Lexinnova Driverless Cars

The Next Revolution Cars
A Technology Analysis of Driverless Cars
4th Floor, B-Block,

Building No. 14, Cyber City,
DLF City Phase III, Gurgaon,
Haryana 122002
Tel: +91-124-4003400
info@lexinnova.com
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Contents
List of Figures ................................................................................................................................................ 3
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................................. 4
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 1
2. Background ................................................................................................................................................. 1
3. Market Analysis ........................................................................................................................................... 2
4. Technical Overview ..................................................................................................................................... 3
4.1 Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) Communication .................................................................................................. 4
4.2 Cruise Control ........................................................................................................................................... 4
4.3 Automatic Brakes ..................................................................................................................................... 5
4.4 Lane Keeping ............................................................................................................................................ 6
4.5 Radar........................................................................................................................................................ 7
5. Patenting Trend Analysis .............................................................................................................................. 8
5.1 Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) Communication .................................................................................................. 9
5.2 Cruise Control ......................................................................................................................................... 12
5.3 Automatic Brakes ................................................................................................................................... 14
5.4 Lane Keeping .......................................................................................................................................... 16
5.5 Radar...................................................................................................................................................... 19
6. Major Assignees ........................................................................................................................................ 21
6.1 ROBERT BOSCH ...................................................................................................................................... 21
6.2 TOYOTA.................................................................................................................................................. 22
6.3 NISSAN ................................................................................................................................................... 24
6.4 GOOGLE .................................................................................................................................................. 25
6.5 GENERAL MOTORS ................................................................................................................................. 27
6.6 Other Universities working on driverless vehicles ................................................................................... 28
7. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................ 29
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List of Figures
Figure 1: Various technologies used in driverless cars ................................................................................ 3

Figure 2: Key technologies used in driverless cars ...................................................................................... 4
Figure 3: An illustration of cruise control ....................................................................................................... 5
Figure 4: An illustration of automatic braking ................................................................................................ 6
Figure 5: An illustration of lane keeping ........................................................................................................ 6
Figure 6: An illustration of a Radar system ................................................................................................... 7
Figure 7: Distribution of technologies amongst the leading assignees ......................................................... 9
Figure 8: Number of Patents v. Assignee in the field of Vehicle to Vehicle Communication ...................... 10
Figure 9: Number of Patents v. Application Year in the field of Vehicle to Vehicle Communication .......... 12
Figure 10: Number of Patents v. Assignee in the field of Cruise Control ................................................... 13
Figure 11: Number of Patents v. Application Year in the field of Cruise Control ........................................ 14
Figure 12: Number of Patents v. Assignee in the field of Automatic Braking ............................................. 15
Figure 13: Number of Patents v. Application Year in the field of Automatic Braking .................................. 16
Figure 14: Number of Patents v. Assignee in the field of Lane Keeping ................................................... 17
Figure 15: Number of Patents v. Application Year in the field of Lane Keeping ......................................... 18
Figure 16: Number of granted patents and number of application in different years in the field of Lane
Keeping ....................................................................................................................................................... 19
Figure 17: Number of Patents v. Assignee in the field of RADAR .............................................................. 20
Figure 18: Logo of BOSCH ......................................................................................................................... 21
Figure 19: Logo of TOYOTA ....................................................................................................................... 22
Figure 20: Logo of NISSAN......................................................................................................................... 24
Figure 21: Google Driverless Car ............................................................................................................... 25
Figure 22: Logo of General Motors ............................................................................................................. 27
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List of Tables
Table 1: Technologies and prototypes of driverless cars between 1980 and 2005..................................... 2
Table 2: List of important patents by major assignees in the field of Vehicle to Vehicle Communication .. 11
Table 3: List of important patents by major assignees in the field of Cruise Control .................................. 14
Table 4: List of important patents by major assignees in the field of Automatic Braking ........................... 16
Table 5: List of important patents by major assignees in the field of Lane Keeping .................................. 18
Table 6: List of important patents by major assignees in the field of RADAR ............................................ 21
Table 7: List of important patents by Robert Bosch .................................................................................... 22
Table 8: List of important patents by Toyota ............................................................................................... 23
Table 9: List of important patents by NISSAN ............................................................................................ 25
Table 10: List of important patents by Google ............................................................................................ 26
Table 11: List of important patents by General Motors ............................................................................... 28
Table 12: Some of Universities working on driverless cars ........................................................................ 29
Table 13: Overview of different technologies in driverless car ................................................................... 31
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1. Introduction
A driverless car, also known as an autonomous, robotic, or self-driving car is an automobile that
requires virtually no human intervention for its operation. Being autonomous it senses the
environment around itself and navigates itself according to the destination chosen by a human.
These vehicles employ the use of techniques such as video cameras, radars, laser range finders,
computer vision, and GPS to visualize the environment around them. With the recent advances in
these technologies the vehicle is capable of making a complete virtual 3-D image of the world
around it. And, all this is done on real time basis while conforming to the traffic lights, lane
markers, and other traffic signage.
Driverless cars are growing in popularity and generating interest all over the world. Owing to this,
the states of Nevada, Florida, and California in USA have already legalized the technology. The
Nevada legislature of June 2011 authorized the use of autonomous vehicles by passing the AB
511 bill.
This article attempts to analyze the patent landscape of driverless cars to bring out the evolution
of this technology and to identify promising areas for further research.
Research methodology
Our research team reviewed the technology to obtain a thorough understanding of the
developments taking place in this domain. Then, based on this understanding, a large set of
patents was extracted from the several commercial patent databases. These patents were then
screened for relevancy and a subset of the initial patent set was considered for further analysis.
This screened set was then bucketed into various categories by country, assignee, inventor,
technology, and the like.so on. The results were analyzed and have been presented in this
paper..
2. Background
In 1939, Norman Bel Geddes designed an exhibit, Futurama, which showed electric cars
powered by circuits embedded in the road and controlled by a radio. The exhibit was sponsored
by General Motors and it was showcased at the 1939 World's Fair. At that time, Futurama
envisioned the world of tomorrow and showed how the transportation network would look like in
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the future. Futurama was followed by lots of technologies and prototypes of driverless cars that
could enable the concept visualized in the Futurama. (See Table 1 for more details).
Year
1980s
Event
Mercedes-Benzs vision-guided robotic van achieves 100 km/h
DARPA-funded Autonomous Land Vehicle (ALV) demonstrated the use
of LIDAR, computer vision and robotic control.
1994
Daimler-Benz and Ernst Dickmanns twin robot vehicles VaMP and Vita-2
drove about a thousand kilometers semi autonomously.
1995
Dickmanns autonomous S-Class Mercedes-Benz travels 1600km

