ENHANCED COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

• US 20170086234A1
• Filed: 09/23/2015
• Published: 03/23/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/23/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Li, Shuang, Song, Hai Lei, Wang, Yun Ting, Zhang, Guang Ming, Zhong, Zhao Hui, Zhu, Pu
• Granted Patent: US 10,149,137 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/62 Text, e.g. of license plates, overlay texts or captions on TV images
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 Direct-mode setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals

Abstract

As disclosed herein a method, executed by a computer, includes monitoring proximate automobiles using a camera, receiving a request to transmit a communication connection request to a selected automobile, and determining observed attributes corresponding to the selected automobile based on images from the camera. The method further includes broadcasting, over a network, the observed attributes to the proximate automobiles, and requesting disclosed attributes and a connection identifier from the proximate automobiles that match the observed attributes, receiving at least one response from the proximate automobiles that match the observed attributes, and determining which response is a best match to the selected automobile. The method further includes transmitting the communication connection request to the selected automobile over the network using the connection identifier corresponding to the best match. A computer program product corresponding to the above method is also disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

monitoring proximate automobiles using a camera;

receiving a request to transmit a communication connection request to a selected automobile;

determining observed attributes corresponding to the selected automobile based on images from the camera;

broadcasting, over a network, the observed attributes to the proximate automobiles and requesting disclosed attributes and a connection identifier from proximate automobiles that match the observed attributes;

receiving at least one response from the proximate automobiles that match the observed attributes;

determining which response is a best match to the selected automobile; and

transmitting the communication connection request to the selected automobile over the network using the connection identifier corresponding to the best match.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the observed attributes comprise at least one of GPS coordinates, license plate information, automobile make, automobile model, or automobile color.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining if the selected automobile is still visible on a display.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising labeling the selected automobile on the display with an identifying tag.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the display is a touchscreen display.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the network is one or more of wifi, cellular telephone, Bluetooth, dedicated short-range communication (DSRC), or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining if a selected image is an automobile.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising responding to voice commands from a driver of an automobile.

9. A method comprising:

receiving, from a broadcasting automobile, a broadcast comprising observed attributes;

determining if the observed attributes describe a receiving automobile;

responding to the broadcast with disclosed attributes and a connection identifier;

receiving, over a network, a communication connection request from the automobile; and

accepting the communication connection request.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising enabling user-to-user communication between the broadcasting automobile and the receiving automobile.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the network is at least one of wifi, cellular telephone, Bluetooth, dedicated short-range communication (DSRC), or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the disclosed attributes comprise at least one of GPS coordinates, license plate information, automobile make, automobile model, or automobile color.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising determining if the broadcasting automobile is visible on a display.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising labeling the broadcasting automobile on the display with an identifying tag.

15. A computer program product comprising:

one or more computer readable storage media and program instructions stored on the one or more computer readable storage media, the program instructions comprising instructions to;

monitor proximate automobiles using a camera;

receive a request to transmit a communication connection request to a selected automobile;

determine observed attributes corresponding to the selected automobile based on images from the camera;

broadcast, over a network, the observed attributes to the proximate automobiles and requesting disclosed attributes and a connection identifier from the proximate automobiles that match the observed attributes;

receive at least one response from the proximate automobiles;

determine which response is a best match to the selected automobile; and

transmit the communication connection request to the selected automobile over the network using the connection identifier corresponding to the best match.

16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein observed attributes comprise at least one of GPS coordinates, license plate information, automobile make, automobile model, or automobile color.

17. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the program instructions comprise instructions to determine if the selected automobile is still visible on a display.

18. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein the program instructions comprise instructions to label the selected automobile on the display with an identifying tag.

19. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the program instructions comprise instructions to determine if a selected image is an automobile.

20. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the program instructions comprise instructions to respond to voice commands from a driver of an automobile.