Patent Description:
According to statistics, traffic accidents caused by tires on domestic highways account for <NUM>% of the total number of accidents, and traffic accidents caused by punctures account for more than <NUM>% of the total number of traffic accidents. In the United States, such ratios are higher, so that the US Federal Transportation Act requires that new cars manufactured after November, <NUM> should include tire pressure monitoring systems as standard configuration. In recent years, the Chinese government has paid great attention to traffic accidents caused by tires. In <NUM>, mandatory installation regulations was implemented in China, and all passenger cars in production required installation of direct or indirect tire pressure monitoring systems (hereinafter referred to as TPMSs).

For the TPMS products on the market, the current domestic technology is relatively backward, and the biggest difference between the products lies in methods of positioning sensors on the vehicle body. Different positioning methods determine overall design ideas and architectures of the products, involving appearance structures, electronic designs, chipset composition, installation processes and costs, and the like. Domestic sensor positioning methods are generally divided into three categories as described below. The first category is physical position fixing. In particular, the sensors are installed in fixed tire positions, i.e., have been each fixed to a left front position, a right front position, a left rear position, and a right rear position, before leaving the factory, while receiving antennas are used in cooperation with the sensors. The design drawback is that four sensors in a set of products are clearly distinguished and can only be installed in unique positions, which increases the difficulty of production, installation labor time and subsequent maintenance costs. The second category is achieving the purpose of positioning through low-frequency communication, but to increase the part of low-frequency communication, it is necessary to configure low-frequency receiving antennas. There are currently two practices on the market, i.e., configuration of four low-frequency receiving antennas and configuration of two low-frequency receiving antennas. Due to rather strict requirements for the low-frequency receiving antennas, such practices greatly increase the difficulty of installation and the product costs. The third category is achieving the purpose of positioning by increasing field strength of the left and right wheels. TPMS needs to include two acceleration sensors which point to a Z direction of a centrifugal force of the rotation of the tire and a tangential X direction of the rotation of the tire, respectively. The left and right wheels, due to presence of rotation of <NUM> degrees during the installation, have a phase lead and lag relationship in the Z and X directions, thereby making it possible to make a distinction between the left and right wheels. In the case that the receiver needs to be installed at a console position, a signal received from the front wheel will be stronger than a signal from the rear wheel. This method distinguishes hardware through a field strength method. Since actual vehicle conditions may vary over time, there is a risk of positioning errors, and higher requirements for product consistency will increase the product costs.

The European Patent Application <CIT> relates to a tire position determination system for determining the position of a tire when monitoring the air pressure of the tire. The tire position determination system (<NUM>) includes a tire pressure detector (<NUM>) attached to each tire to generate a tire pressure signal. An acceleration detector (<NUM>) generates gravitational information for each tire pressure detector (<NUM>). A receiver (<NUM>) arranged in a vehicle body receives the tire pressure signal from each tire pressure detector (<NUM>). An axle rotation amount detector (<NUM>) detects an axle rotation amount of an axle corresponding to each tire and generates pulses indicative of the detected axle rotation amount. An automatic locator (<NUM>) determines the position of each tire based on the gravitational force and the pulses. A pulse combination determination unit (<NUM>) determines whether or not a combination of the pulses from the axle rotation amount detectors (<NUM>) is appropriate. A pulse acquisition timing setting unit (<NUM>) sets an acquisition timing of the pulse signal for the automatic locator (<NUM>) based on the determination of the pulse combination determination unit (<NUM>). The US Patent Application <CIT> relates to a method for determining change of direction of a vehicle. The method includes steps of maintaining a rolling window of ABS data indicative of ABS tooth count and capturing a relevant rolling window of ABS data at the predetermined one-measurement point; storing the rolling window of the ABS data indicative of ABS tooth in a buffer; monitoring the ABS data and detecting a valid stop event which causes the rate of change of ABS tooth count to substantially decrement to zero; and monitoring the ABS data and detecting a valid move event which causes the rate of change of ABS tooth count to substantially increment from zero. The method also includes steps of determining a pre-stop phase relationship between at least two wheels based on the ABS tooth count stored in the buffer immediately prior to the valid stop event; determining a post start phase relationship between at least two wheels based on the ABS tooth count stored in the buffer immediately subsequent to the valid move event; and correlating the pre-stop phase relationship and the post-start phase relationship to determine change of direction and confidence level.

The European Patent Application <CIT> relates to a tire air pressure transmission device. The device is configured so as to set a sampling period or cycle based on a centrifugal acceleration of a wheel in the centrifugal direction, and to detect the value of the gravitational acceleration component of the centrifugal acceleration each set sampling period.