CMUs NAVLAB project achieves 98% of autonomous driving on a
5000km road.
2005
BMWs starts testing its autonomous vehicle technology
Table 1: Technologies and prototypes of driverless cars between 1980 and 2005
Lately, many big automobile companies like AUDI, GM, Volvo, Cadillac, Mercedes-Benz,
Volkswagen, and companies especially Google have put their autonomous vehicles on the road
for testing.
3. Market Analysis
Self-driving cars might sound like science fiction, but they are already cruising roads and could be
commercially available within the next decade. Florida and California are the latest states (after
Nevada) in US to allow on road testing of Google's self-driving car. Next in line are Atlanta and
Washington.
Autonomous cars use computers, sensors, and other technology to operate independently. In
recent years, automakers have introduced autonomous functions such as self-parking, lane
departure warnings, and adaptive cruise-control. These functions allow vehicles to automatically
accelerate and decelerate with the flow of traffic.
Googles self-driving cars have completed 300,000 miles of test-drives, under a wide range of
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conditions, without any accident. The Google project uses Toyota Prius equipped with a range of
cameras, radar sensors, and laser range-finders to observe traffic; sophisticated software uses
Google Maps to navigate routes. Nissan has unveiled NSC-2015 at the CEATEC electronics
show (2012) in Tokyo. A feature of this car includes a system for performing a car health check,
when a smartphone sends an instruction to park the car. The system decides if the car is okay. If
the car is okay, the automatic driving mode is enabled. This will put Nissan in race with Bosch,
Google and many other companies which are currently trying to size the market with the
technology.
4. Technical Overview
Vehicle to Vehicle
(V2V)
Communication
Cruise Control
Automatic Brakes
Lane Keeping
Radar
Traction or Stability
Control
Video cameras
Position Estimator
Global Positioning
System
Figure 1: Various technologies used in driverless cars
The technologies mentioned in FIG. 1 enable various functionalities of a driverless car. These are the
basic technologies which are useful for driverless vehicles. Out of these technologies, the first five
technologies are important owing to the large number of patents filed in such technologies. (See FIG. 2).
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Key Technologies used in Driverless Cars
Vehicle to
Vehicle
Communication
Cruise Control
Automatic
Brakes
Lane Keeping
Radar
Figure 2: Key technologies used in driverless cars
4.1 Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) Communication

One of the main features of driverless cars is ability to communicate with each other. V2V
(vehicle to vehicle) is an automobile technology designed to allow automobiles to "talk" to each
other. US allows V2V in the 5.9 GHz band. V2V communication makes it possible to reach
maximum safety standards and avoid traffic congestion on the roads.
4.2 Cruise Control

Cruise control is a system that controls the speed of a vehicle without any human intervention.
Speed is set by a human and then the system automatically controls the throttle of car to maintain
that steady speed. The desired speed of the vehicle is maintained by pulling the throttle cable
with a solenoid, a vacuum driven servomechanism, or by using the electronic systems built into
the vehicle (fully electronic) if it uses a 'drive-by-wire' system. FIG. 3 is an illustration of the cruise
control system.
Currently, the system is used to provide a comfortable driving experience to the driver in steady
traffic conditions. But it forms one of the main features in autonomous vehicles in which no driver
is present. In addition, combined with V2V communication the system is able to vary the speed
with the position of nearby vehicles.
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Figure 3: An illustration of cruise control

Source
The first two patents (US3570622 and US3511329) for electronic cruise control system were filed
in 1968 by Daniel Aaron Wisner who worked as an engineer for RCA's Industrial and Automation
Systems Division in Plymouth, Michigan. After about 20 years, Motorola Inc. developed a CMOS
integrated circuit for his design. The integrated circuit was known as the MC14460 Auto Speed
Control Processor. The main advantage of an electronic speed control system over its
mechanical predecessor was its easy integration with electronic accident avoidance and engine
management systems.
4.3 Automatic Brakes

