System and method for enabling wireless traffic message passing

• US 20070088494A1
• Filed: 09/28/2006
• Published: 04/19/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Michael Rothman, Vincent Zimmer
• Original Assignee: Michael Rothman, Vincent Zimmer
• Inventors: Rothman, Michael, Zimmer, Vincent
• Application Number:
  US11/541,409
• Publication Number:
  US 20070088494A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/200
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096716 where the received information does not generate an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096741 where the source of the transmitted information selects which information to transmit to each vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096758 where no selection takes place on the transmitted or the received information
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096791 where the origin of the information is another vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096872 where instructions are given per voice
• CPC Class Codes: G16Z 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other main groups of this subclass

Abstract

A system and method for enabling wireless traffic message passing. The method includes initializing a vehicle wireless subsystem, enabling a vehicle wireless subsystem comprising a WiMAX transponder to broadcast a query to request real-time traffic pattern data from a WiMAX tower, and if a response to the query is received, incorporating the real-time traffic pattern data into a runtime database and creating a human-readable display for displaying the runtime database on a navigation system. The human-readable display of the traffic pattern data includes the display of free-flowing traffic, slow moving traffic, and stopped traffic on a map to allow the driver to change a planned travel route if slow and stopped traffic pattern conditions exist on the planned travel route.

Claims

1. A traffic navigation method comprising:

initializing a vehicle wireless subsystem upon startup of a vehicle, the vehicle wireless subsystem including a mobile WiMAX transponder having a WiMAX antenna; and

enabling the vehicle wireless subsystem to;

broadcast a query to request real-time traffic pattern data;

upon receiving a response to the query, incorporate the real-time traffic pattern data into a vehicle runtime database; and

create a human-readable display using the vehicle runtime database for displaying on a navigation system, wherein the human-readable display provides a driver with up-to-date traffic conditions.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

enabling the vehicle wireless subsystem to periodically transmit a vehicle-to-WiMAX packet based on current traffic pattern data from the vehicle runtime database to WiMAX towers;

scan the vehicle runtime database for stale entries; and

prune the stale entries.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the up-to-date traffic conditions include at least one of free flowing traffic, slow traffic, and stopped traffic.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the up-to-date traffic conditions comprise up-to-date highway traffic conditions.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the real-time traffic pattern data comprises traffic pattern data received from at least one WiMAX tower.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the real-time traffic pattern data comprises traffic pattern data received from other vehicles having the vehicle wireless subsystem when the WiMAX tower is out of range or a dead zone occurs.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein prior to incorporating the real-time traffic pattern data into the vehicle runtime database, determining whether the response to the query comprises the traffic pattern data;

and if the response is not the traffic pattern data, then waiting for a predetermined timeout to expire; and

broadcasting another query to request the real-time traffic pattern data.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising enabling the vehicle wireless subsystem to continuously broadcast new queries to request the real-time traffic pattern data;

continuously incorporate new real-time traffic pattern data into the vehicle runtime database and update the human-readable display for displaying on the navigation system based on the new real-time traffic pattern data;

continuously send new vehicle-to-WiMAX packets based on new data in the vehicle runtime database; and

continuously scan the vehicle runtime database to purge the stale entries.

9. A method for traffic navigation comprising:

initializing a WiMAX tower;

enabling the WiMAX tower to

determine whether an incoming packet has been received;

if the incoming packet has been received, determine whether the incoming packet is a request for traffic pattern data; and

if the incoming packet is a request for traffic pattern data, transmit a WiMAX-to-vehicle packet comprising real-time traffic pattern data.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising enabling the WiMAX tower to scan a WiMAX runtime database for stale entries and purge the stale entries.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein if the incoming packet has not been received, enabling the WiMAX tower to wait until the incoming packet is received.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein if the incoming packet has not been received, enabling the WiMAX tower to transmit a WiMAX-to-vehicle packet requesting the real-time traffic pattern data and wait until the incoming packet is received.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein if the incoming packet is not a request for traffic pattern data, enabling the WiMAX tower to:

determine if the incoming packet includes the real-time traffic pattern data;

if the incoming packet does include the real-time traffic pattern data, incorporate the real-time traffic pattern data into the WiMAX runtime database;

scan the WiMAX runtime database for stale entries; and

purge the stale entries.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein if the incoming packet does not include the real-time traffic pattern data, enabling the WiMAX tower to:

accept the incoming packet as a non-traffic related packet;

process the non-traffic related packet;

scan the runtime database for stale entries; and

purge the stale entries.

15. The method of claim 9, further comprising enabling the WiMAX tower to:

continuously broadcast new queries to request the real-time traffic pattern data;

continuously incorporate new real-time traffic pattern data received from the queries into the WiMAX runtime database;

continuously send new WiMAX-to-vehicle packets based on new data in the WiMAX runtime database to requestors; and

continuously scan the WiMAX runtime database to purge the stale entries.

