JP7634031B2 - Mobile - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a mobile object capable of automatic driving, and an information processing device, an automatic system, a method, and a program used for the automatic driving of the mobile object.

Conventionally, it has been the industry standard to build functions related to autonomous driving in vehicles, which are moving bodies that move on roads, by incorporating them inside the vehicle. Patent Document 1 discloses an autonomous driving system that is mounted on the vehicle together with a navigation system and includes various sensors, a communication unit that communicates with the navigation system, a vehicle control unit that outputs instruction signals to the vehicle's drive system, a storage unit that stores various programs and data, and a CPU that executes autonomous driving control of the vehicle based on route information transmitted from the navigation system and sensing data transmitted from the sensors.

JP 2020-035217 A

In recent years, as vehicle (automobile) functions have become more advanced, vehicle manufacturing costs have tended to increase, and further cost increases are expected with the addition of future autonomous driving functions, such as the vehicle described in Patent Document 1 above. Therefore, reducing the cost when autonomous driving functions are added to vehicles has become an issue. Note that similar issues can arise not only for vehicles that move on land, but also for mobile bodies that move underground, on water (e.g., on the sea), underwater (e.g., under the sea), and in the air and have autonomous driving functions.

An information processing device according to one aspect of the present invention is an information processing device provided in a communication network. This information processing device includes a function distribution execution unit that distributes and executes part of an automatic driving function executed during automatic driving of a moving body moving along a moving route on behalf of the moving body, and a communication unit that receives information required for distributed execution of part of the automatic driving function during automatic driving of the moving body from the moving body via the communication network and transmits a result of distributed execution of the part of the function to the moving body via the communication network.

In the information processing device, the automatic driving function includes an information acquisition function block that acquires information on the moving body or its surroundings, a judgment function block that judges the content of driving control including at least one of starting, steering, accelerating, decelerating, and stopping of the moving body based on the acquired information, and a driving control function block that controls the driving of the moving body based on the judgment result of the content of the driving control, and the part of the functions that are executed in a distributed manner by the function distribution execution unit is the judgment function block, and the communication unit may receive the acquisition result of acquiring information on the moving body or its surroundings from the moving body via the communication network, and transmit the judgment result of the content of the driving control to the moving body via the communication network.

In the information processing device, a communication method to be used for communication with the mobile body may be determined from a plurality of communication methods having different transmission delay times and communication capacities based on at least one of a predetermined delay request time required by the autonomous driving function and a data size of information transmitted to and received from the mobile body during the autonomous driving. Here, the plurality of communication methods may include a communication method in a fourth-generation mobile communication system, an eMBB (enhanced Mobile BroadBand) communication method in next-generation mobile communication systems including the fifth generation, and an URLLC (Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications) communication method in next-generation mobile communication systems including the fifth generation.

In the information processing device, any of the plurality of function blocks constituting the autonomous driving function may be executed in a distributed manner based on at least one of a delay requirement time required by each of the plurality of function blocks and a data size of information transmitted to and received from the mobile body during the autonomous driving. Here, among the plurality of function blocks, a function block whose delay requirement time is longer than the total time of the execution time of the function block and the round-trip communication time with the mobile body may be executed in a distributed manner.

In the information processing device, among the multiple functions included in the automatic driving function, a highly important function that needs to be executed even when communication with the mobile body is interrupted may be executed by the mobile body without being executed in a distributed manner by the information processing device. Here, the highly important function may be an automatic stop function for the mobile body when a danger occurs.

The information processing device may include an information storage unit that stores, for each type of moving body, automatic driving assistance information indicating the relationship between the content of the automatic driving function executed in the distributed manner, the delay request time required by the automatic driving function, and the content of control when the automatic driving of the moving body is stopped if the delay request time is not satisfied.

The information processing device may be a base station of a mobile communication network, a node between the base station and a core network, or a MEC (Multi-access Edge Computing) device provided outside the core network.

A mobile body according to another aspect of the present invention is a mobile body capable of being driven automatically to move along a travel route. The mobile body transmits information required for distributing execution of a part of an automatic driving function on behalf of the mobile body during automatic driving via an information processing device, receives a result of the distributed execution of the part of the function from the information processing device via the communication network, and executes the remaining functions of the automatic driving function based on the result of the distributed execution of the part of the function.

The moving body may be a vehicle that moves on the ground or underground, a ship that moves on the water, an underwater moving body that moves underwater, or an aircraft that moves in the air.

An autonomous driving system according to yet another aspect of the present invention includes any of the information processing devices and any of the mobile objects.