Automatic braking employs a system to sense an imminent collision with another vehicle, person,
or obstacle; or a danger such as approaching a stop sign with high speed. On detection of
danger, the system automatically applies brakes without any human intervention. The system
uses sensors such as radars, video cameras, infrared sensors, ultrasonic sensors, or other
technologies to detect other vehicles or obstacles. GPS sensors are generally used to detect the
fixed dangers such as approaching stop signs through a location database. FIG. 4 is an
illustration of the automatic braking system.
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Figure 4: An illustration of automatic braking

Source
In 2008, Toyota Motor Corporation was one of the first entrants in this technology when they
announced their first GPS based automatic braking system and showcased it on highways in
Tokyo, Nagoya, Yokohama, and Osaka.
4.4 Lane Keeping

A lane keeping system warns the driver when the vehicle begins to move out of its lane. There
are basically two types of lane keeping systems. The first type just warns the driver when the
vehicle begins to move out of its lane. The second type warns the driver and if no action is taken
by the driver then automatically takes control of the steering wheel to keep the vehicle in correct
lane. FIG. 5 is an illustration of the lane keeping system.
Figure 5: An illustration of lane keeping
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Source
This type of lane keeping system is used in driverless cars to make them follow a single lane
unless and until it becomes necessary to change the lanes. The main sensors which are used in
such systems include video sensors, laser sensors and infrared sensors.
Companies like Nissan Motors, Toyota, Honda, Citroen, Audi, General Motors, Mercedes Benz,
and Kia Motors have already introduced the first type of lane keeping systems in their vehicles
and are working on completely making this system autonomous.
4.5 Radar
Radars form one of the most important systems in a driverless car. They are needed because
they not only help in cruising at a fixed and constant speed, but also help in detecting surrounding
traffic. This detection is done through using laser or radar based sensors. FIG. 6 is an illustration
of radar system.
Figure 6: An illustration of a Radar system

Source
In addition, radar systems are used in automatic braking systems of driverless cars. The Cruise
control system also uses a radar system to monitor the position of the car in front. Moreover,
distance can also be judged with the help of a radar or LIDAR sensors placed in front bumpers.
Radars can also be used when the car is being reversed. In such cases, radars are placed in the
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rear panel and are capable of detecting oncoming traffic as the car backs out of parking spaces.
On detecting an incoming car, the system will alert the driver by an auditory or a vibratory alert.
5. Patenting Trend Analysis

During the patent analysis it was observed that during early and mid-2000s there was a
consistent increase in the patenting activity in the domain of driverless vehicles. The reason for
the increase can be due to the prototypes developed by companies like, Google, Nissan, and GM
in the market or can be due to the changes made to the laws governing the use of driverless
vehicles. All this has made the driverless technology more visible and players like Bosch, Toyota,
GM, Nissan, Honda, and Google have started applying for patents in this domain. However, late
2000 saw a decrease in patenting activity mainly because of the worldwide recession that hit the
automobile industry hard.
During the study, patents search was conducted for the field of vehicle to vehicle communication,
cruise control, lane keeping, radar, and automatic brakes. On the basis of the claims, relevant
patents filed after 2000 were selected for each field. FIG.7 illustrates the distribution of
technologies amongst the leading assignees.
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FIG.7: Key Technologies V/s Key Assignees

6
Technologies
12
17
4
Automatic Brakes
37
23
14
11
12
11
35
32
33
13
30
Cruise Control2
29
22
22
48
15
13
24
RADAR
Lane Keeping
V2V
0
0
BOSCH
TOYOTA
NISSAN
HONDA
GM
HYUNDAI
7
Assignees
Figure 7: Distribution of technologies amongst the leading assignees
5.1 Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) Communication
Vehicular communication networks are emerging type of networks in which vehicles and roadside
units communicate with each other to provide information, such as safety warnings and traffic
information to each other. Automobile manufactures like General Motors, Daimler Chrysler, Ford
Motor Company, Siemens, Honda, Toyota, and Mercedes-Benz have made huge investments in
this technology. Even some of the universities like University of California, Stanford, University of
California, Los Angeles, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology are pursuing research and
development of vehicular ad hoc networks.
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FIG.8 shows the leading assignees in the field of V2V communication. It was observed that most
of the patents in this field are assigned to Toyota and its subsidiary DENSO. Other electronics
manufacture like Alpine, Hitachi, Oki electric are also active in this field.
60
No. of patents
50
40
30
20
10
0
Toyota
Denso
Alpine
GM
Mitsubishi
Oki
Electric
Nissan
Honda
Clarion Co Hitachi
Ltd
Assignee
Figure 8: Number of Patents v. Assignee in the field of Vehicle to Vehicle Communication
The table given below contains some of the important patents by the leading assignees in this
field:
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Patent
Title
Assignee
Patent Focus
Probe Car System, Vehicle
Toyota
The patent describes a car system which is
Number
JP2011258017A
for the Same, and Traffic
capable of efficiently sharing information
Information
obtained by a running vehicle with other
Sharing
Method for the Same
vehicles without using a traffic information

center.
WO2012020300
Vehicle Control Device and
Toyota
Vehicle Control Method
The patent mentions a system in which

operation of the host vehicle is controlled in
relation with the movement of the vehicle in
front of the host vehicle.
US6445308
Positional
data
utilizing
Toyota
inter-vehicle
communication
and
traveling
which the brakes or steering operation is

method
done
control
Autonomous
autonomously
whenever
needed
based on the actions of the nearby vehicles
apparatus
US20100256836
The patent describes a V2V system in
and a global positioning system.

