Interactive WiFi connectivity for moving vehicles

• US 8,457,546 B2
• Filed: 07/23/2008
• Issued: 06/04/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/23/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Mahajan, Ratul, Balasubramanian, Aruna
• Primary Examiner(s): SHARMA, SUJATHA R
• Application Number:
  US12/178,410
• Publication Number:
  US 20100020774A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,777 Days
• Field of Search: 455/7, 455/11.1, 455/16, 455/436, 455/438, 455/345, 370/315, 370/328, 370/338
• US Class Current: 455/7
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/02 Communication route or path selection, e.g. power-based or shortest path routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/005 Moving wireless networks

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided to enable high-performance Internet access on board moving vehicles using WiFi data communication protocols. In an illustrative implementation, an exemplary wireless data communications environment comprises a ViFi module, an instruction set comprising at least one instruction set to process data for wireless communication between a cooperating component onboard a moving vehicle and other cooperating wireless components, and one or more wide-area wireless communications links. In an illustrative operation, the ViFi module can perform one or more wireless communications techniques to exploit macro-diversity and opportunistic receptions by cooperating WiFi base stations to minimize disruptions for mobile clients. The exemplary ViFi module can communicate data to and from one or more cooperating WiFI base stations such that the one or more base stations can operatively opportunistically overhear a packet, and can probabilistically relay the packet to the intended next hop.

Claims

1. A system allowing for the wireless communication of data between one or more cooperating components on-board a vehicle and a wireless communications environment comprising:

a ViFi module operative to process data for wireless communication between the one or more components on board the vehicle and one or more components of the wireless communication environment; and

an instruction set comprising at least one instruction instructing the ViFi module to process data according to a selected wireless relaying data communication paradigm,

wherein the selected wireless relaying data communication paradigm comprises one or more properties including performing probabilistic relaying by one or more components of the wireless communication environment, an auxiliary component of the wireless communications environment relaying a data packet to a destination component of the wireless communications environment in response to the auxiliary component of the wireless communication environment overhearing the data packet but not hearing an acknowledgement for the data packet from the destination component.

2. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the ViFi module is operative to provide one or more instructions to the one or more components of the wireless communications environment to perform one or more probabilistic relaying operations.

3. The system as recited in claim 2, wherein the probabilistic relaying operations comprise monitoring the communication of data packets originating from source component of the wireless communications environment and to be delivered to the destination component to determine if the data packets are successfully communicated.

4. The system as recited in claim 3, wherein the one or more selected data conditions comprise successfully receiving an acknowledgement by the source component of the wireless communications environment.

5. The system as recited in claim 3, wherein the source component of the wireless communications environment comprises any of a client computing environment on a vehicle and a base station.

6. The system as recited in claim 3, wherein the destination component of the wireless communications environment comprises any of a client computing environment on a vehicle and a base station.

7. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the ViFi module comprise a computing environment.

8. The system as recited in claim 1, further comprising a client computing environment operable to communicate with the one or more components of the wireless communications environment.

9. The system as recited in claim 8, further comprising an access point operable to communicate data between the client computing environment and the one or more components of the wireless communications environment.

10. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the client computing environment comprises a portion of the vehicle.

11. A method to facilitate data communications between an on-board vehicle and one or more components of a wireless communications environment comprising:

initiating communications between a source component of the wireless communications environment and a destination component of the wireless communications environment;

listening by a non-destination component of the wireless communications environment for a data packet and an acknowledgment being communicated between the source component of the wireless communications environment and the destination component of the wireless communications environment;

receiving data for communication between the source component of the wireless communications environment and the destination component of the wireless communications environment; and

performing one or more probabilistic relaying operations on the received communicated data, including relaying, by the non-destination component of the wireless communications environment, the received communicated data to the destination component of the wireless communications environment based at least in part on whether the non-destination component of the wireless communication environment overhears the communicated data and the acknowledgement for the received communicated data from the destination component to the source component.

12. The method as recited in claim 11, further comprising initiating communications with a client computing environment.

13. The method as recited in claim 11, further comprising initiating communications with one or more base stations.

14. The method as recited in claim 11, further comprising relaying the data packet from the non-destination component of the wireless communications environment to the destination component of the wireless communications environment in the event that the destination component of the wireless communications environment does not provide an acknowledgement to the source component of the wireless communications environment.

15. The method as recited in claim 11, in which the acknowledgement is provided by the destination component of the wireless communications environment upon the receipt of the relayed data packet.

16. The method as recited in claim 15, further comprising receiving the acknowledgement by the source component of the wireless communications environment from the destination component of the wireless communications environment upon the receipt of the data packet comprising the non-relayed data packets and relayed data packet by the destination component of the wireless communications environment.

17. The method as recited in claim 11, further comprising retransmitting the data packet by the source component of the wireless communications environment in the event the acknowledgement is not received by the source component from the destination component within a selected retransmission time interval.

18. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer executable instructions to instruct a computing environment to perform acts comprising:

initiating communications between a source component of the wireless communications environment and a destination component of the wireless communications environment;

overhearing by an auxiliary component of the wireless communications environment for a data packet and an acknowledgment being communicated between the source component of the wireless communications environment and the destination component of the wireless communications environment;

receiving data for communication between the source component of the wireless communications environment and the destination component of the wireless communications environment; and

performing one or more probabilistic relaying operations on the received communicated data, including relaying, by the auxiliary component of the wireless communications environment, the received communicated data to the destination component of the wireless communications environment in response to the overhearing.

19. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium as recited in claim 18, in which the acknowledgement for the source component is provided by the destination component of the wireless communications environment upon the receipt of the relayed data packet by the destination component of the wireless communications environment.

20. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium as recited in claim 18, wherein the source component of the wireless communications environment retransmits the data packet in the event the acknowledgement is not received by the source component from the destination component within a selected retransmission time interval.