ON-BOARD VEHICLE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM AND METHOD

• US 20150256534A1
• Filed: 03/04/2014
• Published: 09/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/04/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Nissan North America Incorporated (Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: CHRISTENSEN, Andrew, PROBERT, Neal, GOUDY, Roy W.
• Granted Patent: US 9,485,247 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/84 Vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/068 using time-dependent keys, e.g. periodically changing keys cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for controlling usage of secret information H04L9/088
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0823 using certificates cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving certificates H04L9/3263
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/321 involving a third party or a trusted authority
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3263 involving certificates, e.g. public key certificate [PKC] or attribute certificate [AC]; Public key infrastructure [PKI] arrangements network architectures or network communication protocols for supporting authentication of entities using certificates in a packet data network H04L63/0823
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/02 Protecting privacy or anonymity, e.g. protecting personally identifiable information [PII]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/033 of the user plane, e.g. user's traffic

Abstract

An on-board vehicle communication system and method employ a storage device, a communication device and a controller. The storage device is configured to store a plurality of security certificates. The communication device is configured to receive external information that is external to a host vehicle equipped with the on-board vehicle communication system. The controller is configured to determine whether to begin a security certificate replenishment process to attempt to receive additional security certificates from at least one source that is external of the host vehicle based on the received external information, upon an amount of security certificates stored in the storage device decreasing below a first prescribed threshold.

Claims

1. An on-board vehicle communication system comprising:

a storage device configured to store a plurality of security certificates;

a communication device configured to receive external information that is external to a host vehicle equipped with the on-board vehicle communication system; and

a controller configured to determine whether to begin a security certificate replenishment process to attempt to receive additional security certificates from at least one source that is external of the host vehicle based on the received external information, upon an amount of security certificates stored in the storage device decreasing below a first prescribed threshold.

2. The on-board vehicle communication system according to claim 1, wherein

the controller is further configured to determine a risk factor based on the received external information and to determine based on the risk factor whether to begin the security certificate replenishment process.

3. The on-board vehicle communication system according to claim 2, wherein

the controller is further configured to compare the risk factor to a risk threshold to determine whether to begin the security certificate replenishment process.

4. The on-board vehicle communication system according to claim 3, wherein

the controller is further configured to begin the security certificate replenishment process upon determining that the risk factor is below the risk threshold.

5. The on-board vehicle communication system according to claim 2, wherein

the controller is further configured to determine a traffic environment based on the received external information and to determine the risk factor based on the traffic environment.

6. The on-board vehicle communication system according to claim 5, wherein

the controller is further configured to set the risk factor at a high risk factor level upon determining that the traffic information indicates a high traffic level and to set the risk factor at a low risk factor level, which is lower than the high risk factor level, upon determining that the traffic information indicates a low traffic level which indicates an amount of traffic that is sparser than an amount of traffic indicative of the high traffic level.

7. The on-board vehicle communication system according to claim 2, wherein

the controller is further configured to set the risk factor at a high risk factor level upon determining that the external information indicates a first probability of the host vehicle contacting a remote object, and to set the risk factor at low risk factor level, which is lower than the high risk factor level, upon determining that the external information indicates a second probability of the host vehicle contacting a remote object, the second probability being lower than the first probability.

8. The on-board vehicle communication system according to claim 1, wherein

the controller is configured to provide a security certificate replenishment notification during the security certificate replenishment process.

9. The on-board vehicle communication system according to claim 1, wherein

the controller is configured to control the communication device to attempt to obtain additional security certificates from the source during the security certificate replenishment process.

10. The on-board vehicle communication system according to claim 1, wherein

the storage device is configured to store a plurality of security certificates in a plurality of storage stages.

11. The on-board vehicle communication system according to claim 10, wherein

the plurality of storage stages includes a first storage stage and a second storage stage, and the controller is configured to move those of the security certificates in the second storage stage the first storage stage as the security certificates in the first storage stage are depleted.

12. The on-board vehicle communication system according to claim 1, wherein

the controller is configured to control a user interface in the host vehicle to present information pertaining to at least one characteristic of the at least one source.

13. The on-board vehicle communication system according to claim 12, wherein

the at least one characteristic includes information pertaining to at least one location of the at least one source in relation to a present location of the host vehicle.

14. The on-board vehicle communication system according to claim 13, wherein

the at least one characteristic includes information pertaining to the source that is closest to the present location of the host vehicle.

15. The on-board vehicle communication system according to claim 12, wherein

the at least one characteristic includes information pertaining to at least one type of connection of the at least one source.

16. The on-board vehicle communication system according to claim 15, wherein

the at least one characteristic includes information pertaining to the type of connection having a security level higher than any other type of connections available at the at least one source.

17. The on-board vehicle communication system according to claim 1, wherein

the storage device is configured to store a plurality of external source identifiers and a respective priority level associated with each respective one of the external source identifiers;

and

the controller is further configured to compare identification information included in the received external information with the external source identifiers to determine a manner in which to process the received external information based on the comparison.

18. The on-board vehicle communication system according to claim 17, wherein

the controller is further configured, upon determining that the identification information corresponds to one of the external source identifiers, to compare the identification information included in the received external information with the respective priority level associated with the one of the external source identifiers to determine the manner in which to process the received external information based on the comparison of the identification information with the respective priority level.

19. The on-board vehicle communication system according to claim 1, wherein

the controller is further configured to assess a validity of the received external information based on information included in the received external information, and to control the communication device to provide an invalidity indicator for receipt by an external destination upon determining that the received external information is potentially invalid.

20. An on-board vehicle communication method comprising:

storing a plurality of security certificates in an on-board storage device of a host vehicle;

receiving at the host vehicle external information that is external of the host vehicle; and

determining via an on-board controller on the host vehicle whether to begin a security certificate replenishment process to attempt to receive additional security certificates from at least one source that is external of the host vehicle based on the received external information, upon an amount of security certificates stored in the storage device decreasing below a first prescribed threshold.