In the autonomous driving system, when an initial connection is made from the mobile body via the communication network, the information processing device identifies the type of the mobile body based on the information received at the initial connection, and transmits to the mobile body, based on the type of the mobile body, the contents of the partial function to be executed in a distributed manner corresponding to the type of the mobile body, a predetermined delay request time required by the autonomous driving function, and the contents of the control when autonomous driving of the mobile body is stopped, the mobile body receives the contents of the control when autonomous driving is stopped at the initial connection, transmits mobile body information including the position information of the mobile body to the information processing device, estimates a transmission delay time of communication with the information processing device based on a timestamp when the mobile body information is transmitted and a timestamp when a receipt confirmation for the mobile body information is received, and when it is determined that the condition of the delay request time is satisfied based on the estimated result of the transmission delay time, transmits information necessary for the distributed execution of the partial function in the information processing device to the information processing device, receives a result of the distributed execution of the partial function in the information processing device, and when it is determined that the condition of the delay request time is not satisfied based on the estimated result of the transmission delay time, executes control when autonomous driving is stopped.

In the autonomous driving system, the control when autonomous driving is stopped may be a control to automatically stop the moving body at a safe place on the moving path. Here, the moving body may switch to a manual driving mode in which some or all of the autonomous driving functions are performed manually after automatically stopping at a safe place on the moving path. In addition, after automatically stopping at a safe place on the moving path, the moving body may periodically and continuously transmit the moving body information and estimate the transmission delay time, and when it is determined that the delay request time condition is satisfied based on the estimated transmission delay time, the autonomous driving of the moving body may be resumed.

A method according to yet another aspect of the present invention is a method for performing automatic driving of a mobile body moving along a moving path. This method includes an information processing device provided in a communication network performing distributed execution of a part of an automatic driving function executed during automatic driving of the mobile body moving along a moving path on behalf of the mobile body, the information processing device receiving information necessary for distributed execution of the part of the automatic driving function from the mobile body via the communication network during automatic driving of the mobile body, the information processing device transmitting a result of the distributed execution of the part of the function to the mobile body via the communication network, and the mobile body performing the remaining functions of the automatic driving function based on the result of distributed execution of the part of the function.

A program according to yet another aspect of the present invention is a program executed in a computer or processor provided in an information processing device provided in a communication network. This program includes program code for distributing execution of a part of an automatic driving function executed during automatic driving of a moving body moving along a travel route on behalf of the moving body, program code for receiving information necessary for distributed execution of a part of the automatic driving function from the moving body via the communication network during automatic driving of the moving body, and program code for transmitting a result of distributed execution of the part of the function to the moving body via the communication network.

A program according to yet another aspect of the present invention is a program executed in a computer or processor provided on a mobile body capable of automatic driving so as to move along a travel route. This program includes program code for transmitting, to an information processing device via a communication network, information required for distributing execution of part of an automatic driving function on behalf of the mobile body when the mobile body is automatically driven, program code for receiving from the information processing device via the communication network a result of the distributed execution of the part of the function, and program code for executing the remaining functions of the automatic driving function based on the result of the distributed execution of the part of the function.

According to the present invention, by distributing multiple functions required for the automatic operation of a mobile body moving along a travel route between the mobile body and a network side device capable of communicating with the communication unit of the mobile body via a communication network, it is possible to reduce the cost of a mobile body having an automatic operation function.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of an autonomous driving system according to an embodiment. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a main configuration of an autonomous driving system including an information processing device and an on-board device of a vehicle according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a sequence flow diagram showing an example of distributed execution of an autonomous driving function of a vehicle in the autonomous driving system according to the embodiment. 1 is a time chart showing an example of distributed execution of specific target functions of an autonomous driving function. 3A to 3C are explanatory diagrams showing an example of autonomous driving of a vehicle in the autonomous driving system of the present embodiment. 5A to 5C are explanatory diagrams showing another example of autonomous driving of a vehicle in the autonomous driving system of the present embodiment. FIG. 11 is a sequence flow diagram showing another example of distributed execution of the autonomous driving function of a vehicle in the autonomous driving system according to the embodiment.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of an autonomous driving system according to this embodiment. The autonomous driving system of this embodiment includes an information processing device 10 provided in a mobile communication network. The information processing device 10 executes part of the autonomous driving function executed during autonomous driving of a vehicle 30, which is one or more moving bodies traveling on a road 90 as a vehicle movement route, on behalf of the vehicle 30. An in-vehicle device 31 is mounted on the vehicle 30. The autonomous driving system may include the information processing device 10 and the vehicle 30 to be autonomously driven.

Hereinafter, when multiple vehicles 30 and their on-board devices 31 are described to be distinguished from one another, they will be referred to as vehicles 30(1), 30(2), ... and on-board devices 31(1), 31(2), .... When describing configurations and controls common to multiple vehicles, they will be referred to as vehicles 30, and when describing configurations and controls common to multiple on-board devices, they will be referred to as on-board devices 31. Note that the example in FIG. 1 shows a case in which three vehicles 30(1) to 30(3) with autonomous driving functions, each having on-board devices 31(1) to 31(3), are traveling, but the number of vehicles 30 with autonomous driving functions may be one or two, or may be four or more.

