WO2018050178A1

WO2018050178A1 - Method for improving road safety

Info

Publication number: WO2018050178A1
Application number: PCT/DE2017/200083
Authority: WO
Inventors: Michael SCHULMEISTER; Thomas Reisinger
Original assignee: Continental Teves Ag & Co. Ohg; Continental Automotive Gmbh
Priority date: 2016-09-14
Filing date: 2017-08-22
Publication date: 2018-03-22
Also published as: DE112017003673A5; DE102016217531A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for improving road safety, particularly for vulnerable road users (VRU), comprising the following steps: performing at least one radio measurement by means of ultra-wideband radio technology (UWB) between at least one radio station (4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4) of a vehicle (1) and a mobile radio transmitter (5) of a road user (2), and calculating the position of the mobile radio transmitter (5) by means of at least one computing unit of the vehicle (1) based on the radio measurement; and using the calculated position of the mobile radio transmitter (5) to calculate probabilities of danger. The invention further relates to a radio device of a vehicle, to the use of the radio device in a vehicle, and to a radio-based localisation system.

Description

Procedure for improving traffic safety

The present invention relates to a process for the verb ^¬ provement of traffic safety, particularly of vulnerable road users, a radio device, the use of the radio device in a vehicle and a radio-based location system.

The extensive measures of passive safety and active safety systems have led to a significant improvement in occupant safety. Such measures do not provide comparable added value for the protection of Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs). Correspondingly, the number of weaker road users killed was only moderately reduced and is therefore becoming more and more the focus of vehicle safety development. Another influencing factor is the demographic change, which shows that it is increasingly causing accidents with older cyclists is coming. These VRUs are part of the traffic, and although at least cyclists are more and more wearing a safety helmet, they do not have a "crash zone".

Active pedestrian protection systems based on radar, camera and impact detection help to reduce traffic accidents with VRUs and mitigate the consequences of accidents. They are a big step forward in pedestrian protection, but they can not solve all the VRU standard situations in the city center: compared to vehicles, pedestrians usually do not move on the road and can suddenly appear on the road. In addition, for example, cyclists move differently than cars or trucks - they drive between cars, overtake from the right, drive on one-way streets. At speeds above 30km / h, critical driving situations can occur with VRUs (also groupings), which in less than optimal visibility conditions (eg at night, at Rain or masking etc.) are detected too late or not at all, with the current technology can not be safely prevented. For automated driving in higher degrees of automation (eg city driving), the integration of the VRUs in the relevant range into the driving strategy and safety systems becomes an essential component. Preventive protection systems can protect vulnerable road users more than purely passive measures, such as deployable bonnets in the event of a pedestrian collision. By means of environmental sensors in the vehicle, pedestrians or cyclists can be detected from an imminent collision, and preventive measures such as autonomous braking intervention can prevent the accident or at least significantly reduce the impact speed. However, a prerequisite for the detection of vulnerable road users by these environmental sensors is a sufficient line of sight to the other road users. If this is not guaranteed, then the protection system can not be activated in time. Poor visual contact is caused by "classic" occlusions but also by unfavorable weather conditions.

Cooperative sensor technologies, such as Vehicle-to-X (V2X) technology, offer the opportunity to overcome these limitations. Integrated into the new cooperative security network ^¬ the VRUs can be recognized even though they are not yet in view of the driver. Especially at speeds over 30km / h and poor visibility conditions, the driver could be warned earlier and autonomous driving interventions triggered in time to avoid a threatening collision. At the same time, the cooperative sensors can seamlessly transition to existing ones Environment sensor-based systems are used. These can be supported to improve object recognition reliability and robustness. Results from research projects such as Ko-FAS, simTD and AMULETT have already demonstrated the positive benefits of cooperative involvement of all road users in the network. In this case, the movement path of the VRU can be recognized and from the way and the direction of movement tailor-made action concepts for the incoming vehicle, but also the VRU be implemented. However, this requires accurate and robust localization of VRUs and communication with the vehicle performing the protection action. For vehicles there are solutions for powerful Eigenlo ^¬ calization. However, pedestrians and cyclists have other framework conditions that prevent immediate transferability of such approaches. Also, self-locating solutions are unsuitable for example by the currently most powerful smartphones because they provide inaccurate, insecure and unreliable position information for this application.

The following basic scenarios arise in the question of possible system approaches for localizing weaker road users in order to expand the protective measures of this grouping:

• Self-localization by VRU

• Localization of the VRU via the infrastructure

· Localization of the VRU via ADAS sensors (also from others

vehicles)

Relative localization of the VRU from the ego vehicle The idea of self-localization is based on locating using GNSS data to determine your own absolute position. This position can then either be transmitted directly to the corresponding vehicle via ad-hoc communication, or the position data is loaded into a back-end system in a corresponding cloud and made available to the vehicle from there. The problem with determining the position via GNSS data, however, is the inaccuracy of up to 20m, which is insufficient for the application for the protection of weaker road users. In addition, there are even higher latencies on the one hand when updating the position data and on the other hand when transmitting the position data to the corresponding vehicle.