The US Patent Application <CIT> relates to a method of sampling acceleration measurements of a wheel (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) of a motor vehicle (<NUM>). The vehicle (<NUM>) has a tire pressure monitoring system, and is fitted with an electronic central unit (<NUM>). Each of the wheels (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) includes: a wheel unit (A, B, C, D) fixed to a rim (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) of radius Rand having at least one accelerometer, measuring the radial acceleration F1 of the wheel, and a microprocessor; the method including the measurement, for each wheel revolution, at given time intervals (Tmeasurement), of a number (N) of radial acceleration values by the radial accelerometer. The method proposes: that a minimum number (N) of acceleration measurements be fixed per wheel revolution, and that the time intervals (T measurement) between two radial acceleration measurements be determined by element of the following relation: <MAT>.

The main technical problem solved by the present invention is to provide a method for sampling wheel acceleration, a method for determining rotation angular position of a wheel, a method for positioning a target wheel, a tire pressure monitoring system, and a storage device, which can provide technical support for realizing positioning of a target wheel.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, a first aspect of the present invention provides a method for sampling wheel acceleration. The method includes: acquiring a real-time wheel acceleration value of a target wheel and calculating a time length required to rotate for a preset number of revolutions of the target wheel according to a first association relationship between the wheel acceleration and the time length required to rotate for the preset number of revolutions of the target wheel; obtaining a time interval between any two adjacent sampling points according to the time length required to rotate for the preset number of revolutions; and sampling the wheel acceleration of the target wheel once every the time interval starting from any time.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a second aspect of the present invention provides a method for determining rotation angular position of a wheel. The method includes: sampling wheel acceleration of a target wheel for N times from a first moment to a third moment to obtain N wheel acceleration values of the target wheel by using the method for sampling wheel acceleration according to the first aspect, wherein each of the N wheel acceleration values may include at least one of a centrifugal acceleration component and a tangential acceleration component; obtaining a rotation frequency value of the target wheel according to the N wheel acceleration values obtained by sampling; acquiring a first rotation angular position of the target wheel at the first moment based on the rotation frequency value of the target wheel and the N wheel acceleration values; and acquiring a second rotation angular position of the target wheel at a second moment based on the rotation frequency value of the target wheel, the first rotation angular position, and a time length between the first moment and the second moment. The second moment is earlier than or the same as the third moment.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a third aspect of the present invention provides a method for positioning a target wheel. The method includes: acquiring a first rotation angular position of the target wheel at a first moment and a second rotation angular position of the target wheel at a second moment through a tire pressure monitoring device installed on the target wheel by using the method for determining rotation angular position of a wheel according to the second aspect; acquiring a reference angular position difference of each wheel from the first moment to the second moment through a wheel speed sensor installed on the each wheel; and positioning the target wheel based on a magnitude relationship between a target angular position difference and the reference angular position difference of the each wheel. The target angular position difference is a difference between the second rotation angular position and the first rotation angular position.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a fourth aspect of the present invention provides a tire pressure monitoring system. The tire pressure monitoring system includes at least one tire pressure monitoring device, a plurality of wheel speed sensors, a vehicle processor, and a display coupled to one another. Each of the at least one tire pressure monitoring device may be installed on a corresponding target wheel of a vehicle and configured to acquire pressure data of the corresponding target wheel, to acquire a first rotation angular position of the corresponding target wheel at a first moment and a second rotation angular position of the corresponding target wheel at a second moment by using the method for determining rotation angular position of a wheel as mentioned above, and to send the pressure data of the corresponding target wheel, the first rotation angular position of the corresponding target wheel at the first moment and the second rotation angular position of the corresponding target wheel at the second moment to the vehicle processor. The plurality of wheel speed sensors are installed on all wheels of the vehicle in a one to one correspondence and each of the plurality of wheel speed sensors may be configured to acquire a reference angular position difference of a corresponding wheel between the first moment and the second moment, and to send the reference angular position difference of the corresponding wheel between the first moment and the second moment to the vehicle processor. The vehicle processor is configured to position the corresponding target wheel based on a magnitude relationship between a target angular position difference and the reference angular position difference of each wheel, and to control the display to display a positioning result and the pressure data of the corresponding target wheel. The target angular position difference is a difference between the second rotation angular position and the first rotation angular position.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a fifth aspect of the present invention provides a storage device. The storage device stores program data capable of being called by and running in a processor. When the program data is called by the processor and runs in the processor, the method for sampling wheel acceleration according to the first aspect, or the method for determining rotation angular position of a wheel according to the second aspect, or the method for positioning a target wheel according to the third aspect is implemented.

Advantageous effects of the present invention are as follows. Different from the prior art, the method for sampling wheel acceleration according to the present invention includes: acquiring a real-time wheel acceleration value of a target wheel and calculating a time length required to rotate for a preset number of revolutions of the target wheel according to a first association relationship between the wheel acceleration and the time length required to rotate for the preset number of revolutions of the target wheel; obtaining a time interval between any two adjacent sampling points according to the time length required to rotate for the preset number of revolutions; and sampling the wheel acceleration of the target wheel once every the time interval starting from any time. The time length required to rotate for the preset number of revolutions can be calculated through the first association relationship between the wheel acceleration and the time length required to rotate for the preset number of revolutions of the wheel, such that after the number of times of sampling acceleration required during the process of rotating for the preset number of revolutions is determined, the time interval between any two adjacent sampling points can be directly determined according to the real-time wheel acceleration value of the target wheel, so as to provide technical support for determining rotation angular position of the wheel within the preset number of revolutions of rotation, thereby providing technical support for positioning the target wheel according to changing situation of the rotation angular position of the wheel over time.

