Enhanced view for connected cars

• US 9,403,482 B2
• Filed: 11/22/2013
• Issued: 08/02/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/22/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Shahraray, Behzad, Abella, Alicia, Gibbon, David Crawford, Gilbert, Mazin E., Johnston, Michael J., Schroeter, Horst J., Wilpon, Jay Gordon
• Primary Examiner(s): Kim, Hee-Yong
• Application Number:
  US14/087,698
• Publication Number:
  US 20150145995A1
• Time in Patent Office: 984 Days
• Field of Search: 340/148
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 1/00 Optical viewing arrangements; Real-time viewing arrangements for drivers or passengers using optical image capturing systems, e.g. cameras or video systems specially adapted for use in or on vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/301 combining image information with other obstacle sensor information, e.g. using RADAR/LIDAR/SONAR sensors for estimating risk of collision
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/50 characterised by the display information being shared, e.g. external display, data transfer to other traffic participants or centralised traffic controller
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/8093 for obstacle warning
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/44 Receiver circuitry for the reception of television signals according to analogue transmission standards H04N5/14 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]

Abstract

Network connectivity is used to share relevant visual and other sensory information between vehicles, as well as delivering relevant information provided by network services to create an enhanced view of the vehicle'"'"'s surroundings. The enhanced view is presented to the occupants of the vehicle to provide an improved driving experience and/or enable the occupants to take proper action (e.g., avoid obstacles, identify traffic delays, etc.). In one example, the enhanced view comprises information that is not visible to the naked eye and/or cannot be currently sensed by the vehicle'"'"'s sensors (e.g., due to a partial or blocked view, low visibility conditions, hardware capabilities of the vehicle'"'"'s sensors, position of the vehicle'"'"'s sensors, etc.).

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising;

receiving first sensor data captured via an optical sensor of a first vehicle, wherein the first sensor data represents an image of an environment of the first vehicle,

in response to determining that the first sensor data fails to satisfy a defined quality criterion, combining the first sensor data with second sensor data to generate enhanced view data, wherein the second sensor data represents data associated with the environment that is captured via an acoustic sensor of a second vehicle, and

facilitating a presentation of the enhanced view data.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving the second sensor data via a network device of a wireless communication network.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the combining comprises employing the second sensor data to improve a resolution of the first sensor data.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the receiving the second sensor data comprises receiving the second sensor data from a network server of a cellular communication network.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the enhanced view data comprises three-dimensional depth information associated with an obstacle on a road.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining first metadata associated with the first sensor data,

wherein the first metadata is indicative of a first timestamp at which the first sensor data is captured, and wherein the generating the enhanced view data comprises generating the enhanced view data in response to the first metadata being determined to be different from second metadata that is indicative of a second timestamp at which the second sensor data is captured.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining first metadata associated with the first sensor data,

wherein the first metadata is indicative of a visibility condition during a time at which the optical sensor data is captured, and wherein the generating the enhanced view data comprises generating the enhanced view data in response to the visibility condition being determined to satisfy a defined low visibility criterion.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining first metadata associated with the first sensor data,

wherein the first metadata is indicative of a first position of the optical sensor on the first vehicle, and wherein the generating the enhanced view data comprises generating the enhanced view data in response to the first metadata being determined to be different from second metadata that is indicative of a second position of the second sensor on the second vehicle.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining first metadata associated with the first sensor data,

wherein the first metadata is indicative of a first hardware capability of the optical sensor, and wherein the generating the enhanced view data comprises generating the enhanced view data in response to the first metadata being determined to be different from second metadata that is indicative of a second hardware capability of the second sensor.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the facilitating comprises facilitating a projection of the enhanced view data on a windshield of the first vehicle.

11. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a system comprising a processor, first sensor data from a first vehicle via a wireless communication network device, wherein the first sensor data is captured, within an area, via an acoustic sensor of the first vehicle;

in response to determining that second sensor data representing an image of the area that has been captured via an optical sensor of the second vehicle, augmenting, by the system, the second sensor data with the first sensor data to generate augmented sensor data; and

facilitating, by the system, a presentation of the augmented sensor data via a display of the second vehicle.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the augmenting comprises augmenting the second sensor data in response to determining that the second sensor data is different from the first sensor data based on comparing first metadata relating to the first sensor data with second metadata relating to the second sensor data.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the comparing comprises comparing first information indicative of a first time period during which the first sensor data was captured with second information indicative of a second time period during which the second sensor data was captured.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the comparing comprises comparing first information indicative of a first position of the first sensor on the first vehicle with second information indicative of a second position of the second sensor on the second vehicle.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the comparing comprises comparing first information indicative of a first capability of the first sensor with second information indicative of a second capability of the second sensor.

16. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor facilitate performance of operations, comprising:

receiving, from a first vehicle via a network device of a wireless communication network, first sensor data that is sensed by an acoustic sensor of the first vehicle within an area; and

in response to determining that a second vehicle is approaching the area and that second sensor data has been sensed by an optical sensor of the second vehicle, aggregating the second sensor data and the first sensor data to generate aggregated sensor data that is provided to the second vehicle to facilitate a display of the aggregated sensor data via an output device of the second vehicle.

17. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the providing comprises providing the aggregated sensor data in response to receiving, from the second vehicle, query data requesting the aggregated sensor data.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the aggregating comprises aggregating the second sensor data and the first sensor data in response to determining that the second sensor data does not satisfy a defined quality criterion based on comparing first metadata related to the first sensor data with second metadata related to the second sensor data.

19. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the providing comprises providing the aggregated sensor data based on policy data indicative of a defined transmission policy.

20. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the acoustic sensor comprises a sound navigation and ranging device.