The vehicle 30 is, for example, a car, truck, bus, motorcycle, etc. that travels on a road 90, which is a ground travel route. In this embodiment, the moving body to be automatically driven may be a ground vehicle, or a moving body such as an aircraft that can fly along a travel route in the air at a predetermined altitude. The moving body to be automatically driven may also be an underground moving body that travels along an underground travel route, an above-water moving body such as a ship that can travel along a travel route on water (e.g., on the sea), or an underwater moving body such as a submersible robot that travels along a travel route underwater (e.g., under the sea).

The in-vehicle device 31 of the vehicle 30 has one or more communication terminal devices as a communication unit that communicates with the outside. The communication terminal device of the in-vehicle device 31 is, for example, a user equipment (hereinafter referred to as "UE") that can be used as a subscriber to a mobile communication service. The UE may be a wireless communication device called a user terminal, terminal, terminal device, mobile station, mobile device, etc. The UE is provided in the in-vehicle device 31 (for example, a device incorporated as part of a navigation device) that is incorporated and installed in the vehicle 30. The UE may be a device that is carried by the user inside the vehicle 30.

The UE of the in-vehicle device 31 can communicate with the information processing device 10 via a base station 16 of a mobile communication network (cellular network) by a network communication method (for example, 3G, 4G, LTE, or next-generation NR method) which is a first communication method (hereinafter, communication by the network communication method is also referred to as "Uu communication"). The wireless network communication method of Uu communication may be, for example, a wireless communication method conforming to specifications such as Cat. M, Cat. NB, eMTC (enhanced Machine Type Communication), NB (Narrow Band)-IoT, which is an LTE version of LPWA (Low Power, Wide Area) or LPWAN (Low-Power Wide-Area Network) provided in the 4th generation mobile communication system of 3GPP. In addition, the wireless network communication method for Uu communication may be a wireless communication method that complies with specifications such as eMBB (enhanced Mobile Broadband), which is suitable for high-speed, large-capacity communication provided by next-generation mobile communication systems including the fifth generation, URLLC (Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications), which is suitable for ultra-reliable, low-latency communication, and MTC (massive Machine Type Communication), which is suitable for communication with a large number of terminals.

The in-vehicle device 31 may have a communication unit that performs direct wireless communication such as short-range D2D (Device-to-Device), V2V (Vehicle-to-Vehicle), and V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything). For example, the in-vehicle device 31 of the vehicle 30 may have a vehicle-to-vehicle communication function that performs wireless communication between vehicles using the PC-5 communication method illustrated in FIG. 1, or a road-to-vehicle communication function that performs wireless communication such as dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) with infrastructure equipment such as roadside devices installed on the roadside of the road 90, at intersections, in parking lots, etc.

For example, the in-vehicle device 31 of the vehicle 30 may perform wireless communication (hereinafter also referred to as "vehicle-to-vehicle communication") with other vehicles by a second communication method that does not go through a base station of a mobile communication network (cellular network). The second communication method is, for example, a Sidelink method (hereinafter also referred to as the "PC5 communication method" or the "PC-5 Sidelink method") that uses a PC-5 (hereinafter also referred to as "PC5") interface. The PC-5 interface is a D2D (Device to Device) interface that allows UEs to communicate directly with each other, between a UE and another device (e.g., a vehicle), between vehicles, or between a vehicle and another device without going through a base station, and has been standardized in 3GPP Release 12 and later. The PC5 communication method (Sidelink method) is a short-range wireless communication method that uses a PC-5 interface or the like to enable direct communication between UEs, between UEs and other devices (e.g. vehicles), between vehicles, or between vehicles and other devices in a relatively small area without going through a base station.

The information processing device 10 is, for example, a MEC (Multi-access Edge Computing) device provided in a base station 16 of the mobile communication network 15. The information processing device 10 consisting of an MEC device may be provided in a node between the base station 16 and the core network of the mobile communication network 15 or outside the core network. The information processing device 10 may also be provided in the core network of the mobile communication network 15 as indicated by the dashed line in the figure.

