Methods and systems for determining when to decommission vehicles from a fleet of autonomous vehicles
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- receiving information indicative of a sequence of coverage requirements for a data network for a region over a period of time, wherein the region is characterized by a plurality of landmarks and the period of time is divided into a plurality of time intervals, and wherein an individual coverage requirement identifies a desired number of vehicles of a plurality of vehicles for given landmarks at a given time interval, wherein vehicles of the plurality of vehicles include a balloon within the data network that is operable to provide data communication via optical or radio-frequency (RF) links for the data network;
defining one or more landmarks as a decommissioning site representative of a location at which a given vehicle can be taken out of service;
determining, by a processor, for at least one respective landmark of the plurality of landmarks, estimated landmarks of the plurality of landmarks that can be reached by one or more vehicles starting from the respective landmark by an end of a respective time interval;
making, by the processor, a determination of whether given individual coverage requirements have the desired number of vehicles of the plurality of vehicles for given landmarks at the given time interval so as to satisfy the given individual coverage requirements for the data network based on changing wind conditions, in which the desired number of vehicles of the plurality of vehicles provide data communications via optical or radio-frequency (RF) links for the data network to operate at the given landmarks of the region over the period of time;
based on the sequence of coverage requirements being satisfied and the estimated landmarks that can be reached by the one or more vehicles, selecting, by the processor, from among the vehicles that can reach the one or more landmarks defined as the decommissioning site one or more vehicles for decommission and taking out of service from the data network; and
causing the one or more vehicles that are determined to be taken out of service to be taken offline from the data network and to travel to the decommissioning site for cut-down or guided descent resulting in removal from the data network.
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Abstract
Example methods and systems for determining when to decommission vehicles from a fleet of autonomous vehicles are described. One method includes receiving information indicating a sequence of coverage requirements for a region over a period of time, and the region is characterized by landmarks and the period of time is divided into time intervals. Landmarks may be defined as a decommissioning site representative of a location at which a given vehicle can be taken out of service, and the method includes determining estimated landmarks that can be reached by one or more vehicles starting from a respective landmark by an end of a respective time interval, and based on the sequence of coverage requirements, determining which vehicles from among the vehicles that can reach the one or more landmarks defined as the decommissioning site to take out of service.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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receiving information indicative of a sequence of coverage requirements for a data network for a region over a period of time, wherein the region is characterized by a plurality of landmarks and the period of time is divided into a plurality of time intervals, and wherein an individual coverage requirement identifies a desired number of vehicles of a plurality of vehicles for given landmarks at a given time interval, wherein vehicles of the plurality of vehicles include a balloon within the data network that is operable to provide data communication via optical or radio-frequency (RF) links for the data network; defining one or more landmarks as a decommissioning site representative of a location at which a given vehicle can be taken out of service; determining, by a processor, for at least one respective landmark of the plurality of landmarks, estimated landmarks of the plurality of landmarks that can be reached by one or more vehicles starting from the respective landmark by an end of a respective time interval; making, by the processor, a determination of whether given individual coverage requirements have the desired number of vehicles of the plurality of vehicles for given landmarks at the given time interval so as to satisfy the given individual coverage requirements for the data network based on changing wind conditions, in which the desired number of vehicles of the plurality of vehicles provide data communications via optical or radio-frequency (RF) links for the data network to operate at the given landmarks of the region over the period of time; based on the sequence of coverage requirements being satisfied and the estimated landmarks that can be reached by the one or more vehicles, selecting, by the processor, from among the vehicles that can reach the one or more landmarks defined as the decommissioning site one or more vehicles for decommission and taking out of service from the data network; and causing the one or more vehicles that are determined to be taken out of service to be taken offline from the data network and to travel to the decommissioning site for cut-down or guided descent resulting in removal from the data network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored therein instructions, that when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform functions comprising:
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receiving information indicative of a sequence of coverage requirements for a data network for a region over a period of time, wherein the region is characterized by a plurality of landmarks and the period of time is divided into a plurality of time intervals, and wherein an individual coverage requirement identifies a desired number of vehicles of a plurality of vehicles for given landmarks at a given time interval, wherein vehicles of the plurality of vehicles include a balloon within the data network that is operable to provide data communication via optical or radio-frequency (RF) links for the data network; defining one or more landmarks as a decommissioning site representative of a location at which a given vehicle can be taken out of service; determining for at least one respective landmark of the plurality of landmarks, estimated landmarks of the plurality of landmarks that can be reached by one or more vehicles starting from the respective landmark by an end of a respective time interval; making a determination of whether given individual coverage requirements have the desired number of vehicles of the plurality of vehicles for given landmarks at the given time interval so as to satisfy the given individual coverage requirements for the data network based on changing wind conditions, in which the desired number of vehicles of the plurality of vehicles provide data communications via optical or radio-frequency (RF) links for the data network to operate at the given landmarks of the region over the period of time; based on the sequence of coverage requirements being satisfied and the estimated landmarks that can be reached by the one or more vehicles, selecting from among the vehicles that can reach the one or more landmarks defined as the decommissioning site one or more vehicles for decommission and taking out of service from the data network; and causing the one or more vehicles that are determined to be taken out of service to be taken offline from the data network and to travel to the decommissioning site for cut-down or guided descent resulting in removal from the data network. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
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15. A system, comprising:
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at least one processor; and data storage comprising program instructions executable by the at least one processor to cause the at least one processor to perform functions comprising; receiving information indicative of a sequence of coverage requirements for a data network for a region over a period of time, wherein the region is characterized by a plurality of landmarks and the period of time is divided into a plurality of time intervals, and wherein an individual coverage requirement identifies a desired number of vehicles of a plurality of vehicles for given landmarks at a given time interval, wherein vehicles of the plurality of vehicles include a balloon within the data network that is operable to provide data communication via optical or radio-frequency (RF) links for the data network; defining one or more landmarks as a decommissioning site representative of a location at which a given vehicle can be taken out of service; determining for at least one respective landmark of the plurality of landmarks, estimated landmarks of the plurality of landmarks that can be reached by one or more vehicles starting from the respective landmark by an end of a respective time interval; making a determination of whether given individual coverage requirements have the desired number of vehicles of the plurality of vehicles for given landmarks at the given time interval so as to satisfy the given individual coverage requirements for the data network based on changing wind conditions, in which the desired number of vehicles of the plurality of vehicles provide data communications via optical or radio-frequency (RF) links for the data network to operate at the given landmarks of the region over the period of time; based on the sequence of coverage requirements being satisfied and the estimated landmarks that can be reached by the one or more vehicles, selecting, by the processor, from among the vehicles that can reach the one or more landmarks defined as the decommissioning site one or more vehicles for decommission and taking out of service from the data network; and causing the one or more vehicles that are determined to be taken out of service to be taken offline from the data network and to travel to the decommissioning site for cut-down or guided descent resulting in removal from the data network. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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Specification