Vehicle
GM
Management

there is a platoon of vehicles which are
connected to a leader vehicle and move
according to the orders from it.
US6301530
Automatic following travel
Honda
system
In this patent, a leading vehicle is followed

by
the
other
vehicles
using
V2V
communication.
US2011190972
Grid Unlock
GM
In this patent, vehicles can communicate

using
V2V
communication
with
other
vehicles. In addition, the steering and

brakes are controlled autonomously.
Table 2: List of important patents by major assignees in the field of Vehicle to Vehicle Communication
FIG.9 shows the number of patents for V2V communication versus their year of filing. V2V
communication is currently in active development by General Motors, which demonstrated the
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system in 2006 using Cadillac vehicles. Other automakers working on V2V communication
include BMW, Toyota, Daimler, Honda, Audi, and Denso.
In the FIG.9, it can be observed that after General Motors demonstration, the patent filing in this
domain increased significantly. Therefore, it can be inferred that major automobile players started
researching about this technology and filed a number of applications related to the V2V
communication technology.
80
70
No. of patents
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Application Year
Figure 9: Number of Patents v. Application Year in the field of Vehicle to Vehicle Communication
5.2 Cruise Control

Cruise control (speed control or auto cruise) is a system that automatically controls the speed of a
vehicle. In this, the system takes over the throttle of the car to maintain the speed set by the
driver. Bosch, the worlds largest supplier of automotive components, is already out in the market
with its driving assistance systems and components. Bernd Bohr, head of automotive operations
at Supplier Robert Bosch feels that autonomous driving will be fully established within the next 20
years.
FIG.10 shows the leading assignees in the field of cruise control. It can be observed that
automobile manufacture like Bosch, Nissan, and GM are leading assignees in this field.
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35
30
No. of patents
25
20
15
10
5
0
Robert
Bosch
Nissan
GM
Volvo
Ford
Assignee
Bayerische
Motoren
Werke Ag
Denso
Hitachi
Figure 10: Number of Patents v. Assignee in the field of Cruise Control
field:
Patent Number
Title
Assignee
EP1480054
Cruise Control for a
Bosch
Vehicle
Patent Focus
The patent describes a system in which
sensors are used to sense vehicles in
front of a host vehicle, and means of
selecting one of the vehicles as a
reference vehicle for speed regulation.
WO02058955
Adaptive
Cruise
Bosch
Control Device for a
cruise
Motor Vehicle, which
automatic
Uses
operations, thereby hinting towards a
Steering
or
Braking Intervention
US20110214526A1
Accelerator Pedal for

a Motor Vehicle and
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control
is
steering
augmented
and
with
braking
completely autonomous driving.

GM
In this patent, an automatic accelerator

pedal system is included in the cruise
Method for Operating
control system of vehicles.
the Accelerator Pedal

Table 3: List of important patents by major assignees in the field of Cruise Control
The applications for the Cruise technology, as shown in FIG.11 show slight peaks in the 2000s.
This may be because major players including BMW, Audi, and Volkswagen introduced their own
cruise control systems during these years.
30
No. of patents
25
20
15
10
5
0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Application Year
Figure 11: Number of Patents v. Application Year in the field of Cruise Control
5.3 Automatic Brakes

Automatic braking systems generally include Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) and Electronic
Brake-Force Distribution (EBD). Most of the patents found for automatic braking system
pinpointed towards these specific technologies. One of the largest players among brake
components manufacturers is Mando Corporation and it has a number of patents on ABS and
EBD. However, these patents do not refer to the use of these systems in autonomous cars
directly. Another leading assignee is Bosch. The ABS was first introduced to market by Bosch in
1978. Boschs ABS prevented wheel lock during full braking. This ensured that, even after the
application of full brake, the vehicle could still be steered and moved out of the way of
unexpected obstacles.
FIG.12 shows the leading assignees in the field of automatic brakes.
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40
35
No. of patents
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Mando Corp
Bosch
Toyota
Wabco
Continental
Teves
Ford
Advics Co.
Assignee
Figure 12: Number of Patents v. Assignee in the field of Automatic Braking
The table given below contains some of the important patents by leading assignees in this field:
Patent Number
EP2004445B1
Title
Adapting
Braking
Assistance
Assignee
Patent Focus
Bosch
The patent describes an invention in
during
which sensors or video surveillance
Vehicle Braking
system
is
used
to
monitor
the
surrounding area.
EP1409310B1
Method and Device

for
Predicting
Bosch
the
predicting a maneuver trajectory for a
Travelling
Trajectories
The patent mentions a system of
vehicle during braking controls and

of
employs anti-lock braking and steering
Motor Vehicle
system
based
upon
trajectory
prediction.
GB2479998A
A Parking System for

a Vehicle
Bosch
The patent describes a parking system

for vehicle which has processing unit
that sends a warning signal to the driver
to check motion path and activates a
brake system for automatically stopping
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vehicle if one sensor does not detect a

parking space boundary.
EP2051886B1
Braking
Control
Toyota
The patent mentions an invention which
System and Braking
is targeted towards complete automatic
Control Method
braking in case of imminent collision.