The base station 16 forms one or more cells (also called sectors or sector cells). The cells may be formed two-dimensionally on the ground or on the sea, or three-dimensionally from the sky toward the ground or sea. The cells may be macrocells, small cells, femtocells, picocells, large cells, etc. The multiple cells may form a cellular structure in which they are distributed adjacent to each other in a multi-two-dimensional or three-dimensional manner, or may form a hierarchical cell structure in which the cells overlap in part or in whole hierarchically. The base station 16 may be a macrocell base station, a small cell base station, a femtocell base station, a picocell base station, a large cell base station, a fixed base station fixedly installed on the ground, etc., a mobile base station that can move on the ground, on the sea, in the sky, etc. The base station 16 may be a wireless communication device called an eNodeB (evolved Node B: eNB), a gNodeB (gNB), an en-gNodeB (en-gNB), an access point, etc.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of a main part of an autonomous driving system including the information processing device 10 according to this embodiment and an in-vehicle device 31 of a vehicle 30.
The information processing device 10 includes a function distribution execution unit 101 , a communication unit 102 , and an information storage unit (DB: database) 103 .

The function distribution execution unit 101 distributes and executes, on behalf of the vehicle 30, some of the autonomous driving functions executed during autonomous driving of the vehicle 30 traveling on the road 90. Unlike the control unit 313 provided in the on-board device 31 of the vehicle 30, the function distribution execution unit 101 can be configured using a computer device consisting of a CPU and GPU with high data processing capabilities for performing judgment processing involving advanced arithmetic processing and analysis processing without being restricted by manufacturing costs or installation space. On the other hand, the on-board device 31 of the vehicle 30 does not need to perform judgment processing involving advanced arithmetic processing and analysis processing, so it does not need to be equipped with a CPU or GPU with high data processing capabilities.

The communication unit 102 receives information necessary for the distributed execution of some of the functions of the autonomous driving function during autonomous driving of the vehicle 30 from the vehicle 30 via the base station 16 of the mobile communication network 15, for example by the aforementioned Uu communication, and transmits the results of the distributed execution of the some of the functions to the vehicle 30 via the base station 16 of the mobile communication network 15.

The information storage unit 103 stores information regarding the distributed execution of the autonomous driving function of the vehicle 30. For example, the information storage unit 103 stores, for each type (model and year) of the vehicle 30, autonomous driving assistance information (also referred to as "autonomous driving mapping information" or "autonomous driving assistance table information") indicating the relationship between the content of the autonomous driving function to be executed in the distributed manner, the delay request time required by the autonomous driving function, and the content of control when the autonomous driving of the vehicle 30 is stopped if the delay request time is not met.

The automatic driving function of the vehicle 30 may have multiple functional logics, such as an automatic parking function that automatically parks the vehicle in a specified parking space, an automatic driving function that controls the driving of the vehicle 30 so that the vehicle 30 safely drives on a road 90 such as an expressway, and an automatic emergency stop function that automatically stops the vehicle when a danger is detected in front, behind, or to the side. The automatic driving function of the vehicle 30 may also include, for each functional logic, an information acquisition function block that acquires information about the vehicle 30 or its surroundings, a judgment function block that judges the contents of the driving control including at least one of starting, steering, accelerating, decelerating, and stopping of the moving body based on the acquired information, and a driving control function block that controls the driving of the vehicle 30 based on the judgment result of the contents of the driving control. The part of the functions that are distributed and executed by the function distribution execution unit 101 may be a judgment function block among the multiple function blocks.

When the autonomous driving function of the vehicle 30 has multiple functional logics, the communication unit 102 of the information processing device 10 may receive the results of acquiring information about the vehicle or its surroundings from the vehicle 30 via the base station 16 of the mobile communication network 15, and transmit the judgment result of the content of the driving control to the vehicle 30 via the base station 16 of the mobile communication network 15.

The communication unit 102 of the information processing device 10 may determine a communication method to be used for communication with the vehicle 30 from among a plurality of communication methods having different transmission delay times and communication capacities based on at least one of a predetermined delay request time required by the autonomous driving function of the vehicle 30 and the data size of information transmitted to and received from the vehicle 30 during autonomous driving. Here, the plurality of communication methods may include the communication methods in the fourth generation mobile communication system described above (e.g., Cat.M, Cat.NB, eMTC, NB-IoT, which are LTE versions of LPWA or LPWAN), the eMBB communication method in next generation (NR) mobile communication systems including the fifth generation, and the URLLC communication method.

The function distribution execution unit 101 of the information processing device 10 may distribute the execution of any of the multiple function blocks based on at least one of the delay requirement time required by each of the multiple function blocks constituting the autonomous driving function and the data size of information transmitted to and received from the vehicle 30 during autonomous driving. Here, the information processing device 10 may distribute the execution of, for example, a function block of the multiple function blocks having a delay requirement time longer than the total time of the execution time of the function block and the round-trip communication time with the vehicle 30.

Furthermore, among the multiple functions (functional logic) included in the autonomous driving function, a highly important function that needs to be executed even if communication with the vehicle 30 is cut off (for example, an automatic stop function for the vehicle 30 in the event of a danger) may be executed in its entirety by the vehicle 30, rather than a portion of the function being executed in a distributed manner by the information processing device 10.

