Sensor information complementing system and sensor information complementing method

• US 10,175,664 B2
• Filed: 05/30/2012
• Issued: 01/08/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Oguma, Hisashi
• Primary Examiner(s): Aiello, Jeffrey
• Application Number:
  US14/122,184
• Publication Number:
  US 20140107812A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,414 Days
• Field of Search: 702188, 702189, 702104, 702127, 702181
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 1/16 giving a value which is a function of two or more values, e.g. product or ratio
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 3/10 with provision for switching-in of additional or auxiliary indicators or recorders
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric

Abstract

Sensor information is regularly acquired from a plurality of sensors and stored. For each of the sensors, other sensors whose information is correlated are selected. When sensor information of a sensor is requested from an application program or the like, while if the requested sensor is available the sensor information is acquired directly from the sensor, if the requested sensor is unavailable the sensor information of sensors relevant to the sensor is acquired and the sensor information of the requested sensor is estimated. As a result, in a system comprising a plurality of sensors, sensor information of an unavailable sensor will be estimated in a short period of time.

Claims

1. A sensor information complementing system, comprising:

a plurality of sensors, which are communicatively connected via a network in a vehicular system;

a processor configured to;

acquire sensor information from the plurality of sensors;

store sensor information regularly acquired from the plurality of sensors;

compare the stored information from one sensor of the plurality of sensors with stored information from the other sensors of the plurality sensors and determine which one or more other sensors of the plurality of sensors are correlated to the one sensor, the one or more other sensors being determined to correlate to the one sensor in response to measurement values of the one or more other sensors at a plurality of selected times being equal to measurement values of the one sensor at the plurality of selected times;

acquire actual sensor information of a target sensor of the plurality of sensors in response to a determination that the target sensor is available; and

acquire estimated sensor information of the target sensor of the plurality of sensors in response to a determination that the target sensor is unavailable so as to ensure acquiring of sensor information of the target sensor even when the target sensor is unavailable, the unavailable target sensor being the one sensor of the plurality of sensors, and the estimated sensor information being sensor information of the one or more other sensors of the plurality of sensors determined to correlate to the one sensor.

2. The sensor information complementing system according to claim 1, wherein the system is configured by a plurality of nodes each including at least one of the plurality of sensors, and the processor for exchanging information with other nodes,

the processor is capable of acquiring sensor information of a sensor belonging to another node from the another node and of providing sensor information of a sensor belonging to its own node to another node, and provides, to the another node, sensor information of a sensor belonging to its own node regularly acquired by the processor,

the processor stores sensor information regularly acquired from a sensor belonging to its own node and from a sensor belonging to another node, and

if another sensor correlated to the target sensor belongs to another node, the processor acquires sensor information of the another sensor to estimate sensor information of the target sensor.

3. The sensor information complementing system according to claim 2, wherein the processor determines other sensors correlated to the sensors belonging to its own node.

4. The sensor information complementing system according to claim 1, wherein the system is configured by:

a plurality of general nodes each including at least one sensor, and the processor for exchanging information with other nodes; and

a management node including the processor for exchanging information with other nodes,

the processor of each of the general nodes is capable of acquiring sensor information of sensors belonging to other general nodes from the other general nodes or the management node and of providing sensor information of sensors belonging to their own nodes to the other general nodes or the management node,

the plurality of general nodes regularly acquire sensor information from the sensors belonging to their own nodes and provide the sensor information to the management node via the processor, and

the processor of the management node acquires sensor information of other sensors correlated to the target sensor from the nodes to which the other sensors belong to estimate sensor information of the target sensor.

5. The sensor information complementing system according to claim 1, wherein the processor:

determines a first starting time and a first ending time based on the stored sensor information of the one sensor of the plurality of sensors such that sensor values of the one sensor monotonically increase or decrease between the first starting time and the first ending time;

determines candidates of a second starting time which is a different time point at which the sensor value of the one sensor equals to the sensor value at the first starting time;

determines candidates of a second ending time which is a different time point at which the sensor value of the one sensor equals to the sensor value at the first ending time;

determines a second starting time and a second ending time from the second starting time candidates and the second ending time candidates such that difference over time between the second starting time and the second ending time is the same as that between the first starting time and the first ending time; and

determines that the one or more other sensors of the plurality of sensors is correlated to the one sensor if the sensor information at the first starting time is equal to the sensor information at the second starting time and if the sensor information at the first ending time is equal to the sensor information at the second ending time.

