DESC:TECHNICAL FIELD
The present disclosure relates to the field of inter-program communications, and more particularly to a method and system for building a high-performance edge computer for mobility operations.
BACKGROUND
The process of building a high-performance computing system for mobility applications (such as robotic or drone-based applications) may be a complex and resource-intensive task. Such building may involve selection and assembling of various types of sensing (such as cameras, gyroscopes, accelerometers and so on) components, computing components (such as processors), and communication components (such as antennas, transmitters, receivers, modems, and so on). These components may be required to be integrated into a system (i.e., the high-performance computing system) with aid of customized software and hardware drivers.
The integration (using the customized hardware and software drivers) may involve several drawbacks. Firstly, the integration may require a significant investment in terms of time and manual effort. This is because, appropriate components, to be used for building the system, needs to be identified. For instance, each component (i.e., the sensing, computing, or communication) may have numerous varieties, each with its own unique set of features and capabilities. Therefore, there may be a requirement to perform a selection from amongst the numerous varieties. The selection may be a challenging and time-consuming task, as such selection may require exhaustive experimentation and testing of each component. Further, for the selection of the appropriate components, it may be necessary to precisely identify requirements (processing-wise, latency-wise, and accuracy-wise) of an application (for example, robotic application) in which the components may be used. Secondly, the integration may require development of the custom software and hardware drivers. The software and hardware drivers may be required to be tailored to each specific component that has been selected such that the components may meet the identified requirements of the application. The development of such drivers may be time-consuming and resource-intensive process and may require involvement of personnel having specialized knowledge and expertise.
Therefore, in light of the foregoing discussion, there exists a need to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks associated with existing ways for building a high performance edge computer for mobility operations.
SUMMARY
The present disclosure provides a method for building a high-performance edge computer for mobility operations. The present disclosure provides a solution to the existing problem associated with building conventional robot computers by providing a simplified method that involves enabling android hardware to function as a robot computer by integrating a Linux-based operating system with an Android operating system associated with the android hardware. In other words, the method of the present disclosure allows repurposing an android hardware into a high-performance edge computer. An objective of the present disclosure is to provide a solution that overcomes at least partially the problems encountered in the prior art and provides the method building of the high-performance edge computer that can be included in a mobile equipment (such as robotic systems, drones, or any other mobility systems). The solution may significantly reduce time and resources that may be otherwise required for selection and experimentation of components that may be used for building a conventional robot computer, and integration of the components using hardware and software drivers.
One or more objectives of the present disclosure is achieved by the solutions provided in the enclosed independent claims. Advantageous implementations of the present disclosure are further defined in the dependent claims.
In one aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a method for building an edge computer for mobility applications, the method comprising:
- modifying a file system of a Linux guest operating system to obtain a modified file system, and
- integrating the Linux guest operating system with an Android host operating system based on the modified file system,
- the integration enables the Linux guest operating system and the Android host operating system to share a common Kernel,
- receiving at least one sensor parameter measured by at least one sensor associated with the edge computer,
- determining, by a processor, at least one mobility parameter based on the received at least one sensor parameter,
- the at least one mobility parameter is associated with a mobile equipment that includes the edge computer, and
- transmitting, by the processor, the at least one mobility parameter to the Android host operating system,
- the transmission is effectuated by the common Kernel.
Optionally, the common Kernel effectuates the transmission based on asynchronous memory sharing.
Optionally, the asynchronous memory sharing is based on a memory management technique comprising paging and swapping.
Optionally, the at least one sensor includes a light sensor, a sound sensor, a contact sensor, a temperature sensor, a proximity sensor, a pressure sensor, a tilt sensor, a navigation sensor, an acceleration sensor, a gyroscope, and an inertial measurement unit.
Optionally, the at least one mobility parameter associated with the mobile equipment includes a position, a location, a linear velocity, an angular velocity, an acceleration, and an orientation.
In another aspect, an embodiment of the present disclosure provides an edge computer, the high-performance edge computer comprising:
- a processor, and
- a memory communicably coupled to the processor, the memory comprises a Linux guest operating system and an Android host operating system,
- the processor is configured to,
- modify a file system of the Linux guest operating system to obtain a modified file system,
- integrate the Linux guest operating system and the Android host operating system based on the modified file system,
- the integration enables the Linux guest operating system and the Android host operating system to share a common Kernel,
- receive at least one sensor parameter measured by at least one sensor associated with the edge computer,
- determine, by the processor, at least one mobility parameter based on the received at least one sensor parameter,
- the at least one mobility parameter is associated with a mobile equipment that includes the edge computer (200), and
- transmit, by the processor, the at least one mobility parameter to the Android host operating system,
- the transmission is effectuated by the common Kernel.
Optionally, the common Kernel effectuates the transmission based on asynchronous memory sharing.
asynchronous memory sharing is based on a memory management technique comprising paging and swapping.
Optionally, the at least one sensor includes a light sensor, a sound sensor, a contact sensor, a temperature sensor, a proximity sensor, a pressure sensor, a tilt sensor, a navigation sensor, an acceleration sensor, a gyroscope, and an inertial measurement unit.
