Systems and methods for multiple-path delay tolerant communication in a network of moving things, for example including a network of autonomous vehicles

• US 9,967,815 B2
• Filed: 06/26/2017
• Issued: 05/08/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/19/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Veniam Inc.
• Original Assignee: Veniam Inc.
• Inventors: Condeixa, Tiago, Azevedo, Joao, Ameixieira, Carlos, Matos, Ricardo, Russell, Roy, Barros, Joao
• Primary Examiner(s): Chase, Shelly A
• Application Number:
  US15/633,201
• Publication Number:
  US 20170294988A1
• Time in Patent Office: 316 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/08 by repeating transmission, e.g. Verdan system H04L1/1858 and H04L1/189 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/30 Types of network names
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• 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 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/40 for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity, e.g. service redundancy protocols, protocol state redundancy or protocol service redirection management of faults, events, alarms or notifications in data switching networks H04L41/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/38 for collecting sensor information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/40 for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/20 Selecting an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/10 adapted for operation in multiple networks, e.g. multi-mode access points

Abstract

Systems and methods for optimizing data communication in a network of moving things. As non-limiting examples, various aspects of this disclosure provide systems and methods for communicating delay tolerant information in a network of moving things, for example comprising any of a variety of types of vehicles (e.g., autonomous vehicles, vehicles controlled by local operators, vehicles controlled by remote operators, etc.).

Claims

1. A communication network mobile access point (MAP) comprising:

at least one module operable to, at least;

first attempt to receive a plurality of data packets from a first other MAP; and

if the first attempt to receive the plurality of data packets from the first other MAP fails for a failed set of data packets of the plurality of data packets, then second attempt to receive the failed set of data packets from a second other MAP,

wherein the at least one module is operable to perform the second attempt to receive the failed set of data packets while the second other MAP is within communication range of the MAP and the first other MAP is not within communication range of the MAP.

2. A communication network mobile access point (MAP) comprising:

at least one module operable to, at least;

first attempt to receive a plurality of data packets from a first other MAP; and

if the first attempt to receive the plurality of data packets from the first other MAP fails for a failed set of data packets of the plurality of data packets, then second attempt to receive the failed set of data packets from a second other MAP,

wherein the second attempt to receive the failed set of data packets comprises communicating with the second other MAP to determine whether the second other MAP has the failed set of data packets.

3. A communication network mobile access point (MAP) comprising:

at least one module operable to, at least;

first attempt to receive a plurality of data packets from a first other MAP; and

if the first attempt to receive the plurality of data packets from the first other MAP fails for a failed set of data packets of the plurality of data packets, then second attempt to receive the failed set of data packets from a second other MAP,

wherein the at least one module is operable to determine whether to perform the second attempt to receive the failed set of data packets based at least in part on vehicle location information.

4. The mobile access point (MAP) of claim 3, wherein the at least one module is operable to communicate with an autonomous vehicle control system to obtain the vehicle location information.

5. A communication network mobile access point (MAP) comprising:

at least one module operable to, at least;

first attempt to receive a plurality of data packets from a first other MAP; and

if the first attempt to receive the plurality of data packets from the first other MAP fails for a failed set of data packets of the plurality of data packets, then second attempt to receive the failed set of data packets from a second other MAP,

wherein the second attempt to receive the failed set of data packets comprises communicating with the second other MAP to determine whether the second other MAP has a desired version of the failed set of data packets.

6. A communication network mobile access point (MAP) comprising:

at least one module operable to, at least;

first attempt to receive a plurality of data packets from a first other MAP; and

if the first attempt to receive the plurality of data packets from the first other MAP fails for a failed set of data packets of the plurality of data packets, then second attempt to receive the failed set of data packets from a second other MAP,

wherein the second attempt to receive the failed set of data packets comprises communicating with the second other MAP to discuss whether the MAP has received the correct version of one or more of the plurality of data packets.

7. A communication network mobile access point (MAP) comprising:

at least one module operable to, at least;

receive a data packet;

during a first time period, first attempt to communicate the received data packet to a destination through at least a first type of communication network access point; and

during a second time period after the first time period, second attempt to communicate the received data packet to the destination through at least a second type of communication network access point, wherein the at least a first type of communication network access point does not include the second type of communication network access point,

wherein the at least module is operable to, during the second time period, continue to attempt to communicate the data packet to the destination through the at least a first type of communication network access point.