The localization of the infrastructure in the urban city area is another possibility. Transport systems in the field of road crossings are, for example, equipped with camera technology and thus can lo ^¬ kalisieren and share this information again via an ad-hoc network with relevant vehicles to other road users. For this scenario, a large-scale equipment of the infrastructure (traffic systems) is necessary. In the foreseeable future, however, a nationwide conversion of the traffic systems is not expected, which is why this variant will probably not develop its effectiveness sufficiently quickly.

A similar approach is not to take traffic over the infrastructure, but directly with vehicles and their ADAS sensors. Safety-critical information, as long as you are in the field of view of the ADAS sensors, could be transmitted to other vehicles in the V2X context, for example. A disadvantage of this scenario is that again only information about visible road users - but at least from different local positions out - can be shared with other vehicles. _π

5

The relative location of weaker road users consists of the following essential components: The relevant road users have a transponder, also called an active TAG. In the simplest case, another transponder is installed in each vehicle. By exploiting a suitable radio technology, the weaker road user can then be detected with sufficient accuracy via a corresponding localization method. Using the same radio technology or another ad-hoc network, further information about the road user such as classification, movement intension, speed and much more can be obtained. be transferred anonymously. Based on this information, intelligent driver assistance functions with possible warning cascades can be developed. Such a system is also called a cooperative VRU protection system.

It is considered important that a relatively localizing security system should meet certain requirements. For example, the transmission of position and context information from the VRU to the vehicle requires a high degree of data security. It must be ensured that no faulty data is fed into the system, but also that data can not be tapped by third parties. This is also important in terms of the privacy of the VRU, as it has to divulge as much of itself as is necessary for the localization action. Requirements for localization include, for example, reliability and accuracy with which the position is determined, but also the availability of position information, which among other things is composed of range and timing. For example, research results suggest a target range of no more than 100m to adequately protect both pedestrians and cyclists, while latency should be under 100ms in time-critical situations. To the .

b

In addition to supporting reliability, a fail-safe mechanism should be implemented on both the vehicle and the VRU side, which detects failures and misinformation of the system and communicates these to the respective user. Furthermore, the communication with all these requirements should not be limited to a VRU, but multi-user suitable. This means that the system should be able to communicate with a group of VRUs and recognize from this group the one critical for which a warning in the vehicle (or possibly on the VRU side) is necessary. In order to achieve the interoperability and dissemination of such a system, it is further appropriate to allow standardization of this interface.

Various cooperative technologies provide the ability to perform relative localization, but some standards are limited in their definition of achievable accuracy or availability. An important criterion in the selection of the appropriate technology is often time, such as La ^¬ tenzzeit, connection time or achievable time resolution. In order to cope with the complexities of urban traffic, information must be transmitted in fractions of a second and the situation must be identified so that an action can be taken in the vehicle and the VRU protected in the event of danger. For example, Bluetooth Low Energy has a significantly reduced latency and connection time compared to classic Bluetooth. Along with reduced power consumption, the technology provides much that is expected for relative localization. Especially for time-based localization methods such as Round Trip Time of Flight (RToF) or Time Difference of Arrival (TDoA), the low bandwidth of Bluetooth is an exclusion criterion. With only 2 MHz per channel, no exact recording of the time stamp is possible and therefore no accurate relative location with the above methods. _η

The WLAN standard IEEE 802.11ac, for example, allows a larger bandwidth. The standard's 20 MHz wide channels can be combined up to 160 MHz, providing a basis for recording more accurate timestamps than would be possible with Bluetooth Low Energy. The big disadvantage of this standard is the connection time. In urban environments, hundreds of VRU connections need to be built and dropped in no time to get in touch with all the VRUs you need. Like many other WLAN standards, however, 802.11ac relies on an association and authentication process that requires data exchange from multiple packets. If packets are lost during this process, they must be restarted, which makes the connection time non-deterministic and the standard useless for localization applications.

This problem has been resolved in IEEE 802.11p by removing the need for a connection setup in this standard. Much more are the devices in a kind of broadcasting mode and can determine the position of the VRU without losing time in the connection. Although the bandwidth limited to 30 MHz in the EU for road safety applications severely limits the possible resolution accuracy, unlike the other standards, this bandwidth is dedicated to V2X communication and is not used by other applications. This makes communication less likely. In the short or medium term further WLAN standards will be published, which also have interesting properties for a relative localization. Sun operates the presented early in 2016 halow standard in the 900 MHz band, which - compared to other standards in the 2.4 GHz (BLE) or 5-6 GHz (llac, 11p) spectrum operate particularly interesting physical properties towards ^¬ clear diffraction order Street corners and vehicles, as well as one lower attenuation by matter implies. As a result, distances of up to 1000m can be achieved, while other standards only max. Cover 400m (11p). It remains to be seen whether the association and authentication process will be adopted, which would cause the same disadvantages as with 802.11ac. Also in early 2016, standardization was started on the 802.11az standard, which is considered "Next Generation Positioning", with improved absolute and relative localization and better timing.