In FIG. 2 , the in-vehicle device 31 of the vehicle 30 includes a NW communication unit 311 , a vehicle and surrounding information acquisition unit 312 , a control unit 313 , a storage unit 314 , and a proximity direct communication unit 316 .
The NW communication unit 311 is configured using, for example, the communication module and antenna of the UE described above, and transmits information required for distributed execution of part of the autonomous driving function on behalf of the vehicle 30 during autonomous driving of the vehicle 30 to the information processing device 10 via the base station 16 of the mobile communication network 15 by the above-mentioned Uu communication. In addition, the NW communication unit 311 receives the result of distributed execution of the part of the function from the information processing device 10 via the base station 16 of the mobile communication network 15.

The control unit 313 is composed of, for example, a processor such as a CPU or GPU, a RAM, a ROM, an I/O interface, etc., and controls the driving unit 32 to execute the remaining functions of the autonomous driving function based on the results of the distributed execution of the partial functions by reading and executing a predetermined control program. The driving unit 32 is an engine or motor of the vehicle body, a braking device, a steering device, etc.

The vehicle and surrounding information acquisition unit 312 includes, for example, a camera device as an imaging means for capturing video or still images of the surroundings, and a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiver as a current position acquisition means for locating the current position of the vehicle. The vehicle and surrounding information acquisition unit 312 also includes a speed sensor for detecting the speed of the vehicle 30, and an acceleration sensor for detecting the acceleration of the vehicle 30. The vehicle and surrounding information acquisition unit 312 may also include a radar device that uses infrared light, visible light, ultrasonic waves, or electromagnetic waves to detect objects such as surrounding vehicles and pedestrians, a Lidar (light detection and ranging) device, or the like.

The memory unit 314 stores information to be transmitted to the information processing device 10 (e.g., information required for distributed execution of some of the functions of the autonomous driving function), information received from the information processing device 10 (e.g., information on the results of distributed execution of some of the functions of the autonomous driving function), and information acquired by the vehicle and surrounding information acquisition unit 312 (e.g., image data of still or video images of the surrounding area, speed data, surrounding object detection data), etc.

The proximity direct communication unit 316 is composed of a predetermined communication module, antenna, etc., and performs proximity direct communication such as the aforementioned vehicle-to-vehicle communication and road-to-vehicle communication.

FIG. 3 is a sequence flow diagram showing an example of distributed execution of the autonomous driving function of the vehicle 30 in the autonomous driving system according to this embodiment.
In FIG. 3, when the engine of the drive unit 32 of the vehicle 30 is started (S101), the in-vehicle device 31 executes an initial connection process with the information processing device 10, reads out from the memory unit 314 subscriber information for the mobile communication service that has been pre-registered for the communication terminal device (UE) of the in-vehicle device 31, and transmits it to the information processing device 10 via the base station 16 (S102, S103).

Based on the subscriber information received from the in-vehicle device 31 of the vehicle 30 at the time of initial connection, the information processing device 10 refers to the user database stored in the information storage unit 103 and identifies the type (model and year) of the vehicle 30. In the user database, for example, subscriber information pre-registered for the UE of the owner or user of the vehicle 30 and the type (model and year) of the vehicle 30 are stored in association with each other.

Next, based on the identified type of vehicle 30, the information processing device 10 refers to the autonomous driving assistance table stored in the information storage unit 103 as autonomous driving assistance information (S104), and transmits the contents of some of the functions to be executed in a distributed manner corresponding to the type of vehicle 30, the delay request time, and the contents of control when autonomous driving is stopped to the in-vehicle device 30 of the vehicle 30 via the base station 16 (S105, S106).

As shown in Table 1, the autonomous driving assistance table stores, for each of multiple types (models and years) of vehicle 30, the contents of some of the autonomous driving functions of vehicle 30 that are distributed and executed by information processing device 10, the delay time required by some of the functions, and the contents of control when autonomous driving is stopped, in association with each other.

Next, the in-vehicle device 31 of the vehicle 30 periodically executes a process of transmitting vehicle information, including the current position information of the vehicle, to the information processing device 10 and estimating a transmission delay time between the vehicle and the information processing device 10 (S107 to S111). For example, the in-vehicle device 31 of the vehicle 30 estimates a transmission delay time of communication with the information processing device 10 based on a timestamp when the vehicle information is transmitted and a timestamp when an acknowledgement (ACK) for the vehicle information is received, and stores the estimated transmission delay time.

Next, when the time arrives to execute any one of the multiple functions (functional logic) included in the autonomous driving function (hereinafter referred to as the "target function"), the in-vehicle device 31 refers to the autonomous driving assistance table in Table 1 for the target function and the type of vehicle, and determines whether the estimated transmission delay time is equal to or less than a threshold value corresponding to the delay requirement time required by the target function (for example, 1.0 s if the target function is function A in Table 1) (S112).