The invention integrates steering angle
sensors along with other type of sensor
to detect the imminent event of collision
but does not employ any environment
sensors.
Table 4: List of important patents by major assignees in the field of Automatic Braking
The filing of applications in this technology has been quite uniform over the past decade (See
FIG. 13). There was a slight shoot-up in the year 2008, probably following the introduction of
VOLVOs Automatic Braking System in its XC60. However, after 2008 there has been decrease
in filling of applications. This may be due to the worldwide recession which affected the
automobile manufactures.
60
No. of patents
50
40
30
20
10
0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Application Year
Figure 13: Number of Patents v. Application Year in the field of Automatic Braking
5.4 Lane Keeping

There are two main types of lane keeping systems:
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Systems that warn the driver if the vehicle is leaving its lane by providing visual, audible,
and/or vibration warnings (lane departure warning, LDW)
Systems that warn the driver and, if no action taken, automatically take the steps to
ensure vehicle stays in its lane (lane keeping system, LKS)

FIG.14 displays the leading assignees in the field of lane keeping. Some of the major companies
which came up in the analysis were Bosch, Nissan, Toyota, and Hyundai.
40
35
No. of patents
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Robert
Bosch
Nissan
Toyota
Hyundai
Mando
Corp
Audi
GM
Mitsubishi
Honda
Assignee
Figure 14: Number of Patents v. Assignee in the field of Lane Keeping
field:
Patent Number
US8031063
Title
Method
and
Assignee
Patent Focus
Bosch
In this patent, a process for driver
Apparatus for Driver
support by classifying a lane change of
Assistance
vehicle on the basis
of
operating
parameters and generating an output

signal
according
disclosed.
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to
the
result
is
US7765066
Method and Device

for
Lane
Support
Bosch
The patent describes a method for
Keeping
assisting lane cross-over control in
Motor
motor vehicles by comparing a set point
in
Vehicles
value with an up-to-the-minute vehicle

position to calculate an output signal to
assist lane cross-over control.
Table 5: List of important patents by major assignees in the field of Lane Keeping
In early 2000s Nissan Motors began offering a lane-keeping support system on the Cima sold in
Japan. In mid-2000s, the first lane keeping passenger-vehicle system available in North America
was jointly developed by Iteris and Valeo for Nissan on the Infiniti FX and the M vehicles.
Similarly, during the same period other companies like Toyota, GM, Audi, and Honda also
launched their lane keeping systems.
50
45
No. of patents
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Application Year
Figure 15: Number of Patents v. Application Year in the field of Lane Keeping
FIG.15 shows the patents v/s year of filing for lane keeping systems. It was observed that most of
the patents in this field were filed in late 2000s. A large number of patents were filed by Toyota,
Bosch, and Hyundai during this period. In further analysis of these patents, it was found that
Buerkle Lutz is one of the leading inventors. He is based in Germany and has with most of the
patents filed for Robert Bosch.
In addition, this field of technology mostly had first filling office in JP, EP, KR, and DE. Europe
and Asia are dominant geographic areas in lane keeping systems, this maybe because the
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companies working on this technology are mostly based in Europe and Asia. Further, it was found
that only a small number of patents were filed or granted in the US during this period. FIG.16
shows the number of granted patents and number of application in different years.
5.5 Radar
12
Application
Granted
10
No. of patents
8
6
4
2
0
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Application Year
Figure 16: Number of granted patents and number of application in different years in the field of Lane Keeping
Radar and LIDAR are the most common forms of systems used for environment sensing around
the vehicles. Radar is an object detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range,
altitude, direction, or speed of objects. LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging, also LADAR) is an
optical remote sensing technology that can measure the distance to, or other properties of, a
target by illuminating the target with light, often using pulses from a laser.
FIG.17 shows the leading assignees in the field of Radar. It can be observed that Toyota, Bosch,
and Hitachi are leading assignees in this domain
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18
16
14
No ofpatents
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
TOYOTA
HITACHI LTD
ROBERT
BOSCH
Fujitsu
HONDA
NISSAN
HYUNDAI
MATSUSHITA
DENSO
Assignee
Figure 17: Number of Patents v. Assignee in the field of RADAR
The table given below contains some of the important patents by the key assignees in this field:
Patent Number
JP2003276538A
Title
Obstacle
Assignee
Patent Focus
Toyota
The patent describes an obstruction prediction
Predicting Device
apparatus
for
auto-cruise
system,
which
detects horizontal movement of preceding

vehicle based on the measured distance
between vehicles.
JP2004224098A
Collision
Toyota
Prediction Device
In this patent, a vehicle collision predictor

determines whether distance between detected
vehicle and preceding vehicle within specific
time interval is same as distance before
calculation.
JP2007189436A
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Car
to
Car
Toyota
The patent describes an apparatus for vehicle
Communication
tracking
and
collision
avoidance
system,
Device
having controller that controls communication
between vehicles based on vehicle distance

detected by radar communication and timing
data.
JP2003315452A
Radar Apparatus
Hitachi
The patent mentions a radar system for

forward collision warning system of vehicle
which changes response speed of radar
system to larger value, when vehicle is
detected to be in lane-change behavior state.
DE102010040890A1
Radar Sensor for
Bosch
In this patent, a radar sensor is used for
use in Automatic
measuring distances of preceding car and has
Cruise Control or
evaluation circuits for evaluation of reaction of
Pre-crash System
filter circuit to test frequency signal.
in Motor Car for