EP16465522.7, which is not yet published on the definitive priority of the present application, describes a method for determining the position of a mobile radio station, in particular a VRU, by a vehicle, in which radio measurements are carried out between a plurality of radio stations and the mobile radio station, wherein one of the radio stations is the vehicle. In the respective radio measurements, a respective distance between the respective radio station and the mobile radio station is determined, and then the radio stations exchange data with each other concerning the position of the mobile radio station and its own positions, by means of which the position of the mobile radio station relative to the vehicle is determined. The object of the invention is to provide improved protection for road users, in particular so-called vulnerable road users (VRU).

This object is achieved by a method according to claim 1, a radio device according to claim 12 and a radio-based localization system according to claim 14. Advantageous embodiments can be taken, for example, the dependent claims. The content of the claims is made by express reference to the content of the description. "

y

The invention relates to a method for improving road safety, in particular of vulnerable Strassmann Enver ^¬ road users (VRU), comprising the steps of:

Performing at least a radio measurement using ultra wideband radio technology (UWB) between a radio station of a vehicle and a mobile radio station of a traffic participant Ver ^¬, and

Calculating the position of the mobile radio station by means of at least one computing unit of the vehicle based on the radio measurements

Using the calculated position of the mobile station for the calculation of probabilities of the hazard.

By means of the inventive method, it is possible that a vehicle determines the position of a mobile radio station of an Ver ^¬ traffic participant and taken into account on the basis of the probabilities of the risk for further driving actions, whereby the safety of traffic participants - including the occupant of the process executing the vehicle - are considerably improved can. Conveniently, the results of the hazard probabilities may be used to determine the use of safety functions (cascade, brake, steer ...). For example, it can be determined as part of the calculation of the probabilities of the hazard, if there is a risk of collision between the vehicle and the mobile radio station. The risk is conveniently ^¬ advantageously for the radio station located at the leading Ver ^¬ road users as well as the vehicle or its occupants and possibly even be determined for other road users.

It should be understood that a radio station is typically understood to mean a unit which is a road user, in particular a vulnerable road user such as a pedestrian, a cyclist or a wheelchair user. driver, with you. This may, for example, be a mobile telephone, a transponder, a so-called TAG, a notebook, a tablet computer, a mobile hotspot or another device with corresponding functionality. A road user can according to the invention but also another vehicle, such as. be a car, motor cyclists, load ^¬ station wagons or vans.

Is under a radio station other hand, associated with said vehicle mounted station understood which is not assigned to the mobile radio station itself, however, is involved in the determination of the position of the mobile radio station with the appropriate Funkmes ^¬ solutions. The invention is based on the idea that favored by the progressive integration in the semiconductor technology, which makes a cost-effective implementation possible, the ultra wideband radio technology (UWB) in the extremely cost-intensive vehicle industry for the wireless short-range communication is increasingly attractive. The UWB technology is based on the IEEE 802.15.4 standard. In this case, pulse-shaped radio signals with very high bandwidths> 500 MHz but low transmission powers are transmitted. The current regulation prescribes a power spectral density limit of -41.3 dBm / MHz at a maximum peak power of 0 dBm / 50 MHz (this corresponds to approximately -15 dBm channel power, comparable to the transmission power of a standard wireless key). These features are designed to ensure that primary services in the same frequency range are not disturbed. Due to the high bandwidth, the technology offers the potential of a very high spatial resolution of up to ± 10 cm and, on the other hand, it is robust against multipath propagation such as reflected signals, which is simple compared to narrowband radio technologies can be detected and distinguished, since the UWB signal, which is composed of 2 ns wide pulses, is not affected by re ^¬ inflected signal. It has been recognized that the UWB technology enables localization even in highly reflective environments or even in obscured objects that strongly attenuate the signal of the direct path compared to the reflected path, and due to these characteristics, in particular for the localization of weaker road users to improve their traffic safety is very well suited. It can also be regarded as advantageous that the calculations necessary for increasing traffic safety can be carried out on the vehicle side, which can usually provide the necessary computing power. This enables inconspicuous, cost-efficient and space-saving small mobile radio stations. This makes a rapid spread more likely. Preferably, a prioritization of several different road users is organized on the part of the vehicle on the basis of their entrained mobile radio stations, eg based on the classification, the distance, the Bewegungsstraj ectorie etc.

Due to the emission limits and therefore comparatively low transmission power, the range for the UWB signal transmission is typically less than 100 meters, and in particular Obj ect obscurations lead to further reduced ranges, since the level reserves for the occurring attenuation and diffraction effects may not be sufficient (For example, in the signal path, the human body effects a signal attenuation of typically 20-30 dB in the frequency range of 3.2 GHz to 10.2 GHz applicable by UWB; if there are no reflective objects, it can already be at distances less than 10 meters come to a signal failure). However, it has been recognized that the usual dynamic changes, especially in road traffic, can lead to a permanent signal failure. genwirk and still in the range of up to at least about 30 meters from a sufficient to good availability can be expected. According to a development, the vehicle has a plurality of radio stations by means of which radio measurements for determining the position of the mobile radio station are made. Preferably, two to five radio stations are provided in or on the vehicle.

