VEHICULAR COMMUNICATIONS USING A SCALABLE AD HOC GEOGRAPHIC ROUTING PROTOCOL

• US 20130099941A1
• Filed: 10/20/2011
• Published: 04/25/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/20/2011
• 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: Jana, Rittwik, Hall, Robert, Panta, Rajesh, Aggarwal, Vaneet, Auzins, Josh
• Granted Patent: US 9,495,870 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/905
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/093 Data selection, e.g. prioritizing information, managing message queues, selecting the information to be output
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096716 where the received information does not generate an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096758 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 1/143 inside the vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/144 on portable or mobile units, e.g. personal digital assistant [PDA]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/027 using movement velocity, acceleration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/46 for vehicle-to-vehicle communication [V2V]

Abstract

Vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communications are accomplished via a scalable ad hoc geographic routing protocol. As vehicles move along roadways, they can query other vehicles and entities for information. Responses to queries can be used to determine information such as traffic conditions, a retail store sale, that a restaurant has tables available, and/or that parking spaces are available, for example. Businesses, vehicles, and other entities along roadways can geocast pertinent information to vehicles passing by. Vehicles can cache information as it is received.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a message, the message being formatted in accordance with a geocast protocol, the message comprising an indication of a region of intended reception of the message;

determining, by a recipient of the message, whether to retransmit the message;

when it is determined to retransmit the message, retransmitting the message, the retransmitted message being formatted in accordance with the geocast protocol, the retransmitted message comprising an indication of the region;

determining, by the recipient, if the recipient is within the region;

when it is determined that the recipient is not within the region, not responding to the message;

when it is determined that the recipient of the message is within the region, responding to the message with a response, the response comprising an indication of the location of the recipient; and

transmitting the response, the response being formatted in accordance with the geocast protocol.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the response comprises an indication of a speed at which the recipient is moving.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the response comprises an indication of a direction in which the recipient is moving.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the response comprises an indication of availability of a parking space.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the response comprises information pertaining to at least one of a vehicle traffic condition, an advertisement, or seating availability.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the recipient is located within a vehicle.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the message was received at least a predetermined number of times by the recipient; and

when it is determined that the message has not been received the predetermined number of times, retransmitting the message.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the message was sent from a location closer than or equal to a predetermined minimum distance from a location of the recipient; and

when it is determined that the message was not sent from a location closer than or equal to the predetermined minimum distance from the location of the recipient, retransmitting the message.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a first distance from the recipient to a point in the intended reception of the message;

determining a plurality of distances between the point and each of a plurality of sources from which the recipient previously has received the message; and

retransmitting the message when the first distance is less than each of the plurality of distances.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining if a nearest neighbor of an originator of the message has received the message at least a predetermined number of times; and

when it is determined that the nearest neighbor has not received the message at least the predetermined number of times, retransmitting the message.

11. A device comprising:

an input/output portion configured to;

receive a message, the message being formatted in accordance with a geocast protocol, the message comprising an indication of a region of intended reception of the message;

when it is determined to retransmit the message, retransmit the message, the retransmitted message being formatted in accordance with the geocast protocol, the retransmitted message comprising an indication of the region;

transmit a response to the message, the response being formatted in accordance with the geocast protocol;

a processing portion configured to;

determine whether to retransmit the message;

determine if the device is within the region;

when it is determined that the device is not within the region, not responding to the message; and

when it is determined that the device is within the region, generating a response to the message, the response comprising an indication of the location of the device.

12. The device of claim 11, wherein the response comprises at least one of:

an indication of a speed at which the device is moving;

an indication of a direction in which the device is moving;

an indication of availability of a parking space;

information pertaining to a vehicle traffic condition;

an advertisement;

or

information pertaining to seating availability.

13. The device of claim 11, wherein the device is located within a vehicle.

14. The device of claim 11:

the processing portion further configured to;

determine whether the message was received at least a predetermined number of times by the device; and

the input/output portion further configured to;

when it is determined that the message has not been received the predetermined number of times, retransmit the message.

15. The device of claim 11:

the processing portion further configured to;

determine whether the message was sent from a location closer than or equal to a predetermined minimum distance from a location of the device; and

the input/output portion further configured to;

when it is determined that the message was not sent from a location closer than or equal to the predetermined minimum distance from the location of the device, retransmit the message.

16. The device of claim 11:

the processing portion further configured to;

determine a first distance from the device to a point in the intended reception of the message; and

determining a plurality of distances between the point and each of a plurality of other devices from which the device previously has received the message; and

the input/output portion further configured to;

retransmit the message when the first distance is less than each of the plurality of distances.

17. The device of claim 11:

the processing portion further configured to;

determine if a nearest neighbor of an originator of the message has received the message at least a predetermined number of times; and

the input/output portion further configured to;

when it is determined that the nearest neighbor has not received the message at least the predetermined number of times, retransmit the message.

18. A device comprising:

and input/output portion configured to;

transmit a query, the query being formatted in accordance with a geocast protocol, the query comprising an indication of a region of intended reception of the message;

receive a plurality of response messages in response to the query, each response message of the plurality of response messages being formatted in accordance with a geocast protocol, each response message of the plurality of response messages comprising at least one of an indication of a speed at which an originator of a respective response message is moving, an indication of a direction in which an originator of a respective response message is moving, a location of an originator of a respective response message, an indication of an availability of a parking space, or an indication of seating availability;

a processing portion configured to;

based on content of received response messages, generate a response to the query; and

a user interface portion configured to;

render an indication of the response to the query.

19. The device of claim 18, wherein the device is located in a vehicle.

20. The device of claim 18, the user interface portion further configured to render an indication of the response to the query overlaid with a geographic map of a location associated with the response to the query.