METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DATA TRANSMISSION, AND VEHICLE

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a method and an apparatus for data transmission, wherein the apparatus has at least one terminal interface for data transmission between the apparatus and a terminal, wherein the apparatus has at least one base station interface for data transmission between the apparatus and the base station, wherein the data transmission between the terminal and the apparatus is effected in a device-to-device communication, characterized in that the apparatus is in the form of a relay apparatus for a data transmission between a terminal and the base station, wherein the same standard is used for the data transmission between the apparatus and the terminal as for the data transmission between the apparatus and the base station, the standard being a mobile radio standard, and to a vehicle.

Claims

1. A system for data transmission, an apparatus that includes a terminal interface for data transmission between the apparatus and a terminal and a base station interface for data transmission between the apparatus and a base station, the data transmission between the terminal and the apparatus takes place in a device-to-device communication, wherein the apparatus is configured to act as a relay apparatus for data transmission between the terminal and the base station, wherein the data transmission between the apparatus and the terminal uses the same standard as is used for data transmission between the apparatus and the base station, wherein the standard is a mobile radio standard.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein that the data transmission between the terminal and the base station is data transmission in accordance with the 5G standard.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the apparatus is a network access device.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein that the apparatus is at least part of a telematics control unit.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the apparatus is a network access device of the telematics control unit.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein a computing device of the network access device is configured to provide functions of the telematics control unit.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is arranged in a vehicle.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured to process data being transferred during data transmission between the terminal and the base station.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the apparatus includes a plurality of terminal interfaces, each of the terminal interfaces configured to provide data transmission between the apparatus and the respective terminal, wherein the apparatus is in the form of a relay apparatus configured for data transmission between a plurality of terminals and the base station.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is configured to detect a plurality of terminals that are positioned in a reception range of the apparatus.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the apparatus is configured to detect a distance between the apparatus and the terminals positioned within the reception range.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the apparatus is positioned in a vehicle.

13. A method for data transmission between a terminal and a base station, comprising: providing a relay apparatus for data transmission between the terminal and the base station with an apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the data transmission between the terminal and the apparatus takes place in a device-to-device communication manner, wherein the apparatus uses a standard for the data transmission between the apparatus and the terminal and the apparatus uses the standard for data transmission between the apparatus and the base station, wherein the standard is a mobile radio standard.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0067] The disclosure is explained in more detail using exemplary embodiments. The figures show:

[0068] FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of a vehicle with an apparatus according to the disclosure and a base station,

[0069] FIG. 2 shows a schematic block diagram of an apparatus according to the disclosure as well as a base station and a terminal,

[0070] FIG. 3 shows a schematic block diagram of an apparatus according to the disclosure in accordance with a further embodiment with base station and terminal,

[0071] FIG. 4 shows a schematic block diagram of an apparatus according to the disclosure in accordance with a further embodiment with a plurality of terminals and a base station and

[0072] FIG. 5 shows a schematic flow diagram of a method according to the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0073] In the following, the same reference symbols designate elements with the same or similar technical features.

[0074] FIG. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 1 according to the disclosure for data transmission between a terminal 2a, 2b and a base station 3. The data transmission can be wireless data transmission, in particular by means of radio signals. The apparatus 1 is arranged in a vehicle 4, in particular stationary relative to a vehicle-specific coordinate system.

[0075] The apparatus 1 comprises at least one terminal interface 5 for data transmission between the apparatus 1 and the terminals 2a, 2b.

[0076] The terminals 2a, 2b can be, for example, portable terminals such as cell phones, portable PCs such as tablets or other terminals that have an interface for data transmission between the terminal 2a, 2b and other devices, in particular via a data transmission network such as the Internet. The other devices can be, for example, server devices of the data transmission network.

[0077] Usually, a data transmission to such server devices is carried out by directly transmitting data between a terminal 2a, 2b and a base station 3, whereby a data transmission, in particular a wired data transmission, is then carried out between the base station 3 and the server device.

[0078] In the case of direct data transmission between terminal 2a, 2b and base station 3, signals for data transmission can be transmitted by terminal 2a, 2b and received by base station 3 or signals can be transmitted by base station 3 and received by terminal 2a, 2b. The data transmission between a terminal 2a, 2b and a further device, e.g. the server device of the previously explained data transmission network, can thus be carried out via the base station 3. In other words, the base station 3 forms part of the data transmission link. In this context, a base station 3 refers to a preferably stationary transmission device for signals, in particular radio signals, e.g. from mobile radio networks.