According to a particularly preferred development of the invention, at least one radio station of the vehicle used for the radio measurement is also provided for a detection and / or localization of a radio key of an access system of the vehicle. This advantageously results in a high synergy potential for the use cases "keyless entry" and localization of road users, since a common UWB transmitting and receiving infrastructure could be used, which increases the probable use of the invention a fundamentally existing transceiver system can be used and the implementation of another system can be avoided, which allows rapid dissemination (even a software update of vehicles with corresponding vehicle access systems may be sufficient) or an access system is provided to provide the vehicle independent system.

A vehicle access system for localizing the radio key by means of a running time measurement is described for example in the not published at the relevant time of the present application 10 2015 216 331.8. A possible use of a vehicle access system to improve traffic safety in the context of the present invention has been but not recognized. The running time measurement of transmitted signals - as can be realized, for example, with UWB - is used in particular for protection against so-called relay attacks. The proximity of the radio key to the vehicle can therefore be determined reliably and not falsely, and thus this type of security gap can be closed. To enable high to ^¬ reliability of the access function under all conditions (ambient, Körperabschattungseffekte etc.), several UWB units will be provided in the vehicle expected. Currently, it is assumed that two to five of these units on a vehicle. By means of such a system, a location with respect to interior / exterior space discrimination and zone detection around the vehicle could be made possible by means of UWB technology. This approach is also beneficial against the backdrop of anticipated UWB technology integration in smartphones. Also, a large number of vehicle manufacturers are already preparing to integrate UWB technology for the next generation of access systems. A potential interoperability between vehicle and smartphone is of particular importance, as a smartphone could then simultaneously be used as a VRU identifier (mobile radio station). The present invention could thus advantageously make it possible to increase traffic safety, in particular for VRU, within a comparatively short time.

Preferably, the radio measurement is carried out at a frequency of about 4 GHz with a bandwidth of about 500 MHz, so that sufficient accuracy and range could already be determined.

According to one embodiment, in at least one radio measurement, a distance between the respective radio station and the mobile radio Radio station measured, this can be done in particular by means of running ^{¬ time} measurement and / or signal strength measurement.

According to one embodiment, in at least one radio measurement, an angle between the radio station and the mobile radio station is measured.

According to the invention, a distance measurement in conjunction with an angle measurement is provided for localized remote localization of a road user. According to a preferred embodiment, a plurality is performed on radio measurements by means of a plurality of radio stations of the vehicle, the position of the mobile radio station based on at least an angle between at least one respective radio station and the mobile radio station and at least a distance between about ^¬ least a respective radio station, and the mobile radio station is measured. The distance measurement can thus be combined in any way with angle measurements. However, an over-determination is also possible in principle, so that previous results can be made plausible or the accuracy and reliability can be improved. From the respective results of the distance measurement and the angle measurement, it is preferable to determine at least one intersection or one intersection, which is assumed and used as the calculated position of the road user. Also, only a distance measurement or an angle measurement can be provided. The angle measurement is preferably carried out by means of at least one time difference measurement (TDOA - Time Difference of Arrival). Further preferably, the distance measurement is performed by means of at least one run time measurement (RToF - Round Trip Time of Flight). Advantageously, by combining the distance measurement with an angle measurement, on the one hand, the accuracy and, on the other hand, the availability of determined position information can be improved, since advantages and disadvantages the respective method can be compensated and the determined values against each other can be plausibilized. In addition, therefore, no complicated synchronizations or calculation methods are needed, which would be a hindrance especially in time-critical traffic situations. For distance measurement, for example, only a wireless technology can be used. However, it should be understood that angles can also be measured or multiple radio technologies can be used for distance measurement.

Expediently, for Traj ektorienverfolgung the mo ^¬ bilen radio station, by means of a plurality of UWB measurements. As a result, for example, a movement prediction with higher accuracy can be achieved, which can be further improved by the use of digital filters, such as Kalman filter etc.

According to one embodiment, at least three radio measurements are performed. This corresponds to the procedure for a trilateration, although angle measurements can also be dispensed with in this case. In particular, in the case of the radio measurements, only respective distances between the respective radio station and the mobile radio station can be measured. This can be carried out in particular by means of running time measurement and / or by means of signal strength measurement. Since it is possible to dispense with the determination of angles, it is possible to dispense with the obstruction of corresponding necessary antennas or sensors, which can measure angles. This can save sensors. Preferably, the vehicle or the radio station and the mobile radio station each determine their own position. This can be done in particular by means of satellite navigation or by means of terrestrial radio networks. The position thus determined can be advantageous for supplementing or improving the Results of the radio measurement are used, in particular, if the mobile radio station and the radio station notify the respective positions. According to a development of the method is carried out to ^¬ additionally a recognition of the mobile radio station by means of a further radio network technology, in particular in accordance with a wireless (Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi, IEEE 802.11) LAN standard or vehicle-to-X communication, by means of a mobile radio network, by means of UHF, means BLE and / or by other Funkkommunikati ^¬ onstechniken. Preferably, in a first step, the mobile radio station is identified and / or localized by means of the further radio network technology, and in a further, the first subsequent step, a localization and / or recognition of the mobile radio station by means of UWB. Under detection in this sense, in particular the inclusion of a wireless communication of the mobile radio station with the vehicle and / or a different kind of perception of the Ver ^¬ kehrteilnehmers or the mobile radio station by means of radio network technology, for example by notifying a further road user / infrastructure to understand , Preferably, the further Funknetzwerktech ^¬ technology to a greater range for establishing a connection in the Ver ^¬ equal to UWB. By means of the further wireless network technology, in particular position-specific data can be exchanged or sent from the mobile radio station (road users) to the vehicle.

