Location based wireless network optimization in embedded systems

• US 9,439,205 B1
• Filed: 02/12/2016
• Issued: 09/06/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/12/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alpine Electronics of Silicon Valley, Inc. (Alps Alpine Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Alpine Electronics of Silicon Valley, Inc. (Alps Alpine Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Yamashita, Hirokazu, Lin, Rocky Chau-Hsiung, Yamasaki, Thomas, Kanda, Koichiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Pezzlo, John
• Application Number:
  US15/043,309
• Time in Patent Office: 207 Days
• Field of Search: 370/252, 370/329, 370/338, 370/386
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/00 Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received correcting synchronisation H04L7/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/22 using redundant apparatus to increase reliability
• 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 67/5683 Storage of data provided by user terminals, i.e. reverse caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/008375 based on historical data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/20 for optimising the interference level
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/00 Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/027 using movement velocity, acceleration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• 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 72/541 using the level of interference
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

Method and devices for optimizing wireless network connections in transportation vehicles are provided. An onboard computing device in a transportation vehicle identifies blackout area with severe wireless signal interference caused by nearby wireless access points in the blackout area. The wireless interference can be remedied by dynamically switching wireless channel for the in-vehicle wireless connection between the onboard computing device and a mobile device in the vehicle. The wireless interference can also be remedied by pre-caching the data needed for a content presentation during a time period when the vehicle travels within the blackout area.

Claims

1. A method of optimizing a wireless network connection in a transportation vehicle, comprising steps of:

establishing a mobile wireless network connection between an onboard computing device placed in the transportation vehicle and a mobile device on a first wireless channel;

identifying by the onboard computing device a blackout area in a route along which the transportation vehicle travels, the blackout area having significant wireless interference to the mobile wireless network connection on the first wireless channel;

determining by the onboard computing device a second wireless channel for the mobile wireless network connection, the mobile wireless network connection on the second wireless channel experiencing less wireless interference in the blackout area than the mobile wireless network connection on the first wireless channel; and

switching by the onboard computing device the mobile wireless network connection to the second wireless channel, before the transportation vehicle reaches the blackout area.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting one or more nearby access points in a region in which the transportation vehicle currently travels;

collecting by the onboard computing device wireless interference data based on the access points detected in the region;

analyzing the wireless interference data to determine a level of wireless interference for the region; and

if the level of wireless interference for the region is severe, marking the region as a blackout area.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the wireless interference data include a number of nearby access points detected, WIFI signal strengths of the nearby access points, or channel numbers at which the nearby access points operate.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

sending the collected wireless interference data, location information of the region, and a timestamp to a server, the server aggregating the wireless interference data received from multiple devices installed in transportation vehicles travelling at multiple locations; and

receiving wireless interference data for other regions or identification of other blackout areas from the server.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying the blackout area comprises:

detecting a wireless transmission error in the mobile wireless network connection between the onboard computing device and the mobile device;

determining that the wireless transmission error is caused by wireless interference in a current region at which the transportation vehicle travels; and

marking the current region as a blackout area and determining to switch wireless channel in order to reduce the wireless interference.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying the blackout area comprises:

determining by the onboard computing device a candidate destination and the route along which the transportation vehicle travels to reach the candidate destination; and

identifying the blackout area in the route based on historical wireless interference data.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

receiving at the onboard computing device an input from a driver of the transportation vehicle to designate a candidate destination for navigation purpose.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

recording by the onboard computing device a commuting history of times and locations that the transportation vehicle travels; and

identifying a candidate destination by the onboard computing device based on a commuting pattern recognized based on the recorded commuting history.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the transportation vehicle is a car, a motorcycle, a land vehicle, a ship, a boat, a hovercraft, a submarine, an airplane, a helicopter, or an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that transportation vehicle is travelling along the route towards the blackout area;

sending from the onboard computing device to the mobile device a request to retrieve upfront the data needed for running an application for a time period when the transportation vehicle is going to travel within the blackout area;

pre-caching the needed data in a local storage of the onboard computing device; and

running the application on the onboard computing device by using the pre-cached data, without a need for the mobile wireless network connection, during the time period when the transportation vehicle travels within the blackout area.

