional traffic situation. As will be explained in more detail subsequently, examples for the information related to the driving instructions are control information from a remote-control center (tele-operated driving), information related to a stored path (determined before), which is known to at least partly overcome the unexpected traffic situation, or even instructions to at least partly manually operate the vehicle.

The mobile communication system <NUM>, as shown in <FIG>, may, for example, correspond to one of the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)-standardized mobile communication networks, where the term mobile communication system is used synonymously to mobile communication network. The mobile or wireless communication system <NUM> may correspond to a mobile communication system of the 5th Generation (<NUM>, or New Radio) and may use mm-Wave technology. The mobile communication system may correspond to or comprise, for example, a Long-Term Evolution (LTE), an LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), a Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) or a UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), an evolved-UTRAN (e-UTRAN), a Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) or Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) network, a GSM/EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN), or mobile communication networks with different standards, for example, a Worldwide Inter-operability for Microwave Access (WIMAX) network IEEE <NUM> or Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) IEEE <NUM>, generally an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) network, a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) network, a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network, a Wideband-CDMA (WCDMA) network, a Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) network, a Spatial Division Multiple Access (SDMA) network, etc..

Service provision may be carried out by a network component, such as a base station transceiver, a relay station or a UE, e.g. coordinating service provision in a cluster or group of multiple UEs. Here and in the following the network component may be a Control Center (CC), which controls remotely operated or tele-operated vehicles. For example, it may correspond to a computer system displaying data (e.g. video streams) obtained from a vehicle to an operator or remote driver of the vehicle. Generally, such a CC may be located as close to a controlled vehicle as possible in order to keep a latency of the video data in an uplink and the control or steering data in the downlink as short as possible. In some embodiments communication may be carried out via a base station, which may be collocated with the CC or located close to base station. Signaling may be routed directly from the CC to the vehicle, i.e. on a shortest path to keep the latency and delay as short as possible.

A base station transceiver can be operable or configured to communicate with one or more active mobile transceivers/vehicles <NUM> and a base station transceiver can be located in or adjacent to a coverage area of another base station transceiver, e.g. a macro cell base station transceiver or small cell base station transceiver. Hence, embodiments may provide a mobile communication system <NUM> comprising two or more mobile transceivers/vehicles <NUM> and one or more base station transceivers, wherein the base station transceivers may establish macro cells or small cells, as e.g. pico-, metro-, or femto cells. A mobile transceiver or UE may correspond to a smartphone, a cell phone, a laptop, a notebook, a personal computer, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a Universal Serial Bus (USB) -stick, a car, a vehicle etc. A mobile transceiver may also be referred to as User Equipment (UE) or mobile in line with the 3GPP terminology. A vehicle may correspond to any conceivable means for transportation, e.g. a car, a bike, a motorbike, a van, a truck, a bus, a ship, a boat, a plane, a train, a tram, etc..

A base station transceiver can be located in the fixed or stationary part of the network or system. A base station transceiver may be or correspond to a remote radio head, a transmission point, an access point, a macro cell, a small cell, a micro cell, a femto cell, a metro cell etc. A base station transceiver can be a wireless interface of a wired network, which enables transmission of radio signals to a UE or mobile transceiver. Such a radio signal may comply with radio signals as, for example, standardized by 3GPP or, generally, in line with one or more of the above listed systems. Thus, a base station transceiver may correspond to a NodeB, an eNodeB, a Base Transceiver Station (BTS), an access point, a remote radio head, a relay station, a transmission point etc., which may be further subdivided in a remote unit and a central unit.

A mobile transceiver <NUM> can be associated with a base station transceiver or cell. The term cell refers to a coverage area of radio services provided by a base station transceiver, e.g. a NodeB (NB), an eNodeB (eNB), a remote radio head, a transmission point, etc. A base station transceiver may operate one or more cells on one or more frequency layers, in some embodiments a cell may correspond to a sector. For example, sectors can be achieved using sector antennas, which provide a characteristic for covering an angular section around a remote unit or base station transceiver. In some embodiments, a base station transceiver may, for example, operate three or six cells covering sectors of <NUM>° (in case of three cells), <NUM>° (in case of six cells) respectively. A base station transceiver may operate multiple sectorized antennas. In the following a cell may represent an according base station transceiver generating the cell or, likewise, a base station transceiver may represent a cell the base station transceiver generates.