Due to the lower emission limits and thus transmission powers provided for the vehicle-to-X communication, the usual ranges achieved by means of UWB in urban areas are approximately 20-50 m, with a maximum value of approx. 100m is assumed. Due to the inventive combination of UWB and the other radio _{1 η}

Network technology already recognizes road users before UWB ranging is possible. This is for example a significant time advantage. However, since the Eigenloka ^¬ capitalization is particularly VRU often not sufficiently accurate, improved location accuracy can be achieved by UWB.

According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the further radio network technology for detecting the mobile radio station is also provided for a detection and / or localization of a radio key of an access system of the vehicle.

Maintaining the communication of the vehicle with the mobile radio station is preferably carried out even if the Lo ^¬ delocalization means UWB no longer possible or is not possible with sufficient accuracy. Advantageously, therefore the Traj can ektorienverfolgung of road users even in shadows or temporary leaving the UWB range area done, leave resulting in improved among others Be ^¬ wegungsprädiktionen in their expressiveness. For the movement tracking only by means of radio communication technology, in particular vehicle ad hoc networks or Car2X, a wide variety of options are known, which is why it should be dispensed with further statements in this regard.

According to a development, the vehicle additionally carries out measurements by means of respective environment sensors, in particular camera and / or radar and / or laser. The measurements of the environmental sensors can be used when calculating the position. Thus, an additional plausibility or an improvement in the accuracy of the detection can be achieved. , ₀

1 o

According to a development, the method further comprises the following steps:

Determining if there is a risk of collision between the vehicle and the mobile station, and

- In response to a detected risk of collision outputting a warning and / or performing a collision avoidance maneuver by the vehicle.

This can be reacted in a particularly preferred manner automatically to a detected risk of collision and a collision can be advantageously prevented. A collision avoidance maneuver may be, for example, braking or evading the vehicle. This can be carried out, for example, autonomously or automatically. However, it can also be issued a corresponding warning to the driver, which invites these to dodge or brake or otherwise points to the risk of collision or to the mobile radio station or the associated vulnerable road users.

The invention further relates to a radio device of a vehicle, comprising at least one UWB transceiver for transmitting and receiving UWB signals and at least one arithmetic unit, the radio device for a method according to at least one of the preferred embodiments of the invention configured in conjunction with at least one mobile radio station is. The radio device is also preferably designed for the use of at least one further radio network technology, in particular vehicle-to-X communication.

Preferably, the radio device is also designed to carry out a method for detecting and / or locating a radio key of an access system of a vehicle. The invention further relates to the use of the radio device according to the invention for carrying out the method according to the invention in a vehicle. According to a preferred embodiment, the vehicle has a plurality of radio stations for performing radio measurements by means of Ultra Wideband Radio Technology (UWB) according to the method according to the invention. The computing unit of the vehicle is preferably designed to calculate algorithms for locating the road user or road users and calculating probabilities of the hazard as well as the triggering of safety functions (warning cascades, braking, steering, etc.).

Furthermore, encompassed by the invention is a radio-based localization system for improving road safety, in particular of vulnerable road users (VRU) comprising at least one radio device according to claim 12 and a mobile radio station, wherein the mobile radio station comprises at least one UWB transmitting and / or receiving unit.

The invention relates to a non-volatile com ^¬ computer readable storage medium further containing program code that when executed a processor to execute a method of the invention. With regard to the method according to the invention can be made of all the described versions and variants. By means of the method according to the invention, it is also possible in particular to detect hidden vulnerable road users who are not recognizable by current environmental sensor-based protection systems. The described method is also usable for vehicle-to-vehicle localization in a similar manner. This may mean, for example, that the already mentioned radio station or mobile radio station is not assigned to a typical vulnerable road user such as a pedestrian, but to a vehicle such as a motor vehicle.

It should be further understood that the radio signals used by a mobile phone normally for communication with base stations of a mobile network can be used. This may help to avoid the installation of additional applications or the transmission of additional radio signals.

Some particularly advantageous embodiments of the invention are specified in the subclaims. Further preferred embodiments will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to figures. Embodiments of the invention may enable efficient contacting.

