Control Device and Method for a Driver Assistance System of a Vehicle

Abstract

The invention relates to a control device as well as an operating method for a driver assistance system of a vehicle, in which image data of a plurality of vehicle cameras, in particular image data of a first vehicle camera and a second vehicle camera, are processed in order for driver assistance functions to be implemented.

Claims

1. A control device (ECU) for a driver assistance system of a vehicle, comprising a signal processor (DSP) which serves to process image data from a plurality of vehicle cameras, in particular from a first vehicle camera and a second vehicle camera (K1, K2), wherein, as a function of a current operating state of the vehicle, the signal processor (DSP) is configured such that the a latter processes the image data of one of the plurality of vehicle cameras, in particular either only the image data of the first vehicle camera (K1) or only the image data of the second vehicle camera (K2).

2. The control device according to claim 1, characterized in that one of the plurality of vehicle cameras is a camera system, in particular a surround view camera system.

3. A method for operating a driver assistance system of a vehicle, in which image data of a plurality of vehicle cameras, in particular image data of a first vehicle camera and of a second vehicle camera (K1, K2), are processed by means of a control device (ECU) of the driver assistance system, wherein, as a function of a current operating state of the vehicle, the image data of one of the plurality of vehicle cameras, in particular only the image data of the first vehicle camera (K1) or only the image data of the second vehicle camera (K2), are processed by means of a signal processor (DSP) of the control device.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that one of the plurality of vehicle cameras is a camera system, in particular a surround view camera system.

5. A driver assistance system which comprises a control device (ECU) according to claim 1 incorporated in a vehicle.

Description

[0014] The invention will be explained in greater detail below with reference to the embodiment example which is represented in FIG. 1.

[0015] According to the embodiment example in FIG. 1, the control device (ECU) according to the invention comprises a signal processor (DSP). The signal processor (DSP) is preferably a digital signal processor (DSP) which can be used, in the case of analog image data, by way of example, in combination with analog-to-digital converters. The control device (ECU) can also comprise further components, in particular storage devices, in which the programming codes executed by the signal processor (DSP) for the respective driver assistance functions are stored, as well as a microcontroller and further components required for the implementation of the driver assistance functions.

[0016] According to the embodiment example from FIG. 1, the signal processor (DSP) receives image data from two cameras (K1, K2). To this end, the control device (ECU) is preferably configured with at least two inputs for the video signals of the cameras (K1, K2), by way of example two LVDS video inputs. In particular, if one of the cameras (K1, K2) is a camera system which comprises a plurality of individual cameras, the control device (ECU) can be configured with a corresponding plurality of video inputs, wherein if one of operating states assigned to the camera system exists, only the image data of the cameras which are assigned to the camera system are processed.

[0017] In the present embodiment example, the signal processor (DSP) furthermore receives information regarding the current operating state of the vehicle by means of the bus (BUS) of the vehicle, for example by means of a CAN bus, a LINK bus and/or a Flexray bus of the vehicle.