Solutions of embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail in conjunction with the drawings of the description.

For the sake of illustration rather than limitation, specific details such as specific system structures, interfaces, and techniques are proposed in the following description to facilitate a thorough understanding of the present invention.

The terms "system" and "network" in the present invention are often used interchangeably herein. The term "and/or" in the present invention, which is only an association relationship describing associated objects, means that there can be three kinds of relationships. For example, A and/or B may mean that: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. In addition, the symbol "/" in the present invention generally indicates that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship. Further, "plural" herein means two or more than two.

Reference is made to <FIG>, which is a schematic flowchart of a method for positioning a target wheel according to an embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, the method may include operations at the following blocks.

At block S11, a first rotation angular position of the target wheel at a first moment and a second rotation angular position of the target wheel at a second moment may be acquired through a tire pressure monitoring device installed on the target wheel by using a method for determining rotation angular position of a wheel.

Reference is specifically made to <FIG>. <FIG> is a schematic diagram of directions of wheel accelerations detected by an acceleration sensor of the tire pressure monitoring device installed on the target wheel. <FIG> is a schematic diagram of a magnitude relationship of wheel accelerations during rotation of wheels. <FIG> is a graph of change in the wheel accelerations illustrating a phase relationship of wheels along an X-axis and a Z-axis. As shown in <FIG>, a centrifugal acceleration sensor may be configured to detect acceleration of a wheel in a centripetal direction, in other words, the centrifugal acceleration sensor may detect acceleration in a Z-axis direction. A tangential acceleration sensor may be configured to detect acceleration of the wheel in a tangential direction, in other words, the tangential acceleration sensor may detect acceleration in an X-axis direction. It could be understood that, when a vehicle is running, since a left wheel and a right wheel rotate in opposite directions, i.e., one wheel rotates clockwise and the other wheel rotates counterclockwise, as seen from a driver's perspective, the acceleration in the Z-axis direction and the acceleration in the X-axis direction may have a magnitude relationship as shown in <FIG> during the movement of the vehicle. It could be understood that, when the vehicle is moving forward, the left picture in <FIG> may be a schematic diagram of a magnitude relationship of accelerations of the left wheel during a rotation of the left wheel, the right picture in <FIG> may be a schematic diagram of a magnitude relationship of accelerations of the right wheel during a rotation of the right wheel. When the vehicle is backing up, it is just opposite to the above case, that is, the left picture in <FIG> may be a schematic diagram of a magnitude relationship of accelerations of the right wheel during the rotation of the right wheel, and the right picture in <FIG> may be a schematic diagram of a magnitude relationship of accelerations of the left wheel during the rotation of the left wheel. The present invention provides examples for illustration in the case that the vehicle is moving forward. Specifically, during one-revolution rotation of the left wheel, it may occur sequentially that: the acceleration in the X-axis direction reaches a maximum value, the acceleration in the Z-axis direction reaches a maximum value, the acceleration in the X-axis direction reaches a minimum value, and the acceleration in the Z-axis direction reaches a minimum value. However, during one-revolution rotation of the right wheel, it may occur sequentially that: the acceleration in the Z-axis direction reaches a maximum value, the acceleration in the X-axis direction reaches a maximum value, the acceleration in the Z-axis direction reaches a minimum value, and the acceleration in the X-axis direction reaches a minimum value.

According to the above relationships, acceleration sinusoids as shown in <FIG> may be generated from the acceleration sensors during the movement of the wheels. The formula of the acceleration sinusoids may be expressed as: y=A*sin (wt+φ). In the formula, y may be a wheel acceleration value at moment t, A maybe an amplitude value of the wheel acceleration, A may be theoretically <NUM> (a gravitational acceleration) for a Z-axis acceleration sensor, w may be a rotation acceleration value of the wheel, and φ may be a phase of a sinusoid at moment <NUM>, i.e., an initial phase, and thus (wt+φ) may be a rotation angular position of the wheel at the moment t. A first acceleration value of the target wheel at the first moment and a second acceleration value of the target wheel at the second moment can be acquired through the tire pressure monitoring device installed on the target wheel. In this way, the first rotation angular position of the target wheel at the first moment and the second rotation angular position of the target wheel at the second moment may be obtained according to the formula of the acceleration sinusoids described above.

Specifically, the present invention provides a method for determining rotation angular position of a wheel. The method for determining rotation angular position of a wheel may be applied to the above block S11. Reference is made to <FIG>, which is a schematic flowchart of a method for determining rotation angular position of a wheel according to an embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, the method may include operations at the following blocks.

