Method and system for vehicular communications and information reporting

• US 7,760,110 B1
• Filed: 08/08/2008
• Issued: 07/20/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/20/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Strategic Design Federation W Incorporated
• Inventors: Janke, Garth
• Primary Examiner(s): PHAM, TOAN NGOC
• Application Number:
  US12/221,953
• Time in Patent Office: 711 Days
• Field of Search: 340/902, 340/905, 340/993, 340/995.13, 340/995.27, 340/988, 701/1, 701/117, 701/118, 701/119, 701/211, 709/206, 709/219
• US Class Current: 340/902
• 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 1/164 Centralised systems, e.g. external to vehicles

Abstract

A method for vehicular communications and information reporting. First and second wireless Internet connections between respective first and second vehicles and a web-server are provided. First and second event information is transmitted, to the web-server, from the first and second vehicles. The first and second event information relates to the same event in visual range, respectively, of occupants of the first and second vehicles. The web server may transmit, to the first and second vehicles, confirmed event information derived from the first and second event information.

Claims

1. A method for inter-vehicular communications through a server, the method comprising:

(a) receiving a communication from a first vehicle, the communication comprising a message directed to a target vehicle;

(b) determining whether to transmit the received communication to the target vehicle based at least in part on a reliability associated with the first vehicle;

(c) forming a second communication based on the first communication, the second communication addressed to a network address associated with the target vehicle; and

(d) increasing the reliability associated with the first vehicle based on a history of reliable communications from the first vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein all communications are transmitted through the server.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

(e) providing a subscription service to enable the first vehicle to communicate with the server.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein step (b) further comprises determining whether the target vehicle is subscribed to the subscription service.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication from the first vehicle further comprises an indicia unique to the target vehicle.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication of step (a) further comprises automatically determined position information of the first vehicle.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the determining of step (b) further comprises determining the position of the target vehicle.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the reliability associated with the first vehicle is updated based on feedback received from the target vehicle related to the second communication.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the reliability associated with the first vehicle is increased when a second vehicle reports information corroborating the information in the first communication.

10. A method for operating a proximity-based messaging service, the method comprising:

(a) registering at least two subscribers, the registering comprising creating a profile and assigning a unique indicia for each subscriber;

(b) receiving a communication over the network from a first subscriber, the communication comprising a message directed to a second subscriber and an indicia unique to the second subscriber;

(c) determining whether to transmit the message to the second subscriber based at least in part on the proximity of the first subscriber to the second subscriber and the profiles of the first and second subscribers;

(d) transmitting the message to the second subscriber based on a determination that the message should be transmitted, wherein the transmitting preserves a degree of personal anonymity between the subscribers;

(e) receiving a response to the transmitted message from the second subscriber, the response comprising an instruction to block any further messages from the first subscriber; and

(f) preventing any further communication from the first subscriber to the second subscriber in response to the receiving of step (e).

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the proximity-based messaging service is a dating service.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the network is the Internet.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the network is a local area network.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the proximity-based messaging service is a subscription service.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein registering of step (a) further comprises creating a reliability profile.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the determining of step (c) is based at least in part on the reliability profile of the first subscriber.

17. A system for facilitating inter-vehicular communications, the method comprising:

(a) a receiving module configured for receiving a communication from a first vehicle, the communication comprising a message directed to a target vehicle;

(b) a determining module for determining whether to transmit the received communication to the target vehicle based at least in part on a reliability associated with the first vehicle;

increasing the reliability associated with the first vehicle based on a history of reliable communications from the first vehicle; and

(c) a transmitting module for forming a second communication based on the first communication, the second communication addressed to a network address associated with the target vehicle.

18. A system for operating a proximity-based messaging service, the method comprising:

(a) a registration component configured for registering at least two subscribers, the registering comprising creating a profile and assigning a unique indicia for each subscriber;

(b) a receiving component configured for receiving a communication over the network from a first subscriber, the communication comprising a message directed to a second subscriber and an indicia unique to the second subscriber;

(c) a determining component configured for determining whether to transmit the message to the second subscriber based at least in part on the proximity of the first subscriber to the second subscriber and the profiles of the first and second subscribers;

(d) a transmitting component configured for transmitting the message to the second subscriber based on a determination that the message should be transmitted, wherein the transmitting preserves a degree of personal anonymity between the subscribers; and

(e) a control component configured for receiving a response to the transmitted message from the second subscriber, the response comprising an instruction to block any further messages from the first subscriber and preventing any further communication from the first subscriber to the second subscriber.