Optionally, the at least one mobility parameter associated with the mobile equipment includes a position, a location, a linear velocity, angular velocity an acceleration, and an orientation.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The summary above, as well as the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments, is better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the present disclosure, exemplary constructions of the disclosure are shown in the drawings. However, the present disclosure is not limited to specific methods and instrumentalities disclosed herein. Moreover, those in the art will understand that the drawings are not to scale. Wherever possible, like elements have been indicated by identical numbers.
Embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the following diagrams wherein:
FIG. 1 illustrates steps of a method for building a high-performance edge computer, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; and
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a high-performance edge computer, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
The following detailed description illustrates embodiments of the present disclosure and ways in which they can be implemented. Although some modes of carrying out the present disclosure have been disclosed, those skilled in the art would recognize that other embodiments for carrying out or practicing the present disclosure are also possible.
The present disclosure provides a method for building a high performance-edge computer that may be included in a mobile equipment such as a robot or a drone. The method may enable streamlining a process of building the high-performance edge computer by integrating a Linux guest operating system with an Android host operating system into a single system. The system may correspond to an edge computer. For example, the edge computer may be Android hardware that may include a plurality of components (for example, sensors components, computation components, communication components, and so on, and associated sensor and communication stacks) that may be necessary for execution of mobility operations (such as navigation, mapping, route planning, and so on) associated with the mobile equipment. The edge computer may, thus, include necessary hardware components and software components in a single package.
Building such an integrated system (i.e., the edge computer) may minimize resource requirements necessary to build a conventional computer for usage in a mobile equipment. The resource consumption involved in designing the conventional computer may primarily stem from requirements such as selection of individual components of the computer, experimentation of the components to determine suitability of the components to perform tasks associated with mobility operations, creation of solutions to mitigate potential compatibility issues associated with the components, and creation of specialized software and hardware drivers that may enable integration of the components. Further, usage of the android hardware may enable minimization of monetary resources that may be involved in building the edge computer (to be used for navigation, mapping, and so on). Furthermore, reliability of the edge computer may improve in comparison with custom-built high performance edge computers. The reliability may be due to usage of a standardized hardware and software platform (such as Android hardware and Android operating system). Furthermore, the integration of the Linux guest operating system with the Android host operating system may simplify maintenance of the edge computer.
Referring now to FIG. 1, illustrated is steps of a method 100 for building a high-performance edge computer, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. At step 102, a file system of a Linux guest operating system may be modified to obtain a modified file system. At step 104, the Linux guest operating system may be integrated with an Android host operating system based on the modified file system. At step 106, at least one sensor parameter, that may be measured by at least one sensor associated with the edge computer, may be received. At step 108, at least one mobility parameter may be determined based on the received at least one sensor parameter. At step 110, the at least one mobility parameter may be transmitted to the Android host operating system.
The steps 102, 104, 106, 108, and 110, are only illustrative and other alternatives can also be provided where one or more steps are added, one or more steps are removed, or one or more steps are provided in a different sequence without departing from the scope of the claims herein. It will be appreciated that the method enables in building a high-performance edge computer using a modified file system that may be obtained based on modification of a file system associated with a Linux guest operating system. The modified file system may enable an integration of the Linux guest operating system with an Android host operating system.
The term “edge computer” used herein relates to a computer system or an arrangement specifically designed for use in a mobile equipment such as a robot, a vehicle, or a drone. In an embodiment the edge computer may be included in the mobile equipment. In an example, the robot may be a mobile robot, which is an automated machine configured to execute specific tasks (with little or without human intervention) with speed and precision. In particular, the mobile robot is capable of carrying out a series of actions automatically that replaces human effort. Typically, a mobile robot comprises plurality of sensors, effectors, actuators, and control systems. In an example, the mobile robot may include, but not limited to, robots used in various sectors such as warehouses and distribution centres, medical and healthcare, hospitality, agriculture and so forth.
In the present disclosure, the Linux guest operating system may run as a software layer on top of the Android host operating system of the edge computer. Specifically, the edge computer is an Android based computer system. It will be evident to a person skilled in the art that a Linux operating system is a command-line based operating system that is used on a wide range of devices, including desktop and laptop computers, servers, and embedded systems. An Android operating system is an operating system that is designed specifically for smartphones and tablets. Therefore, integration of the Linux guest operating system with the Android host operating system may provide a highly flexible system that can be customized to meet specific requirements. For example, such integration may facilitate leveraging of customization capabilities of the Linux operating system for creation if custom versions of Android operating system that may be tailored to meet specific requirements of mobility application (for example, robotic applications such as mapping and navigation). I integration of the Linux guest operating system with the Android host operating system may allow configuration of Android Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) Application Programming Interface (API) for obtaining access to hardware and software resources of an Android system using the Linux guest file system that includes the modified file system.