If the estimated transmission delay time is equal to or less than the threshold value corresponding to the delay requirement time required by the target function (YES in S112), the in-vehicle device 31 performs a recognition process to acquire information (hereinafter referred to as "input data") required for distributed execution of the target function in the information processing device 10 as shown in recognition function block F101 in FIG. 4 (S113), and transmits the acquired input data to the information processing device 10 via the base station 16 (S114, S115). For example, when the target function is function A in Table 1, the input data is a camera image, speed, acceleration, and brake information.

Based on the input data received from the in-vehicle device 31, the information processing device 10 performs a judgment process to judge whether or not to execute the target function in the vehicle 30 as shown in the judgment function block F102 in FIG. 4 (S116), and transmits the judgment result to the in-vehicle device 31 of the vehicle 30 via the base station 16 (S117, S118). Here, the judgment result may include vehicle control information such as braking information of the vehicle 30.

Here, a communication method corresponding to the type of vehicle 30 and the target function (for example, in the case of vehicle type A and target function A in Table 1, the aforementioned LTE communication method or eMBB communication method) is used to send and receive the input data and the judgment result.

The in-vehicle device 31 of the vehicle 30 executes vehicle control to control the vehicle 30 (e.g., the drive unit 32) based on the judgment result received from the information processing device 10, as shown in the vehicle control function block F103 of FIG. 4 (S119).

If the estimated result of the transmission delay time in step S112 is greater than the threshold value corresponding to the delay request time required by the target function (NO in S112), the autonomous driving function cannot be executed, so the in-vehicle device 31 controls the vehicle 30 (e.g., the drive unit 32) to automatically stop the vehicle 30 in a safe place on the road 90 (e.g., the shoulder) (S120). After the vehicle 30 is automatically stopped in a safe place on the road 90, the in-vehicle device 31 may switch from the autonomous driving mode to a manual driving mode in which some or all of the autonomous driving functions are performed manually. In addition, after the vehicle 30 is automatically stopped in a safe place on the road 90, the in-vehicle device 31 of the vehicle 30 may continue to periodically transmit vehicle information and estimate the transmission delay time, and when it is determined that the condition of the delay request time is met based on the estimated result of the transmission delay time, the autonomous driving of the vehicle 30 may be resumed.

In FIG. 4, time n1 is the execution time of the recognition function block F101 in the in-vehicle device 31, time n3-n2 is the execution time of the judgment function block F102 in the information processing device 10, and time n5-n4 is the execution time of the vehicle control function block F103 in the in-vehicle device 31. In addition, time n2-n1 in FIG. 4 is the transmission delay time when input data is transmitted from the in-vehicle device 31 to the information processing device 10, and time n4-n3 is the transmission delay time when the judgment result is transmitted from the information processing device 10 to the in-vehicle device 31. The aforementioned estimated transmission delay time corresponds to the round-trip transmission delay time (n2-n1)+(n4-n3) in FIG. 4.

5(a) to (c) are explanatory diagrams showing an example of automatic driving (basic operations during automatic parking) of the vehicle 30 in the automatic driving system of this embodiment.
In FIG. 5(a), a vehicle 30(1) to be driven autonomously stops just before a target parking space 95s in a parking lot 95, captures images of the surrounding environment using an omnidirectional camera device in an in-vehicle device 31, and uploads and transmits the image data to an information processing device 10 as input data.

Next, in FIG. 5(b), the information processing device 10 judges and determines braking information related to the operation for parking the vehicle 30(1) in the target parking space 95s based on the image data uploaded from the vehicle 30(1). For example, the information processing device 10 determines the braking information by calculating the travel route of the vehicle 30(1) until it is parked in the parking space 95s, the travel distance on the timeline, the operation of the steering wheel, and the like. The information processing device 10 downloads and transmits the braking information as the judgment result to the in-vehicle device 31 of the vehicle 30(1).

Next, in FIG. 5(c), the in-vehicle device 31 of the vehicle 30(1) automatically controls the operation of the vehicle 30(1) based on the braking information downloaded from the information processing device 10. This allows the vehicle 30(1) to move to the target parking space 95s and park in the correct predetermined orientation.

6(a) to (c) are explanatory diagrams showing another example of the automatic driving (hazard avoidance operation during automatic parking) of the vehicle 30 in the automatic driving system of this embodiment.
In FIG. 6( a), a vehicle 30(1) to be driven autonomously stops just before a target parking space 95s in a parking lot 95, and constantly uses a sensor (e.g., a radar device, a lidar device) to detect whether nearby pedestrians or other objects such as other vehicles 30(2) and 30(3) are moving, and uploads and transmits the sensor detection data to the information processing device 10 as input data.

