Methods and systems for generating a horizon for use in an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS)

A method of generating a horizon for use in an Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) of a vehicle using stored digital map data, wherein the digital map data comprises a plurality of segments representative of roads of a road network, said method comprising:

• determining a segment representing a road on which the vehicle is currently travelling based on an identified current location of the vehicle;
• using the segment to identify an upcoming decision point of the road network from the digital map data;
• determining an incoming path to the decision point with respect to which outgoing paths are to be defined;
• identifying if the decision point is a plural junction from the digital map data, and, when the decision point is determined to be a plural junction, treating the plural junction as a single junction such that the outgoing paths of the decision point correspond to outgoing paths of the plurality of proximate junctions forming the plural junction;
• determining data indicative of a relative probability that each of a plurality of possible outgoing paths associated with the decision point will be taken by the vehicle using one or more of stored digital location-based data, vehicle data and driver data, wherein the relative probability for each outgoing path is a portion of a specified total probability value that is computed based on properties of that outgoing path, and wherein the relative probabilities for the outgoing paths for the decision point sum to the specified total probability value;
• determining one or more predicted paths that the vehicle will be expected to travel in the immediate future at the decision point using the data indicative of a relative probability;
• generating the horizon using the one or more predicted paths;
• and
• providing data associated with the generated horizon to one or more applications, the data associated with the generated horizon configured to be used by the one or more applications when controlling corresponding vehicle subsystems.

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method for generating a horizon for use in an Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) of a vehicle using stored digital map data, wherein the digital map data comprises a plurality of segments representative of roads of a road network, said method comprising:

• determining a segment representing a road on which the vehicle is currently travelling based on an identified current location of the vehicle;
• using the segment to identify an upcoming decision point of the road network from the digital map data;
• determining an incoming path to the decision point with respect to which outgoing paths are to be defined;
• identifying if the decision point is a roundabout from the digital map data, and, when the decision point is determined to be a roundabout, treating the roundabout as a single junction such that the outgoing paths of the decision point correspond to exits of the roundabout;
• determining data indicative of a relative probability that each of a plurality of possible outgoing paths associated with the decision point will be taken by the vehicle using one or more of stored digital location-based data, vehicle data and driver data, wherein the relative probability for each outgoing path is a portion of a specified total probability value that is computed based on properties of that outgoing path, and wherein the relative probabilities for the outgoing paths for the decision point sum to the specified total probability value;
• determining one or more predicted paths that the vehicle will be expected to travel in the immediate future at the decision point using the data indicative of a relative probability;
• generating the horizon using the one or more predicted paths;
• and
• providing data associated with the generated horizon to one or more applications, the data associated with the generated horizon configured to be used by the one or more applications when controlling corresponding vehicle subsystems.

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method for generating a horizon for use in an Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) of a vehicle using stored digital map data, wherein the digital map data comprises a plurality of segments representative of roads of a road network, said method comprising:

• determining a segment representing a road on which the vehicle is currently travelling based on an identified current location of the vehicle;
• using the segment to identify an upcoming decision point of the road network from the digital map data;
• determining an incoming path to the decision point with respect to which outgoing paths are to be defined;
• identifying if the decision point is a plural junction from the digital map data, and, when the decision point is determined to be a plural junction, treating the plural junction as a single junction such that the outgoing paths of the decision point correspond to outgoing paths of the plurality of proximate junctions forming the plural junction;
• determining data indicative of a relative probability that each of a plurality of possible outgoing paths associated with the decision point will be taken by the vehicle using one or more of stored digital location-based data, vehicle data and driver data, wherein the relative probability for each outgoing path is a portion of a specified total probability value that is computed based on properties of that outgoing path, and wherein the relative probabilities for the outgoing paths for the decision point sum to the specified total probability value;
• determining one or more predicted paths that the vehicle will be expected to travel in the immediate future at the decision point using the data indicative of a relative probability;
• generating the horizon using the one or more predicted paths;
• and
• providing data associated with the generated horizon to one or more applications, the data associated with the generated horizon configured to be used by the one or more applications when controlling corresponding vehicle subsystems.

A system for generating a horizon for use in an Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) of a vehicle using stored digital map data, wherein the digital map data comprises a plurality of segments representative of roads of a road network, said system comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory;
• wherein the processor is configured to:
• determine a segment representing a road on which the vehicle is currently travelling based on an identified current location of the vehicle;
• use the segment to identify an upcoming decision point of the road network from the digital map data;
• determine an incoming path to the decision point with respect to which outgoing paths are to be defined;
• identify if the decision point is a roundabout from the digital map data, and, when the decision point is determined to be a roundabout, treating the roundabout as a single junction such that the outgoing paths of the decision point correspond to exits of the roundabout;
• determine data indicative of the relative probability that each of a plurality of possible outgoing paths associated with the decision point will be taken by the vehicle using one or more of stored digital location-based data, vehicle data and driver data, wherein the relative probability for each outgoing path is a portion of a specified total probability value that is computed based on properties of that outgoing path, and wherein the relative probabilities for the outgoing paths for the decision point sum to the specified total probability value;
• determine one or more predicted paths that the vehicle will be expected to travel in the immediate future at the decision point using the data indicative of a relative probability;
• generate the horizon using the one or more predicted paths;
• and
• provide data associated with the generated horizon to one or more applications, the data associated with the generated horizon configured to be used by the one or more applications when controlling corresponding vehicle subsystems.

A system for generating a horizon for use in an Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) of a vehicle using stored digital map data, wherein the digital map data comprises a plurality of segments representative of roads of a road network, said system comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory;
• wherein the processor is configured to:
• determine a segment representing a road on which the vehicle is currently travelling based on an identified current location of the vehicle;
• use the segment to identify an upcoming decision point of the road network from the digital map data;
• determine an incoming path to the decision point with respect to which outgoing paths are to be defined;
• identify if the decision point is a plural junction from the digital map data, and, when the decision point is determined to be a plural junction, treating the plural junction as a single junction such that the outgoing paths of the decision point correspond to outgoing paths of the plurality of proximate junctions forming the plural junction;
• determine data indicative of the relative probability that each of a plurality of possible outgoing paths associated with the decision point will be taken by the vehicle using one or more of stored digital location-based data, vehicle data and driver data, wherein the relative probability for each outgoing path is a portion of a specified total probability value that is computed based on properties of that outgoing path, and wherein the relative probabilities for the outgoing paths for the decision point sum to the specified total probability value;
• determine one or more predicted paths that the vehicle will be expected to travel in the immediate future at the decision point using the data indicative of a relative probability;
• and
• generate the horizon using the one or more predicted paths;
• and
• provide data associated with the generated horizon to one or more applications, the data associated with the generated horizon configured to be used by the one or more applications when controlling corresponding vehicle subsystems.