The “modified file system” used herein relates to a file system of the Linux guest operating system, which may be modified or amended to organize and store files on the high performance edge computer. For example, the file system may be a fourth extended file system, (Ext4), a third extended file system (Ext3), a second extended file system (Ext2), B-Tree file system (Btrfs), X file system (XFS), Z file system (ZFS), and so on. For modification of the file system, one or more of structure, metadata, commands, properties, organization, and so on, of the file system may be modified for obtaining the modified file system. The modified file system would essentially include a set of rules and conventions for storing and organizing files on a memory of the edge computer. Based on the modified file system (i.e., the modification of the file system of the Linux guest operating system), the Linux guest operating system may be integrated with the Android host operating system.
The integration of the Linux guest operating system and the Android host operating system (based on the modified file system) may allow the Linux guest operating system and the Android host operating system to share a common Kernel. The common Kernel may facilitate high bandwidth data transfer (i.e., data exchange or data sharing) between the Linux guest operating system and the Android host operating system via asynchronous memory sharing. The common Kernel may act as an intermediatory between Linux guest operating system and Android host operating system (hereinafter referred to as “integrated operating system”). The common Kernel may manage hardware and software resources of the integrated operating system. For example, the common Kernel may control and coordinate functions of the hardware and software resources of the edge computer.
In an embodiment, the hardware resources may include processor, memory (i.e., RAM and storage devices), Input/output devices, network interfaces and the like. Further, the software resources may include applications or programs, libraries and frameworks, data and the like.
In an embodiment, the at least one sensor parameter may be measured by at least one sensor associated with the edge computer. The at least one sensor may include a light sensor, a sound sensor, a contact sensor, a temperature sensor, a proximity sensor, a pressure sensor, a tilt sensor, a navigation sensor, an acceleration sensor, a gyroscope, and an inertial measurement unit. The at least one sensor may be integrated with Android hardware and may be configured to collect, detect or measure the at least one sensor parameter. and convert the collections, detections and measurements into electrical signals. For example, the acceleration sensor may measure acceleration of the mobile equipment, and the measured acceleration may be converted to an electric signal. The electrical signals may be processed using hardware and software of the integrated operating system.
In an embodiment, based on the received at least one sensor parameter, at least one mobility parameter may be determined. The at least one mobility parameter may be associated with the mobile equipment (such as a robot, a drone, or a vehicle) that may include the edge computer. The at least one mobility parameter associated with the mobile equipment may include a position of the mobile equipment, a location of the mobile equipment, a linear velocity of the mobile equipment, an angular velocity of the mobile equipment, an acceleration of the mobile equipment, and an orientation of the mobile equipment. The Linux guest operating system (i.e., a software layer of the integrated operating system overlapping the Android host operating system), may receive at least one electrical signal corresponding to the measured at least one sensor parameter from the at least one sensor. The Linux guest operating system may utilize hardware resources of the edge computer to determine the at least one mobility parameter.
Once the at least one mobility parameter is determined, the at least one mobility parameter may be transmitted to the Android host operating system. The Linux guest operating system may facilitate the transmission using software and hardware resources of the integrated operating system. The transmission of the at least one mobility parameter may be effectuated by the common Kernel. In an embodiment, the common Kernel may effectuate the transmission of the at least one mobility parameter based on asynchronous memory sharing. The asynchronous memory sharing may enable multiple applications or processes to access a memory location concurrently. The common Kernel may enable a significant reduction in latency that may be involved in performance mobility operation tasks (such as localization and mapping). This may be because common Kernel enables seamless reception of the at least one sensor parameters by the Linux guest operating system and seamless transmission of the at least one mobility parameters to the Android host operating system.
The accesses to memory locations may be controlled by the integrated operating system to ensure that data (such as the at least one mobility parameter) is consistent and constitutes newest data (i.e., latest or updated values of the at least one mobility parameter). The common Kernel may enable the integrated operating system to lock each memory location whenever a corresponding memory location is accessed by an application or process. The locking may prevent other applications or processes from accessing the corresponding memory location until the memory location is unlocked by the common Kernel. Thus, the common Kernel, thus, enables efficient management of the memory (shared by the Linux guest operating system and the Android host operating system).
In an embodiment, the asynchronous memory sharing may be based on using a memory management technique comprising paging and swapping. The paging memory management technique may divide a physical memory (for example, a random-access memory (RAM)) into fixed-size blocks called "pages" and a virtual memory (i.e., associated with secondary non-volatile storage device such as a hard drive) of a process into fixed-size blocks called "page frames." When a process needs to access a memory location, the integrated operating system may translate the virtual address of the memory location to a physical address and retrieve the data (such as a mobility parameter or a sensor parameter) from the corresponding page. Therefore, paging may allow the integrated operating system to efficiently use the (shared) memory by moving inactive pages to the secondary non-volatile storage device and swapping the inactive pages to a physical memory location, when necessary. Further, the swapping memory management technique may allow the integrated operating system to move entire processes or threads between a main memory (i.e., physical memory) and storage (i.e., secondary memory) when the processes or threads are inactive. This allows the integrated operating system to use the available memory more efficiently by freeing up memory for active processes and threads.