At block S21, wheel acceleration of the target wheel may be sampled for N times from the first moment to a third moment to obtain N wheel acceleration values of the target wheel by using a method for sampling wheel acceleration. Each of the N wheel acceleration values may include at least one of a centrifugal acceleration component and a tangential acceleration component.

Specifically, the present invention provides a method for sampling wheel acceleration. The method for sampling wheel acceleration may be applied in the block S21. Reference is made to <FIG>, which is a schematic flowchart of a method for sampling wheel acceleration according to an embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, the method may include operations at the following blocks.

At block S31, a real-time wheel acceleration value of the target wheel may be acquired, and a time length required to rotate for a preset number of revolutions of the target wheel may be calculated according to a first association relationship between the wheel acceleration and the time length required to rotate for the preset number of revolutions of the target wheel.

Reference is made to <FIG>, which is a schematic flowchart of a method for establishing the first association relationship according to an embodiment of the present invention. In an embodiment, the method for establishing the first association relationship may include operations at the following blocks.

At block S41, a plurality of relationship curves between the wheel accelerations and wheel rotation frequencies of a plurality of wheels with different radiuses in a preset radius range may be acquired.

At block S42, segmental matching may be performed for the relationship curves, and the first association relationship between the wheel acceleration and the time length required to rotate for the preset number of revolutions may be obtained, wherein the first association relationship is suited for any wheel with any radius in the preset radius range.

The first association relationship may be: T=P1*a<NUM>+P2*a+P3. T may be the time length required to rotate for the preset number of revolutions, a may be the wheel acceleration value of a wheel, and P1, P2, and P3 may all be constants.

Taking the wheel acceleration being the centrifugal acceleration as an example, it could be understood that, the wheels with different tire radiuses may satisfy a relationship between the centrifugal acceleration a and the rotation frequency f may be: a=w<NUM>*r-(2πf)<NUM>*r. In a case, the relationships between the centrifugal accelerations and the rotation frequencies corresponding to a plurality of wheels with different radiuses in a preset radius range may be put into statistics to obtain relationship curves as shown in <FIG>. The relationship curves in <FIG> may be subjected to the segmental matching, for example, portions of the relationship curves of <FIG> corresponding to the wheel acceleration values lying at an interval of <NUM> to <NUM> may be divided into four segments. Then the four segments of curves may be matched into a multi-order equation function, which may generally be a second-order equation, i.e., T=P1*a<NUM>+P2*a+P3. In this second-order equation, T may be a time length required to rotate for the preset number of revolutions, a may be the wheel acceleration value of a wheel, and P1, P2, and P3 may be constants which may be related to the preset radius range of the wheel. Therefore, the first association relationship between the centrifugal acceleration and the time length required to rotate for the preset number of revolutions of the wheel may be T=P1*a<NUM>+P2*a+P3.

In addition, it can be found that, if the above first association relationship is used for calculation under different tire radiuses, an error may be present in the obtained time length T required to rotate for the preset number of revolutions. As shown in <FIG>, for example, the preset number of revolutions is <NUM> revolutions and a standard tire radius is <NUM> inches. When the first association relationship under the <NUM>-inch tire radius is also used in a case of a <NUM>-inch tire radius, a time length T obtained will be greater than an actual time length required to rotate for <NUM> revolutions, and when the first association relationship under the <NUM>-inch tire radius is also used in a case of a <NUM>-inch tire radius, a time length T obtained will be smaller than the actual time length required to rotate for <NUM> revolutions. However, both the time length T above may still lie between a time length required to rotate for <NUM> revolutions to a time length required to rotate for <NUM> revolutions. Therefore, in this embodiment, a same second order equation function can be used as the first association relationships under different tire radiuses so as to reduce input parameters, that is, it is not needed to calculate each tire radius to obtain a corresponding first association relationship.

Therefore, the time length required to rotate for the preset number of revolutions may be obtained through a calculation by substituting a value of the real-time wheel acceleration value a0 into the first association relationship between the wheel acceleration and the time length required to rotate for the preset number of revolutions of the wheel.

At block S32, a time interval between any two adjacent sampling points may be obtained according to the time length required to rotate for the preset number of revolutions.

At block S33, the wheel acceleration of the target wheel may be sampled once every the time interval starting from any time.

It can be found that, in the above-mentioned method for sampling the wheel acceleration, the time length required to rotate for the preset number of revolutions may be calculated through the first association relationship between the wheel acceleration and the time length required to rotate for the preset number of revolutions of the wheel, such that after the number of times of sampling the wheel acceleration required during the process of rotating for the preset number of revolutions is determined, the time interval between any two adjacent sampling points may be directly determined according to the real-time wheel acceleration value of the target wheel. It could be understood that the number of times of sampling can be determined as required, for example, may be <NUM> times, <NUM> times, <NUM> times, <NUM> times, or the like. In addition, the time interval between each two adjacent samplings may be identical. Therefore, after the time length required to rotate for the preset number of revolutions is calculated, the time interval △t between any two sampling points may further be obtained. Accordingly, in the above block S21, the wheel acceleration of the target wheel may be sampled once every the time interval △t, starting from the first moment, by using the above method for sampling the wheel acceleration, in this way, N wheel acceleration values may be obtained.