16. A traffic navigation system comprising:

a plurality of WiMAX towers, each WiMAX tower dispersed on highways to transmit and receive traffic pattern data and WiMAX tower memory to store the traffic pattern data; and

a plurality of vehicle wireless subsystems, each vehicle wireless subsystem housed inside of a vehicle, each vehicle wireless subsystem including a WiMAX transponder having a WiMAX antenna to transmit and receive the traffic pattern data, vehicle memory to store the traffic pattern data, and a navigation system to display the traffic pattern data in a human readable format to a driver to enable the driver to view up-to-date traffic conditions.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the display of the traffic pattern data in a human readable format includes the display of free-flowing traffic, slow moving traffic, and stopped traffic on a map to allow the driver to change a planned travel route if slow and stopped traffic pattern conditions exit on the planned travel route.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the system enables peer-to-peer communications between the vehicle wireless subsystems to exchange current traffic pattern data when the WiMAX towers are out of range or a dead zone occurs.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein each WiMAX tower further comprises a processor, the processor configured to:

initialize the WiMAX tower;

enable the WiMAX tower to broadcast WiMAX-to-vehicle packets to obtain the traffic pattern data;

incorporate the traffic pattern data received from the vehicle wireless subsystems into a WiMAX runtime database;

share the traffic pattern data in the WiMAX runtime database with the vehicle wireless subsystems by enabling the WiMAX tower to transmit WiMAX-to-vehicle packets;

scan the WiMAX runtime database for stale data; and

purge the stale data.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein each vehicle wireless subsystem further comprises a processor, the processor configured to:

initialize the vehicle wireless subsystem;

enable the vehicle WiMAX transponders to broadcast vehicle-to-WiMAX packets to obtain the traffic pattern data;

incorporate the traffic pattern data received from the WiMAX towers and other vehicle wireless subsystems into a vehicle runtime database;

display the traffic pattern data in a human readable format on the navigation system;

share the traffic pattern data in the vehicle runtime database with the WiMAX towers and other vehicle wireless subsystems by enabling the vehicle wireless subsystem to transmit a vehicle-to-WiMAX packet comprising real-time traffic pattern data;

scan the vehicle runtime database for stale data; and

purge the stale data.

21. An article comprising:

a storage medium having a plurality of machine accessible instructions, wherein when the instructions are executed by a processor, the instructions provide for initializing a vehicle wireless subsystem upon startup of a vehicle, the vehicle wireless subsystem including a mobile WiMAX transponder having a WiMAX antenna; and

enabling the vehicle wireless subsystem to;

broadcast a query to request real-time traffic pattern data;

upon receiving a response to the query, incorporate the real-time traffic pattern data into a vehicle runtime database; and

create a human-readable display using the vehicle runtime database for displaying on a navigation system, wherein the human-readable display provides a driver with up-to-date traffic conditions.

22. The article of claim 21, further comprising instructions for:

enabling the vehicle wireless subsystem to periodically transmit a vehicle-to-WiMAX packet based on current traffic pattern data from the vehicle runtime database to WiMAX towers;

scan the vehicle runtime database for stale entries; and

prune the stale entries.

23. The article of claim 21, wherein the up-to-date traffic conditions include at least one of free flowing traffic, slow traffic, and stopped traffic.

24. The article of claim 21, wherein the up-to-date traffic conditions comprise up-to-date highway traffic conditions.

25. The article of claim 21, wherein the real-time traffic pattern data comprises traffic pattern data received from at least one WiMAX tower.

26. The article of claim 21, wherein the real-time traffic pattern data comprises traffic pattern data received from other vehicles having the vehicle wireless subsystem when the WiMAX tower is out of range or a dead zone occurs.

27. The article of claim 21, wherein prior to providing instructions for incorporating the real-time traffic pattern data into the vehicle runtime database, providing instructions for determining whether the response to the query comprises the traffic pattern data;

and if the response is not the traffic pattern data, then waiting for a predetermined timeout to expire; and

broadcasting another query to request the real-time traffic pattern data.

28. The article of claim 21, further comprising instructions for enabling the vehicle wireless subsystem to continuously broadcast new queries to request the real-time traffic pattern data;

continuously incorporate new real-time traffic pattern data into the vehicle runtime database and update the human-readable display for displaying on the navigation system based on the new real-time traffic pattern data;

continuously send new vehicle-to-WiMAX packets based on new data in the vehicle runtime database; and

continuously scan the vehicle runtime database to purge the stale entries.

29. An article comprising:

a storage medium having a plurality of machine accessible instructions, wherein when the instructions are executed by a processor, the instructions provide for initializing a WiMAX tower;

enabling the WiMAX tower to

determine whether an incoming packet has been received;

if the incoming packet has been received, determine whether the incoming packet is a request for traffic pattern data; and

if the incoming packet is a request for traffic pattern data, transmit a WiMAX-to-vehicle packet comprising real-time traffic pattern data.

30. The article of claim 29, further comprising instructions for enabling the WiMAX tower to scan a WiMAX runtime database for stale entries and purge the stale entries.

31. The article of claim 29, wherein if the incoming packet has not been received, further providing instructions for enabling the WiMAX tower to wait until the incoming packet is received.

32. The article of claim 29, wherein if the incoming packet has not been received, further comprising instructions for enabling the WiMAX tower to transmit a WiMAX-to-vehicle packet requesting the real-time traffic pattern data and wait until the incoming packet is received.

33. The article of claim 29, wherein if the incoming packet is not a request for traffic pattern data, further comprising instructions for enabling the WiMAX tower to:

determine if the incoming packet includes the real-time traffic pattern data;

if the incoming packet does include the real-time traffic pattern data, incorporate the real-time traffic pattern data into the WiMAX runtime database;

scan the WiMAX runtime database for stale entries; and

purge the stale entries.

34. The article of claim 29, wherein if the incoming packet does not include the real-time traffic pattern data, further comprising instructions for enabling the WiMAX tower to:

accept the incoming packet as a non-traffic related packet;

process the non-traffic related packet;

scan the runtime database for stale entries; and

purge the stale entries.

35. The article of claim 29, further comprising instructions for enabling the WiMAX tower to:

continuously broadcast new queries to request the real-time traffic pattern data;

continuously incorporate new real-time traffic pattern data received from the queries into the WiMAX runtime database;

continuously send new WiMAX-to-vehicle packets based on new data in the WiMAX runtime database to requesters; and

continuously scan the WiMAX runtime database to purge the stale entries.