EP-4742552-A2 - SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ANTENNA SWITCHING FOR A VEHICLE

Abstract

Embodiments are disclosed for an example telematics system for a vehicle. The example telematics system comprises a plurality of antennas capable of sending and receiving wireless signals and a telematics unit configured to select an antenna from the plurality of antennas based on network information and dynamic vehicle information and connect the selected antenna to the telematics unit to send and/or receive wireless signals via the selected antenna.

Inventors

• KHAN, NASSERULLAH
• DEY, SUMIT
• SEHRA, SUMAN A.
• LEE, YUN HO
• LIU, HAO

Assignees

• Harman Becker Automotive Systems, Inc.

Dates

Publication Date

20260513

Application Date

20251016

Claims (15)

1. A telematics system for a vehicle, the telematics system comprising: a plurality of antennas capable of sending and receiving wireless signals; a telematics unit configured to select an antenna from the plurality of antennas based on network information and dynamic vehicle information and connect the selected antenna to the telematics unit to send and/or receive wireless signals via the selected antenna.
2. The telematics system of claim 1, wherein the network information includes static and/or historical information about a mobile network and/or a satellite network to which the vehicle is configured to connect.
3. The telematics system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the dynamic vehicle information includes current wireless signal quality, vehicle driving direction, vehicle route, current vehicle location, information indicating nearby terrain, and/or sensor output.
4. The telematics system of claim 3, wherein the sensor output comprises camera data, radar data, and/or lidar data.
5. The telematics system of any preceding claim, wherein the plurality of antennas includes a first subset of antennas and a second subset of antennas.
6. The telematics system of claim 5, wherein the telematics unit includes an antenna controller including a first switch and a second switch, the first switch configured to connect the telematics unit to a selected one of the first subset of switches and the second switch configured to connect the telematics unit to a selected one of the second subset of switches, such that the first switch or the second switch is actuated to connect the selected antenna to the telematics unit.
7. The telematics system of any preceding claim, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of antennas have radiation patterns optimized for different fixed directions.
8. The telematics system of any preceding claim, wherein the telematics unit includes a smart antenna manager configured to process the network information and the dynamic vehicle information using a deterministic model or a neural network-based model to determine one or more antenna selection parameters, and wherein the telematics unit is configured to select the antenna based on the one or more antenna selection parameters, and preferably . the one or more antenna selection parameters include beam direction coordinates comprising azimuth and elevation values.
9. A method for a telematics system for a vehicle, the method comprising: obtaining network information and dynamic vehicle information relating to a current and/or predicted signal quality of wireless signals sent from and/or received at the vehicle; determining a shape of a radiation pattern for a plurality of antennas of the vehicle based on the network information and the dynamic vehicle information; and shaping the radiation pattern of the plurality of antennas according to the determined shape.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein shaping the radiation pattern comprises selecting an antenna from a plurality of antennas of the vehicle based on the network information and the dynamic vehicle information and sending and/or receiving wireless signals via the selected antenna.
11. The method of claim 9 or 10, wherein the plurality of antennas includes a phased array antenna comprising an array of antenna elements, and wherein shaping the radiation pattern comprises adjusting a phase and/or gain of each RF signal output by each antenna element of the phased array antenna.
12. The method of any of claims 9 to 11, wherein determining the shape of the radiation pattern for the plurality of antennas of the vehicle based on the network information and the dynamic vehicle information comprises determining the shape of the radiation pattern based on an expected beam direction determined based on the network information and the dynamic vehicle information, such that the shape of the radiation pattern matches the expected beam direction.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein the expected beam direction is determined from the network information and the dynamic vehicle information using a deterministic model or a neural network model.
14. A method for antenna control in a vehicle telematics system of a vehicle, the method comprising: obtaining network information including base station maps and satellite constellation data; obtaining dynamic vehicle information including current signal quality and vehicle parameters; processing the network information and dynamic vehicle information using a smart antenna manager to determine a selected antenna configuration; and controlling antenna selection or beam direction of one or more antennas of the vehicle based on the selected antenna configuration.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein processing the network information and dynamic vehicle information comprises at least one of the following: - processing the network information and the dynamic vehicle information with a deterministic model that applies weighted scoring to combine the network information and the dynamic vehicle information, - processing the network information and the dynamic vehicle information with a neural network with multiple layers to determine beam direction coordinates.

