Method for Operating a GNSS Sensor of a Vehicle

Abstract

A method for operating a GNSS sensor of a vehicle having control operations influenceable via an electronic control unit includes receiving satellite data, evaluating the satellite data, and deactivating at least one operating mode of the GNSS sensor when at least a portion of the satellite data is unsuitable for determining the position of the vehicle.

Claims

1. A method for operating a GNSS sensor of a vehicle having control operations influenceable via an electronic control unit, comprising: receiving satellite data; evaluating the satellite data; and deactivating at least one operating mode of the GNSS sensor if when at least a portion of the satellite data is unsuitable for determining the position of the vehicle.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein: the received satellite data includes information indicating that the satellite data are faulty or corrupted; and deactivating the at least one operating mode of the GNSS sensor includes deactivating the at least one operating mode of the GNSS sensor based on the information from the satellite data indicating that said data are faulty or corrupted.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: supplying information indicating that the satellite data are faulty or corrupted via a communication link, wherein deactivating the at least one operating mode of the GNSS sensor includes deactivating the at least one operating mode of the GNSS sensor based on the supplied information.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein: evaluating the satellite data includes evaluating the satellite data based upon an area in which the vehicle is located; and deactivating the at least one operating mode of the GNSS sensor includes deactivating the at least one operating mode of the GNSS sensor when the vehicle is located in a predetermined area.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: reporting the deactivation of the at least one operating mode of the GNSS sensor to a superordinate system.

6. The method as claimed in claim 5, further comprising: reactivating the at least one operating mode of the GNSS sensor when the superordinate system triggers an activation signal.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein: deactivating the at least one operating mode of the GNSS sensor includes deactivating a first of the at least one operating mode of the GNSS sensor, and the first of the at least one operating mode of the GNSS sensor is associated with a certain satellite system.

8. A method for operating a vehicle having control operations influenceable via an electronic control unit, comprising: determining a position of the vehicle using a GNSS sensor by receiving satellite data, evaluating the satellite data, and deactivating, prior to determining the position of the vehicle, at least one operating mode of the GNSS sensor when at least a portion of the satellite data is unsuitable for determining the position of the vehicle; and limiting an influence of the electronic control unit on at least one of the control operations of the vehicle when the at least one operating mode of the GNSS sensor has been deactivated.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic control unit controls least one of the receiving, the evaluating, and the deactivating.

10. A vehicle comprising: a GNSS sensor; and an electronic control unit configured to at least one of receive satellite data, evaluate the satellite data, and deactivate at least one operating mode of the GNSS sensor when at least a portion of the satellite data is unsuitable for determining the position of the vehicle, wherein control operations of the vehicle are influenceable via the electronic control unit.

11. The vehicle of claim 10, wherein: the electronic control unit includes a computer program product; and the electronic control unit is configured to execute the at least one of receive satellite data, evaluate the satellite data, and deactivate at least one operating mode of the GNSS sensor by executing the computer program product.

12. The vehicle of claim 11, wherein the computer program product is stored on a machine-readable storage medium.

Description

[0029] The approach proposed here and its technical field will be described in greater detail below based on the figures. It should be noted that the present invention is not to be limited to the depicted exemplary embodiments. In particular, if it is not explicitly depicted otherwise, it is also possible to extrapolate sub-aspects of the facts described in the figures and to combine them with other components and/or findings from other figures and/or the present description. The following are schematically depicted:

[0030] FIG. 1: an exemplary sequence of a method according to the present invention for operating a GNSS sensor, and

[0031] FIG. 2: a vehicle comprising a GNSS sensor.

[0032] FIG. 1 schematically depicts an exemplary sequence of a method according to the present invention for operating a GNSS sensor. First, in step a), satellite data are received. In step b), said data are evaluated. In step c), a deactivation takes place of at least one operating mode of the GNSS sensor if at least a portion of the satellite data is unsuitable for determining the position of the vehicle.

[0033] FIG. 2 schematically depicts a vehicle 2 comprising a GNSS sensor 1 which is provided and configured for carrying out the method described in connection with FIG. 1. The vehicle 2 is a vehicle of which the control operations are influenceable via means of an electronic control unit 3, for example, an autonomously operating automobile. The GNSS sensor 1 is connected to the electronic control unit 3.

[0034] The approach proposed here contributes in particular to preventing severe and dangerous position errors in autonomous vehicles, thus making it possible to increase the safety of autonomous vehicles.