Vehicular network with concurrent packet transmission

• US 9,143,384 B2
• Filed: 06/29/2011
• Issued: 09/22/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/03/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Broadcom Corporation (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Yousefi, Nariman, Kim, Yongbum, Walley, John, Diab, Wael W., Ilyadis, Nicholas, Chen, Sherman (Xuemin)
• Primary Examiner(s): Li, Guang
• Assistant Examiner(s): Combs, Joe
• Application Number:
  US13/171,630
• Publication Number:
  US 20120106550A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,546 Days
• Field of Search: 370412-413
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/00 Electric propulsion with power supplied within the vehicle with power supply from force of nature, e.g. sun or wind, B60L8/00; for monorail vehicles, suspension vehicles or rack railways B60L13/00
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/023 for transmission of signals between vehicle parts or subsystems
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/03 for supply of electrical power to vehicle subsystems or for circuit arrangements for charging batteries H02J7/00
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/0315 using multiplexing techniques multiplexing for transmission of signals G08C15/00; multiplexing for electrical communication in general H04J
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 19/03 characterised by material, e.g. composite B60R19/18 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/26 Power supply means, e.g. regulation thereof for memories G11C
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/266 Arrangements to supply power to external peripherals either directly from the computer or under computer control, e.g. supply of power through the communication port, computer controlled power-strips
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4022 using switching circuits, e.g. switching matrix, connection or expansion network G06F13/4009 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 7/76 Arrangements for rearranging, permuting or selecting data according to predetermined rules, independently of the content of the data
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/085 using electronic data carriers
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0866 the electronic data carrier being a digital video recorder in combination with video camera
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/16 Anti-collision systems road vehicle drive control systems for predicting or avoiding probable or impending collision otherwise than by control of a particular sub-unit B60W30/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/3822 specially adapted for use in vehicles H04B1/3827 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/10 Current supply arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/46 Interconnection of networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4625 Single bridge functionality, e.g. connection of two networks over a single bridge
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/56 Packet switching systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/74 Address processing for routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2433 Allocation of priorities to traffic types
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/6275 : based on priority
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/76 : using dynamic resource allocation, e.g. in-call renegotiation requested by the user or requested by the network in response to changing network conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/821 : Prioritising resource allocation or reservation requests
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/25 : Routing or path finding in a switch fabric
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 : specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 : Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/22 : Parsing or analysis of headers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/102 : characterised by the element, parameter or selection affected or controlled by the adaptive coding
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 : for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/183 : for receiving images from a single remote source
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 : Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/08 : Load balancing or load distribution transferring a connection for handling the traffic H04W36/22; wireless traffic scheduling H04W72/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/40 : for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/44 : for communication between vehicles and infrastructures, e.g. vehicle-to-cloud [V2C] or vehicle-to-home [V2H]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/46 : for vehicle-to-vehicle communication [V2V]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/02 : Selection of wireless resources by user or terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/541 : using the level of interference
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/56 : based on priority criteria
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 : Terminal devices
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 : in wireless communication networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/18 : Network protocols supporting networked applications, e.g. including control of end-device applications over a network

Abstract

A vehicular network is a closed network with known sources, destinations, and network connections that can be mapped in advance, and used to identify network resources needed to transmit a packet from a source to a destination. A network module can determine the source destination, and a priority of a packet based on the packet'"'"'s content. Using the source and destination information, along with a network topology data, the network module can determine if two packets need the same network resources to be delivered to their destination. When the two packets do not use the same resources, there is no conflict, and the packets can be transmitted concurrently regardless of whether one of the packets has a higher priority than another packet. If there is a conflict, the network module transmits the packets based on the packets'"'"' priorities.

Claims

1. A network device, comprising:

a network interface configured to couple the network device to a vehicle communication network comprising a plurality of sub-networks, each of the plurality of sub-networks comprising a logical grouping of network modules configured to manage network nodes having related vehicular servicing functions;

memory configured to store path information associating packets with vehicle communication network resources allocated for delivering the packets, the path information including corresponding sub-network identification; and

a processor operably coupled to the memory and to the network interface, wherein the processor is configured to;

determine, based at least in part on the path information, a packet priority level for each of a first packet and a second packet, and whether the first packet, when delivered, would be delivered through vehicle communication network resources allocated for delivery of the second packet in order to determine when to deliver the first packet and second packet concurrently;

when the packet priority level of the first packet or the second packet is a high priority level, determine to bypass an ingress or egress queue when transmitting the high priority level packet;

when the packet priority level of the first packet or the second packet is a low priority level, assign a time stamp to the low priority level packet for prioritizing transmission of the low priority level packet; and

in response to determining that the first packet is to be delivered through vehicle communication network resources other than the vehicle communication network resources allocated for delivery of the second packet, transmit the first packet and the second packet concurrently.

2. The network device of claim 1, wherein the packet priority level of the first packet and the packet priority level of the second packet is determined based, at least in part, on sub-network identifications associated with the destination of each of the first and second packets.