6. The sensor information complementing system according to claim 2, wherein the processor:

determines a first starting time and a first ending time based on the stored sensor information of the one sensor of the plurality of sensors such that sensor values of the one sensor monotonically increase or decrease between the first starting time and the first ending time;

determines candidates of a second starting time which is a different time point at which the sensor value of the one sensor equals to the sensor value at the first starting time;

determines candidates of a second ending time which is a different time point at which the sensor value of the one sensor equals to the sensor value at the first ending time;

determines a second starting time and a second ending time from the second starting time candidates and the second ending time candidates such that difference over time between the second starting time and the second ending time is the same as that between the first starting time and the first ending time; and

determines that the one or more other sensors of the plurality of sensors is correlated to the one sensor if the sensor information at the first starting time is equal to the sensor information at the second starting time and if the sensor information at the first ending time is equal to the sensor information at the second ending time.

7. The sensor information complementing system according to claim 3, wherein the processor:

determines a first starting time and a first ending time based on the stored sensor information of the one sensor of the plurality of sensors such that sensor values of the one sensor monotonically increase or decrease between the first starting time and the first ending time;

determines candidates of a second starting time which is a different time point at which the sensor value of the one sensor equals to the sensor value at the first starting time;

determines candidates of a second ending time which is a different time point at which the sensor value of the one sensor equals to the sensor value at the first ending time;

determines a second starting time and a second ending time from the second starting time candidates and the second ending time candidates such that difference over time between the second starting time and the second ending time is the same as that between the first starting time and the first ending time; and

determines that the one or more other sensors of the plurality of sensors is correlated to the one sensor if the sensor information at the first starting time is equal to the sensor information at the second starting time and if the sensor information at the first ending time is equal to the sensor information at the second ending time.

8. The sensor information complementing system according to claim 4, wherein the processor:

determines a first starting time and a first ending time based on the stored sensor information of the one sensor of the plurality of sensors such that sensor values of the one sensor monotonically increase or decrease between the first starting time and the first ending time;

determines candidates of a second starting time which is a different time point at which the sensor value of the one sensor equals to the sensor value at the first starting time;

determines candidates of a second ending time which is a different time point at which the sensor value of the one sensor equals to the sensor value at the first ending time;

determines a second starting time and a second ending time from the second starting time candidates and the second ending time candidates such that difference over time between the second starting time and the second ending time is the same as that between the first starting time and the first ending time; and

determines that the one or more other sensors of the plurality of sensors is correlated to the one sensor if the sensor information at the first starting time is equal to the sensor information at the second starting time and if the sensor information at the first ending time is equal to the sensor information at the second ending time.

9. A sensor information complementing method for estimating, in a system having a plurality of sensors which are communicatively connected via a network in a vehicular system, sensor information of a specific sensor on the basis of sensor information of other sensors of the plurality of sensors when the sensor information is unavailable from the specific sensor, the method comprising the steps of:

regularly acquiring sensor information from the plurality of sensors and storing the sensor information;

comparing the stored information from one sensor of the plurality of sensors with stored information from the other sensors of the plurality sensors and determining which one or more other sensors of the plurality of sensors are correlated to the one sensor, the one or more other sensors being determined to correlate to the one sensor in response to measurement values of the one or more other sensors at a plurality of selected times being equal to measurement values of the one sensor at the plurality of selected times;

acquiring actual sensor information of a target sensor of the plurality of sensors in response to a determination that the target sensor is available; and

acquiring estimated sensor information of the target sensor of the plurality of sensors in response to a determination that the target sensor is unavailable so as to ensure acquiring of sensor information of the target sensor even when the target sensor is unavailable, the unavailable target sensor being the one sensor of the plurality of sensors, and the estimated sensor information being sensor information of the one or more other sensors of the plurality of sensors determined to correlate to the one sensor.

10. The sensor information complementing method according to claim 9, wherein in the selecting step,

a first starting time and a first ending time are determined based on the stored sensor information of the one sensor of the plurality of sensors such that sensor values of the one sensor monotonically increase or decrease between the first starting time and the first ending time,

candidates of a second starting time which is a different time point at which the sensor value of the one sensor equals to the sensor value at the first starting time are determined,

candidates of a second ending time which is a different time point at which the sensor value of the one sensor equals to the sensor value at the first ending time are determined,

a second starting time and a second ending time are determined from the second starting time candidates and the second ending time candidates such that difference over time between the second starting time and the second ending time is the same as that between the first starting time and the first ending time, and

it is determined that the one or more other sensors of the plurality of sensors is correlated to the one sensor if the sensor information at the first starting time is equal to the sensor information at the second starting time and if the sensor information at the first ending time is equal to the sensor information at the second ending time.