Description

FIELD The disclosure relates to the field of vehicle communication systems, and in particular to antenna systems for a vehicle. BACKGROUND A telematic control unit (TCU) or telematics unit is a system in a vehicle that can wirelessly connect the vehicle to various network services over various types of networks, such as cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc. Such systems can also control wireless tracking, diagnostics, and communication to and from the vehicle, for example. In some examples, a TCU may collect telemetry data from the vehicle, such as position, speed, engine data, connectivity quality, etc., from various sub-systems over data and control busses. Such TCU systems may use antennas connected to the TCU to collect and communicate signal data. SUMMARY Embodiments are disclosed for an example telematics system for a vehicle. The example telematics system comprises a plurality of antennas capable of sending and receiving wireless signals and a telematics unit configured to select an antenna from the plurality of antennas based on network information and dynamic vehicle information and connect the selected antenna to the telematics unit to send and/or receive wireless signals via the selected antenna. Methods for a vehicle telematics system are also disclosed. An example method for a telematics system for a vehicle comprises obtaining network information and dynamic vehicle information relating to a current and/or predicted signal quality of wireless signals sent from and/or received at the vehicle; determining a shape of a radiation pattern for a plurality of antennas of the vehicle based on the network information and the dynamic vehicle information; and shaping the radiation pattern of the plurality of antennas according to the determined shape. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The disclosure may be better understood from reading the following description of non-limiting embodiments, with reference to the attached drawings, wherein below: FIG. 1 shows a schematic depicting an example inter-vehicle communications system in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure;FIG. 2 shows an example partial view of a vehicle cabin in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure;FIG. 3 shows an example in-vehicle computing system in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure;FIGS. 4 and 5 are block diagrams depicting example antenna control systems; andFIGS. 6 and 7 are block diagrams illustrating example processes for antenna selection and/or control. DETAILED DESCRIPTION As described above, telematics systems are used to provide telecommunications and cellular connectivity for vehicles. The present disclosure describes a telematics system for a vehicle that establishes communication between the vehicle and other vehicles in the same or similar geographic area or external services via a relay tower or base station. A communications system, such as the system depicted in FIG. 1, shows one such example of a system capable of providing communication between a vehicle and external services. Further, as described herein, the telematics unit may be connectable to a plurality of antennas. There are situations in automotive radio applications where it may be desirable or required to modify the antenna radiation pattern to suit a specific location of the automobile to maintain an optimal quality of service parameters. One example of this is urban canyons where it may be desirable to focus the antenna radiation pattern for the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) antenna along the canyon instead of in an omni-directional pattern. This will increase the visible satellites close to the horizon and avoid the issues with multi-path with satellite signals reflected from nearby tall buildings. There are also other situations where it is beneficial to focus the cellular antenna radiation pattern towards the serving cell, especially in 5G where beamforming from the mobile side is allowed by the network. The same concept also applies to non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) and Satcom networks where beamforming is utilized. Depending on where the antenna is placed in the vehicle, the radiation pattern varies considerably. Having multiple antennas at different locations in the vehicle and using software to switch different antennas to the telematics control unit (TCU) will help in situations where the antenna radiation pattern needs to be adapted as per the location of the vehicle with respect to the base station or satellites to improve signal reception resulting in better antenna performance. Reshaping of the antenna radiation pattern as discussed above can be done with a phased array antenna (PSA), but PSAs are narrow band and cannot cover the entire range of frequencies of interest for automotive TCUs. Thus, according to embodiments disclosed herein, multiple antennas may be included in a vehicle which have radiation patterns optimized for different fixed direction