Detailed Description
In order to make the aforementioned objects, features and advantages of the present invention comprehensible, embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below.
In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention, but the present invention may be practiced in other ways than those specifically described herein, and thus the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed below.
Certain terms are used throughout the description and claims to refer to particular system components. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, different companies may refer to a component by different names. This document does not intend to distinguish between components that differ in name but not function. In the description and claims, the terms "include" and "comprise" are used in an open-ended fashion, and thus should be interpreted to mean "include, but not limited to …".
As used in this application and the appended claims, the terms "a," "an," "the," and/or "the" are not intended to be inclusive in the singular, but rather are intended to be inclusive in the plural unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In general, the terms "comprises" and "comprising" merely indicate that steps and elements are included which are explicitly identified, that the steps and elements do not form an exclusive list, and that a method or apparatus may include other steps or elements.
Furthermore, each of the embodiments described below has one or more technical features, and thus, the use of the technical features of any one embodiment does not necessarily mean that all of the technical features of any one embodiment are implemented at the same time or that only some or all of the technical features of different embodiments are implemented separately. In other words, those skilled in the art can selectively implement some or all of the features of any embodiment or combinations of some or all of the features of multiple embodiments according to the disclosure of the present invention and according to design specifications or implementation requirements, thereby increasing the flexibility in implementing the invention.
It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being "on," "connected to," "coupled to" or "contacting" another element, it can be directly on, connected or coupled to, or contacting the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being "directly on," "directly connected to," "directly coupled to" or "directly contacting" another element, there are no intervening elements present. Similarly, when a first component is said to be "in electrical contact with" or "electrically coupled to" a second component, there is an electrical path between the first component and the second component that allows current to flow. The electrical path may include capacitors, coupled inductors, and/or other components that allow current to flow even without direct contact between the conductive components.
As introduced in the background section, existing intelligent gateways and forward-looking video capture modules are separate modular products that each perform its respective function. Both of these modular products have the same components of the cellular communication module, processor (CPU), power circuit, connector, etc. When the two module products are used for realizing the functions of the intelligent gateway and the forward-looking video acquisition module together, the same parts in the two module products are repeated, so that the problems of hardware cost waste, more occupied space, low interaction efficiency, low reliability and the like can be caused. In order to overcome the problems, the invention provides the vehicle-mounted terminal with the functions of the intelligent gateway and the forward-looking video acquisition module, which can fully utilize resources, reduce occupied space, improve the interaction efficiency and reliability of the system and reduce the overall cost.
Fig. 3 is a basic block diagram of a vehicle-mounted terminal of some embodiments of the present invention. Referring to fig. 3, the in-vehicle terminal 100 may include a cellular communication module 101, a Microcontroller (MCU)102, a main processor 103, a main antenna 104, a CAN transceiver 109, and a camera 113. The microcontroller 102, the main processor 103 and the main antenna 104 are connected to the cellular communication module 101, respectively. The imaging device 113 is connected to the main processor 103. The CAN transceiver 109 is connected to the microcontroller 102.
the primary antenna 104 may be used to transceive cellular wireless signals to enable cellular network communications in cooperation with the cellular communication module 101. In some embodiments, the cellular network may be a 2G (e.g., GSM, IS-95, IS-136, IDEN, PDC, etc.), 3G (e.g., W-CDMA, CDMA-2000, TD-SCDMA, WiMAX, etc.), 4G (e.g., LTE FDD, LTE TDD), etc. format cellular network, and accordingly, the cellular wireless signals may also be wireless signals conforming to one or more of 2G, 3G, and 4G, etc. It is to be appreciated that cellular network communications may include, for example, voice communications, data communications, Short Message Service (SMS) communications, or any combination thereof.
The CAN transceiver 109 is used to receive data on the CAN bus and/or transmit data onto the CAN bus. It will be appreciated that data received by the CAN transceiver 109 from the CAN bus may be sent to the microcontroller 102, and the received data may be further processed by the microcontroller 102, such as by performing protocol conversion, etc. The microcontroller 102 may send the data generated by it according to the CAN bus protocol to the CAN transceiver 109, and the CAN transceiver 109 sends the data to the CAN bus. Although in the embodiment shown in fig. 3 there is only one CAN transceiver 109, it is understood that a plurality of CAN transceivers 109 may be included in the in-vehicle terminal 100, and that these CAN transceivers 109 are each connected to the microcontroller 102.
