Location awareness apparatus, vehicle having the same and method for controlling the apparatus

• US 10,234,567 B2
• Filed: 06/10/2016
• Issued: 03/19/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/19/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai Motor Group)
• Original Assignee: Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai Motor Group)
• Inventors: Kim, Yun Young
• Primary Examiner(s): Liu, Harry K
• Application Number:
  US15/179,186
• Publication Number:
  US 20170242132A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,012 Days
• Field of Search: 34235724
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/86 Combinations of lidar systems with systems other than lidar, radar or sonar, e.g. with direction finders
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/05 providing aiding data
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/13 Receivers
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/40 Correcting position, velocity or attitude
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/41 Differential correction, e.g. DGPS [differential GPS]
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/45 by combining measurements of signals from the satellite radio beacon positioning system with a supplementary measurement
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0072 Transmission between mobile stations, e.g. anti-collision systems

Abstract

A location awareness apparatus includes: a communication unit performing communications with a plurality of satellites and with another device; and a controller recognizing a current location of the device based on information received from the plurality of satellites, controlling communications with the other device when a number of satellites available for communication is less than a reference number during the recognition of the current location, receiving satellite information from the other device, and correcting the current location based on the information received from the plurality of satellites and the satellite information received from the other device.

Claims

1. A location awareness apparatus equipped in a device, the location awareness apparatus comprising:

a communication unit performing communications with a plurality of satellites and with another device; and

a controller configured to recognize a current location of the device based on information received from the plurality of satellites, control communications with the other device when a number of satellites available for communication is less than a reference number during the recognition of the current location, receive satellite information from the other device, correct the current location based on the information received from the plurality of satellites and the satellite information received from the other device, receive location information and driving information of the other device, and further correct the current location based on the received location information and driving information of the other device,

wherein the driving information includes speed information and direction information.

2. The location awareness apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller establishes a shared area based on the current location and transmits a request for information to the other device when the other device is present in the shared area.

3. The location awareness apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller obtains comparison information between common satellites by comparing the information received from the plurality of satellites to the satellite information received from the other device, determines satellite information among the satellite information received from the other device which matches information of a satellite unavailable for communication with the device, and obtains information of the satellite unavailable for communication for location awareness of the device based on the determined satellite information and the obtained comparison information.

4. The location awareness apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller, when receiving satellite information from a plurality of other devices, calculates corrected values of the current location based on the satellite information received from the plurality of other devices and corrects the current location by averaging the calculated corrected values.

5. A location awareness apparatus equipped in a device, the location awareness apparatus comprising:

a communication unit performing communications with a plurality of satellites and another device; and

a controller recognizing a current location of the device based on information received from the plurality of satellites, receiving information of at least one satellite unavailable for communication from the other device when the other device is present in a shared area and communication with the satellite is unavailable during the recognition of the current location, and correcting the current location based on the received information of the satellite unavailable for communication,

wherein the received information of the satellite unavailable for communication includes information about time spent attempting to receive a signal from the satellite unavailable for communication with the device and information about a distance between the satellite and the other device.

6. The location awareness apparatus of claim 5, wherein the controller, when receiving satellite information from a plurality of other devices:

obtains information of the satellite unavailable for communication based on the respective satellite information received from the plurality of other devices,

calculates corrected values of the current location based on the obtained information of the satellite unavailable for communication, and

corrects the current location by averaging the calculated corrected values.

7. The location awareness apparatus of claim 5, wherein the controller receives location information of the other device and further corrects the current location based on a difference between the current location information and the location information of the other device.

8. A vehicle comprising:

a receiver receiving signals from a plurality of satellites;

an antenna device communicating with another vehicle; and

a location awareness apparatus analyzing the signals received from the plurality of satellites to obtain information of the plurality of satellites, recognizing a current location of the location awareness apparatus based on the obtained information of the plurality of satellites, using the antenna device to control communications with the other vehicle when a number of satellites available for communication is less than a reference number during the recognition of the current location, receiving satellite information from the other vehicle, and correcting the current location based on the obtained information of the plurality of satellites and the satellite information received from the other vehicle,

wherein the location awareness apparatus receives location information and driving information of the other vehicle and further corrects the current location based on the received location information and driving information of the other vehicle.