In an embodiment, serial numbers of sampling points for recording sampled wheel acceleration values may be labelled as P1 to Pn. In other words, sampling points may be labelled as P1, P2, P3. , Pn in sequence starting from a first sampling point. For example, P1=<NUM>, P2=<NUM>, P3=<NUM>. and so on, and corresponding wheel acceleration values may be a0, a1, a2. In order to facilitate subsequent calculation, each of the wheel acceleration values can be subtracted from a first wheel acceleration value , so the N wheel acceleration values actually saved may be a0-a0, a1-a0. a(N-<NUM>)-a0.

At block S22, a rotation frequency value of the target wheel may be obtained according to the N wheel acceleration values obtained by sampling.

Specifically, reference is made to <FIG>, which is a schematic flowchart of the block S22 in <FIG>. In an embodiment, the above block S22 may specifically include operations at blocks as follows.

At block S221, averaging process may be performed for the N wheel acceleration values obtained by sampling, and N processed wheel acceleration values may be obtained;
At block S222, a frequency domain processing may be performed for the N processed wheel acceleration values, to obtain a corresponding spectrogram.

At block S223, a frequency value corresponding to a spectrum point with a maximum dB value in the spectrogram may be acquired, to serve as the rotation frequency value of the target wheel.

The averaging process may be performed for the N wheel acceleration values sampled and saved as (a(N-<NUM>)-a0), such that all obtained data may evenly distribute around <NUM>. In other words, a median line of an ordinate of a set of the obtained data may be moved to <NUM>. Then the averaged wheel acceleration values (a(N-<NUM>)-a0) may be subjected to a time domain-to-frequency domain processing to obtain the corresponding spectrogram. From the spectrogram, the rotation frequency value f during the sampling may be obtained. The rotation frequency value f during the sampling may be a frequency value of a spectrum point corresponding to a point with a maximum dB value in the spectrograms.

In an embodiment, the preset number may be P which may be smaller than or equal to N. The above block S223 may specifically include the following operations. When P is an integer number, a frequency value corresponding to the P-th spectrum point in the spectrogram may be acquired, to serve as the rotation frequency value of the target wheel. When P is a non-integer number, a first frequency value corresponding to a first spectrum point with an integer serial number in the spectrogram less than the non-integer number P and nearest to the non-integer number P, and a second frequency value corresponding to a second spectrum point with an integer serial number in the spectrogram larger than the non-integer number P and nearest to the non-integer number P may be acquired, and then the rotation frequency value of the target wheel may be obtained by performing a weighting processing for the first frequency value and the second frequency value.

In a case, the preset number P is <NUM>, and N is <NUM>. <NUM> wheel accelerations sampled within <NUM> revolutions are shown in <FIG>. After a discrete fourier transform (DFT) operation or a fast fourier transform (FFT) operation being performed for <NUM> wheel accelerations in <FIG>, a spectrogram of <NUM> data points as shown in <FIG> can be obtained. A point with the maximum dB value may be the <NUM>. 5th point, that is, a frequency value of the <NUM>. 5th point is a sinusoidal frequency value of sampled data in <FIG>. However, the frequency value of the <NUM>. 5th point is difficult to be obtained directly from <FIG>, frequency values of the third point and the fourth point can be obtained in <FIG>. A frequency value of the third point is F3=<NUM>/N/Δt, a frequency value of the fourth point is F4=<NUM>/N/Δt, a dB value of the third point is M3, and a dB value of the fourth point is M4. A frequency value of a spectrum point corresponding to a point (the <NUM>. 5th point) with the maximum dB value can be obtained by performing a weighting processing for the frequency value of the third point and the frequency value of the fourth point, which is the rotation frequency value f of the target wheel = (F3*M3+F4*M4)/(M3+M4).

At Block S23, the first rotation angular position of the target wheel at the first moment may be acquired based on the rotation frequency value of the target wheel and the N wheel acceleration values.

Specifically, reference is made to <FIG>, which is a schematic flowchart of the block S23 in <FIG>. In an embodiment, the above block S23 may specifically include operations at the following blocks.

At block S231, a second association relationship between wheel acceleration values obtained by sampling and sampling moments may be acquired, based on the rotation frequency value of the target wheel. The second association relationship may be y=A*sin (2πf*t+φ1). In the second association relationship, t may be any sampling moment starting from the first moment, y may be a corresponding wheel acceleration value obtained by sampling at the sampling moment t, A may be a variation amplitude of the wheel acceleration, f may be the rotation frequency value of the target wheel, and φ1 may be a phase of the wheel acceleration at the first moment.