[0079] The apparatus 1 also has at least one base station interface 6. This is used for data transmission, in particular wireless data transmission, e.g. via radio signals, between the apparatus 1 and the base station 3.

[0080] According to the disclosure, the apparatus is in the form of a relay apparatus for data transmission between a terminal 2 a, 2 b and the base station 3. Thus, the data transmission between a terminal 2a, 2b and the base station 3 does not usually take place directly, as outlined above, but rather by transmitting signals for data transmission from the terminal 2a via the terminal interface 5 to the apparatus 1. These are then received by the apparatus 1. Furthermore, these signals can be transmitted unprocessed or processed via the base station interface 6 to the base station 3. A data transmission from the base station 3 to a terminal 2a, 2b can take place in that signals are transmitted from the base station 3 and received by the apparatus 1 via the base station interface 6. These signals can then be transmitted unprocessed or processed via the terminal interface 5 to a terminal 2a, 2b and transmitted.

[0081] Thus, a device-to-device transmission (device-to-device communication) can take place between a terminal 2a, 2b and the apparatus 1.

[0082] In this case, the apparatus 1 can amplify the signals used for data transmission, in particular the radio signals. This involves preferably signal amplification of signals received from the terminal 2a, 2b, the amplified signals then being transmitted to the base station 3, but preferably no signal amplification of signals received from the base station 3 and transmitted to a terminal 2a, 2b.

[0083] For this purpose, the apparatus 1 may comprise a corresponding amplifier device (not shown). The amplifier device can be electrically connected to an energy supply device arranged in the vehicle, for example via an on-board network.

[0084] As already outlined, data processing can also be carried out by the apparatus 1.

[0085] The data transmission between the apparatus 1 and the base station 3 can be a data transmission according to a mobile radio standard. Furthermore, the same standard can be used for data transmission between the apparatus 1 and the terminal 2a, 2b.

[0086] The data transmission between the terminal 2a, 2b and the base station 3 via the apparatus 1 is preferably a data transmission in accordance with the 5G standard. In this case, the data transmission between the terminal 2a, 2b and the apparatus 1 as well as the data transmission between the apparatus 1 and the base station 3 can each be a data transmission in accordance with the 5G standard. However, a direct data transmission between the terminal 2a, 2b and the base station, i.e. without integration of the apparatus 1, can also be carried out according to a standard different from the 5G standard.

[0087] The data transmission can take place in particular when emitting an eCall. The data transmission can also serve V2X communication. In addition, however, the data transmission can be used to carry out or execute consumer applications.

[0088] FIG. 2 shows a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 1 according to the disclosure in a further embodiment as well as a base station 3 and a terminal 2. In contrast to the embodiment of the apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1, the apparatus 1 is shown as comprising several terminal interfaces 5a, . . . , 5n. A computing device 7 of the apparatus 1 is also shown, whereby this is connected in terms of data and/or signals to the terminal interfaces 5a, . . . , 5n and to a base station interface 6. The several terminal interfaces 5a, . . . , 5n can each be used for data transmission between the apparatus 1 and a terminal 2 of a set of several terminals 2. The data transmission between the apparatus 1 and these terminals 2 via the corresponding terminal interfaces 5a, . . . , 5n can be carried out according to the same or different standards or with the same or different protocols.

[0089] FIG. 3 shows a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 1 according to a further embodiment as well as a terminal 2 and a base station 3. The apparatus 1 is a network access device 8 or forms such a network access device 8. A network access device 8 can in particular be in the form of a modem. The network access device 8 comprises a computing device 7 and a base station interface 6, via which data can be transmitted between the previously outlined data transmission network and the network access device 8 via the base station 3. The network access device 8 further comprises one or more terminal interfaces 5.

[0090] FIG. 3 shows that the network access device 8 is part of a telematics control unit 9. The telematics control unit 9 can in particular be the telematics control unit 9 of a vehicle 4 (see FIG. 1). The telematics control unit 9 comprises a computing device 10 and a bus interface 11, via which data can be transmitted between the telematics control unit 9 and other vehicle devices, for example control devices, the data being transmitted in particular via a bus system such as a CAN bus.

[0091] Also, it is shown that the telematics control unit 9 comprises a GNSS device 12. The telematics control unit 9 can furthermore comprise a storage device 13.