Thus, the common Kernel may enable high bandwidth data transfer (for example, 10-750 megabytes per second for a light sensor and 2-15 kilobytes per second for an inertial sensor in the inertial measurement unit) via asynchronous memory sharing to manage hardware and software resources of the high performance edge computer. In an embodiment, the asynchronous memory sharing may enable the high bandwidth data transfer, of sensor data (i.e., the at least one sensor parameter and/or at least one mobility parameter), with low latency. Typically, the asynchronous sharing of memory allows multiple processes or components to access and modify shared memory in a way that allows for the high bandwidth and low latency data exchange. Typically, the multiple processes or components may access and modify the shared memory simultaneously, rather than having to transfer data through slower communication channels such as pipes or sockets. In other words, the memory management via asynchronous sharing allows exchanging high frequency sensor data over a network (comprising the Linux guest and the Android host operating systems) without causing memory overflow and crashing the integrated operating system.
In one embodiment, one or more communication technologies that may be used for transmitting sensor data include Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity), GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System), Bluetooth, GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), and USB (Universal Serial Bus).
In an embodiment, the common Kernel facilitates task management, device management and security management of the edge computer. For example, the common Kernel may enable creation, scheduling, and termination of tasks or programs that may be running on the edge computer. The common Kernel may determine tasks or programs that are to be allowed access to the software and hardware resources of the edge computer, and determine time-instances of execution of those tasks and programs. Further, the common Kernel may manage the hardware of the edge computer, such as the processor, sensors and input/output devices. The common Kernel may provide a uniform interface for accessing the hardware and ensure that the hardware is used efficiently and safely. Additionally, the common Kernel may enforce security policies and protect the edge computer from malicious or unauthorized access.
Referring now to FIG. 2, illustrated is a block diagram of a high-performance edge computer 200, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown, the high performance edge computer 200 includes a processor 202 and a memory 204 communicably coupled to the processor 202. The memory 204 (i.e., the storage device) comprises a Linux guest operating system 212 and an Android host operating system 214. The processor 202 may modify a file system of the Linux guest operating system 212 to obtain a modified file system 210, integrate the Linux guest operating system 212 and the Android host operating system 214 based on the modified file system 210, receive at least one sensor parameter measured by at least one sensor associated with the edge computer 200, determine at least one mobility parameter based on the received at least one sensor parameter, and transmit the at least one mobility parameter to the Android host operating system 214. The integration of the Linux guest operating system 212 and the Android host operating system 214 may enable the Linux guest operating system 212 and the Android host operating system 214 to share a common Kernel 220. The at least one mobility parameter may be associated with a mobile equipment that includes the edge computer 200. The transmission of the at least one mobility parameter to the Android host operating system 214 may be effectuated by the common Kernel 220.
It will be evident to a person skilled in the art that the high-performance edge computer 200 of FIG. 2 is built based on the method 100, explained herein above in conjunction with FIG. 1. Therefore, a detailed description of the high-performance edge computer 200 is avoided from the perspective of brevity and repetition.
Modifications to embodiments of the present disclosure described in the foregoing are possible without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the accompanying claims. Expressions such as "including", "comprising", "incorporating", "have", "is" used to describe and claim the present disclosure are intended to be construed in a non-exclusive manner, namely allowing for items, components or elements not explicitly described also to be present. Reference to the singular is also to be construed to relate to the plural. The word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance or illustration". Any embodiment described as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or to exclude the incorporation of features from other embodiments. The word "optionally" is used herein to mean "is provided in some embodiments and not provided in other embodiments". It is appreciated that certain features of the present disclosure, which are, for clarity, described in the context of separate embodiments, may also be provided in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features of the invention, which are, for brevity, described in the context of a single embodiment, may also be provided separately or in any suitable combination or as suitable in any other described embodiment of the disclosure. ,CLAIMS:I/We claim:
1. A method (100) for building an edge computer (200) for mobility applications, the method comprising:
- modifying, by a processor (202), a file system of a Linux guest operating system (212) to obtain a modified file system (210); and
- integrating the Linux guest operating system (212) with an Android host operating system (214) based on the modified file system (210), wherein the integration enables the Linux guest operating system (212) and the Android host operating system to share a common Kernel (220);
- receiving at least one sensor parameter measured by at least one sensor associated with the edge computer (200);
- determining, by the processor (202), at least one mobility parameter based on the received at least one sensor parameter, wherein the at least one mobility parameter is associated with a mobile equipment that includes the edge computer (200); and
- transmitting, by the processor (202), the at least one mobility parameter to the Android host operating system (214), wherein the transmission is effectuated by the common Kernel (220).

