Total Phase, Inc.

Waymo LLC

Google Inc.

Etai Bruhis

Gopal Santhanam

Daniel L Rosenband

Kumaran Santhanam

Pierre-yves Droz

Samuel William Lenius

Adam S Brown

Min Wang

Andreas Wendel

Michael R James

Christopher Kennedy Ludwick

Christian Lauterbach

Alexander Zbrozek

Pieter Kapsenberg

Ryan Joseph Andrade

Emily Chi

Zhuyuan Liu

Pierre-Yves Droz

Aki Niimura

The technology relates to partially redundant equipment architectures for vehicles able to operate in an autonomous driving mode. Aspects of the technology employ fallback configurations, such as two or more fallback sensor configurations that provide some minimum amount of field of view (FOV) around the vehicle. For instance, different sensor arrangements are logically associated with different operating domains of the vehicle. Fallback configurations for computing resources and/or power resources are also provided. Each fallback configuration may have different reasons for being triggered, and may result in different types of fallback modes of operation. Triggering conditions may relate, e.g., to a type of failure, fault or other reduction in component capability, the current driving mode, environmental conditions in the vicinity of vehicle or along a planned route, or other factors. Fallback modes may involve altering a previously planned trajectory, altering vehicle speed, and/or altering a destination of the vehicle.

Redundant hardware system for autonomous vehicles

A device is provided that includes a first platform having a first side, and a second platform having a second side positioned within a predetermined distance to the first side. The device also includes an actuator configured to cause a relative rotation between the first platform and the second platform such that the first side of the first platform remains within the predetermined distance to the second side of the second platform. The device also includes a probe mounted to the first platform, and a plurality of probes mounted to the second platform. The device also includes a signal conditioner coupled to the plurality of probes. The signal conditioner may select one of the plurality of probes based on an orientation of the first platform relative to the second platform. The signal conditioner may then to use the selected probe for wireless communication with the probe on the first platform.

Devices and methods for a rotary joint with multiple wireless links

One or more out-of-band input signals (GPIO) are handled and efficiently embedded into a USB capture stream. In order to conserve resources, the state of the input signals can be sent only when a change occurs. The signals are accurately time-stamped, and then presented within the context of the captured USB data. In order to provide maximum visibility, if the digital inputs occur during a normally filtered multi-packet sequence, the filter is canceled and the surrounding packets will also be sent to an analysis computer. Furthermore, because digital inputs may happen during a USB packet, the digital inputs are queued in a FIFO buffer until there is an opportunity to send the digital inputs. Even though the state of the inputs may be sent at a later time, the state of the inputs may be time-stamped when the state of the inputs is perceived by the analyzer.

Methods for embedding an out-of-band signal into a communication protocol capture stream

Methods for embedding an out-of-band signal into a USB capture stream

Split capture of USB protocol streams is disclosed. A first set of packets associated with a first USB protocol and a second set of packets associated with a second USB protocol are received at a hardware protocol analyzer via a monitored bus. The first set of packets and the second set of packets are maintained as separate streams at the hardware protocol analyzer. The first set of packets and the second set of packets are transferred from the hardware protocol analyzer to an analysis computer via a first logical connection configured to transfer packets comprising the first set of packets and a second logical connection configured to transfer packets comprising the second set of packets.

Capture of USB packets into separate USB protocol streams based on different USB protocol specifications

A method is described for capturing USB data traffic for a monitored device by a USB analyzer using a single USB host controller. It comprises the steps of: generating and storing an address and communication speed associated with the USB analyzer; reading a USB packet; discarding selected read packets based on the stored analyzer address and communication speed; and transmitting the remaining packets to an analysis computer.

Methods for analyzing USB data traffic using a single USB host controller

The Universal Serial Bus ('USB') 2.0 Specification defines three speeds of communication for its bus, and each has its own signaling characteristics. Due to the uniqueness of each speed, PHYs must be placed in a separate mode for each signaling rate. Although USB devices may know its communication speed, a general purpose USB analyzer must be able to analyze all USB communications. Rather than force the user to manually set the operating mode of the analyzer, this invention describes circuits for automatically and reliably determining the monitored USB communication speed.

Circuits and methods for reliable automatic USB speed detection

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Palo Alto, CA, United States of America

Etai Bruhis