[0092] The computing device 10 of the telematics control unit 9 is connected in terms of signals and/or data to the GNSS device 12, the storage device 13, the interface 11 and the computing device 7 of the network access device 8. It is possible here for the computing device 7 of the network access device 8 to carry out functions of the telematics control unit, for example the control of the interface 11 for data transmission.

[0093] Computing devices 7, 10 can be implemented as microcontrollers or integrated circuits, for example.

[0094] FIG. 4 shows a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 1 in a further embodiment as well as terminals 2a, 2b and a base station 3.

[0095] Here, the apparatus 1, which, as outlined above, comprises a terminal interface 5, a base station interface 6 and a computing device 7, can determine a distance D1 to a first terminal 2a and a distance D2 to a second terminal 2b, is shown. The determination can take place here by means of the computing device 7. The distance can be determined by means of level evaluation or time-of-flight. For this purpose, the apparatus 1 can include appropriate devices for detecting a level of a signal for data transmission between the apparatus 1 and the respective terminals 2a, 2b or a run time of a signal for data transmission between the apparatus 1 and the respective terminals 2a, 2b.

[0096] The apparatus 1 can also be used to determine the number of terminals 2a, 2b which are arranged in a reception range of the apparatus 1, in particular the terminal interface 5. A number of terminals 2a, 2b can also be detected which are in a signaling connection with the apparatus 1 via the terminal interface 5 for data transmission or which are registered with the apparatus 1 for data transmission via the apparatus 1. For example, it may be necessary for a terminal device 2a, 2b to register with the apparatus 1 before carrying out a data transmission, in particular via a corresponding registration process. In this case, the apparatus can determine or detect the number of registered terminals 2a, 2b. It is also possible for the apparatus to also determine an identifier or identity of the terminal devices 2a, 2b arranged in the reception range or of the terminal devices 2a, 2b registered with the apparatus for data transmission. Furthermore, as outlined above, the corresponding distance D1, D2 to these terminals can be determined.

[0097] FIG. 5 shows a schematic flow diagram of a method according to the disclosure for data transmission between at least one terminal 2 and a base station 3 (see, e.g. FIG. 3). In a first step S1, data is transmitted from the terminal 2 via a terminal interface 5 to the apparatus 1, for example by means of suitable signals. In a second step S2, these data or signals are processed, with exemplary processing operations having been explained above. In a third step S3, the data are transmitted from the apparatus 1 to the base station 3 via the base station interface 6.

[0098] Alternatively, in the first step S1, data can be transmitted from the base station 3 to the apparatus 1 via the base station interface 6, these being processed in the second step S2. In a third step S3, the data are transmitted from the apparatus 1 to the terminal 2 via the terminal interface 5.

[0099] Here, the same standard can be used for the data transmission between the apparatus 1 and the terminal 2 as for the data transmission between the apparatus 1 and the base station 3, the standard being a mobile radio standard. Furthermore, the data transmission between the terminal 2 and the apparatus 1 can take place according to a D2D communication.

[0100] It should be noted here that the second step S2 is an optional step, since the signal or data processing is not absolutely necessary. Alternatively or cumulatively, the signal used for data transmission can also be amplified in a second step. This amplification can in particular only take place when a signal has been received by the terminal 2 and is transmitted to the base station 3. No amplification can take place if a signal is received by the base station 3 and transmitted to a terminal 2.

[0101] The semicolon lines in FIG. 5 show that when the apparatus 1 is operated as a relay, i.e. in particular in parallel with the data transmission between the apparatus 1 and the terminal 2 or the apparatus 1 and the base station 3, a number of terminals 2 can be determined in a fourth step S4 which are located in the reception range of the apparatus 1 or which are registered with the apparatus 1 for data transmission. In a fifth step S5, it can be evaluated whether conditions for an automatic emergency call (eCall) are fulfilled. If this is the case, in a sixth step S6 an automatic emergency call can be emitted by the apparatus 1, for example via the base station interface 6, the information transmitted with this emergency call comprising information about the number of terminals 2 determined in the fourth step S4. Furthermore, the information transmitted in the emergency call can also comprise information about distances D1, D2 (see FIG. 4) between the terminals 2 in the reception area of the apparatus 1 determined in the fourth step S4, wherein these distances D1, D2 can also be determined in the fourth step S4. In this way, rescue workers can advantageously be informed of important information for carrying out effective rescue operations.