Measuring
Table 6: List of important patents by major assignees in the field of RADAR
6. Major Assignees
6.1 ROBERT BOSCH
Figure 18: Logo of BOSCH
Robert Bosch GmbH (commonly known as Bosch) is a German multinational engineering and
electronics company headquartered in Gerlingen, near Stuttgart. It is the world's largest supplier of
automotive components. Bosch's core products are automotive components (including brakes,
controls, electrical drives, electronics, fuel systems, generators, starter motors and steering
systems). Bosch has collaborated with Stanford University for research and development on
autonomous vehicles and is even working with the Stanford Law School on overcoming the legal
challenges associated with Autonomous Vehicles.
Patents Portfolio:
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BOSCH has a great chance to be a leader in in the field of autonomous vehicles either in
development or in licensing their technology to other companies. BOSCH has a strong patent
portfolio in the cruise control, lane keeping and braking system. It also has patents related to other
technologies which are used in autonomous vehicles. Bosch has worldwide geographic coverage
for his patents in technology related to driverless but is more prominent in Europe and the US.
Some of the important patents of Bosch are:
Patent Number
Title
Patent Focus
EP1363800B1
Adaptive Cruise Control
The patent describes a method of speed regulation
Device for a Motor
dependent on the relative speed and separation of an
Vehicle, which uses
object in the vehicle path and avoiding accidents by using
Steering or Braking
automatic steering or braking.
Intervention
US7515056B2
US8165796B2
Method and Apparatus
The patent mentions a vehicle collision prevention system
for Preventing Collisions
which uses sensors to detect a vehicle's surroundings and
of Vehicles
its amount of movement.
Collision Avoidance
The patent mainly focuses on environment sensing and
System and Method
automatic steering control.
Table 7: List of important patents by Robert Bosch
6.2 TOYOTA
Figure 19: Logo of TOYOTA
Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Toyota,

Aichi, Japan. Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturing companies. Toyota Prius has
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been modified by Google so as to operate as a driverless car and has got the first license for a
self-driven car by Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles in June, 2011.
Patents Portfolio:
Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) has patents in most of the technologies related to driverless
vehicles. Toyota has strong patent portfolio in vehicular communication and lane keeping.
However, Toyota has only a few patents in the field of cruise control.
During the patent analysis it was also observed that there were many patents in the field of V2V,
cruise control, and radar technology assigned to DENSO Corporation. DENSO corp. is a
subsidiary of TOYOTA Group of companies which is also the part of TOYOTA Motor Corp.
Therefore, it can be said that Toyota Group together holds a strong portfolio in the field of
driverless technology.
Some of the important patents of Toyota are:
Patent Number
US6782968B2
Title
Patent Focus
Automatic Steering
The patent describes a method of calculating the target
Apparatus for Vehicle and
assist steering force.
Control Method of Same

US7203582B2
Vehicular Steering
In this patent, either an automatic steering unit or
Control Apparatus
steering assist force generating unit or both performs

steering control.
WO2012020300
Vehicle Control Device
The patent describes a vehicle control device for
and Vehicle Control
automatically executing control during running of vehicle
Method
based on deceleration information of preceding vehicle

using V2V communication.
Table 8: List of important patents by Toyota
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6.3 NISSAN
Figure 20: Logo of NISSAN
Nissan Motor Company Ltd is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Japan. In

Oct, 2012 NISSAN revealed a Leaf NSC-2015 prototype at CEATEC in Japan. It is not a fully
autonomous car, though the NSC-2015 can park itself and return to pick you up. A smartphone is
connected to the Automated Valet Parking technology allows a driver to maintain full control,
remotely. While parked, the car's security camera system automatically works with a camera
installed in the vehicle. If the system detects suspicious behavior, the driver is alerted
automatically by a report to his or her smartphone.
Patents Portfolio:
NISSAN is another company which has a comparatively strong portfolio in the field of driverless
vehicles. The company has patents in the field of lane keeping and cruise control.
Some of the important patents of NISSAN are:
Patent
Title
Patent Focus
Number
US7099764B2
Braking Control Device
The patent is focused on general automatic braking.
US7607741B2
Automatic Brake System
The patent describes an automatic brake system along
of Motor Vehicle
with automatic steering in case of pre-crash event
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US6769504B2
Adaptive Cruise Control
In this patent, a host vehicles speed is controlled
System for Vehicle
based on the detection results of a radar device and a

vehicle speed sensor.
Table 9: List of important patents by NISSAN
6.4 GOOGLE
Figure 21: Google Driverless Car
The Google driverless car is a project by Google that involves developing technology for driverless
cars. Google has a test fleet of at least eight vehicles, consisting of six Toyota Prius, an Audi TT,
and a Lexus RX450h. Till date Google has covered up over 300,000 miles in its autonomous
vehicles. Those vehicles have been involved in very few accidents, accidents have only occurred
when human drivers were in control of the car. In 2011, Nevada became the first state to allow
self-driving vehicles on public roads. Nevada was followed by Florida, California and next in line
are Hawaii, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Washington D.C.
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Patents Portfolio:
Some of the granted or applied patents in this field by Google:
Patent Number
US8078349
US20110182475
Title
Patent Focus
Transitioning a Mixed-
In this patent, a method of transitioning a mixed-mode
mode Vehicle to
autonomous vehicle from a human driven mode to an
Autonomous Mode
autonomously driven mode is described.
Traffic Signal Mapping
The patent mentions a method to determine the three-
and Detection
dimensional locations of traffic signals involving storing

