# US 12,120,180 B2 · Determining an existence of a change in a region

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- Number: US 12,120,180 B2
- Document ID: US12120180B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/471,775
- Filed: 2021-09-10
- Published: 2023-03-16
- Granted: 2024-10-15
- Earliest claimed: 2021-09-10
- Assignees: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.
- Applicants: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.
- Inventors: Seyhan Ucar; Takamasa Higuchi; Chang-Heng Wang; Onur Altintas
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12120180B2

## CPC

- H04L 67/12: specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
- G01C 21/30: Map- or contour-matching
- G01C 21/3804: {Creation or updating of map data}
- G07C 5/008: {communicating information to a remotely located station (transmission systems for measured values G08C)}
- G08G 1/0112: {from the vehicle, e.g. floating car data [FCD]}
- G08G 1/0129: {for creating historical data or processing based on historical data}
- G08G 1/0133: {for classifying traffic situation}
- G08G 1/0141: {for traffic information dissemination}
- G08G 1/09626: {where the origin of the information is within the own vehicle, e.g. a local storage device, digital map}
- G08G 1/096708: {where the received information might be used to generate an automatic action on the vehicle control}
- G08G 1/096716: {where the received information does not generate an automatic action on the vehicle control}
- G08G 1/096741: {where the source of the transmitted information selects which information to transmit to each vehicle}
- G08G 1/096775: {where the origin of the information is a central station}
- G08G 1/096791: {where the origin of the information is another vehicle}
- H04L 67/1097: for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]
- H04L 67/125: involving control of end-device applications over a network
- B60K 31/00: Vehicle fittings, acting on a single sub-unit only, for automatically controlling vehicle speed, i.e. preventing speed from exceeding an arbitrarily established velocity or maintaining speed at a particular velocity, as selected by the vehicle operator
- H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M)
- G01C: MEASURING DISTANCES, LEVELS OR BEARINGS; SURVEYING; NAVIGATION; GYROSCOPIC INSTRUMENTS; PHOTOGRAMMETRY OR VIDEOGRAMMETRY (measuring liquid level G01F; radio navigation, determining distance or velocity by use of propagation effects, e.g. Doppler effects, propagation time, of radio waves, analogous arrangements using other waves G01S)
- G07C: TIME OR ATTENDANCE REGISTERS; REGISTERING OR INDICATING THE WORKING OF MACHINES; GENERATING RANDOM NUMBERS; VOTING OR LOTTERY APPARATUS; ARRANGEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS FOR CHECKING NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE
- G08G: TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS (guiding railway traffic, ensuring the safety of railway traffic B61L; arrangement of road signs or traffic signals E01F9/00; radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for traffic control G01S13/91, G01S15/88, G01S17/88; {radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for anti-collision purposes G01S13/93, G01S15/93, G01S17/93})
- B60K: ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PROPULSION UNITS OR OF TRANSMISSIONS IN VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PLURAL DIVERSE PRIME-MOVERS IN VEHICLES; AUXILIARY DRIVES FOR VEHICLES; INSTRUMENTATION OR DASHBOARDS FOR VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENTS IN CONNECTION WITH COOLING, AIR INTAKE, GAS EXHAUST OR FUEL SUPPLY OF PROPULSION UNITS IN VEHICLES

## Abstract

A system for determining an existence of a change in a region can include a processor, a communications device, and a memory. The memory can store a change determination module and a communications module. The change determination module can cause the processor to: (1) determine, in response to having obtained an indication of a possible change in the region, a location of a connected car in a vicinity of the region and facts about a sensor disposed on the connected car and (2) determine a strategy to obtain data about the possible change. The strategy can be based on at least one of the location of the connected car or the facts about the sensor. The communications module can cause the processor to transmit, via the communications device and to the connected car, an instruction to control, according to the strategy, the sensor to obtain the data.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A system, comprising:
a processor;
a communications device; and
a memory storing:
a change determination module including instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to:
determine, in response to having obtained an indication of a possible change in a region, a location of a connected car in a vicinity of the region and facts about a sensor disposed on the connected car, wherein the possible change is with respect to at least one of a presence of an object in the region or a location of the object; and
determine a strategy to obtain data about the possible change, the strategy being based on at least one of the location or the facts; and
a communications module including instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to transmit, via the communications device and to the connected car, an instruction to control, according to the strategy, the sensor to obtain the data.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the instruction to determine the location of the connected car in the vicinity of the region and the facts about the sensor disposed on the connected car include instructions to determine, in response to having obtained information that the indication of the possible change in the region is greater than or equal to a threshold measure of change, the location of the connected car in the vicinity of the region and the facts about the sensor disposed on the connected car.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the communications module further includes instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to receive, via the communications device, the indication of the possible change in the region.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The system of claim 3, wherein the indication of the possible change in the region comprises a message about the possible change in the region.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein:
the communications module further includes instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to receive, via the communications device, at least one current image of the region; and
the memory further stores a change determination preprocessing module including instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to:
compare the at least one current image of the region with at least one past image of the region; and
determine, based on a result of a comparison of the at least one current image of the region with the at least one past image of the region, the indication of the possible change in the region.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the instruction to control the sensor to obtain the data about the possible change comprises at least one of:
an instruction to control an angle of a facing direction of the sensor with respect to at least one of an axis along a length of the connected car or an axis along a width of the connected car,
an instruction to control a quality of a representation of the data, or
an instruction to control a degree of magnification associated with the representation of the data.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the communications module further includes instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to transmit, via the communications device and to the connected car, an instruction to control, according to the strategy, a motion of the connected car, the instruction to control the motion of the connected car comprising at least one of:
an instruction to control a speed of the connected car, or
an instruction to control a route to be traversed by the connected car.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the communications module further includes instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to transmit, via the communications device and to the connected car, an instruction to cause the connected car to become a member of a micro cloud, the micro cloud being configured to collaborate on executing the strategy to obtain the data about the possible change, the micro cloud being characterized by a distribution, among members of the micro cloud, of at least one of at least one computing resource or at least one data storage resource, the members including at least connected cars.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The system of claim 8, wherein:
the micro cloud is a mobile micro cloud,
the mobile micro cloud is characterized by a zone centered on a leader of the mobile micro cloud,
the leader determines, among at least one other connected car in the zone, at least one candidate to become at least one other member of the mobile micro cloud,
members of the mobile micro cloud comprise the leader and the at least one other member,
the leader distributes, to the at least one other member, a task associated with executing the strategy to obtain the data about the possible change,
at least one of the members of the mobile micro cloud transmits, to a server associated with a stationary micro cloud, the data about the possible change.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The system of claim 9, wherein the communications module further includes instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to transmit, via the communications device and to the server associated with the stationary micro cloud, an instruction to cause the server associated with the stationary micro cloud to:
receive, from the at least one of the members of the mobile micro cloud, the data about the possible change;
retrieve, from a storage device, a previous map of the region;
compare the data about the possible change with the previous map of the region;
determine, based on a result of a comparison of the data about the possible change with the previous map of the region, an existence of a change in the region; and
transmit, to the system and based on a determination of the existence of the change in the region, information about the change in the region.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The system of claim 10, wherein the storage device comprises at least one of a cloud server, an edge server, or a connected car that stores a copy of the previous map of the region.