Mobile transceivers <NUM> may communicate directly with each other, i.e. without involving any base station transceiver, which is also referred to as Device-to-Device (D2D) communication. An example of D2D is direct communication between vehicles, also referred to as Vehicle-to-Vehicle communication (V2V), car-to-car using <NUM>. 11p, Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC), respectively.

<FIG> shows an embodiment of an apparatus <NUM> for a UE or vehicle <NUM>, an embodiment of an apparatus <NUM> for a network component, and an embodiment of a system <NUM>. The apparatus <NUM> for the UE/vehicle <NUM> comprises one or more interfaces <NUM> configured to communicate in the mobile communication system <NUM>. The apparatus <NUM> further comprises a control module <NUM>, which is coupled to the one or more interfaces <NUM> and which is configured to control the one or more interfaces <NUM>. The control module <NUM> is further configured to perform one of the methods <NUM> as described herein.

The apparatus <NUM> for the network component <NUM> comprises one or more interfaces <NUM>, which are configured to communicate in the mobile communication system <NUM>. The apparatus <NUM> further comprises a control module <NUM>, which is coupled to the one or more interfaces <NUM> and which is configured to control the one or more interfaces <NUM>. The control module <NUM> is further configured to perform one of the methods <NUM> as described herein. The apparatus <NUM> may be comprised in a CC, a base station, a NodeB, a UE, a relay station, or any service coordinating network entity in embodiments. It is to be noted that the term network component may comprise multiple sub-components, such as a base station, a server, a CC, etc. A further embodiment is a vehicle <NUM> comprising the apparatus <NUM> and/or a network component <NUM> comprising the apparatus <NUM>.

In embodiments the one or more interfaces <NUM>, <NUM> may correspond to any means for obtaining, receiving, transmitting or providing analog or digital signals or information, e.g. any connector, contact, pin, register, input port, output port, conductor, lane, etc. which allows providing or obtaining a signal or information. An interface may be wireless or wireline and it may be configured to communicate, i.e. transmit or receive signals, information with further internal or external components. The one or more interfaces <NUM>, <NUM> may comprise further components to enable according communication in the mobile communication system <NUM>, such components may include transceiver (transmitter and/or receiver) components, such as one or more Low-Noise Amplifiers (LNAs), one or more Power-Amplifiers (PAs), one or more duplexers, one or more diplexers, one or more filters or filter circuitry, one or more converters, one or more mixers, accordingly adapted radio frequency components, etc. The one or more interfaces <NUM>, <NUM> may be coupled to one or more antennas, which may correspond to any transmit and/or receive antennas, such as horn antennas, dipole antennas, patch antennas, sector antennas etc. The antennas may be arranged in a defined geometrical setting, such as a uniform array, a linear array, a circular array, a triangular array, a uniform field antenna, a field array, combinations thereof, etc. In some examples the one or more interfaces <NUM>, <NUM> may serve the purpose of transmitting or receiving or both, transmitting and receiving, information, such as information related to capabilities, application requirements, trigger indications, requests, message interface configurations, feedback, information related to control commands, QoS requirements, QoS time courses, QoS maps, etc..

As shown in <FIG> the respective one or more interfaces <NUM>, <NUM> are coupled to the respective control modules <NUM>, <NUM> at the apparatuses <NUM>, <NUM>. In embodiments the control modules <NUM>, <NUM> may be implemented using one or more processing units, one or more processing devices, any means for processing, such as a processor, a computer or a programmable hardware component being operable with accordingly adapted software. In other words, the described functions of the control modules <NUM>, <NUM> may as well be implemented in software, which is then executed on one or more programmable hardware components. Such hardware components may comprise a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), a microcontroller, etc..

<FIG> also shows an embodiment of a system <NUM> comprising embodiments of UE/vehicle <NUM>, and a network component/base station <NUM> comprising the apparatus <NUM>. In embodiments, communication, i.e. transmission, reception or both, may take place among mobile transceivers/vehicles <NUM> directly and/or between mobile transceivers/vehicles <NUM> and a network component <NUM> (infrastructure or mobile transceiver, e.g. a base station, a network server, a backend server, etc.). Such communication may make use of a mobile communication system <NUM>. Such communication may be carried out directly, e.g. by means of Device-to-Device (D2D) communication, which may also comprise Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) or car-to-car communication in case of vehicles <NUM>. Such communication may be carried out using the specifications of a mobile communication system <NUM>.