Since the formula of the acceleration sinusoid of the wheel in the movement may be y=A*sin (wt+φ), and w=2πf, when the sampling is started at the first moment, the wheel acceleration y obtained at any sampling moment may be expressed as: y=A*sin (2πf*t+φ1). t may be any sampling moment starting from the first moment, y may be the corresponding wheel acceleration value obtained by sampling at the sampling moment t, A may be the variation amplitude of the wheel acceleration, f may be the rotation frequency value of the target wheel, and φ1 may be the phase of the wheel acceleration at the first moment. That is, the second association relationship between the wheel acceleration obtained by sampling and the corresponding sampling moment can be acquired according to the rotation frequency value of the target wheel.

At block S232, the first rotation angular position may be acquired based on the N wheel acceleration values obtained by sampling, corresponding sampling moment of the N wheel acceleration values, and the second association relationship.

Specifically, an optimal solution of a phase φ1 of the wheel acceleration at the first moment may be obtained to serve as the first rotation angular position through substituting each of the N wheel acceleration values obtained by sampling and a corresponding sampling moment of the each of the N wheel acceleration values into the second association relationship respectively, and using a least square algorithm.

(a(N-<NUM>)-a0)=A*sin (2πf*△t*N+φ1) may be obtained by substituting the averaged acceleration values (a(N-<NUM>)-a0) into the second association relationship, and then the least square algorithm may be used to obtain the optimal solution of the initial phase φ1 which is the first rotation angular position of the target wheel at the first moment.

At block S24, the second rotation angular position of the target wheel at the second moment may be acquired based on the rotation frequency value of the target wheel, the first rotation angular position, and a time length between the first moment and the second moment. The second moment may be earlier than or the same as the third moment.

In an embodiment, at the above block S24, specifically, the second rotation angular position may be obtained according to a third association relationship between the first rotation angular position and the second rotation angular position. The third association relationship may be: φ2=2πf*t'+φ1. f may be the rotation frequency value of the target wheel, t' may be the time length between the first moment and the second moment, φ1 may be the first rotation angular position, and φ2 may be the second rotation angular position.

From the second association relationship between the wheel acceleration and the sampling moment, it can be learned that, the second rotation angular position φ2 of the target wheel at the second moment and the first rotation angular position φ1 of the target wheel at the first moment may satisfy a third association relationship: φ2=2πf*t'+φ1. f may be the rotation frequency value of the target wheel, t' may be the time length between the first moment and the second moment, φ1 may be the first rotation angular position, and φ2 may be the second rotation angular position. Therefore, the second rotation angular position may be determined according to the rotation frequency value of the target wheel, the first rotation angular position, and the time length between the first moment and the second moment.

Further, the time length between the second moment and the first moment may be equal to a time length between the third moment and the second moment.

It could be understood that, in order to avoid the situation that the wheel acceleration values monotonously increase or monotonously decrease during sampling from affecting the sampled data, a midpoint between the first moment and the third moment can be used as an end point of the sampling, so as to reduce the data error. In other words, the time length between the second moment and the first moment may be equal to the time length between the third moment and the second moment.

Therefore, at the above block S11, the first rotation angular position of the target wheel at the first moment and the second rotation angular position of the target wheel at the second moment may be acquired through the tire pressure monitoring device installed on the target wheel, by using the method for determining rotation angular position of a wheel.

At block S12, a reference angular position difference of each wheel from the first moment to the second moment may be acquired through a wheel speed sensor installed on the each wheel.

It could be understood that, the wheel speed sensor of the present invention can be an anti-lock braking system (ABS) speed sensor. The ABS speed sensor may include two parts, namely, a ring gear turntable and an inductive sensor. The ring gear turntable may be fixed on a wheel shaft. The inductive sensor may be fixed near the ring gear turntable and may not rotate along with the wheel. The inductive sensor may generally be a Hall sensor or a photoelectric sensor. Therefore, during the rotation of the wheel, the ring gear turntable can rotate along with the wheel, while the inductive sensor may not rotate. Thus, the inductive sensor can output a set of sinusoidal alternating current signals by interacting with the ring gear turntable during the rotation of the ring gear turntable along with the each wheel (i.e., the wheel speed sensor of the each wheel may output pulses), and the frequency thereof may be related to the wheel speed. Therefore, a change value of a rotation angular position generated by the rotation of the wheel from the first moment to the second moment may be acquired according to the output sinusoidal alternating current signals, and may serve as the reference angular position difference. That is, the reference angular position difference of the each wheel between the first moment and the second moment may be acquired through the wheel speed sensor installed on the each wheel.

Specifically, reference is made to <FIG>, which is a schematic flowchart of the block S12 in <FIG>. In an embodiment, the above block S12 may specifically include operations at the following blocks.

At block S121, the number of pulses output by the wheel speed sensor installed on the each wheel from the first moment to the second moment may be recorded.

Block S122: the reference angular position difference of the each wheel may be calculated according to the number of pulses corresponding to the each wheel.