### Claim 12 (depends on 10)

The system of claim 10, wherein the communications module further includes instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to transmit, to the at least one of the members of the mobile micro cloud, the information about the change in the region.

### Claim 13 (depends on 10)

The system of claim 10, wherein the communications module further includes instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to transmit, via the communications device and to a server associated with managing the previous map of the region:
the information about the change in the region; and
an instruction to cause the server associated with managing the previous map of the region to update the previous map of the region to incorporate the change in the region.

### Claim 14 (depends on 10)

The system of claim 10, wherein the memory further stores a change magnitude determination module including instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to determine an existence of a characteristic of the change in the region, the characteristic being a reason to communicate the information about the change in the region to a connected car outside of the mobile micro cloud.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The system of claim 14, wherein the communications module further includes instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to transmit, via the communications device and to the at least one of the members of the mobile micro cloud, an instruction to cause the at least one of the members of the mobile micro cloud to:
establish, in conjunction with exiting the zone, another mobile micro cloud as a leader of the other mobile micro cloud, wherein:
the other mobile micro cloud is characterized by another zone centered on the leader of the other mobile micro cloud, and
the leader of the other mobile micro cloud determines, among at least one other connected car in the other zone, at least one candidate to become at least one other member of the other mobile micro cloud, the at least one candidate being a connected car expected to use the information about the change in the region; and
communicate, to the at least one other member of the other mobile micro cloud, the information about the change in the region.

### Claim 16 (depends on 8)

The system of claim 8, wherein:
the micro cloud is a stationary micro cloud,
the stationary micro cloud is characterized by an area at a geographical location,
a server is associated with the stationary micro cloud, and
the communications module further includes instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to transmit, via the communications device and to the server associated with the stationary micro cloud, an instruction to cause the server to:
determine, among at least one other connected car in the area, at least one candidate to become at least one member of the stationary micro cloud,
distribute, to the at least one member, a task associated with executing the strategy to obtain the data about the possible change,
receive, from the at least one member, the data about the possible change;
retrieve, from a storage device, a previous map of the region;
compare the data about the possible change with the previous map of the region;
determine, based on a result of a comparison of the data about the possible change with the previous map of the region, an existence of a change in the region; and
transmit, to the system and based on a determination of the existence of the change in the region, information about the change in the region.

### Claim 17

A method, comprising:
determining, by a processor and in response to having obtained an indication of a possible change in a region, a location of a connected car in a vicinity of the region and facts about a sensor disposed on the connected ear; car, wherein the possible change is with respect to at least one of a presence of an object in the region or a location of the object;
determining, by the processor, a strategy to obtain data about the possible change, the strategy being based on at least one of the location or the facts; and
transmitting, by the processor, via a communications device, and to the connected car, an instruction to control, according to the strategy, the sensor to obtain the data.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

The method of claim 17, wherein:
the sensor comprises at least one of at least one image sensor or at least one ranging sensor, and
the facts about the sensor comprise at least one of:
a type of the sensor,
a location of the sensor on the connected car, or
a facing direction of the sensor.

### Claim 19 (depends on 18)

The method of claim 18, wherein the determining the strategy to obtain the data about the possible change comprises determining the strategy based on at least one of:
the location of the connected car with respect to a location of the possible change,
the type of the sensor,
the location of the sensor on the connected car,
the facing direction of the sensor,
a location of another connected car with respect to the location of the possible change,
a type of another sensor disposed on the other connected car,
a location of the other sensor on the other connected car,
a facing direction of the other sensor, or
the location of the connected car with respect to the location of the other connected car.

### Claim 20

A non-transitory computer-readable medium for determining an existence of a change in a region, the non-transitory computer-readable medium including instructions that when executed by one or more processors cause the one or more processors to:
determine, in response to having obtained an indication of a possible change in a region, a location of a connected car in a vicinity of the region and facts about a sensor disposed on the connected car, wherein the possible change is with respect to at least one of a presence of an object in the region or a location of the object;
determine a strategy to obtain data about the possible change, the strategy being based on at least one of the location or the facts; and
transmit, via a communications device, and to the connected car, an instruction to control, according to the strategy, the sensor to obtain the data.