In embodiments the one or more interfaces <NUM>, <NUM> can be configured to wirelessly communicate in the mobile communication system <NUM>. In order to do so radio resources are used, e.g. frequency, time, code, and/or spatial resources, which may be used for wireless communication with a base station transceiver as well as for direct communication. The assignment of the radio resources may be controlled by a base station transceiver, i.e. the determination which resources are used for D2D and which are not. Here and in the following radio resources of the respective components may correspond to any radio resources conceivable on radio carriers and they may use the same or different granularities on the respective carriers. The radio resources may correspond to a Resource Block (RB as in LTE/LTE-A/LTE-unlicensed (LTE-U)), one or more carriers, sub-carriers, one or more radio frames, radio sub-frames, radio slots, one or more code sequences potentially with a respective spreading factor, one or more spatial resources, such as spatial sub-channels, spatial precoding vectors, any combination thereof, etc..

For example, in direct Cellular Vehicle-to-Anything (C-V2X), where V2X includes at least V2V, V2-Infrastructure (V2I), etc., transmission according to 3GPP Release <NUM> onward can be managed by infrastructure (so-called mode <NUM>) or run in a UE.

<FIG> also illustrates the methods <NUM> and <NUM> as described above. The apparatus <NUM> of the vehicle <NUM> operated the vehicle <NUM> in automated mode <NUM> if an exceptional traffic situation is determined <NUM>. Such an exceptional situation may be any traffic situation that is unexpected or differs from an expectation according to routing information or map information available in the vehicle <NUM>. For example, the road may be blocked by another vehicle, a construction side, an accident, flooding etc. Other exceptions may be a closed road, a closed tunnel, unexpected road conditions etc. The vehicle itself may operate multiple sensor systems capturing data of the vehicle's environment. Such data may comprise video data, imaging data, radar data, lidar data (light detection and ranging), temperature data, air pressure data, radio environment data, information received from other vehicles, etc. Based on this data a matching can be carried out between the assigned route for automated driving and the sensor data. In some embodiments, as will be detailed in the sequel, the captured data is used to generate an environmental model of the vehicle. This model may be a digital representation of the environment of the vehicle possibly including other vehicles, objects, roadside infrastructure, traffic signs, pedestrians, etc. Based on this model an unexpected situation can be detected, e.g. an obstacle is detected in the way and passing the obstacle would require passing through a forbidden area, e.g. sidewalk, opposite lane, etc. In some embodiments the exceptional situation may as well be determined by receiving a traffic message, e.g. a broadcast message from another vehicle.

As further shown in <FIG> the vehicle <NUM> then transmits <NUM> information related to the exceptional traffic situation to the network component <NUM> using a mobile communication system <NUM>. From the perspective of the network component <NUM> the information related to the exceptional traffic situation is received <NUM> from the vehicle <NUM>. At the network component <NUM> information related to driving instructions for the route section to overcome the exceptional traffic situation can be obtained <NUM>. Finally, information related to the driving instructions for the route section to the vehicle is transmitted <NUM> and the vehicle <NUM> is tele-operated out of the exceptional traffic situation, received <NUM> at the vehicle, respectively.

Embodiments may provide a concept for tele-operated driving based on a slim and partly further improved uplink and a locally proposed path. Tele-operated Driving (TD) is getting more and more interest. The main concept of TD is a vehicle remotely driven by a control center (CC). Between CC and vehicle may be a large distance. They are connected via a radio communication system (e.g. <NUM>, <NUM>. ) and their backhaul. In an embodiment a fully automatically driving vehicle gets stopped (also referred to as SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) level <NUM> (L5) vehicle). For example, the automated vehicle is not able to continue its planed route because it is not able to interpret the situation. <FIG> illustrates an exceptional traffic scenario in an embodiment, where a truck (obstacle <NUM>) is blocking a one-way road. <FIG> shows an example of an exceptional situation, where autonomously driving vehicles <NUM>, <NUM> (L4/<NUM>) require tele-operating driving assistance.