In a schematic representation show:

Fig. 1 shows an embodiment of a RToF measurement according to the

Invention,

Fig. 2 shows an embodiment of a TDOA measurement according to the

Invention,

Fig. 3 shows an embodiment of a combined RToF and

TDOA measurement according to the invention,

4 shows a preferred method for realizing a UWB

Communication protocol for TDOA and RToF measurements according to the invention, Fig. 5 shows an inventive embodiment of an identifier 5 of a road user 2 and vehicle-side transmitting / receiving modules 4.1 to 4.4 and

6 shows a preferred embodiment of the invention of an advantageous combination of UWB ranging and radio-frequency long-range technologies such as UHF, BLE or

WLAN, V2X wireless technology.

The method according to the invention is illustrated below with reference to the exemplary traffic situation illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. A vehicle 1 thereby moves in the direction of a moving traffic participant 2, for example a VRU, which is covered by a stationary vehicle 3 from direct visual contact with the moving vehicle 1. The respective associated arrows indicate the directions of movement. The moving vehicle 1 has a plurality of transceivers 4.1 to 4.4 and the VRU 2 carries an identifier 5, which is designed as a transmitting and / or receiving unit, eg a smartphone, activity tracker, wristwatch, transponder, TAG, etc., with it. According to a preferred embodiment, the transceivers 4.1 to 4.4 are also used as receiving units of a vehicle access system. To Lo ^¬ delocalization the ultra wideband radio technology (UWB) is preferably used.

Hereinafter, a preferred method for local remote localization of a road user 2, for example, the VRU 2, described. According to the invention, a combination of a distance measurement and an angle measurement is provided in order to obtain an intersection point at which the position of the VRU 2 is correspondingly assumed. The distance measurement takes place, for example, by a running time measurement (RToF - Round Trip Time of flight) between the transceiver 5 of the VRU 2 and at least one of the transceivers 4.1 to 4.4 of the vehicle 1. Due to the availability of multiple transceivers 4.1 to 4.4, which are spaced from each other in or on the vehicle, to each of these transceiver 4.1 to 4.4 a running time measurement and thus a distance measurement are performed. The result is, as shown in FIG. 1, a number of projected areas 6 corresponding to the number of measurements taken, which represent probabilities of accommodation taking account of measurement uncertainties. In Fig. 1, these are shown by way of example as Kreisringausschnitte. The areas overlap one another and form a common interface surface 7 which may be regarded as the region of greatest probability of the VRU 2 From ^¬ level measurement.

In addition to the distance measurement, an angle measurement takes place, which is realized, for example, by a time difference measurement (TDOA - Time Difference of Arrival). In this case, a signal from the transceiver 5 is received by two of the transceivers 4.1 to 4.4 of the vehicle 1. Unlike the run time measurement, in which the absolute time is measured, the angle measurement is preferably the time difference between the arrival of the signal to a first transceiver, ex. 4.1, and the arrival at a second transceiver, bsp. 4.2, added. This results in projecting a hyperbolic surface 8 of equal time difference between the first and second receiving unit, which represents the potential location of the VRU 2, taking into account the uncertainties of measurement. In order to determine this time difference, the receiving units of the vehicle 1 are expediently time-synchronized. Further measurements of the time difference by means of the transceivers 4.1 to 4.4 of the vehicle 1 according to the above procedure result in further hyperbolic surfaces 8. The hyperbolic surfaces 8 overlap one another and form a common cut surface 9, which can be regarded as the area of greatest probability of residence of the VRU 2 from the angle measurement. A superimposition of the sectional areas of the distance measurement 7 and of the angle measurement 9, as shown in FIG. 3, results in a further limited sectional area as a representation of the region of the greatest probability of residence of the VRU. In this way, the remote localization of a road user 2 can be significantly improved, with measurement uncertainties in the single-digit centimeter range are considered realistic. The procedure or sequence of distance measurement and angle measurement may differ from those described by way of example.

In the case of the use of UWB, with a suitable implementation of the UWB protocol, the distance measurement and angle measurement can advantageously be linked in such a way that an angle measurement or TDOA measurement also takes place during each distance measurement or RToF measurement. The RToF and TDOA measurements may be plausible against each other during a localization process, which may result in improved localization performance than would be the case with separate measurement systems (eg installed at different locations in the vehicle). For example, in traffic situations with masking, for example as shown in Figures 1 to 3, to expect that at least only re ^¬ Plural signals are received a short time, which can negatively impact on the TDOA measurements and, at this very difficult or impossible is not recognizable. The RTOF measurement will produce only error concealment ^¬ situations which simulate a greater distance, which is comparatively easily recognizable (for example, will be allocated a higher quality with a series of distance measurements shorter values). Depending on the situation or measuring accuracy, the corresponding TDOA measurement results or the RToF measurement results can then be determined speaking more or less weighting will be granted in the localization.

