Vehicular connectivity map

• US 9,775,128 B2
• Filed: 01/21/2016
• Issued: 09/26/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 01/21/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Tseng, Fling Finn, Filev, Dimitar Petrov, Makki, Imad Hassan
• Primary Examiner(s): Milord, Marceau
• Application Number:
  US15/003,432
• Publication Number:
  US 20170215165A1
• Time in Patent Office: 614 Days
• Field of Search: 4554564, 4554563, 455418, 4554141
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/02 Registering or indicating driving, working, idle, or waiting time only apparatus forming part of taximeters G07B13/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/024 by adaptive sampling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0811 by checking connectivity
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/006 with additional information processing, e.g. for direction or speed determination

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a connectivity system with: (a) a vehicle including an accelerator, brakes, steering, a cellular network antenna, a processor, and memory; (b) a connectivity program operatively coupled with the vehicle antenna and configured to: receive a connectivity map, sample connectivity, transmit the samples, anticipate connectivity based on the connectivity map, and generate an instruction for another program based on the anticipated connectivity.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a vehicle including antenna;

a connectivity program operatively coupled with the antenna, configured to;

receive a connectivity map and sampling plan comprising a first sampling region associated with a first non-zero sampling rate and a second sampling region associated with a second non-zero different sampling rate,

select a sampling rate based on the sampling plan,

sample connectivity,

transmit samples,

anticipate connectivity based on the connectivity map, and

generate an instruction for another program based on an anticipated connectivity.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the connectivity map has a scope, the connectivity program is configured to select the scope based on a received value, and the connectivity program is configured to simultaneously anticipate connectivity of a plurality of different service levels of a single service provider.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the connectivity program is configured to append both of a time data and a weather-related data to the samples.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the connectivity program is configured to compute a discrepancy degree between a sampled connectivity and an anticipated connectivity.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the connectivity program is configured to compress the samples based on the discrepancy degree.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the connectivity program is configured to delay transmitting the samples in response to detecting an unacceptable transmission window.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the instruction is a plurality of instructions including a pause instruction, a resume instruction, and a buffering instruction;

the pause instruction is configured to pause mobile data transfer of the other program, the resume instruction is configured to resume mobile data transfer of the other program, and the buffering instruction is configured to cause a preemptive download of information for the other program.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the connectivity program is configured to transmit the instructions to a plurality of other programs, and the plurality of other programs are stored on the vehicle and configured to receive the instructions from the connectivity program.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting the instructions to a plurality of other programs that are stored on the vehicle and configured to receive the instructions from the connectivity program.

10. A method of mapping connectivity with a vehicle having an accelerator, brakes, steering, a cellular network antenna, a processor, and memory, comprising:

operatively coupling a connectivity program with the antenna, and with the connectivity program;

receiving a connectivity map and sampling plan comprising first and second sampling regions,

selecting a first non-zero sampling rate with the connectivity program based on the first sampling region,

selecting a second non-zero different sampling rate with the connectivity program based on the second sampling region,

sampling connectivity at a plurality sampling qualities,

transmitting samples,

anticipating connectivity based on the connectivity map, and

generating an instruction for another program based on an anticipated connectivity.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the connectivity map has a scope, the method further comprising:

selecting the scope based on a received value;

simultaneously anticipating connectivity of a plurality of different service levels of a single service provider.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

appending both of a time data and a weather-related data to the samples with the connectivity program.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

computing a discrepancy degree between the sampled connectivity and an anticipated connectivity.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

compressing the samples with the connectivity program based on the discrepancy degree.

15. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

delaying the transmission of the connectivity samples with the connectivity program in response to detecting an unacceptable transmission window.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the instruction is a plurality of instructions including a pause instruction, a resume instruction, and a buffering instruction;

the pause instruction is configured to pause mobile data transfer of the other program, the resume instruction is configured to resume mobile data transfer of the other program, and the buffering instruction is configured to cause a preemptive download of information for the other program.

17. A method of mapping network connectivity in a vehicle comprising:

receiving, via an antenna, a connectivity map and sampling plan comprising first and second sampling regions associated with respective first and a second different non-zero sampling rates;

sampling the network connectivity at a sampling rate selected base on the sampling plan;

anticipating, via a processor, the network connectivity based on the connectivity map; and

generating instructions for another program based on an anticipated network connectivity.