It is assumed that vehicles <NUM>, <NUM> are automated vehicles (L5). They would need to drive on the sidewalk in order to continue their planned route. In embodiments TD provides a solution for this scenario. Embodiments provide a concept for tele-operated driving based on control of data volumes at the uplink (e.g. hybride uplink).

Embodiments may allow a reduction of data volume transmission (uplink) while a TD session is active.

It is been assessed previously that an autonomous vehicle could experience situations where the vehicle is no longer able to continue its planned route. As the vehicle needs to adhere to all driving regulations, such situation, may require the interaction of a human operator that could interpret and decide what action can be performed by the vehicle to overcome this type of event.

<FIG> depicts a situation, in which a truck <NUM> is blocking a one-way road. Incoming vehicles V1, <NUM> and V2, <NUM> are autonomous vehicles (L4/<NUM>) in the need to pass this obstacle <NUM>. To overcome this event all vehicles <NUM>, <NUM> would need to drive over the sidewalk in order to continue their planed route.

Here TD may provide help by initiating a direct control of the first vehicle V1, <NUM>. Since the moment that the first TD session is requested by vehicle <NUM>, V1 to the CC <NUM> and the initial handshake among the two entities is established, the vehicle <NUM> will be required to provide a minimum set of parameters, which will help the CC <NUM> to identify the requester, its current location and the environmental data of its surroundings. This means vehicle <NUM> will need to start uploading high data streams in the uplink (UL) to the CC <NUM>, as these data streams may contain radar images, lidar and camera data.

Vehicles controlled via remote control are uploading high data streams in the uplink (UL) to the CC <NUM>. In <FIG> it is assumed that the network component <NUM> comprises a base station (BS), the CC and some server/memory. As has been outlined above, in embodiments these components might not be collocated but located at different locations. In this description the term network component <NUM> shall summarize these components as one functional entity although they may be implemented as multiple physical entities. The distance between CC and the vehicle <NUM> may contribute to the latency of any driving instructions before reaching the vehicle and any data (video, sensor, etc.) being transmitted from the vehicle to the CC. "Network component" and "Control Center" will be use synonymously herein.

The data steams provided by a remotely or tele-operated vehicle may comprise radar images, lidar and camera data. Close by driving cars are "seeing" the same environment around them. This redundant data is occupying a considerable amount of bandwidth in the UL. For current technologies such as <NUM>, the UL is expected to be a bottleneck as the network was designed to support high downlink (DL) and low UL data rates. For TD it is vice versa: high UL (sensor data) and low DL (control data). Latency is also an issue here. Furthermore, each car needs to be driven manually via remote control. This implies that many drivers and CCs are needed. In an embodiment the receiving <NUM> of the driving instructions comprises tele-operating the vehicle along the route section to overcome the exceptional traffic situation. The method <NUM> further comprises providing information related to an environmental model of the vehicle <NUM>, information related to vehicle data, and information related to video data to the network component <NUM> in addition to the information related to the exceptional traffic situation in this embodiment. Likewise, the method <NUM> may further comprise receiving information related to an environmental model of the vehicle, information related to vehicle data, and information related to video data from the vehicle <NUM> in addition to the information related to the exceptional traffic situation.

The information on the environmental model may allow decreasing a subsequent video data rate on the uplink. High data rates usually needed in the UL for teleoperated driving may be decreased in embodiments. In embodiments information related to vehicle data and video data (e.g. with reduced data rate) may be provided to the network component <NUM> in addition to the information related to the exceptional traffic situation.

Each vehicle <NUM>, <NUM> may be controlled by one driver in the CC <NUM>. Embodiments are further based on the finding that a path driven remotely by the CC <NUM> might be highly redundant with the path from a car remotely driven before. At least some embodiments therefore store information related to at least a partial route information or information related to driving instructions solving an unexpected traffic situation partially, such that the information can be reused later on to solve the situation for other vehicles <NUM> as well. In embodiments the storage or memory for storing information related to a path or a route may be any device capable of storing such information, examples are a hard drive, a flash drive, an optical storage medium, a magnetic storage medium, a solid state memory, any mass storage device, etc..

<FIG> illustrates details of a route section in an embodiment. <FIG> shows a more detailed figure of communication management between vehicle <NUM> and CC <NUM> during a TD session showing a possible switching of a data package rate from full UL and a slim UL. <FIG> illustrates the same scenario with the same components as introduced in <FIG>.

