Millimeter wave vehicle-to-vehicle communication system for data sharing

• US 10,531,254 B2
• Filed: 01/31/2018
• Issued: 01/07/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 01/31/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Va, Vutha, Shimizu, Takayuki, Bansal, Gaurav
• Primary Examiner(s): Duong, Duc T
• Application Number:
  US15/885,797
• Publication Number:
  US 20190239040A1
• Time in Patent Office: 706 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/027 using movement velocity, acceleration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/46 for vehicle-to-vehicle communication [V2V]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/02 Selection of wireless resources by user or terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/12 Wireless traffic scheduling
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 Direct-mode setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/18 between terminal devices

Abstract

The disclosure includes embodiments for establishing millimeter wave vehicle-to-vehicle communications for data sharing. In some embodiments, a method includes receiving, at an ego vehicle, a first beacon from a first vehicle, wherein the first beacon includes first scheduling information and first localization information and the first beacon is broadcast as a millimeter wave (mmWave) communication. The method includes determining a schedule based on the first scheduling information. The method includes broadcasting a second beacon based on the schedule. The method includes establishing a current link between the ego vehicle and the first vehicle. The method includes transmitting data to the first vehicle using the current link based on the schedule.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, at an ego vehicle, a first beacon from a first vehicle, wherein the first beacon includes first scheduling information and first localization information and the first beacon is broadcast as a millimeter wave (mmWave) communication;

determining a schedule based on the first scheduling information;

broadcasting a second beacon based on the schedule;

establishing a current link between the ego vehicle and the first vehicle; and

transmitting data to the first vehicle using the current link based on the schedule.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first localization information is a first position of the first vehicle and first speed of the first vehicle.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the second beacon includes that includes second scheduling information and second localization information and further comprising:

generating a data structure that includes the first scheduling information, the first localization information, the second scheduling information, and the second localization information.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to receiving the first beacon, determining whether a new link will interfere with the current link; and

responsive to the new link not interfering with the current link, establishing the new link.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein determining whether the new link will interfere with the current link is based on the first scheduling information and the first localization information to avoid interference between the current link and the new link.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the ego vehicle uses a slot counter to determine an available slot and further comprising:

transmitting a link request before establishing the current link with the first vehicle.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the ego vehicle receives the first beacon quasi-omnidirectionally and the ego vehicle broadcasts the second beacon omni-directionally.

8. A system comprising:

an onboard vehicle computer system of an ego vehicle that includes a non-transitory memory storing computer code which, when executed by the onboard vehicle computer system causes the onboard vehicle computer system to;

receive a first beacon from a first vehicle, wherein the first beacon includes first scheduling information and first localization information and the first beacon is broadcast as a millimeter wave (mmWave) communication;

determine a schedule based on the first scheduling information;

broadcast a second beacon based on the schedule;

establish a current link between the ego vehicle and the first vehicle; and

transmit data to the first vehicle using the current link based on the schedule.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the first localization information is a first position of the first vehicle and first speed of the first vehicle.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the second beacon includes that includes second scheduling information and second localization information and the computer code further causes the onboard vehicle computer system to:

generate a data structure that includes the first scheduling information, the first localization information, the second scheduling information, and the second localization information.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the computer code further causes the onboard vehicle computer system to:

responsive to receiving the first beacon, determine whether a new link will interfere with the current link; and

responsive to the new link not interfering with the current link, establish the new link.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein determining whether the new link will interfere with the current link is based on the first scheduling information and the first localization information to avoid interference between the current link and the new link.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein the ego vehicle uses a slot counter to determine an available slot and the computer code further causes the onboard vehicle computer system to:

transmit a link request before establishing the current link with the first vehicle.

14. The system of claim 8, wherein the ego vehicle receives the first beacon quasi-omnidirectionally and the ego vehicle broadcasts the second beacon omni-directionally.

15. A non-transitory memory encoded with a computer program, the computer program comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

receiving, at an ego vehicle, a first beacon from a first vehicle, wherein the first beacon includes first scheduling information and first localization information and the first beacon is broadcast as a millimeter wave (mmWave) communication;

determine a schedule based on the first scheduling information;

broadcasting a second beacon based on the schedule;

establishing a current link between the ego vehicle and the first vehicle; and

transmitting data to the first vehicle using the current link based on the schedule.

16. The non-transitory memory of claim 15, wherein the first localization information is a first position of the first vehicle and first speed of the first vehicle.

17. The non-transitory memory of claim 15, wherein the second beacon includes that includes second scheduling information and second localization information and further comprising additional instructions stored on the non-transitory memory which, when executed by the one or more processors causes the one or more processors to execute additional operations comprising:

generating a data structure that includes the first scheduling information, the first localization information, the second scheduling information, and the second localization information.

18. The non-transitory memory of claim 15, further comprising additional instructions stored on the non-transitory memory which, when executed by the one or more processors causes the one or more processors to execute additional operations comprising:

responsive to receiving the first beacon, determining whether a new link will interfere with the current link; and

responsive to the new link not interfering with the current link, establishing the new link.

19. The non-transitory memory of claim 18, wherein determining whether the new link will interfere with the current link is based on the first scheduling information and the first localization information to avoid interference between the current link and the new link.

20. The non-transitory memory of claim 15, wherein the ego vehicle uses a slot counter to determine an available slot and further comprising additional instructions stored on the non-transitory memory which, when executed by the one or more processors causes the one or more processors to execute additional operations comprising:

transmitting a link request before establishing the current link with the first vehicle.