It could be understood that, when the wheel is in rotation, the ABS speed sensor may output a waveform as shown in <FIG>. A conversion into the rotation frequency value f may be achieved by counting the number of pulses. A conversion relationship may be: the rotation frequency value f= fx/DIV. In this relationship, fx may be a frequency value of the waveform output by the ABS speed sensor and shown in <FIG>. DIV may be the number of gears of the ring gear turntable. Therefore, an angle by which the tire rotates, i.e., the reference angular position difference Δφ may be determined by recording the number M of pulses from the first moment t1 to the second moment t2. In particular, Δφ=((M%DIV)/DIV)*<NUM>°.

At block S13, the target wheel may be positioned based on a magnitude relationship between a target angular position difference and the reference angular position difference of the each wheel, wherein the target angular position difference may be a difference between the second rotation angular position and the first rotation angular position.

It could be understood that, when the vehicle is driving along a straight line, hourly tire speeds of all the wheels may remain identical. However, differences in actual tire manufacturing processes of the vehicle or tire wear degrees may result in slight differences between radiuses of any two tires. In one embodiment, assuming that a radius of the left front tire is <NUM>, a radius of the right front tire is <NUM>, a radius of the left rear tire is <NUM>, and a radius of the right rear tire is <NUM>, when hourly speed of the vehicle is <NUM>/h, results shown in the following table may be obtained by counting the number of pulses output within <NUM> seconds via the ABS speed sensor and converting it into a phase change.

Through a long-term accumulation, it can be found that large phase differences may be present between tires of different wheels of the same vehicle.

Therefore, with regard to a same wheel, a difference between the target angular position difference and the reference angular position difference should be a minimum, and the difference between the target angular position difference and the reference angular position difference of the same wheel should be constant over time. With regard to different wheels, a difference between a target angular position difference of wheel A and a reference angular position difference of wheel B should be larger, and the difference between the target angular position difference of the wheel A and the reference angular position difference of the wheel B should be always changing over time. Therefore, during the vehicle running, which wheel is the exact target wheel can be judged by comparing the magnitude relationship between the target angular position difference and each reference angular position difference corresponding to the each wheel multiple times, i.e., positioning the target wheel can be achieved.

Specifically, reference is made to <FIG>, which is a schematic flowchart of the block S13 in <FIG>. In an embodiment, the above block S13 may specifically include operations at the following blocks.

At block S131, the target angular position difference of the target wheel may be obtained according to the second rotation angular position and the first rotation angular position, and a difference between the target angular position difference and the reference angular position difference of the each wheel may be calculated.

At block S132, a changing situation of the difference between the target angular position difference and the reference angular position difference of the each wheel over time may be determined, and the target wheel may be positioned as a specifical wheel, wherein the difference between the target angular position difference of the target wheel and the reference angular position difference of the specifical wheel may be unchanged over time or changed smaller than a preset threshold over time.

It could be understood that, the target angular position difference of the target wheel from the first moment to the second moment may be obtained according to the second rotation angular position and the first rotation angular position, and then the difference between the target angular position difference and the reference angular position difference corresponding to the each wheel can be calculated. With regard to a same wheel, the difference between the target angular position difference of the wheel and the reference angular position difference should be constantly unchanged over time. However, since an error may be present in the actual application, a change in the difference between the target angular position difference of the wheel and the reference angular position difference should be smaller than a preset threshold which may be set according to an error range in the actual application. With regard to different wheels, a difference between a target angular position difference of wheel A and a reference angular position difference of wheel B may vary, and a variation range of the difference between the target angular position difference of the wheel A and the reference angular position difference of the wheel B may be greater than or equal to the preset threshold. Therefore, whether the difference between the target angular position difference and the reference angular position difference corresponding to the each wheel varies over time should be determined and the target wheel may be positioned as a specifical wheel, wherein the difference between the target angular position difference of the target wheel and the reference angular position difference of the specifical wheel may be unchanged over time or changed smaller than the preset threshold over time.

Reference is made to <FIG>, which is a schematic diagram of a framework of a tire pressure monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention. A tire pressure monitoring system <NUM> may include at least one tire pressure monitoring device <NUM>, a plurality of wheel speed sensors <NUM>, a vehicle processor <NUM>, and a display <NUM> coupled to one another. Each of the at least one tire pressure monitoring device <NUM> may be installed on a corresponding target wheel of a vehicle and may be configured to acquire pressure data of the corresponding target wheel, a first rotation angular position of the corresponding target wheel at a first moment, and a second rotation angular position of the corresponding target wheel at a second moment, and to send the pressure data of the corresponding target wheel, the first rotation angular position of the corresponding target wheel at the first moment, and the second rotation angular position of the corresponding target wheel at the second moment to the vehicle processor <NUM>. The plurality of wheel speed sensors <NUM> may be installed on all wheels of the vehicle in a one to one correspondence. Specifically, each of the plurality of wheel speed sensors <NUM> may be configured to acquire a reference angular position difference of a corresponding wheel between the first moment and the second moment, and to send the reference angular position difference of the corresponding wheel between the first moment and the second moment to the vehicle processor <NUM>. The vehicle processor <NUM> may be configured to position the corresponding target wheel based on a magnitude relationship between a target angular position difference and the reference angular position difference of each wheel, and to control the display <NUM> such that the display <NUM> may display a positioning result and the pressure data of the corresponding target wheel. In particular, the target angular position difference may be a difference between the second rotation angular position and the first rotation angular position. It could be understood that, each wheel of the vehicle may be equipped with a tire pressure monitoring device <NUM> and a wheel speed sensor <NUM>, so as to realize a positioning of the each wheel.