2. The method (100) according to claim 1, wherein the common Kernel (220) effectuates the transmission based on asynchronous memory sharing.

3. The method (100) according to claim 1, wherein the asynchronous memory sharing is based on a memory management technique comprising paging and swapping.

4. The method (100) according to claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor includes a light sensor, a sound sensor, a contact sensor, a temperature sensor, a proximity sensor, a pressure sensor, a tilt sensor, a navigation sensor, an acceleration sensor, a gyroscope, and an inertial measurement unit.

5. The method (100) according to claim 1, wherein the at least one mobility parameter associated with the mobile equipment includes a position, a location, a linear velocity, an angular velocity, an acceleration, and an orientation.

6. An edge computer (200) included in a mobile equipment, the edge computer (200) comprising:
- a processor (202); and
- a memory (204) communicably coupled to the processor (202), wherein the memory (204) comprises a Linux guest operating system (212) and an Android host operating system (214),
wherein the processor (202) is configured to,
- modify a file system of the Linux guest operating system (212) to obtain a modified file system (210),
- integrate the Linux guest operating system (212) and the Android host operating system (214) based on the modified file system (210), wherein the integration enables the Linux guest operating system (212) and the Android host operating system (214) to share a common Kernel (220);
- receive at least one sensor parameter measured by at least one sensor associated with the edge computer (200);
- determine, by the processor (202), at least one mobility parameter based on the received at least one sensor parameter, wherein the at least one mobility parameter is associated with a mobile equipment that includes the edge computer (200); and
- transmit, by the processor (202), the at least one mobility parameter to the Android host operating system (214), wherein the transmission is effectuated by the common Kernel (220).

7. The edge computer (200) according to claim 6, wherein the common Kernel (220) effectuates the transmission based on asynchronous memory sharing.

8. The edge computer (200) according to claim 6, wherein the asynchronous memory sharing is based on a memory management technique comprising paging and swapping.

9. The edge computer (200) according to claim 6, wherein the at least one sensor includes a light sensor, a sound sensor, a contact sensor, a temperature sensor, a proximity sensor, a pressure sensor, a tilt sensor, a navigation sensor, an acceleration sensor, a gyroscope, and an inertial measurement unit.

10. The edge computer (200) according to claim 6, wherein the at least one mobility parameter associated with the mobile equipment includes a position, a location, a linear velocity, an angular velocity, an acceleration, and an orientation.