3D locations of traffic signals in memory accessible by
computer.
US20120083964
Zone Driving
The patent describes a method for maneuvering vehicle,

involving identifying rule associated with zone, and
notifying driver to control identified control aspect
through zone.
US20120083959
Diagnosis and Repair for
The patent mentions a maneuvering method for
Autonomous Vehicles
autonomously moving vehicles and involves selecting

one of two maneuvers, based on detected characteristic
of environment surrounding vehicle and detected
amount of damage to component of vehicle
US20120083960
System and Method for
The patent describes an autonomous vehicle controlling
Predicting Behaviors of
method, which involves predicting likely behavior of
Detected Objects
detected object, and providing command to orient

vehicle in position and velocity based on likely behavior
of the detected object.
Table 10: List of important patents by Google
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6.5 GENERAL MOTORS
Figure 22: Logo of General Motors
General Motors Company commonly known as GM (General Motors Corporation before 2009), is
an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, the US.
General Motors Corporation have started collaborative lab at Carnegie Mellon University with the
purpose of building autonomous vehicles. Since 2000, the GM has contributed over $16 million to
establish two Collaborative Research Labs (CRLs) at the university, i.e. the Information
Technologies CRL and the Autonomous Driving CRL.
General Motors had unveiled a new EV (electric vehicle) concept called the Chevrolet EN-V
(Electric Networked-Vehicle) last year. It has two seats and showcases an autonomous driving
function with the help of a satellite navigation and sensor system.
GM has even showcased its new feature called Super Cruise in its Cadillac range of vehicles. It
is a semi-autonomous drive but GM has promised that it will bring self-driving cars by 2020. The
cars have lane departure warnings, a head-up display, blind zone alerts, automatic braking
capability, and more.
GM under the name of GM Global Technology Operations LLC has a good number of patents for
vehicle to vehicle communication, lane keeping and cruise control technology.
Some of the key patents of GM are:
Patent Number
US20100256836A1
Title
Patent Focus
Autonomous Vehicle
In this patent, a vehicle controlling method which
Management
involves determining navigational commands for host

vehicle based on the trajectory of host vehicle and target
vehicles, and operating host vehicle based on
navigational commands is described.
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US20120101701
Vehicle Collision
The patent describes a collision avoidance system in a
Avoidance and Warning
vehicle.
System
US20100082195
Method to Adaptively
The patent mentions a method for operating vehicle in
Control Vehicle
response to operator request for lane change maneuver.
Operation Using an
Autonomic Vehicle
Control System
Table 11: List of important patents by General Motors
6.6 Other Universities working on driverless vehicles

The table below list down some of the universities that are currently working on driverless or selfdriving vehicles:
Universities
Overview
Stanford University,
Palo Alto, California,
US
In 2005, Stanford University created an autonomous vehicle (modified

Volkswagen Touareg) named Stanley and won the DARPA Grand
Challenge. Again, in 2007, the Stanford Racing team entered with a new
vehicle, a modified Volkswagen Passat Wagon named Junior" and was
placed second.
University of Berlin,
Germany
The Autonomous car team had sent a prototype to the 2007 Urban Grand
Challenge (where it reached the semi-finals) and currently tests the
MadeInGermany driverless vehicle public on roads in Germany. The team
has developed an autonomous car taxi service and also has demonstrated an
early brain-computer interface for steering a car.
Technical University
of Braunschweig,
Germany
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In 2010, they successfully operated an autonomous Volkswagen Passat

under the project named Stadpilot in the city of Braunschweig, Germany.
Universitt der
The team developed a prototype MuCAR-3, a modified Volkswagen Tourag
Bundeswehr
and participated in robot trials conducted in Europe (European Land Robot
Mnchen, Germany
Trials).
University of Parma,
VisLab is a research laboratory of the University of Parma. In 2010, VisLab
Italy
launched VIAC, the VisLab Intercontinental Autonomous Challenge, and

completed 13,000 km test run with four autonomous vehicles, from Italy to
China.
University of Oxford,
The Mobile Robotics Group (MRG) has so far developed and showcased its
UK
Wildcat autonomous vehicle. The WildCat is equipped with a multitude of

state of the art sensors and is used as a main research platform.
Table 12: Some of Universities working on driverless cars
7. Conclusion
With increasing number of applications being filed every year in technologies related to driverless
cars and government allowing the use of driverless cars on roads, it seems that driverless cars
have great potentiality in the near future. Prospects like zero-accidents, zero-traffic congestions,
increased car sharing, and lesser parking space will surely overshadow the arguments against
the autonomous technology. Although, the technology is still at a nascent stage, but the semiautonomous vehicles which include features like park assist, adaptive cruise control, etc. have
already made their way into the current market.
One of the factors which is against the driverless cars is the high price tag associated with them.
Googles autonomous car costs about $150,000, out of which $70,000 is the cost of the LIDAR
system. However, it is believed that the cost will come down as and when the technology will step
into its mass production stages.
Despite the clear safety advantages and fully functioning technology, putting a fleet of driverless
cars on the road will still be a long process. In addition to sky-high costs, the use of autonomous
vehicles raises thousands of legal questions. All these issues only mean that the technology has
to be foolproof and therefore holds a lot of potential for further research.
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The table below summarizes the potentially applicable technologies, their strengths and
limitations, and the key players developing them within the domain of driverless cars.
Technology
What it does
Limitations
Advantages
RADAR/LIDAR
Optical
Remote
Sensing Technology
that can measure
the distance with
light pulse.
Prone to distortion, less