8. A communication network mobile access point (MAP) comprising:

at least one module operable to, at least;

receive a data packet;

during a first time period, first attempt to communicate the received data packet to a destination through at least a first type of communication network access point; and

during a second time period after the first time period, second attempt to communicate the received data packet to the destination through at least a second type of communication network access point, wherein the at least a first type of communication network access point does not include the second type of communication network access point,

wherein the at least one module is operable to;

utilize a first degree of data protection when communicating with the first type of communication network access point; and

utilize a second degree of data protection, different from the first degree of data protection, with communicating with the second type of communication network access point.

9. A communication network mobile access point (MAP) comprising:

at least one module operable to, at least;

receive a data packet;

during a first time period, first attempt to communicate the received data packet to a destination through at least a first type of communication network access point; and

during a second time period after the first time period, second attempt to communicate the received data packet to the destination through at least a second type of communication network access point, wherein the at least a first type of communication network access point does not include the second type of communication network access point,

wherein the at least one module is operable to, during the second time period and while continuing to attempt to communicate the data packet to the destination through at least the second type of communication network access point, communicate the data packet to another Mobile AP for communication of the data packet from the other Mobile AP to the destination.

10. The mobile access point (MAP) of claim 9, wherein the at least one module is operable to select the other Mobile AP based, at least in part, on a location of the other Mobile AP.

11. The mobile access point (MAP) of claim 9, wherein the at least one module is operable to select the other Mobile AP based, at least in part, on a trajectory of the other Mobile AP.

12. A communication network mobile access point (MAP) comprising:

at least one module operable to, at least;

receive a data packet;

during a first time period, first attempt to communicate the received data packet to a destination through at least a first type of communication network access point; and

during a second time period after the first time period, second attempt to communicate the received data packet to the destination through at least a second type of communication network access point, wherein the at least a first type of communication network access point does not include the second type of communication network access point,

wherein the at least one module is operable to determine how many of other Mobile APs the Mobile AP is allowed to propagate the data packet to.

13. The mobile access point (MAP) of claim 12, wherein the at least one module is operable to determine how many other Mobile APs the Mobile AP is allowed to propagate the data packet to based, at least in part, on how many hops the data packet took to get to the Mobile AP.

14. The mobile access point (MAP) of claim 12, wherein the at least one module is operable to determine how many other Mobile APs the Mobile AP is allowed to propagate the data packet to based, at least in part, on whether the Mobile AP received the data packet from another Mobile AP.

15. A communication network mobile access point (MAP) comprising:

at least one module operable to, at least;

first attempt to receive a plurality of data packets from a first other MAP; and

if the MAP has correctly received the plurality of data packets from the first other MAP, then, at least;

establish a communication link with a second other MAP to determine whether the second other MAP has received the plurality of data packets; and

if the second other MAP has not received the plurality of data packets then communicate the plurality of data packets to the second other MAP,

wherein the at least one module is operable to, if the first attempt to receive the plurality of data packets from the first other MAP fails for a failed set of data packets of the plurality of data packets, then second attempt to receive the failed set of data packets from a third other MAP.

16. A communication network mobile access point (MAP) comprising:

at least one module operable to, at least;

first attempt to receive a plurality of data packets from a first other MAP; and

if the MAP has correctly received the plurality of data packets from the first other MAP, then, at least;

establish a communication link with a second other MAP to determine whether the second other MAP has received the plurality of data packets; and

if the second other MAP has not received the plurality of data packets then communicate the plurality of data packets to the second other MAP,

wherein the at least one module is operable to, if the second other MAP has only received a portion of the plurality of data packets, then;

identify a remainder of the plurality of data packets that the second other MAP has not received; and

communicate the identified remainder of the plurality of data packets to the second other MAP.

17. A communication network mobile access point (MAP) comprising:

at least one module operable to, at least;

first attempt to receive a plurality of data packets from a first other MAP; and

if the MAP has correctly received the plurality of data packets from the first other MAP, then, at least;

establish a communication link with a second other MAP to determine whether the second other MAP has received the plurality of data packets; and

if the second other MAP has not received the plurality of data packets then communicate the plurality of data packets to the second other MAP,

wherein the at least one module is operable to receive the plurality of data packets from the first other MAP while the first other MAP is also attempting to communicate the plurality of data packets to the second other MAP.