In the following embodiment a method <NUM> that will allow the reduction of the data volume (in UL) depending on a stage, in which the vehicle <NUM> will be operating while the TD session is active, is described. <FIG> depicts four points in time: Tstart , T<NUM>, T<NUM> & Tend. These points separate three time periods, one at the beginning, Tstart-T<NUM>, one in the middle, T<NUM>-T<NUM>, and one at the end, T<NUM>-Tend. As indicated in <FIG> the first period is the one taking vehicle <NUM> over the sidewalk border, the second period takes vehicle <NUM> over the sidewalk in a rather straight line, and the third period takes vehicle <NUM> back on the street - again across the sidewalk border.

Different stages can be identified, in some of which a full uplink data flow is required and in others a slim uplink data flow can be used. Embodiments may offer a management process of the data rate supplied to the CC <NUM> with the premises to reduce redundant data, which occupies a considerable amount of bandwidth in the UL. Embodiments may consider current technologies such as <NUM>, where the UL is expected to be a bottleneck as the network was designed to support high download and low upload data rates.

Tele-operation may require high data rates in the UL, for which today technologies might not be designed. In some scenarios, each vehicle may need to be controlled by one operator in the CC <NUM>. This may lead to latency and costs for the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM).

In some embodiments, the control center may propose a path (via an indirect or direct control) based on the received environmental model (also German "Umfeldmodell", UMF), vehicle data and video data. When the vehicle <NUM> is capable to drive by its own means but knowing it is in a TD drive mode that may activate a slim uplink data rate flow. During a first period of fully tele-operating, the method <NUM> comprises transmitting video data with a first higher data rate from the vehicle <NUM> to the network component <NUM>. During a second period of partially tele-operating, the method <NUM> comprises transmitting video data with a second lower data rate from the vehicle <NUM> to the network component <NUM>. From the perspective of the network component <NUM>, during a first period of the tele-operation, the method <NUM> comprises receiving video data with a first higher data rate and, during a second period of the tele-operation, the method <NUM> comprises receiving video data with a second lower data rate.

During the second period of time it may be expected that the vehicle will apply the same rules as if it were driving on normal road conditions. For example, all available advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) systems may react in case of further hazard situations could emerge in the new path (unexpected pedestrian movement, new obstacles detected, etc.). The "slim" UL may be composed of information related to "objects", which contain updated values of the environmental model, vehicle data and visual "snapshots" of the environment to the CC <NUM>, which will be continuously assessing the event until it reaches a "safe" point, in the subsequent stage (third period), the vehicle <NUM> returns to a full UL rate allowing the CC <NUM> to place the unit to a position clear of obstacles and terminate the session of tele-operating driving.

As outlined above, during the second period of partially tele-operating, the method <NUM> may comprise transmitting video data in terms of visual snapshots. These snapshots may be photos at a certain time rate, e.g. <NUM> photo per <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, etc..

For example, the vehicle <NUM> may receive information related to a partial route section for the duration of the second period of partially tele-operating. The tele-operating is then supported by at least partially maneuvering the vehicle <NUM> along the partial route section (e.g. along the sidewalk in <FIG>) automatically. The method <NUM> further comprises interrupting the at least partially maneuvering automatically in case of a further exceptional traffic situation during the second period, e.g. unexpected pedestrian movement, new obstacles detected, etc..

The generated path at the end of the session may be stored on a server close to the geographical location of the event and might be used by other vehicles <NUM> after internal verification is carried out (plausibility check). In some embodiments the receiving <NUM> of the driving instructions comprises receiving information on the route section from the network component <NUM>. The method <NUM> may then further comprise verifying, whether the information related to the route section is suitable for the vehicle <NUM>, For example, the vehicle's height, width, type, and weight may be verified to fit the route proposal. The method <NUM> comprises automatically operating the vehicle <NUM> along the route section in case the information related to the route section is suitable for the vehicle <NUM>.

The obtaining <NUM> of the method <NUM> for the network component <NUM> may comprise retrieving previously stored information related to the route section from a storage and/or by determining the route section based on receiving environmental information from the vehicle <NUM>. Such information may then be provided to the vehicle <NUM> for autonomous operation during the second time period.