penetration
range,
typically low resolution
in bad weather.
Accurate
digital
elevation
and
terrain data, precise
knowledge of the
topography used to
produce a three
dimensional
computer model.
Siemens,
Google
Cruise control
Automatically
controls the speed
of a motor vehicle
The lack of need to

maintain
constant
pedal pressure, bad
weather
malfunction,
and steep surfaces
may cause lacking
performance.
Reducing
driver
fatigue,
avoid
unconsciously
violating
speed
limits.
Toyota,
Nissan, Audi,
Mercedes
Vehicle
to
Vehicle
Communication
Networks in which
vehicles
and
roadside units are
the communicating
nodes;
providing
each
other
with
information.
Not scalable, current

technology not wide
enough, range.
Estimation
of
collision,
communication for
turning
and
arrangement
of
traffic, ahead of
time security alerts
Toyota,
Volvo,
Mercedes,
Ford
Automatic
Braking
Technology
an
imminent
collision
with another vehicle,
person or obstacle
and to respond with
the braking system.
Inconsistent stop times,

Delicate
electronic
systems, Incongruent
estimation
of
time/disorientation.
Anti-skidding,
traction control.
Ford, Toyota,
Mercedes,
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Key Players
Lane keeping
Mechanism
designed to warn a
driver
when
the
vehicle begins to
move out of its lane.
Neither of the functions

of Lane Keeping Aid is
automatically switched
on at the start of a
journey,
Effective
functioning
of
the
system requires an
unobstructed view for
the camera, does not
function if driver uses
indicators.
Smooth
lane
shifting, avoidance
of collision in case
of drowsy drivers,
alerts in case of
inadvertent
lane
changing.
Ford,
Audi,
Nissan
GPS
A
space-based
satellite navigation
system that provides
location and time
information in all
weather, on Earth.
Power up time at the

start
(cold
start),
limitations owing to
inaccuracy of position.
Position control and

estimation, Route
calculation,
Shortest
route,
collision estimation,
traffic alerts.
Ford,
Audi,
Nissan,
Mercedes,
TomTom,
Volkswagen
Table 13: Overview of different technologies in driverless car
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Guidelines for the Examination of Patent Applications Under the 35 U.S.C. 112, para. 1, Written
Description Requirement [R-5] [LINK]
1
2161 Three Separate Requirements for Specification Under 35 U.S.C. 112, First Paragraph [LINK]
1
Identification of known drugs that act as inhibitors of NF-kappaB signaling and their mechanism of action
[LINK]
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Written Description: Ariad v. Lilly [LINK]
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Written Description: Pioneering Claims Require More Expansive Written Description [LINK]
1
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit [LINK]
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Broader Implications of Ariad v. Lilly: The Federal Circuit Affirms the Existence of Separate Written
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The Next Revolution Cars

A Technology Analysis of Driverless Cars

4th Floor, B-Block,

The Next Revolution Cars

The Next Revolution Cars

Figure 1: Various technologies used in driverless cars ................................................................................ 3

The Next Revolution Cars

The Next Revolution Cars

The Next Revolution Cars

Dickmanns autonomous S-Class Mercedes-Benz travels 1600km

BMWs starts testing its autonomous vehicle technology

The Next Revolution Cars

Figure 1: Various technologies used in driverless cars

The Next Revolution Cars

Key Technologies used in Driverless Cars

Figure 2: Key technologies used in driverless cars

4.1 Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) Communication

4.2 Cruise Control

The Next Revolution Cars

Figure 3: An illustration of cruise control

4.3 Automatic Brakes

The Next Revolution Cars

Figure 4: An illustration of automatic braking

4.4 Lane Keeping

Figure 5: An illustration of lane keeping

The Next Revolution Cars

Figure 6: An illustration of a Radar system

The Next Revolution Cars

5. Patenting Trend Analysis

The Next Revolution Cars

FIG.7: Key Technologies V/s Key Assignees

Figure 7: Distribution of technologies amongst the leading assignees

5.1 Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) Communication

The Next Revolution Cars

Figure 8: Number of Patents v. Assignee in the field of Vehicle to Vehicle Communication

The Next Revolution Cars

Probe Car System, Vehicle

The patent describes a car system which is

for the Same, and Traffic

capable of efficiently sharing information

obtained by a running vehicle with other

Method for the Same

vehicles without using a traffic information

Vehicle Control Device and

Vehicle Control Method

The patent mentions a system in which

which the brakes or steering operation is

based on the actions of the nearby vehicles

The patent describes a V2V system in

and a global positioning system.

The patent mentions a system in which

Automatic following travel

In this patent, a leading vehicle is followed

In this patent, vehicles can communicate

vehicles. In addition, the steering and

The Next Revolution Cars

5.2 Cruise Control

The Next Revolution Cars

Figure 10: Number of Patents v. Assignee in the field of Cruise Control

Cruise Control for a

Control Device for a

Motor Vehicle, which

operations, thereby hinting towards a

Accelerator Pedal for