Wireless exchange between vehicle-borne communications systems
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of communicating information between vehicles, comprising:
- receiving, at a vehicle-borne receiver, a first information token from a proximately located vehicle, wherein the first information token contains at least data content;
determining whether the first information token is private or public;
if the first information token is private, transmitting the first information token, from a vehicle-borne transmitter, without reading the data content of the first information token; and
if the first information token is public, reading the data content of the first information token.
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Abstract
Method and apparatus for communicating information between vehicles and/or other systems, including the Internet. Such information may include vehicle operations information, emergency information, email and any other form of information. To facilitate communications each vehicle is equipped with an onboard communications system. In one embodiment, the onboard communications systems are configured to transmit/receive tokens to other systems within a predefined range (as determined by the transmission equipment) without regard for whether the information tokens are addressed to a particular recipient.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. A method of communicating information between vehicles, comprising:
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receiving, at a vehicle-borne receiver, a first information token from a proximately located vehicle, wherein the first information token contains at least data content;
determining whether the first information token is private or public;
if the first information token is private, transmitting the first information token, from a vehicle-borne transmitter, without reading the data content of the first information token; and
if the first information token is public, reading the data content of the first information token. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
receiving, at the vehicle-borne receiver, a second information token from a public access point to a wide area network, wherein the second information token contains at least a destination address and data content;
determining whether the second information token is private or public;
if the second information token is private, transmitting the second information token, from the vehicle-borne transmitter, without reading the data content of the second information token; and
if the second information token is public, reading the data content of the second information token.
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8. The method of claim 7, wherein determining whether the first and second information token are public or private comprises determining whether each information token comprises an address identifying at least one particular recipient of the information token.
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9. A method of communicating information between vehicles, comprising:
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providing a vehicle, comprising;
a vehicle-borne short-range receiver;
a vehicle-borne short-range transmitter;
an onboard computer system;
receiving, at the vehicle-borne short-range receiver, information tokens from a token transmitter within a predefined range without regard for an identity of the token transmitter; and
transmitting, from the vehicle-borne short-range transmitter, at least some of the information tokens to any token receiver within a predefined range and only if the at least some of the information tokens are determined, by the onboard computer system, to be private tokens intended for at least one particular recipient designated in an address field of the private tokens. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
determining whether the token transmitter is moving in an opposite direction relative to the vehicle; and
if so, outputting the sensor information to an occupant of the vehicle via an output device.
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14. The method of claim 9, wherein the transmitting of the at least some of the information tokens determined to be private tokens is done without reading data content of the information tokens.
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15. A method of communicating information between vehicles, comprising:
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providing a vehicle, comprising;
a vehicle-borne short-range receiver;
a vehicle-borne short-range transmitter; and
an onboard computer system;
receiving, at the vehicle-borne short-range receiver, information tokens from a token transmitter within a predefined range without regard for an identity of the token transmitter;
upon receiving an information token, determining whether the information token is public or private;
if the information token is public, reading, by the onboard computer system, data content of the information token; and
if the information token is private, transmitting, from the vehicle-borne short-range transmitter, the information token to any token receiver within a predefined range without reading the data content of the information token. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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18. A vehicle-borne system, comprising:
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a short-range transmitter;
a short-range receiver; and
an onboard computer system communicably connected to the short-range transmitter and the short-range receiver and which, when executing a token processing program, is configured to perform an operation comprising;
(a) receiving, at the short-range receiver, information tokens from a token transmitter within a predefined range without regard for an identity of the token transmitter; and
(b) transmitting, from the short-range transmitter, at least some of the information tokens to any token receiver within a predefined range only if the at least some of the information tokens are determined, by the onboard computer system, to be private tokens intended for at least one particular recipient designated in an address field of the private tokens. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
creating information tokens containing sensor information; and
transmitting the information tokens via the short-range transmitter.
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20. The system of claim 18, wherein transmitting comprises transmitting the information tokens to at least one of a proximately located vehicle and a public access point to a wide area network.
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21. The system of claim 20, wherein the wide area network is the Internet.
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22. The system of claim 18, wherein the short-range transmitter is selected from at least one of 802.11a, 802.11b and Bluetooth transmitters.
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23. The system of claim 18, wherein the information tokens each contain at least one of:
- sensor information collected by a sensor of another vehicle and emergency information transmitted from the another vehicle.
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24. The system of claim 18, wherein the information tokens each contain sensor information collected by a sensor of another vehicle and wherein the operation further comprises:
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determining whether the token transmitter is moving in an opposite direction relative to the onboard computer system; and
if so, outputting the sensor information to an output device connected to the onboard computer system, wherein the output device outputs information in a format understandable by a human operator.
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25. The system of claim 18, wherein the transmitting of the at least some of the information tokens determined to be private tokens is done without reading data content of the information tokens.
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26. A vehicle-borne system, comprising:
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a short-range transmitter;
a short-range receiver; and
an onboard computer system communicably connected to the short-range transmitter and the short-range receiver and which, when executing a token processing program, is configured to perform an operation comprising;
(a) receiving, at the short-range receiver, information tokens from a token transmitter within a predefined range without regard for an identity of the token transmitter;
(b) upon receiving an information token, determining whether the information token is public or private;
(c) if the information token is public, reading data content of the information token; and
(d) if the information token is private, transmitting, from the short-range transmitter, the information token to any token receiver within a predefined range without reading the data content of the information token. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28)
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29. A method of communicating information between vehicles, comprising:
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providing a vehicle, comprising;
a vehicle-borne short-range receiver;
a vehicle-borne short-range transmitter; and
an onboard computer system;
receiving, at the vehicle-borne short-range receiver, information tokens from a token transmitter within a predefined range without regard for an identity of the token transmitter and without regard for whether the received information tokens are addressed to a particular recipient; and
transmitting, from the vehicle-borne short-range transmitter, at least some of the information tokens to a public access point to the Internet, within a predefined range, without regard for whether the information tokens are addressed to a particular destination. - View Dependent Claims (30)
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31. A vehicle-borne system, comprising:
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a short-range transmitter;
a short-range receiver; and
an onboard computer system communicably connected to the short-range transmitter and the short-range receiver and which, when executing a token processing program, is configured to perform an operation comprising;
(a) receiving, at the short-range receiver, information tokens from a token transmitter within a predefined range without regard for an identity of the token transmitter and without regard for whether the received information tokens are addressed to a particular recipient; and
(b) transmitting, from the short-range transmitter, at least some of the information tokens to a public access point to the Internet, within a predefined range, without regard for whether the information tokens are addressed to a particular destination. - View Dependent Claims (32)
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Specification