The microcontroller 102 may also control the actions of the cellular communication module 101. It will be appreciated that the actions of the cellular communication module 101 may be to implement one or more of its own functions. For example, the cellular communication module 101 may perform cellular network communication by the cellular communication module 101 cooperating with the main antenna 104, or perform data interaction by the cellular communication module 101 and the main processor 103. In some embodiments, the microcontroller 102 may also protocol convert data that is interacted between the CAN transceiver 109 and the cellular communication module 101. Specifically, the microcontroller 102 may convert data received by the CAN transceiver 109 that conforms to the CAN bus protocol into data that conforms to the cellular network communication protocol, and the microcontroller 102 may also convert data transmitted by the cellular communication module 101 into data that conforms to the CAN bus protocol. The microcontroller 102 may, for example, comprise an ARM processor, a DSP processor, a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), a Programmable Logic Device (PLD), a single chip, an ASIC, or the like, or any combination thereof.
The camera 113 may be used to capture images and/or video in front of the vehicle. In some embodiments, the camera 113 may be, for example, a visible light camera, an infrared camera, a lidar, or the like. In some embodiments, the camera 113 may be a wide-angle camera (e.g., a viewing angle of 60 ° or more), a mid-focus camera (e.g., a viewing angle range of 24 ° to 60 °), or a tele camera (e.g., a viewing angle range of 24 ° or less). In some embodiments, the camera 113 may include one or more cameras, for example two cameras spaced apart to form binocular vision. It is understood that the camera 113 may be disposed on a rear view mirror (e.g., left rear view mirror, right rear view mirror, center interior rear view mirror, etc.), a front grille, a bumper, etc. of the vehicle.
The main processor 103 may be configured to process images and/or videos acquired by the camera 113, send the processed images and/or videos to the cellular communication module 101, and send the processed images and/or videos to the cloud by the cellular communication module 101, so as to provide a data base for training of automatic driving. It is understood that the cloud may be a server, a Personal Computer (PC), a public cloud, a private cloud, or the like. In some embodiments, the processing of the images and/or video acquired by the camera 113 by the main processor 103 may be encoding, compression, noise reduction, sharpening, etc., or any combination thereof. The main processor 103 may include, for example, a microcontroller, a microprocessor, a Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an application specific instruction set processor (ASIP), a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), a Physical Processing Unit (PPU), a single chip microcomputer, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), an advanced reduced instruction set system (ARM), a Programmable Logic Device (PLD), any circuit or processor capable of performing at least one function, or the like, or any combination thereof.
in some embodiments, with continued reference to fig. 3, the vehicle-mounted terminal 100 may also include a diversity antenna 105. The diversity antenna 105 is connected to the cellular communication module 101 for diversity transceiving cellular radio signals. It is understood that the diversity antenna 105 can receive the cellular wireless signal together with the main antenna 104, and the cellular wireless signal that the diversity antenna 105 can receive with the main antenna 104 can be selected and combined at the cellular communication module 101 to reduce the influence of the fading of the cellular wireless signal, thereby improving the signal-to-noise ratio of the received cellular wireless signal. In some embodiments, diversity antenna 105 may include one or more antennas, e.g., 2 antennas, 4 antennas.
The in-vehicle terminal 100 may further include a wireless local area network antenna 106 and a wireless local area network module 107. The wireless lan module 107 is connected to the wireless lan antenna 106 and the cellular communication module 101, respectively. The wireless local area network antenna 106 may be used for transceiving wireless local area network signals. The wireless lan module 106 and the wireless lan module 107 cooperate with each other to implement wireless lan communication. The wireless local area network may, for example, comprise a wireless network conforming to the IEEE802.11 family of standards, a wireless network conforming to the bluetooth standard, a wireless network conforming to the Zigbee standard, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the wlan module 107 may be connected to the cellular communication module 101 through a Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter (UART). In some embodiments, the cellular communication module 101 and the wireless local area network module 107 may cooperate to convert a cellular network into a wireless local area network such that a user terminal connected to the wireless local area network may connect to the internet via the cellular network.
In some embodiments, the in-vehicle terminal 100 may further include an eSIM card 108. The eSIM card 108 can be connected to the cellular communication module 101 for storing subscriber identification information. It is understood that the subscriber identification information stored by the eSIM card 108 can be used by a cellular network operator to authenticate a subscriber to determine whether the in-vehicle terminal 100 has access to the cellular network and is authorized for cellular network communications. In some embodiments, the eSIM card 108 can be a chip capable of storing subscriber identification information.
In some embodiments, the in-vehicle terminal 100 further includes an ethernet switch 110. The ethernet switch 110 is connected to the microcontroller 102 for transceiving data packets conforming to the ethernet protocol. In embodiments where the vehicle terminal 100 includes the cellular communication module 101, the CAN transceiver 109 and the Ethernet switch 110, the microcontroller 102 is further configured to protocol convert data exchanged between any two of the CAN transceiver 109, the cellular communication module 101 and the Ethernet switch 110. Although in the embodiment shown in fig. 3 there is only one ethernet switch 110, it is understood that the in-vehicle terminal 100 may comprise a plurality of ethernet switches 110, and that the ethernet switches 110 are each connected to the microcontroller 102.
in some embodiments, the in-vehicle terminal 100 further includes a Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter (UART) port 111. The UART port 111 is connected to the microcontroller 102 for implementing data interaction between the microcontroller 102 and external devices. In some embodiments, the microcontroller 102 may be connected to the car machine through the UART port 111 to realize data interaction.