3. The network device of claim 1, wherein the processor further configured to:

determine, based on the assigned time stamp for the low priority level packet, whether a time to live (TTL) value has expired; and

when the TTL value has expired, discard the low priority level packet.

4. The network device of claim 1, wherein the processor further configured to:

in response to determining that the first packet is to be delivered through the vehicle communication network resources allocated for delivery of the second packet, transmitting the first packet and the second packet based on packet priority level.

5. The network device of claim 1, wherein the processor further configured to:

in response to determining that the first packet is to be delivered through the vehicle communication network resources allocated for delivery of the second packet, adjust vehicle communication network resources allocated for delivery of the second packet.

6. The network device of claim 1, wherein the processor further configured to:

determine a source and a destination of a packet received from the vehicle communication network; and

determine vehicle communication network resources to be allocated in delivering the packet from the source to the destination.

7. The network device of claim 1, wherein the packet priority level of the first packet and the second packet is determined based, at least in part, on sub-network identifications associated with the source of each of the first and second packet.

8. A network device, comprising:

a network interface configured to couple the network device to a vehicle communication network comprising a plurality of sub-networks, each of the plurality of sub-networks comprising a logical grouping of network modules configured to manage network nodes having related vehicular servicing functions;

memory configured to store path information, the path information including;

corresponding sub-network identification;

first path information associating a first packet with a first set of vehicle communication network resources for transmission of the first packet; and

second path information associating a second packet with a second set of vehicle communication network resources for transmission of the second packet; and

a processor operably coupled to the memory and to the network interface, wherein the processor is configured to;

determine a packet priority level for the first packet and the second packet;

determine, based on the packet priority level being a high priority packet level, to by-pass ingress and egress queues;

assign a time stamp to the first packet or the second packet in response to determining that the first packet or second packet has a low priority level;

determine whether a conflict exists between the first set of vehicle communication network resources and the second set of vehicle communication network resources; and

in response to determining that no conflict exists, transmit the first packet and the second packet concurrently.

9. The network device of claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine a first priority of the first packet and a second priority of the second packet, wherein first priority is greater than the second priority; and

in response to determining that a conflict exists between the first set of vehicle communication network resources and the second set of vehicle communication network resources, transmitting the first packet before transmitting the second packet.

10. The network device of claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine a first priority of the first packet and a second priority of the second packet, wherein first priority is greater than the second priority; and

in response to determining that a conflict exists between the first set of vehicle communication network resources and the second set of vehicle communication network resources, adjusting the second set of vehicle communication network resources to generate an adjusted second set of vehicle communication network resources.

11. The network device of claim 10, wherein the memory is further configured to:

store the adjusted second set of vehicle communication network resources.

12. The network device of claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine a source of a packet and a destination of the packet based on content of the packet; and

determine, based on the source of the packet, the destination of the packet, and the path information, vehicle communication network resources to be allocated in delivering the packet.

13. The network device of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to:

transmit the first packet to a first of the plurality of sub-networks; and

transmit the second packet to a second of the plurality of sub-networks.

14. A network device, comprising:

a network interface configured to couple the network device to a vehicle communication network, the vehicle communication network contains known sources, known destinations, and known network connections therebetween that are subdivided into a plurality of sub-networks within the vehicle communication network based upon respective vehicular servicing functions;

memory configured to store a network map of the vehicle communication network that includes sub-network identification; and

a processor operably coupled to the memory and to the network interface, wherein the processor is configured to manage a queue of communication packets by;

determining priorities of packets based, at least in part, on content of the packets;

organizing the packets within the queue based on the priorities, wherein packets having a high priority bypass packets having a low priority in the queue, and wherein packets having a low priority receive a time stamp;

determining, based on desired network routing, which of a plurality of network paths that are to transmit the packets to a specified destination;

transmitting the packets from the queue in accordance with the determined network paths and the priorities of the packets, wherein packets are transmitted concurrently when no conflict exists between network path resources in the network paths that are to transmit the packets.

15. The network device of claim 14, wherein determining network paths comprises:

identifying vehicle communication network resources included in the network paths.

16. The network device of claim 15, wherein identifying vehicle communication network resources comprises:

determining packet sources based on the content of the packets;

determining packet destinations based on the content of the packets; and

determining the vehicle communication network resources to be used allocated in delivering the packets based on the packet sources, the packet destinations, and a desired network path.

17. The network device of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine, based on the received time stamps for the low priority packets, whether a time to live (TTL) value for each of the low priority packets has expired; and

when the TTL values have expired, discard the low priority level packets.

18. The network device of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to manage the queue of communication packets, at least in part, by organizing the packets within the queue based on whether the packets have time stamps.

19. The network device of claim 18, wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine, based at least in part on the network map, whether a conflict exists between vehicle communication network resources to be allocated in delivering a first packet and a second packet; and

in response to determining that a conflict exists, determine whether the vehicle communication network resources to be allocated in delivering the second packet can be adjusted to allow concurrent delivery of the first packet and the second packet.

20. The network device of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured to:

manage a plurality of queues based, at least in part, on packet content type.