11. A method of enhancing a wireless network connection in a transportation vehicle, comprising steps of:

maintaining a mobile wireless network connection between an onboard computing device placed in the transportation vehicle and a mobile device;

identifying by the onboard computing device a destination towards which the transportation vehicle is going to travel;

determining a potential route towards the destination that the transportation vehicle likely takes;

comparing the potential route against a list of blackout areas to identify one or more blackout areas through which the transportation vehicle likely will travel, each of the blackout areas being known to have significant wireless interference cause by access points in the blackout areas;

conducting a counter measure by the onboard computing device to remedy anticipated wireless interference in the identified blackout areas, to ensure that a user experience based on the mobile wireless network connection is not disrupted by the anticipated wireless interference in the identified blackout areas.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the counter measure comprises:

switching by the onboard computing device the mobile wireless network connection from a first wireless channel to a second wireless channel, wherein second wireless channel experiences less wireless interference in the blackout areas comparing to the first wireless channel.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein counter measure comprising:

sending from the onboard computing device to the mobile device a request to retrieve upfront the data needed for running an application for a time period when the transportation vehicle is going to travel within the blackout areas;

pre-caching the needed data in a local storage of the onboard computing device; and

running the application on the onboard computing device by using the pre-cached data, without a need for the mobile wireless network connection, during the time period when the transportation vehicle travels within the blackout areas.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

determining that the wireless interference is so severe that the mobile wireless network connection does not operate properly after channel switching;

sending an instruction from the onboard computing device to the mobile device an instruction to switch to a low-bandwidth mode; and

replacing the mobile wireless network connection with a low-bandwidth wireless connection through which the onboard computing device and the mobile device communicate in real time in a low-bandwidth mode during a time period when the transportation vehicle travels within the blackout areas.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the mobile wireless network connection is a WIFI connection in the transportation vehicle, and the low-bandwidth mode is a BLUETOOTH connection.

16. An onboard computing device configured to be placed in a transportation vehicle, comprising:

a wireless networking interface configured to establish a mobile wireless network connection with a mobile device, the wireless network interface further configured to detect signals of nearby access points in a region in which the transportation vehicle travels;

an output component configured to deliver a presentation in real time when the wireless networking interface continues receiving data streams for the presentation from the mobile device;

a processor configured to identify a blackout area based on the detected signals of nearby access points, wherein the blackout area has wireless interference from the nearby access points to impact the real-time receiving of data streams for the presentation.

17. The onboard computing device of claim 16, further comprising:

a local storage configured to store information regarding the blackout areas and nearby access points, the local storage further configured to store a commuting historical data of times and location that the transportation vehicle travels; and

wherein the processor is further configured to recognize a commuting pattern of the transportation vehicle based on the commuting historical data.

18. The onboard computing device of claim 17, wherein the processor is further configured to perform steps of:

if the onboard computing device receives a user input designating a destination, identifying a potential route towards the destination;

if the onboard computing device does not receive a user input designating a destination, determining a candidate destination based on the commuting pattern, identifying a potential route towards the candidate destination;

comparing the potential route against a list of blackout areas stored in the local storage to identify a blackout area through which the transportation vehicle likely is going to travel;

sending to the mobile device a request to retrieve upfront the data needed for continuously delivering the presentation for a time period when the transportation vehicle will travel within the blackout area;

pre-caching the needed data in the local storage of the onboard computing device; and

continuously delivering the presentation by using the pre-cached data, without a need for the mobile wireless network connection, during the time period when the transportation vehicle travels within the blackout area.

19. The onboard computing device of claim 17, wherein the processor is further configured to perform steps of:

if the onboard computing device receives a user input designating a destination, identifying a potential route towards the destination;

if the onboard computing device does not receive a user input designating a destination, determining a candidate destination based on the commuting pattern, identifying a potential route towards the candidate destination;

comparing the potential route against a list of blackout areas stored in the local storage to identify a blackout area through which the transportation vehicle likely is going to travel; and

switching the mobile wireless network connection from a first wireless channel to a second wireless channel, wherein second wireless channel experiences less wireless interference in the blackout areas comparing to the first wireless channel.

20. The onboard computing device of claim 16, further comprising:

a wide area network (WAN) interface configured to connect the onboard computing device to a remote server, the server aggregating information regarding blackout areas and nearby access points from the onboard computing device and other devices in other transportation vehicle to generate a wireless interference blackout map.