Next, in FIG. 6(b), the information processing device 10 judges whether the movements of the surrounding objects are within the expected range based on the sensor detection data uploaded from the vehicle 30(1). Here, if the information processing device 10 detects that the surrounding object (vehicle 30(3) in the illustrated example) is moving outside the expected range, the information processing device 10 downloads and transmits braking information, including a brake command for the vehicle 30(1) that has started to move, as the judgment result to the in-vehicle device 31 of the vehicle 30(1).

Next, in FIG. 6(c), the in-vehicle device 31 of the vehicle 30(1) automatically controls the operation of the vehicle 30(1) to brake the vehicle 30(1) based on the braking information downloaded from the information processing device 10. This allows the vehicle 30(1) to avoid a collision with the vehicle 30(3) that is exiting the parking space when the vehicle 30(1) is attempting to move to the target parking space 95s.

Figure 7 is a sequence flow diagram showing another example of distributed execution of the autonomous driving function of the vehicle 30 in the autonomous driving system according to this embodiment. Figure 7 shows an example in which the in-vehicle device 31 estimates the transmission delay time based on weak signal area information downloaded from the information processing device 10. Note that S201 to S206 in Figure 7 are similar to S101 to S106 in Figure 3, and S212 to S220 in Figure 7 are similar to S112 to S120 in Figure 3, so their explanations are omitted.

In the autonomous driving assistance table of the information processing device 10 in the example of Figure 7, as illustrated in Table 2, in addition to the items in Table 1 described above, a column for specifying whether the vehicle 30 downloads weak signal area information from the information processing device 10 has been added. If the weak signal area information column is "○", the vehicle 30 downloads weak signal area information on the route from the current position to the destination from the information processing device 10. In addition, the information processing device 10 has a map database that includes weak signal area information acquired in advance by surveying areas to be managed.

In FIG. 7, the vehicle-mounted device 31 of the vehicle 30 receives the contents of some of the functions to be executed in a distributed manner corresponding to the type of the vehicle, the delay request time, and the contents of the control when the automatic driving is stopped, and then transmits the vehicle information including the current position information of the vehicle and the destination information to the information processing device 10 via the base station 16 (S207, S208). The information processing device 10 refers to the map database based on the current position information and destination information of the vehicle 30 in the automatic driving assistance table, and transmits the weak electric field area information on the route from the current position of the vehicle 30 to the destination to the vehicle-mounted device 31 of the vehicle 30 via the base station 16 (S209, S210).

The in-vehicle device 31 periodically estimates the transmission delay time of communication with the information processing device 10 based on the current location information and the weak signal area information received from the information processing device 10, and stores the estimated transmission delay time (S211).

In the example of Figure 7, the transmission delay time can be estimated without using a timestamp when transmitting and receiving information with the information processing device 10, so the data processing load on the in-vehicle device 31 of the vehicle 30 can be further reduced.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the information processing device 10 executes, on behalf of the vehicle 30, a part of the automatic driving function executed during automatic driving of the vehicle 30 in a distributed manner based on information received from the vehicle 30 via the mobile communication network 15, and transmits the result of the distributed execution of the part of the function to the vehicle 30 via the mobile communication network 15, so that the vehicle 30 can execute the remaining functions of the automatic driving function. In this way, the vehicle 30 and the information processing device 10 can cooperate with each other through communication via the mobile communication network to execute the entire automatic driving function of the vehicle, and the information processing device 10 executes, on behalf of the vehicle 30, a part of the automatic driving function executed during automatic driving of the vehicle 30 in a distributed manner, thereby reducing the configuration of the vehicle 30 for automatic driving, and thus reducing the cost of the vehicle 30 having the automatic driving function.

The processing steps described in this specification and the components of the communication terminal device (UE), base station, information processing device, server, MEC device, and communication system can be implemented by various means. For example, these steps and components may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof.

For hardware implementation, the processing units and other means used to realize the above steps and components in an entity (e.g., various wireless communication devices, eNode B, terminals, hard disk drive devices, or optical disk drive devices) may be implemented in one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processors (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, electronic devices, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, computers, or combinations thereof.

Also, for firmware and/or software implementations, the means such as processing units used to realize the above components may be implemented with programs (e.g., codes such as procedures, functions, modules, instructions, etc.) that perform the functions described herein. In general, any computer/processor readable medium tangibly embodying firmware and/or software codes may be used to implement the means such as processing units used to realize the above steps and components described herein. For example, the firmware and/or software codes may be stored in a memory and executed by a computer or processor, for example in a control device. The memory may be implemented inside the computer or processor or external to the processor. The firmware and/or software code may also be stored in a computer or processor readable medium, such as, for example, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), FLASH memory, floppy disks, compact disks (CDs), digital versatile disks (DVDs), magnetic or optical data storage devices, etc. The code may be executed by one or more computers or processors and may cause the computers or processors to perform certain aspects of the functionality described herein.