9. The vehicle of claim 8, wherein the location awareness apparatus obtains comparison information between common satellites by comparing the information of the plurality of satellites and the satellite information received from the other vehicle, determines satellite information among the satellite information received from the other vehicle which matches information of a satellite from which the receiver is unable to receive a signal, and obtains information of the satellite from which the receiver is unable to receive a signal based on the determined satellite information and the obtained comparison information.

10. The vehicle of claim 8, wherein the location awareness apparatus establishes a shared area based on the current location and transmits a request for information to the other vehicle when the other vehicle is present in the shared area.

11. The vehicle of claim 10, wherein the location awareness transmits a request for information to the other vehicle in a communication available area larger than the shared area when no other vehicle is present in the shared area.

12. The vehicle of claim 8, wherein the location awareness apparatus, when receiving satellite information from a plurality of other vehicles, calculates corrected values of the current location based on the satellite information received from the plurality of other vehicles and corrects the current location by averaging the calculated corrected values.

13. The vehicle of claim 12, wherein the location awareness apparatus, when receiving the location information and driving information from the plurality of other vehicles, calculates corrected values of the corrected current location based on the location information and driving information received from the plurality of other vehicles and further corrects the current location by averaging the calculated corrected values.

14. The vehicle of claim 8, further comprising:

a detector detecting a speed and direction of the vehicle,

wherein the location recognition apparatus obtains a difference in location from the other vehicle and an amount of change in location based on the speed information and direction information detected by the detector and further corrects the current location based on the obtained difference in location and amount of change in location.

15. The vehicle of claim 14, further comprising:

a microcomputer controlling transmission of the speed, the direction, the information received from the plurality of satellites, and the current location recognized by the location awareness apparatus when a request to provide information is received from the other vehicle.

16. The vehicle of claim 8, wherein the location awareness apparatus determines another vehicle in communication with a number of the plurality of satellites that is greater than a reference number, establishes a shared area based on a distance from the vehicle to the determined other vehicle, and transmits a request for information to the other vehicle when the other vehicle is present in the shared area.

17. The vehicle of claim 8, wherein the antenna device further communicates with an infrastructure, and the location awareness apparatus corrects the current location based on information obtained from the communications with the infrastructure.

18. A method for controlling a location awareness apparatus equipped in a vehicle, the method comprising:

analyzing signals from a plurality of satellites received by a receiver to obtain information of the plurality of satellites;

recognizing a current location of the location awareness apparatus based on the obtained information of the plurality of satellites;

establishing a shared area based on the current location;

using an antenna device to transmit a request for information to another vehicle present in the shared area when a number of satellites available for communication during the recognition of the current location is less than a reference number;

receiving satellite information from the other vehicle; and

correcting the current location based on the obtained information of the plurality of satellites and the satellite information received from the other vehicle,

wherein the location awareness apparatus transmits the request for information to the other vehicle in a communication available area larger than the shared area when no other vehicle is present in the shared area.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

receiving location information and driving information from the other vehicle; and

further correcting the current location based on the location information and driving information received from the other vehicle.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the further correcting of the current location comprises:

obtaining an initial difference in location by comparing the recognized current location information to the location information received from the other vehicle;

obtaining an amount of change in location of the other vehicle per unit time based on speed information and direction information received from the other vehicle; and

correcting the current location based on information about the corrected current location, the initial difference in location, and the amount of change in location per unit time.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the further correcting of the current location comprises:

calculating corrected values of the current location based on satellite information received from a plurality of other devices, and

correcting the current location by averaging the calculated corrected values.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

when location information and driving information is received from a plurality of other vehicles, calculating corrected values of the current location based on the location information and driving information received from the plurality of other vehicles; and

further correcting the current location by averaging the calculated corrected values.