Location-determining device in a motor vehicle and information merging method

A location determining device in a motor vehicle, comprising:

• at least one reception apparatus for receiving position and time signals from a multiplicity of satellites associated with a global navigation system;
• a location calculation module for calculating location information from the received position and time signals, wherein the at least one reception apparatus is physically integrated in the housing of an optical sensor unit;
• the optical sensor unit configured to capture at least one image external to the motor vehicle;
• wherein the housing is arranged in a region of an upper boundary of a windshield in a passenger space of the motor vehicle;
• wherein the housing has no more than a single first connection to an existing vehicle data bus type and no more than a single second connection to a vehicle power supply;
• an electronic arithmetic unit in communication with the optical sensor unit, wherein the electronic arithmetic unit is configured to determine prevailing reception conditions for the position and time signals of the satellites associated with the global navigation system based on the at least one image, wherein the prevailing reception conditions indicate that the position and time signals of one or more of the satellites associated with the global navigation system are reduced by an interruption in signal paths from the satellites associated with the global navigation system to the motor vehicle in comparison to when there are no interruptions in signal paths from the satellites associated with the global navigation system to the motor vehicle;
• wherein the electronic arithmetic unit is configured to match the position and time signals of the satellites associated with the global navigation system to the prevailing reception conditions;
• and
• wherein the optical sensor unit has at least one stray light protection element and the at least one reception apparatus is physically integrated in the stray light protection element based on the at least one image.

An information fusion method for a location determining device in a motor vehicle, comprising the steps of:

• providing at least one reception apparatus having a processor, the processor being configured to receive position and time signals from a multiplicity of satellites associated with a global navigation system,
• calculating by the processor location information from the received position and time signals by means of a location calculation algorithm,
• providing to the processor at least one image external to the motor vehicle by means of an optical sensor unit, processing by the processor the at least one image by means of an image processing algorithm,
• connecting at least the at least one reception apparatus and the optical sensor unit to a vehicle data bus by means of a common first connection and to a vehicle power supply by means of a common second connection,
• wherein the at least one image is used to determine prevailing reception conditions of the satellites associated with the global navigation system, wherein the prevailing reception conditions indicate that the position and time signals of one or more of the satellites associated with the global navigation system are reduced by an interruption in signal paths from the satellites associated with the global navigation system to the motor vehicle in comparison to when there are no interruptions in signal paths from the satellites associated with the global navigation system to the motor vehicle, and
• matching the position and time signals of the satellites associated with the global navigation system to the prevailing reception conditions based on the at least one image.