Embodiments may enable a hybrid uplink depending on the situation which the automated TD-driven vehicle <NUM> is facing. For example, a slim up link may be used, which requires a highly accurate environmental model from the vehicle <NUM> but for some situations a video support at the CC <NUM> might be required. Therefore, embodiments further enable a hybrid uplink depending on the situation. Here also direct control (remotely driven) and indirect control (proposed path) for the downlink control of the vehicle may be used.

Instead of transmitting all sensor and video data to the CC <NUM> during the T<NUM>-T<NUM> segment (second period), in embodiments the vehicle <NUM> may upload its environmental model plus snapshot images from the camera unit at a defined frequency rate.

The procedure could be implemented as following:.

The maneuver planning (MP) of vehicle <NUM>, V2 may compare the proposed path with its own conditions, vehicle length, width, type, etc. Vehicle V2 <NUM> may either uses the proposed path as a result or may reject it and proceed with a new TD full UL session with the CC <NUM>. This may happen if vehicle <NUM>, V2 is a truck and vehicle <NUM>, V1 is a car. The truck <NUM> may not be able to follow the path determined by car <NUM>.

Embodiments may enable a slim uplink, which is an uplink communication with reduced data rate compared to a full uplink used for full tele-operation. For example, embodiments may just transmit environmental model data (UMF), vehicle data (e.g. height, width, weight,. ) and periodical snapshot images in the UL instead of transmitting data like radar, lidar and constant video stream.

The CC <NUM> (network component, tele-operated driving server (TD server)) may store the final generated proposed path from sections: (Tstart-T<NUM>), (T<NUM>-T<NUM>), (T<NUM>-Tend) adding additional information such as: type of vehicle applicability, timestamp of event, distance taken to clear obstacle, etc..

The TD server <NUM> should be located close to the geographical position of the proposed path in order to reduce latency. The TD server could also be located at a car or in infrastructure like traffic lights and shared via side-link.

<FIG> shows additional detection of an exception in an embodiment. In some embodiments additional detection of hazard events during slim UL segment may take place. <FIG> shows a vehicle management mechanism to grant full-UL to a CC operator for assessment in case of a further exception. <FIG> shoes the same scenario as <FIG> and <FIG>, but as vehicle <NUM> passes the truck <NUM> during the second period in an automated mode, a pedestrian suddenly occurs and the vehicle <NUM> notifies the CC <NUM>. Thereupon it is switched back to fully-UL (fully tele-operation). In the event of a new hazard detected (e.g. a Pedestrian) the autonomous vehicle may stop and switch back to full-UL (fully tele-operated) mode. An operator at the CC <NUM> may then assess the new situation to react accordingly. This is indicated by the operator symbol in <FIG>.

Embodiments provide a mechanism/procedure that allows OEMs reducing the data flow that should be generated by the vehicles <NUM>, <NUM> towards the remote command center <NUM>. Embodiments may help reducing of potential high cost for the vehicle OEMs to send high rate data packages to the Command Centre <NUM> entity.

In embodiments an automated vehicle <NUM> may get a proposed path, this means it can accept it after internal evaluation or it might reject it. The CC <NUM> may draw this path based on the environmental model and the video data (slim uplink) or creates it when driving the path with another vehicle remotely.

For example, vehicles <NUM>, <NUM> may provide the following content or conditions to the network component <NUM>:.

Embodiments may enable a slim uplink, i.e. reduced uplink data for remote or tele-operated driving. This may be achieved by transmitting the environmental model (UMF), vehicle data (e.g. height, width, weight,. ) and video data in the uplink instead of transmitting more data like radar, lidar and other sensor data. In embodiments a tele-operated driving server (TD server) may be used and the CC <NUM> may store a proposed path. The server may be located close to the geographical position of the proposed path in order to reduce latency. The TD server could also be located at a car or in infrastructure like traffic lights and shared via side-link.

In some embodiments the process or method may be divided in five reference segments in time, as also lined out in <FIG> and <FIG>:.

During this phase vehicle <NUM> initiates the TD session ("governance" process) via request to the CC <NUM>. This may also relate to a service condition in the network, some network requirements may have to be fulfilled (coverage, service availability), video streaming may be enabled, and sensor data transmission may be enabled (e.g. lidar).