The target angular position difference may be a change value of rotation angular position acquired by the tire pressure monitoring device <NUM> and generated by the target wheel from the first moment to the second moment, and the reference angular position difference may be a change value of rotation angular position acquired by the wheel speed sensor <NUM> and generated by the each wheel from the first moment to the second moment. With regard to a same wheel, the target angular position difference and the reference angular position difference may keep unchanged over time. With regard to different wheels, a magnitude of the difference between the target angular position difference and the reference angular position difference may always change over time. Therefore, a wheel speed sensor <NUM> installed on which wheel is corresponding to the tire pressure monitoring device <NUM> may be determined by comparing the target angular position difference with the reference angular position difference of each wheel. That is, the positioning of the target wheel with the tire pressure monitoring device <NUM> being installed on can be realized. The present invention is implemented mainly through algorithms, and has low product costs and subsequent maintenance costs.

For details of the present invention concerning positioning the target wheel by the vehicle processor <NUM>, see the contents in the above embodiments relating to the method for positioning a target wheel. It will not be repeated here.

In this embodiment, as shown in <FIG>, each tire pressure monitoring device <NUM> may include a tire pressure monitoring chip and a battery. The tire pressure monitoring chip may include a pressure sensor, an acceleration sensor (which may include an X-axis acceleration sensor and a Z-axis acceleration sensor), a controller, and a radio frequency emitter. Specifically, the controller can be an MCU (microcontroller unit) and powered by a battery. The pressure sensor and the acceleration sensor may couple to the MCU via a multiplexer MUX, a differential amplifier circuit, and the like. The radio frequency emitter may employ a <NUM> antenna for data transmission and may transmit the data to the vehicle processor <NUM>.

Further, the display <NUM> may include a plurality of alarm lights having a one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of tires. The vehicle processor <NUM> may further be configured to control an alarm light corresponding to a tire to light up, when a tire pressure of the tire is not in a preset range. Specifically, the display <NUM> may display a tire pressure of a left front wheel, a tire pressure of a left rear wheel, a tire pressure of a right front wheel, and a tire pressure of a right rear wheel. The display <NUM> may be provided with a left front wheel alarm light, a left rear wheel alarm light, a right front wheel alarm light, and a right rear wheel alarm light corresponding thereto. When the tire pressure of a tire is too high or too low, the vehicle processor <NUM> may control an alarm light corresponding to the tire to light up and give an alarm.

Specifically, the vehicle processor <NUM> may also be referred to as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The vehicle processor <NUM> may be an integrated circuit chip with a signal processing capability. The vehicle processor <NUM> may also be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic means, a discrete gate, a transistor logic means, or a discrete hardware component. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor or the like. In addition, the vehicle processor <NUM> may be implemented jointly by the integrated circuit chip.

Reference is made to <FIG>, which is a schematic diagram of a framework of a storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention. A storage device <NUM> may be a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that may store program data <NUM> capable of being called by and running in a processor. When the program data is called by the processor and runs in the processor, the steps in any of the foregoing embodiments of the method for sampling wheel acceleration, or the steps in any of the foregoing embodiments of the method for determining rotation angular position of a wheel, or the steps in any of the foregoing embodiments of the method for positioning a target wheel can be implemented.

In the several embodiments provided in the present invention, it should be understood that, the disclosed method, system, and device may be implemented in other ways. For example, the device implementation manner described above is only illustrative. For example, division of modules or units is only division of logical functions, and other division manners are allowed in actual implementation. For example, units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored, or may not be implemented. In addition, the displayed or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and may be in electrical, mechanical or other forms.

The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components displayed as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place, or they may be distributed on network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solutions of the present embodiments.

Furthermore, the respective functional units in the various embodiments of the present invention may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit. The above-mentioned integrated unit can be implemented in the form of hardware or software functional unit.

Claim 1:
A method for sampling wheel acceleration, characterized by comprising:
acquiring a real-time wheel acceleration value of a target wheel and calculating a time length required to rotate for a preset number of revolutions of the target wheel according to a first association relationship between the wheel acceleration and the time length required to rotate for the preset number of revolutions of the target wheel (S31);
obtaining a time interval between any two adjacent sampling points according to the time length required to rotate for the preset number of revolutions (S32); and
sampling the wheel acceleration of the target wheel once every the time interval starting from any time (S33).