V2V safety system using vehicle location as vehicle identification

• US 9,449,515 B2
• Filed: 04/24/2013
• Issued: 09/20/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Zetta Research and Development LLC - FORC Series, Zetta Research and Development LLC (Zetta Research, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Zetta Research and Development LLC (Zetta Research, LLC)
• Inventors: Rubin, Kim, Betts-Lacroix, Joe
• Primary Examiner(s): Kan, Yuri
• Application Number:
  US14/395,760
• Publication Number:
  US 20150081201A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,245 Days
• Field of Search: 701/24, 701/29.1, 701/117, 701/301, 340/905, 370/312, 370/315, 370/347
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2325/205 Mobile phones
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/33 of global position, e.g. by providing GPS coordinates
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/06 including control of combustion engines
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/18 including control of braking systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/20 including control of steering systems
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/50 of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/14 Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3658 Lane guidance
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3822 Road feature data, e.g. slope data
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0027 of actual mobile position, i.e. position determined on mobile
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/09 Arrangements for giving variable traffic instructions railroad crossing signals B61L; reflectors E01F, G08B; indicating arrangements for variable information by selection or combination of individual elements G09F9/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096791 where the origin of the information is another vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0969 having a display in the form of a map
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/142 external to the vehicles
• 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: G08G 1/161 Decentralised systems, e.g. inter-vehicle communication
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/163 involving continuous checking
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/166 for active traffic, e.g. moving vehicles, pedestrians, bikes
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/167 Driving aids for lane monitoring, lane changing, e.g. blind spot detection
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/20 : Monitoring the location of vehicles belonging to a group, e.g. fleet of vehicles, countable or determined number of vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 9/02 : Anti-collision systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 3/1694 : Allocation of channels in TDM/TDMA networks, e.g. distributed multiplexers Passive Optical Networks H04Q11/0062
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0091 : Signaling for the administration of the divided path
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/027 : using movement velocity, acceleration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/06 : Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/46 : for vehicle-to-vehicle communication [V2V]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/48 : for in-vehicle communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 56/0035 : detecting errors in frequency or phase
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/006 : with additional information processing, e.g. for direction or speed determination
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0446 : Resources in time domain, e.g. slots or frames
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/30 : Resource management for broadcast services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/0816 : with collision avoidance
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 : Direct-mode setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/40 : for selective distribution or broadcast

Abstract

A vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication transponder for use in V2V communication, safety and anti-collision systems using only a vehicle location for vehicle ID is described. Message embodiments are free of pre-assigned permanent vehicle identification. A hybrid TMDA and CSMA protocol is used. Vehicle position is broadcast as an offset in distance units from a pre-defined geographical grid in degree units. A transponder may proxy for non-equipped vehicle. A proxy handoff and message coding for a proxy message are described. Embodiments are free of MAC and IP addresses. No central authority or road-side equipment (RSU) is required. Embodiments include equipped vehicles and V2V system using the transponder. Embodiments include equipped vehicles and V2V system using the transponder.

Claims

1. A vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication transponder adapted to operate in a first vehicle equipped with the V2V transponder wherein the transponder is adapted to accept as input a subject vehicle position and a subject vehicle heading, and wherein the transponder is adapted to broadcast a series of V2V safety messages wherein each V2V safety message comprises:

(i) the subject vehicle position;

(ii) the subject vehicle heading; and

(iii) a subject vehicle speed;

wherein the improvement is;

the transponder uses a basic time interval (“

frame”

) of predetermined duration wherein the frame repeats continuously;

wherein the frame comprises integer n time slots of predetermined duration, enumerated and contiguous;

wherein a length of the frame and the integer n have been previously agreed with other transponders;

wherein the frame is subdivided into a priority class region comprising contiguous time slots from a first time slot S1 to a last time slot S2; and

a non-priority class region comprising contiguous time slots from a first time slot S3 to a last time slot S4;

wherein the range S1 to S2 and the range S3 to S4 do not overlap;

wherein the transponder transmits only time-critical V2V safety messages in the priority class region;

wherein the transponder broadcasts a V2V safety message in one self-selected time slot in the priority class region in every frame;

wherein the V2V safety messages are broadcast in cleartext; and

wherein the only vehicle identification in at least some V2V safety messages is the subject vehicle position.