In some embodiments, the in-vehicle terminal 100 also includes a data port 112. The data port 112 is connected to the microcontroller 102 for data interaction between the microcontroller 102 and external devices. Specifically, an ignition signal of the vehicle may be transmitted to the microcontroller 102 through the data port 112, thereby triggering the microcontroller 102 to operate.
In some embodiments, the in-vehicle terminal 100 may further include a memory 114. The memory 114 is coupled to the host processor 103 and is used to provide temporary storage space for data and/or instructions to be processed by the host processor 103. For example, the memory 114 may temporarily store image data and/or video data acquired by the camera 113. For another example, the memory 114 may temporarily store program instructions required by the main processor 103 to process image data and/or video data, which may be encoding, compressing, denoising, sharpening, stitching, distortion correction, or the like, or any combination thereof. The memory 114 may include, for example, Dynamic RAM (DRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic RAM (DDR SDRAM), Static RAM (SRAM), thyristor RAM (T-RAM), zero capacitance RAM (Z-RAM), and the like, or any combination thereof.
In some embodiments, the in-vehicle terminal 100 may further include a storage module 115. The storage module 115 is connected to the main processor 103 for storing data. For example, the storage module 115 may store image data and/or video data acquired by the camera 113. For another example, the storage module 115 may store image data and/or video data processed by the main processor 103. In some embodiments, the storage module 115 may include, for example, an eMMC memory, a flash memory chip, an SSD memory, etc., or any combination thereof, provided within the in-vehicle terminal 100. The memory module 115 may be a TF card, an MMC card, an SD card, or the like, or any combination thereof, which is disposed in a card slot provided in the in-vehicle terminal 100. In some embodiments, the memory module 115 may be connected to the host processor 103 via an SDIO (Secure Digital Input/Output) interface.
In some embodiments, the in-vehicle terminal 100 may further include a power management module 116. The power management module 116 is connected to the main processor 103 and configured to perform power management on at least some components in the vehicle-mounted terminal 100 according to an instruction of the main processor 103. The components may be a cellular communication module 101, a main processor 103, a wireless local area network module 107, a camera 113, a memory module 115, a microcontroller 102, etc.
in some embodiments, the in-vehicle terminal 100 may further include a Low-Voltage Differential Signaling (LVDS) port 117. The LVDS port 117 is connected to the main processor 103 for enabling data interaction of the main processor 103 with external devices. In some embodiments, the main processor 103 may be connected to the car machine through the LVDS port 117 to implement data interaction, for example, to send image data and/or video data acquired by the camera 113 to the car machine.
In some embodiments, the in-vehicle terminal 100 further includes a power module 118. The power module 118 is connected to a battery of the vehicle and supplies power to various components in the in-vehicle terminal 100 after converting the battery voltage.
In some embodiments, the microcontroller 102 may also be separately connected with the main processor 103 and control the actions of the main processor 103. It will be appreciated that the actions of the main processor 103 may be to implement one or more of the functions it has. For example, the action of the main processor 103 may be processing of images and/or video acquired by the forward looking camera 113 may be encoding, compression, noise reduction, sharpening, and the like. As another example, the actions of the host processor 103 may be reading from and writing to the memory 114, the memory module 115, and the like.
As described above, the vehicle-mounted terminal 100 of the present invention has functions of an intelligent gateway and a forward-looking video capture module, and forms a vehicle-mounted intelligent controller having functions of vehicle-mounted video capture and uploading to a cloud for analysis to provide a data base for training of automatic driving, vehicle bus information sharing, vehicle internal network management and fault diagnosis, vehicle condition information collection, driving behavior and habit collection, and data uploading to the cloud. The in-vehicle terminal 100 may be implemented by a cellular communication module 101, a main processor 103, a microcontroller 102, and a power supply module 120. Compared with the technical scheme realized by the combination of the two module products of the intelligent gateway and the forward-looking video acquisition module, the vehicle-mounted terminal 100 omits a cellular communication module, a main processor, a microcontroller, a power module and a peripheral circuit with overlapping functions, and has the advantages of fully utilizing resources, reducing occupied space, improving system interaction efficiency and reliability, reducing overall cost and the like.
Those of skill would further appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention.
The various illustrative logical modules, and circuits described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with 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 device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.
although the present invention has been described with reference to the present specific embodiments, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the above embodiments are merely illustrative of the present invention, and various equivalent changes and substitutions may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and therefore, it is intended that all changes and modifications to the above embodiments within the spirit and scope of the present invention be covered by the appended claims.