Fig. 4 shows a preferred method for realizing the TDOA measurements. The application which can not be modified at the material time of the present application also describes a method that can be modified for this purpose. In a first step of the ranging cycle, the transceiver 5 of the traffic participant 2 sends out a message Ml. This is received by the receiving units of the transceivers 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4 of vehicle 1, each of the transceiver generates a reception time stamp RX of Ml (TDOA1: Ml.l, Ml.2, Ml.3, Ml.4). Subsequently, by means of the transceiver units Sendeein ^¬ 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, respectively a message M2.1, M2.2, M2.3, M2.4 emitted. These are received by receiving units of the transceiver 5, which each assign a reception time stamp RX and these reception time stamps of the messages M2.1, M2.2, M2.3, M2.4 as well as the transmission timestamps of the messages Ml and M3 in a message sent in turn Embed M3, which is received by the respective receiving units of the transceivers 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4 and each provided with reception time stamps RX (TDOA2: M3.1, M3.2, M3.3, M3.4). From the values thus obtained, a transit time measurement TOF1, TOF2, TOF3, TOF4 is carried out for each transceiver 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, and by means of trilateration localization of the traffic participant 2 relative to the vehicle 1 can take place.

5 shows a schematic representation of an exemplary embodiment of an identifier 5 of a road user 2, in particular of a VRU, and vehicle-side transceiver modules 4.1 to 4.4. The identifier 5 of the road user 2 has to ^¬ least a UWB transceiver and at least one 5.1

RF-LR (Radio Frequency-Long Range) transceiver 5.2, for example for:

UHF: e.g. 433 MHz or 868 MHz ISM band; up to approx. 1000m range

- BLE: Bluetooth Low Energy; up to 100m range; optimized for energy-efficient signal search and connection establishment - WLAN: Wireless LAN; up to several 100m range.

At least one vehicle-side transceiver module likewise has at least one UWB transceiver 4.1-1 and at least one RF-LR (Radio Frequency-Long Range) transceiver 4.1-2. For example, the transceivers 4.1 (4.1-1.4.1-2) to 4.4 can also be provided as transmitting and / or receiving units of a vehicle access system. The arrows illustrate the possible wireless communication relationships with each other. Preferably, the identifier 5 and the vehicle-side transceiver modules are configured to carry out the method described with reference to FIG.

In Fig. 6 a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown, whereby an advantageous interaction of the UWB ranging and the V2X communication or radio-frequency long-range technologies (RF-LR) is made possible. In this case, a related pairing-identifier 5-vehicle-side transceiver modules-can preferably be used in accordance with the exemplary embodiment described with reference to FIG. 5.

In a search operating mode 100.1 ("vehicle seeks identifier"), a V2X transceiver 5.2 - or TAG or transponder (in FIG. 6) assigned to a road user 2 sends out so-called beacons, which may contain movement information, Classification (eg pedestrians, cyclists, etc.) or other relevant data of the road user 2 may include. If a vehicle 1 receives at least one of the beacons, ie is in range of the wireless communication, by means of at least one vehicle-side transceiver 4.1 to 4.4 a message is sent, which receives the V2X transceiver 5.2 of the identifier 5 and includes information by means of to cause identifier 5 to change to a UWB ranging mode 100.2. The UWB operating mode is activated accordingly on the vehicle side in relation to this identifier 5.

In the UWB ranging mode 100.2 ("ranging mode"), a particular periodic localization of the identifier 5 takes place by means of ultra wideband radio technology (UWB) and preferably by means of the method described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 or at least the method described with reference to FIG. 1 or FIG 2 described method.

Receives the identifier 5 and the associated therewith UWB transceivers 5.1 replies to transmitted UWB messages from the subject vehicle 1 more, for example because a (temporary) shadowing is present, a change occurs in an operation mode 100.3 ( "Verbin ^¬ manure verification "), in which by means of V2X transceiver 5.2 Beacons are sent out. In this operating mode 100.3, the object relationship (pairing of the transponders) is obtained, ie the motion history of the identifier 5 is initially not lost from the perspective of the vehicle. If it can be maintained by means of V2X transceivers 5.2, 4.1-2 communication, so these are in range, is carried out according ent ^¬ Voice message by the vehicle 1 is trying to establish a UWB or pairing a renewed change to UWB ranging Mode 100.2. If a UWB-based pairing is again successfully established, ie switched to Ranging mode 100.2, a possible position or movement gap of the VRU 2 can be closed by a hypothetical assumed trajectory if necessary by means of appropriate vehicle-side algorithms. In particular, the movement history is obtained in operating mode 100.3 as long as a pairing can be maintained on ^¬ means V2X. Alternatively, this can be provided only for a defined period of time or a defined number of attempts to switch back to the ranging mode 100.2. If the connection of the pairing by means of the V2X transceivers in operating mode 100.3 is considered lost, a change to the search operating mode 100.1 takes place. The communication channel is thus free again for the establishment of a new communication pairing.

