USE OF ALTERNATE COMMUNICATION NETWORKS TO COMPLEMENT AN AD-HOC MOBILE NODE TO MOBILE NODE COMMUNICATION NETWORK

• US 20090197595A1
• Filed: 02/04/2008
• Published: 08/06/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/04/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Judd, Tom D., Kauffman, Donald C.
• Granted Patent: US 9,467,221 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/431
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18508 with satellite system used as relay, i.e. aeronautical mobile satellite service
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/22 with access to wired networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals

Abstract

A method of communicating aircraft messages is provided. The method comprises forming an at-hoc communication network of mobile nodes. Communicating messages between the mobile nodes via the at-hoc communication network using mobile node-to-mobile node communication signals and supplementing communication gaps in the ad-hoc communication network with alternative communication signals.

Claims

1. A method of communicating mobile node messages, the method comprising:

forming an ad-hoc communication network of mobile nodes;

communicating messages between the mobile nodes via the ad-hoc communication network using mobile node-to-mobile node communication signals; and

supplementing communication gaps in the ad-hoc communication network with alternative communication signals.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the alternative communication signals include at least one of satellite signals, high frequency (HF) signals, very high frequency (VHF) signals and consumer network signals.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining actions to be taken relating to the alternative communication signals based on provided factors.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the determined actions include at least one of transmitting the alternative communication signals, not transmitting the alternative communication signals and waiting for a period of time before transmitting the alternative communication signals.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the provided factors include at least one of urgency of the message, the quality of service, the cost of service, the class of the message, message type, message priority, required reliability, required security, acceptable transit delay and the phase of the node mission.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the determined actions comprise:

waiting for a period of time based on the provided factors;

once the wait period has passed, determining if a route becomes available through the ad-hoc communication network;

if a route becomes available through the ad-hoc communication network, using the mobile node-to-mobile node communication signals to communicate; and

if a route does not become available through the ad-hoc communication network and a defined maximum time has passed based on the provided factors, using the alternative communication signals to communicate.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein forming an ad-hoc network of mobile nodes further comprises:

discovering the topology of mobile nodes within communication range of the mobile node-to-mobile node communication signals.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein communicating messages between the mobile nodes via the ad-hoc communication network using the mobile node-to-mobile node communication signals further comprises:

determining a route through the topology in the general direction of a destination node, wherein the destination node is one of a mobile node and a fixed station; and

passing a message through the discovered topology based on the determined route.

9. A method of passing a message to a destination node, the method comprising:

forming an ad-hoc communication network between mobile nodes, wherein the communication network is made up of mobile nodes that are within mobile node-to-mobile communication range of each other;

passing the message between the mobile nodes of the ad-hoc communication network towards the destination node using mobile node-to-mobile node communication signals; and

when gaps are encountered in the path to the destination node through the ad-hoc communication network of mobile nodes, using an alternate communication system to supplement the ad-hoc communication network.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the alternative communication system uses one of satellite signals, high frequency (HF) signals, very high frequency (VHF) signals and consumer communication signals.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the destination node is one of a mobile node and a fixed station.

12. The method of claim 9 wherein when the gaps are encountered in the path to the destination node through the ad-hoc communication network of mobile nodes, determining what should be done with the message.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

based on the determination of what should be done with the message, doing at least one of transmitting the alternative communication signals, not transmitting the alternative communication signals and waiting for a period of time before transmitting the alternative communication signals.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein determining what should be done with the message further comprises:

determining a level of urgency associated with the message; and

based on the level of urgency, delaying transmission of the message for a select period of time, wherein the less the urgency of the message, the longer the select period of delay.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein forming an ad-hoc communication network between mobile nodes further comprises:

discovering the topology of the ad-hoc communication network based on mobile node position and identification data obtained by at least one of message exchange and surveillance equipment.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

planning a route to the destination node based on the discovered topology.

17. A program product comprising program instructions embodied on a processor-readable medium for execution by a programmable processor, wherein the program instructions are operable to cause the programmable processor to:

form an ad-hoc communication network between mobile nodes, wherein the communication network is made up of mobile nodes that are within mobile node-to-mobile node communication range of each other;

determine a path for a message through the ad-hoc communication network towards a destination node; and

when a gap is encountered in the path to the destination node through the ad-hoc communication network of mobile nodes, use an alternative communication system to supplement the ad-hoc communication network.

18. The program product of claim 17, wherein the program instructions are further operable to cause the programmable processor to:

delay the use of the alternative communication system for a period of time based on predetermined factors.

19. The program product of claim 17, wherein the program instructions are further operable to cause the programmable processor to:

discover the topology of the ad-hoc network.

20. The program product of claim 19, wherein the program instructions are further operable to cause the programmable processor to:

use at least one of surveillance data and message exchange data to discover the topology.