Fault tolerant display

Abstract

A fault tolerant display displays safety information on a display shared with an infotainment system even if the processor or software of the infotainment system is unresponsive. The display can be a streaming video from a rear view camera mounted on a vehicle. The safety displayed can be triggered by placing the vehicle in reverse. Failure of the infotainment software and/or processor can be detected by a policy enforcing module that switches to a backup display that streams video directly from the camera in the event of failure of the infotainment processor.

What is claimed: 
     
         1 . A fault tolerant display system for a vehicle comprising:
 a fault tolerant module that:   receives streaming video from a video camera;   merges the streaming video with overlays from an application processor to create an overlaid streaming video; and   displays the overlaid streaming video on a shared display area, the shared display area capable of displaying infotainment information from the application processor and capable of displaying the overlaid streaming video;   a policy enforcing module that:   detects failure of the application processor; and   in response to detecting failure of the application processor, switches to displaying on the shared display area in the cabin of the vehicle, the streaming video from the video camera and at least one overlay generated by the fault tolerant module, the streaming video from the video camera and the at least one overlay generated by the fault tolerant module displaying essentially simultaneously on the shared display area.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a policy enforcing module that monitors the application processor to detect failure of the application processor.   
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein failure of the application processor is detected by unresponsiveness of the application processor. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein failure of the application processor is detected by overlays generated by the application processor failing quality checks. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein failure of the application processor is detected by a watchdog timer. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein failure of the application processor is detected by incorrect formatting of the display information generated by the application processor. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein failure of the application processor is detected by a check field. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein incorrect formatting comprises at least one of: incorrect frame rate, incorrect line rate, average brightness of the display lower than a provided threshold for average brightness of the display, a quantity of non-black pixels lower than a provided threshold for non-black pixels, or placement of features generated by the application failing to correspond to objects in the streaming video. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the streaming video is displayed in response to the vehicle going into reverse. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the overlaid streaming video is displayed in response to the vehicle going into reverse. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the shared display is displayed in the center console of the vehicle. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein information generated by the application processor is filtered out of the overlaid streaming video. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the overlaid streaming video is displayed within one second of the vehicle shifting into reverse. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the streaming video is displayed within one second of the vehicle shifting into reverse. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 1 , the at least one overlay generated by the fault tolerant module comprising a static overlay of a backup path based on a steering wheel position of the vehicle. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 1 , the at least one overlay generated by the fault tolerant module comprising a dynamic overlay of a backup path based on a steering wheel position of the vehicle. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 1 , the at least one overlay generated by the fault tolerant module comprising a dynamic overlay based on hazard detection information. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 1 , the at least one overlay generated by the fault tolerant module comprising a dynamic overlay based on navigation information. 
     
     
         19 . A method comprising:
 receiving streaming video from a video camera of a vehicle;   merging the streaming video with overlays from an application processor to create an overlaid streaming video by a fault tolerant module; and   displaying the overlaid streaming video on a shared display area in a cabin of the vehicle, the shared display area capable of displaying infotainment information from an infotainment system and capable of displaying the overlaid streaming video;   monitoring an application processor to detect failure of the application processor; and   in response to detecting failure of the application processor, switching to displaying on the shared display area in the cabin of the vehicle, the streaming video from the video camera and at least one overlay generated by the fault tolerant module, the streaming video from the video camera and the at least one overlay generated by the fault tolerant module displaying essentially simultaneously on the shared display area.   
     
     
         20 . A computer-readable storage medium comprising computer-executable instructions which when executed cause at least one processor of a computing device to:
 receive streaming video from a video camera;   merge the streaming video with overlays from an application processor to create an overlaid streaming video; and   display the overlaid streaming video on a shared display area in a cabin of the vehicle, the shared display area capable of displaying infotainment information from the application processor and capable of displaying the overlaid streaming video;   monitor the application processor to detect failure of the application processor; and   in response to detecting failure of the application processor, switch to displaying on the shared display area in the cabin of the vehicle, the streaming video from the video camera and at least one overlay generated by the fault tolerant module, the streaming video from the video camera and the at least one overlay generated by the fault tolerant module displaying essentially simultaneously on the shared display area.