Wireless communication apparatus and wireless communication method

• US 10,375,618 B2
• Filed: 03/27/2017
• Issued: 08/06/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2016
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Onishi, Ryokichi, Sasahara, Masaaki
• Primary Examiner(s): Nowlin, Eric
• Application Number:
  US15/470,160
• Publication Number:
  US 20170289896A1
• Time in Patent Office: 862 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0141 for traffic information dissemination
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/3822 specially adapted for use in vehicles H04B1/3827 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/023 Delayed use of routing table updates
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/38 for collecting sensor information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/02 Communication route or path selection, e.g. power-based or shortest path routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/20 based on geographic position or location
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/22 using selective relaying for reaching a BTS [Base Transceiver Station] or an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 Direct-mode setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/005 Moving wireless networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/04 adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user

Abstract

An apparatus which transfers information addressed to a master node, comprises a generation unit configured to generate an assessment value representing logical proximity to the master node; a transmit unit that sends/receives the assessment value to/from other apparatuses; and a communication unit that, when this apparatus is an apparatus that is logically closest to the master node within a communication range, receive information addressed to the master node from other apparatuses, otherwise, transmit information addressed to the master node to the logically closest apparatus, wherein the communication unit is configured to generate a delay time based on the assessment value when transferring the information received from the other apparatuses to yet another apparatus.

Claims

1. A wireless communication apparatus which transmits information addressed to a master node, the wireless communication apparatus comprising:

a processor programmed to;

generate an assessment value representing a logical proximity to the master node, wherein the assessment value increases as a proximity time decreases, the proximity time being a time until the information transmitted from the wireless communication apparatus reaches the master node;

transmit the generated assessment value to one or more other wireless communication apparatuses and receive one or more assessment values from the one or more other wireless communication apparatuses by wireless communication;

generate a delay time based on the generated assessment value, the delay time being longer when the assessment value is high as compared to when the assessment value is low; and

after the generated delay time has elapsed and when one of the one or more other wireless communication apparatuses that is logically closest to the master node other than the wireless communication apparatus is present within a communication-enabled range, transmit the information addressed to the master node to the logically closest wireless communication apparatus.

2. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to generate the information addressed to the master node.

3. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to:

when the information to be transmitted to the one or more other wireless communication apparatuses has increased during the delay time, integrate two or more pieces of the information which are transmission objects.

4. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to:

when the one of the one or more other wireless communication apparatuses that is logically closest to the master node other than the wireless communication apparatus within the communication-enabled range, receive a connection request from the logically closest wireless communication apparatus.

5. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to:

acquire a current position; and

determine the assessment value based on (i) a frequency of a communication opportunity between the wireless communication apparatus and the master node, or (ii) a time until the communication opportunity arrives;

wherein the frequency of the communication opportunity and the time until the communication opportunity arrives are calculated based on the current position.

6. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 5, wherein

the assessment value is larger when the time until the communication opportunity arrives is short as compared to when the time until the communication opportunity arrives is long.

7. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 5, wherein

the assessment value is larger when the time until the communication opportunity arrives is predicted to subsequently become shorter as compared to when the time until the communication opportunity arrives is predicted to subsequently become longer.

8. The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to:

calculate the assessment value using respectively different criteria in accordance with a type of the information to be transmitted; and

when the information of a plurality of types is to be transmitted, use the assessment value corresponding to the type of the information, for each type of the information to be transmitted.

9. A wireless communication method in which a wireless communication apparatus which transmits information addressed to a master node executes steps of:

generating an assessment value representing a logical proximity to the master node, wherein the assessment value increases as a proximity time decreases, the proximity time being a time until the information transmitted from the wireless communication apparatus reaches the master node;

transmitting the generated assessment value to one or more other wireless communication apparatuses and receiving one or more assessment values from the one or more other wireless communication apparatuses by wireless communication;

generating a delay time based on the generated assessment value, the delay time being longer when the assessment value is high as compared to when the assessment value is low; and

after the generated delay time has elapsed and when one of the one or more other wireless communication apparatuses that is logically closest to the master node other than the wireless communication apparatus is present within a communication-enabled range, transmitting the information addressed to the master node to the logically closest wireless communication apparatus.

10. A non-transitory computer readable storing medium recording a computer program for a wireless communication apparatus which transmits information addressed to a master node, the computer program causing the wireless communication apparatus to perform:

generating an assessment value representing a logical proximity to the master node, wherein the assessment value increases as a proximity time decreases, the proximity time being a time until the information transmitted from the wireless communication apparatus reaches the master node;

transmitting the generated assessment value to one or more other wireless communication apparatuses and receiving one or more assessment values from the one or more other wireless communication apparatuses by wireless communication;

generating a delay time based on the generated assessment value, the delay time being longer when the assessment value is high as compared to when the assessment value is low; and

after the generated delay time has elapsed and when one of the one or more other wireless communication apparatuses that is logically closest to the master node other than the wireless communication apparatus is present within a communication-enabled range, transmitting the information addressed to the master node to the logically closest wireless communication apparatus.