A CC operator may receive a full-UL with all content delivered by vehicle <NUM>. With the data provided, the CC <NUM> operator assesses the zone to define a trajectory to take to avoid the obstacle (route leading out of the exceptional traffic situation). After the operator has evaluated the situation it is decided to take over direct control.

B) The Tstart-T<NUM> segment depicts the section in which:.

The CC <NUM> supervises and controls maneuvers of the vehicle <NUM>. For example, the CC <NUM> may execute maneuvers to position the vehicle "off the road" (e.g. on the sidewalk). During this period the full-UL applies.

C) The T<NUM>-T<NUM> segment depicts the process in which:.

At T<NUM> the vehicle <NUM> switches into a slim-UL. Video data flow is now replaced by a series of still images (snapshots) of the zone. Environmental, sensor and vehicle data remain being fed to the CC operator. The vehicle <NUM> assesses the new "off road" conditions and starts driving forward.

The CC <NUM> maintains surveillance of the environment.

In the event of new hazard detected (e.g. pedestrian detected by the vehicle <NUM> itself of the CC <NUM> based on the slim-UL data), the vehicle <NUM> stops and switches back to full-UL mode. The CC operator may assess the new situation to react accordingly.

With the environmental, sensor and image data the CC operator may determine that the vehicle <NUM> has reached the T<NUM> segment. The CC operator may then initiate "direct control" process to take vehicle back to "road" conditions.

D) The T<NUM>-Tend segment depicts the section in which:.

The CC operator supervises and steers the vehicle <NUM> with aid of the full-UL data. The CC operator may confirm road conditions in search of no further hazards. The CC operator determines that TD "governance" session has reached its end and returns full control to autonomous vehicle <NUM>. During this period the CC <NUM> controls the vehicle <NUM>. The CC <NUM> executes maneuvers to return the vehicle to the "normal" road conditions. The CC <NUM> determines when the vehicle <NUM> has reached its final position.

E) The Tend mark depicts the section in which:.

The CC operator may store information related to the event/route at a closest remote server. A remote server may broadcast stored events to next incoming vehicles <NUM>. Vehicle <NUM> may resume autonomous driving.

As already mentioned, in embodiments the respective methods may be implemented as computer programs or codes, which can be executed on a respective hardware. Hence, another embodiment is a computer program having a program code for performing at least one of the above methods, when the computer program is executed on a computer, a processor, or a programmable hardware component. A further embodiment is a (non-transitory) computer readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed by a computer, processor, or programmable hardware component, cause the computer to implement one of the methods described herein.

The description and drawings merely illustrate the principles of the invention. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise various arrangements that, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of the invention and are included within its scope. Furthermore, all examples recited herein are principally intended expressly to be only for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the principles of the invention and the concepts contributed by the inventor(s) to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions. Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and embodiments of the invention, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended to encompass equivalents thereof.

Claim 1:
A method (<NUM>) for a vehicle (<NUM>; <NUM>) to determine a route section, the method (<NUM>) comprising
operating (<NUM>) the vehicle (<NUM>;<NUM>) in an automated driving mode;
determining (<NUM>) an exceptional traffic situation;
transmitting (<NUM>) information related to the exceptional traffic situation to a network component (<NUM>) using a mobile communication system (<NUM>); and
receiving (<NUM>) information related to driving instructions for the route section to overcome the exceptional traffic situation from the network component (<NUM>), wherein the receiving (<NUM>) of the driving instructions comprises tele-operating the vehicle (<NUM>) along the route section to overcome the exceptional traffic situation,
wherein the method (<NUM>) further comprises providing information related to an environmental model of the vehicle (<NUM>; <NUM>), information related to vehicle data, and information related to video data to the network component (<NUM>) in addition to the information related to the exceptional traffic situation,
characterized in that,
during a first period of fully tele-operating, the method (<NUM>) comprises transmitting video data with a first higher data rate from the vehicle to the network component and wherein, during a second period of partially tele-operating, the method (<NUM>) comprises transmitting video data with a second lower data rate from the vehicle to the network component, and
during the second period of partially tele-operating, the method comprises receiving information related to a partial route section from the network component and wherein the partially tele-operating is supported by at least partially maneuvering the vehicle along the partial route section automatically.