Facilitation of efficient software downloads for vehicles

• US 10,470,189 B2
• Filed: 06/27/2016
• Issued: 11/05/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Tran, Lien K., Byers, Simon D., De Andrade, Carlos Eduardo, Halepovic, Emir, Poole, David John, Volinsky, Christopher T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Louis, Vinncelas
• Application Number:
  US15/193,685
• Publication Number:
  US 20170374668A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,226 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/08 Configuration management of networks or network elements address allocation H04L61/50
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/082 the condition being updates or upgrades of network functionality
• 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: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/51 based on terminal or device properties
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/52 based on load

Abstract

A more efficient over-the-air software push can be facilitated by leveraging a smart scheduling system for vehicles. The smart scheduling system can use location and network capacity data to prioritize over-the-air software pushes for vehicles. For instance, a vehicle, which is only operational during off-peak wireless network hours can receive a software push during the off-peak times because wireless network capacity is not an issue. However, vehicles, which are used primarily during heavy peak wireless network times can receive software in a prioritized manner based on location data, frequency of use, network capacity, etc.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a wireless network device comprising a processor, network capacity data representing a network capacity of network devices of a wireless network;

receiving, by the wireless network device, vehicle location data associated with a location of a vehicle in relation to a base station device of the wireless network;

receiving, by the wireless network device, network connection data associated with a frequency of a radio of the vehicle connecting to the base station device, which the vehicle utilizes, during a commute time;

in response to the receiving the network connection data that the vehicle utilizes during the commute time, generating, by the wireless network device, segmentation data associated with grouping the vehicle with a group of vehicles based on the network connection data and the commute time;

generating, by the wireless network device, traffic pattern data associated with traffic patterns of the group of vehicles;

based on the frequency of the radio of the vehicle connecting to the base station device the commute time of the vehicle, and the segmentation data, generating, during a peak time, priority data associated with a priority of the vehicle to receive a resource to be delivered to the vehicle, wherein the resource comprises firmware applicable for use by the vehicle;

based on the network capacity data, the vehicle location data, the traffic pattern data, and the priority data, generating, by the wireless network device, resource schedule data associated with a schedule for the resource deliverable by the wireless network device to be sent to the radio of the vehicle during the peak time associated with the network capacity; and

sending, by the wireless network device, the firmware to the vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the network connection data comprises time data related to an amount of time that the radio of the vehicle has been connected to the base station device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the network capacity data comprises downlink data associated with transferring the resource, wherein the resource is firmware, to the wireless network device on a downlink of the base station device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating the resource schedule data is in response to determining that a condition associated with the network capacity has been determined to have been satisfied.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the resource schedule data is modeled using a predictable periodic network utilization pattern.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the resource schedule data is generated for a weekend.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the resource schedule data is modeled after an hourly network utilization pattern.

8. A system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising;

receiving network capacity data representing a network capacity of network devices of a wireless network;

receiving vehicle location data associated with a location of a vehicle in relation to a base station device of the wireless network;

receiving network connection data associated with a frequency of a radio of the vehicle connecting to the base station device during a commute time;

based on the receiving the network connection data and the commute time;

grouping the vehicle in a group of vehicles, resulting in grouping data, and

generating priority data associated with a priority of the group of the vehicles to receive firmware; and

generating traffic pattern data associated with traffic patterns of the group of vehicles;

based on the network capacity data, the vehicle location data, the commute time, the traffic pattern data, the priority data, and the grouping data, generating, during a peak time, a firmware download schedule associated with downloading the firmware to the group of vehicles; and

in response to the generating the firmware download schedule, transmitting the firmware to the vehicle.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the network connection data comprises time data associated with an amount of time that the group of vehicles have been wirelessly connected to the base station device.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the time data comprises a start time and an end time.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise:

analyzing the time data for repetitive occurrences, resulting in cyclical time data related to cycles of time that the group of vehicles have been wirelessly connected to the base station device.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise:

in response to determining a load capacity associated with the wireless network, determining an off-peak time.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the off-peak time is associated with a reduced load capacity, and wherein the reduced load capacity is lower than the load capacity.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise:

sending the firmware to the group of vehicles, wherein the sending comprises sending the firmware to the vehicle of a vehicle segment based on an indication that the vehicle of the vehicle segment wirelessly connects to the base station device during the off-peak time.

15. A machine-readable storage medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:

analyzing network performance data associated with a performance of network devices of a wireless network, resulting in network capacity data;

receiving vehicle location data associated with a location of a vehicle in relation to a base station device of the wireless network;

receiving network connection data associated with a frequency of a radio of the vehicle connecting to the base station device, which the vehicle utilizes during a commute time;

based on the frequency of the radio of the vehicle connecting to the base station device, generating priority data associated with a priority of the vehicle to receive a resource to be delivered to the vehicle, wherein the resource is firmware applicable for use by the vehicle;

based on the receiving the network connection data, grouping the vehicle in a group of vehicles, resulting in grouping data;

generating traffic pattern data associated with traffic patterns of the group of vehicles; and

based on the network capacity data, the vehicle location data, the traffic pattern data, the commute time of the vehicle, the priority data, and the grouping data, generating, during a peak time, a schedule associated with sending instruction data to the group vehicles; and

in response to the generating the schedule, sending the firmware to the vehicle.

16. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining a network capacity associated with the network devices of the wireless network.

17. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining a time associated with a wireless connection of the group of vehicles to a network device of the network devices of the wireless network.

18. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the sending the instruction data comprises:

sending the instruction data to the group of vehicles in accordance with the schedule to increase a metric relating to the performance of network devices of the wireless network.

19. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise:

in response to determining that a condition associated with a time has been satisfied, generating a first defined order related to allocating a time slot to the vehicle.

20. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the peak time related to a decreased network capacity, and wherein the decreased network capacity is less than the network capacity.