The medium may be a non-transitory recording medium. The program code may be in any format as long as it can be read and executed by a computer, processor, or other device or machine, and the format is not limited to a specific format. For example, the program code may be any of source code, object code, and binary code, or may be a mixture of two or more of these codes.

Moreover, the description of the embodiments disclosed herein is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present disclosure. Various modifications to the present disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. Thus, the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the examples and designs described herein, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

10: Information processing device 15: Mobile communication network 16: Base station 30: Vehicle 31: In-vehicle device 32: Drive unit 90: Road 95: Parking lot 95s: Parking space 101: Function distribution execution unit 102: Communication unit 103: Information storage unit 311: NW communication unit 312: Peripheral information acquisition unit 313: Control unit 314: Storage unit 316: Proximity direct communication unit

Claims (12)

A vehicle capable of autonomous driving,
A means for transmitting information required for a function of determining the content of driving control of the moving body, which is a part of an automatic driving function of the moving body, to an external device via a communication network, on behalf of the moving body, in a distributed manner;
receiving a determination result of the content of the driving control of the moving body from the external device via the communication network;
A means for executing a driving control function for controlling the driving of the moving body based on the content of the driving control of the moving body;
A mobile body comprising: A vehicle capable of autonomous driving,
a means for transmitting information required for executing a function of determining the operation control content of the moving body on behalf of the moving body to an external device via a communication network;
a means for receiving a determination result of the operation control content of the moving object from the external device via the communication network;
and executing a driving control function for controlling the driving of the moving body based on the received judgment result,
A mobile body, wherein a function of determining the driving control content of the mobile body is part of an automatic driving function of the mobile body. The moving object transmits the information to the external device during automatic driving.
3. A moving body according to claim 1 or 2. In the moving body according to any one of claims 1 to 3 ,
A mobile body that executes, among a plurality of functions included in the autonomous driving function, a function of high importance that needs to be executed even when communication with the external device is interrupted. The moving body according to claim 4 ,
A mobile body, wherein the function with high importance is an automatic stop function when a danger occurs to the mobile body. In the moving body according to any one of claims 1 to 5 ,
The automatic driving function includes an information acquisition function block that acquires information about the moving body or its surroundings, a judgment function block that judges the content of driving control including at least one of starting, steering, accelerating, decelerating, and stopping of the moving body based on the acquired information, and a driving control function block that controls driving of the moving body based on the judgment result of the content of the driving control,
the part of the functions executed in a distributed manner by the external device is the determination function block,
A mobile body comprising: a means for transmitting the results of acquiring information about the mobile body or its surroundings to the external device via the communication network; and a means for receiving the results of determining the content of the driving control from the external device via the communication network. In the moving body according to any one of claims 1 to 6 ,
A mobile body that distributes execution of any of the multiple functional blocks based on at least one of the delay time required by each of the multiple functional blocks that constitute the autonomous driving function and the data size of information transmitted and received between the mobile body during autonomous driving . The moving body according to claim 7 ,
A mobile body, wherein among the plurality of functional blocks, a functional block whose delay requirement time is longer than the sum of the execution time of the functional block and the round-trip communication time between the functional block and the external device is executed in a distributed manner by the external device, and the remaining functional blocks are executed in a distributed manner by the mobile body. In the moving body according to any one of claims 1 to 8 ,
A means for receiving, from the external device, control details for stopping automatic operation of the mobile body at the time of initial connection from the mobile body to the external device;
a means for transmitting moving object information including location information of the moving object to the external device;
means for estimating a transmission delay time of communication with the external device based on a timestamp when the mobile object information is transmitted and a timestamp when a receipt confirmation for the mobile object information is received;
a means for transmitting, to the external device, information required for the distributed execution of the part of the functions when it is determined that the delay request time condition is satisfied based on the estimated result of the transmission delay time, and receiving, to the external device, a result of the distributed execution of the part of the functions;
a means for executing control for stopping the automatic operation when it is determined that the delay request time condition is not satisfied based on the estimated transmission delay time;
A mobile body comprising: The moving body according to claim 9 ,
The control when the automatic driving is stopped is a control for automatically stopping the moving body at a safe place on the moving path. The moving body according to claim 10 ,
A moving body comprising a means for switching to a manual driving mode in which some or all of the automatic driving functions are performed manually after the moving body automatically stops at a safe location on the moving path. The moving body according to claim 10 ,
means for periodically and continuously executing transmission of the moving object information and estimation of the transmission delay time after automatically stopping the moving object at a safe place on the moving path;
a means for resuming automatic operation of the moving body when it is determined that the delay request time condition is satisfied based on the estimated transmission delay time;
A mobile body comprising :

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