Abstract: In one embodiment, a system receives, at a sensor unit, a global positioning system (GPS) pulse signal from a GPS sensor of the autonomous driving vehicle (ADV), where the GPS pulse signal is a RF signal transmitted by a satellite to the GPS sensor, where the sensor unit is coupled to a number of sensors mounted on the ADV to perceive a driving environment surrounding the ADV and to plan a path to autonomously drive the ADV. The system receives a first local oscillator signal from a local oscillator. The system synchronizes the first local oscillator signal to the GPS pulse signal in real-time, including modifying the first local oscillator signal based on the GPS pulse signal. The system generates a second oscillator signal based on the synchronized first local oscillator signal, where the second oscillator signal is used to provide a time to at least one of the sensors.

Abstract: In one embodiment, a sensor unit receives a first GPS message from a GPS sensor, where the sensor unit is coupled between sensors and a perception and planning system of an autonomous driving vehicle (ADV). The sensor unit determines a type of the first GPS message by matching a predetermined field of the first GPS message with a list of predetermined data patterns. Each of the predetermined data patterns corresponds to one of the predetermined types of GPS messages and decodes a payload of the first GPS message using a decoding algorithm associated with the type of the first GPS message.

Abstract: In one embodiment, a computer-implemented method of performing a secure boot operation in an autonomous driving vehicle includes reading a first marker from a storage device in which the storage device includes a plurality of partitions and at least the first marker. The plurality of partitions includes a first partition including stored software, the first marker associated with the first partition, and wherein the first marker includes a unique identifier and an authentication code. The method further includes determining if the read first marker associated with the first partition is valid during a boot-up operation and executing the stored software in the first partition if the read first marker is determined valid.

Abstract: In one embodiment, a system determines a difference in time between a local time source and a time of a GPS sensor. The system determines a max limit in difference and a max recovery increment or max recovery time interval for a smooth time source recovery. The system determines that the difference between the local time source and a time of the GPS sensor to be less than the max limit. The system plans a smooth recovery of the time source to converge the local time source to a time of the GPS sensor within the max recovery time interval. The system generates a timestamp based on the recovered time source to timestamp sensor data for a sensor unit of the ADV.

Abstract: In one embodiment, a system receives, at a sensor unit, a global positioning system (GPS) pulse signal from a GPS sensor of the autonomous driving vehicle (ADV), where the GPS pulse signal is a RF signal transmitted by a satellite to the GPS sensor, where the sensor unit is coupled to a number of sensors mounted on the ADV to perceive a driving environment surrounding the ADV and to plan a path to autonomously drive the ADV. The system receives a first local oscillator signal from a local oscillator. The system synchronizes the first local oscillator signal to the GPS pulse signal in real-time, including modifying the first local oscillator signal based on the GPS pulse signal. The system generates a second oscillator signal based on the synchronized first local oscillator signal, where the second oscillator signal is used to provide a time to at least one of the sensors.

Abstract: A sensor unit used in an ADV includes a sensor interface that can be coupled to cameras mounted on the ADV. The sensor unit further includes a host interface that can be coupled to a host system. The host system is configured to perceive a driving environment surrounding the ADV based on at least image data obtained from the cameras and to plan a path to autonomously drive the ADV. The sensor unit further includes one or more data acquisition modules corresponding to the cameras. Each data acquisition module includes a pixel alignment module and a frame processing module. The pixel alignment module is configured to reformat pixels of image data from an original format associated with the corresponding camera to a predetermined format. The frame processing module is configured to generate an image frame based on the image data and to transmit the image frame to the host system.

Abstract: A sensor unit includes a sensor interface coupled to a number of sensors and a host interface coupled to a host system utilized to autonomously drive the vehicle. The sensor unit further includes sensor control modules corresponding to the sensors. Each sensor control module includes delay time control logic, delay adjustment logic, and a trigger signal generator. The delay time control logic is to receive a pulse time adjustment (PTA) value from the host system. The delay adjustment logic is to receive a trigger time adjustment (TTA) value from the host system. The delay adjustment logic is to modify timing of at least a portion of the pulses of a pulse signal based on the PTA value and the TTA value. The trigger signal generator is to generate a trigger signal based on the modified pulse signal and to transmit the trigger signal to a corresponding sensor.