2. The vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication transponder of claim 1 wherein:

the transponder message protocol in the non-priority class region is CSMA.

3. The vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication transponder of claim 1 wherein:

the V2V safety messages are free of MAC addresses and free of IP addresses.

4. The vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication transponder of claim 1 wherein:

the subject vehicle position consists of an offset in each of two axis from a point on a pre-defined geographical grid of points wherein the grid of points is defined on the surface of the earth.

5. The vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication transponder of claim 4 wherein:

the predefined geographical grid of points comprises intersection points of latitude lines and longitude lines wherein the latitude lines are equally spaced in latitude degrees and the longitude lines are equally spaced in longitude degrees.

6. The vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication transponder of claim 4 wherein:

the predefined geographical grid of points comprises intersection points of latitude lines and longitude lines wherein the latitude lines are equally spaced in one-half degrees latitude and the longitude lines are equally spaced in one-half degrees longitude.

7. The vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication transponder of claim 4 wherein:

the two axes are North-South and East-West; and

wherein the offset is in units of distance.

8. The vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication transponder of claim 1 wherein:

the transponder is adapted to broadcast a V2V elevation message comprising an elevation value, wherein the elevation value consists of an elevation offset from one of a predefined set of equally spaced elevations defined from a mean sea level.

9. The vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication transponder of claim 1 wherein:

the transceiver is adapted to accept as input a relative location of a second, “

non-equipped”

vehicle;

wherein the relative location consists of a location in two axis relative to the location of the first vehicle (“

equipped vehicle”

) comprising the transponder;

wherein the transceiver broadcasts a second series of V2V safety messages (“

proxy messages”

) wherein each proxy message comprises;

(i) a position of the non-equipped vehicle, (ii) a heading of the non-equipped vehicle, and (iii) a speed of the non-equipped vehicle;

wherein the transponder will initiate broadcasting proxy messages if;

(i) the relative location of the non-equipped vehicle is determinable to within a threshold accuracy, and (ii) it has not received, within the most recent n frames, a proxy message for the non-equipped vehicle, wherein n is in the range of zero to ten.

10. The vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication transponder of claim 9 wherein:

each proxy message comprises substantially the same format as the V2V safety messages broadcast by the transceiver with the exception of a proxy indicator within with proxy message identifying the message as s a proxy message.

11. The vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication transponder of claim 10 wherein:

the proxy indicator comprises a value of a single bit.

12. The vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication transponder of claim 9 wherein:

the transponder self-selects a time slot for broadcasting the proxy messages using the same method it uses for self-selecting a time slot for the V2V safety messages and wherein the self-selected time slot of proxy messages is not the same time slot for the V2V safety messages.

13. The vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication transponder of claim 9 wherein:

the transponder, once it has initiated broadcasting proxy messages for a non-equipped vehicle, continues to broadcast a proxy message, in each frame, for that non-equipped vehicle until either;

(i) the relative location of the non-equipped vehicle is no longer determinable to within the threshold accuracy, or (ii) it has received, in most recently received frame, a proxy message for the non-equipped vehicle wherein an accuracy of the location of the non-equipped vehicle is more accurate than the determinable location by the transponder.

14. The vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication transponder of claim 9 wherein:

n is one.

15. A vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication system using a plurality of vehicles each equipped with a transponder of claim 1.

16. A vehicle equipped with the communications transponder of claim 1 wherein the subject vehicle is the equipped vehicle.

17. The vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication transponder of claim 1 wherein the V2V safety messages are free of a permanently assigned vehicle ID.

18. The vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication transponder of claim 1 wherein the V2V safety messages are free of a pre-assigned vehicle ID and are free of a pre-assigned transponder ID.

19. The vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication transponder of claim 1 wherein at least a subset of S1, S2, S3 and S4 are determined dynamically.

20. The vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication transponder of claim 1 wherein S2 is recomputed at the end of every frame.