If, in the course of the procedure, it turns out that a feature or a group of features is not absolutely necessary, it is already desired on the applicant side to formulate at least one independent claim which no longer has the feature or group of features. This may, for example, be a subcombination of a claim present at the filing date or a subcombination of a claim limited by further features of a claim present at the filing date. Such newly formulated claims or feature combinations are to be understood as covered by the disclosure of this application. It should also be noted that embodiments, features and variants of the invention, which are described in the various embodiments or embodiments and / or shown in the figures, can be combined with each other as desired. Single or multiple features are arbitrary against each other interchangeable. Resulting combinations of features are to be understood as covered by the disclosure of this application. Recoveries in dependent claims are not to be understood as a waiver of obtaining independent, objective protection for the features of the dependent claims. These features can also be combined as desired with other features.

Features which are disclosed only in the description or features which are disclosed in the description or in a claim only in conjunction with other features may in principle be of independent significance to the invention. They can therefore also be included individually in claims to distinguish them from the prior art.

In general, it should be pointed out that vehicle-to-X communication in particular means direct communication between vehicles and / or between vehicles and infrastructure facilities and / or between vehicles and vulnerable road users and / or between vulnerable road users and infrastructure facilities. For example, this may be vehicle-to-vehicle communication or vehicle-to-infrastructure communication. If, in the context of this application, reference is made to communication between vehicles, this can in principle be carried out, for example, in the context of vehicle-to-vehicle communication, which typically takes place without being mediated by a mobile radio network or a similar external infrastructure and which is therefore the result of other solutions which, for example, build on a mobile network, is to be distinguished. For example, vehicle-to-X communication may be using the standards IEEE 802.11p or IEEE 1609.4. A vehicle-to-X communication can also be referred to as C2X communication. The subareas can be referred to as C2C (Car-to-Car) or C2I (Car-to-Infrastructure). However, the invention explicitly does not exclude vehicle-to-X communication with switching, for example via a mobile radio network.

Claims

Claims / Patent Claims

1. A method for improving road safety, in particular vulnerable road users (VRU), comprising the following steps:

Performing at least one radio measurement by means of Ultra Wideband Radio Technology (UWB) between at least one radio station (4.1.4.2.4.3.4.4) of a vehicle (1) and a mobile radio station (5) of a road user (2), and calculating the position of the mobile radio station ( 5) by means of at least one computing unit of the vehicle (1) based on the radio measurement

Taking the calculated position of the mobile radio station (5) for the calculation of probabilities of danger, wherein at least one used for the radio measurement radio station (4.1,4.2,4.3,4.4) of the vehicle (1) for a detection and / or localization of a radio key an access system of the vehicle (1) is provided.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the vehicle (1) has a plurality of radio stations (4.1,4.2,4.3,4.4) by means of which radio measurements for determining the position of the mobile radio station (5) are made.

3. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that for the radio measurement, a frequency of about 4 GHz at a bandwidth of about 500 MHz is used.

4. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one radio measurement, a distance between the respective radio station (4.1,4.2,4.3,4.4) and the mobile radio station (4) is measured, in particular by means of running time measurement or signal ^¬ strength measurement.

5. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one radio measurement, an angle between the respective radio station (4.1,4.2,4.3,4.4) and the mobile radio station (5) is measured.

6. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a plurality of radio measurements by means of a plurality of radio stations (4.1.4.2.4.3,4.4) of the

Is vehicle made wherein the position of the mobile radio station (5) based on at least an angle between at least one respective radio station (4.1,4.2,4.3,4.4) and the mobile radio station (5) and at least a distance between at least one per ^¬ weiligen radio station (4.1,4.2,4.3,4.4) and the mobile radio station (4) is measured.

7. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in addition a detection of the mobile radio station by means of another wireless network technology, in particular according to a wireless LAN standard (WLAN, Wi-Fi, IEEE 802.11) or vehicle-to-X communication by means of a mobile network, by means of UHF, by means of BLE and / or by means of other radio communication techniques, takes place.

8. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the further radio network technology for detecting the mobile radio station for a detection and / or localization of a radio key of a to ^¬ gang system of the vehicle is provided.

Method according to the preceding claim, characterized in that in a first step, the mobile radio station is detected and / or localized by means of the further radio network technology and in a further, the first subsequent step, localization and / or recognition of the mobile radio station by means of UWB becomes.

Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein with the vehicle (1) additionally measurements by means of respective environment sensors, in particular camera and / or

Radar and / or laser, and

wherein the measurements of the environment sensors in calculating the

Position can be used.

Method according to one of the preceding claims, which further comprises the following steps:

Determining whether there is a risk of collision between the vehicle (1) and the mobile radio station (5), and

in response to a detected risk of collision, issuing a warning and / or performing a collision avoidance maneuver by the vehicle (1).

Radio device of a vehicle, comprising at least one UWB transceiver for transmitting and receiving UWB signals and at least one arithmetic unit, characterized in that the radio device for carrying out a method according to at least one of the preceding claims in conjunction with a mobile radio unit, in particular a portable mobile phone , a tablet computer, a transponder, is designed.

13. Use of the radio device according to claim 12 in a vehicle (1).

14. A radio-based location system for improving traffic safety, in particular of vulnerable road users (VRU) comprising at least one radio device according to claim 12 and

a mobile radio, the mobile radio to ^¬ least includes a UWB transmitting and / or receiving unit.