Communication System, Method Of Communication Between And Among Vehicles And Vehicle Comprising Such A Communication System

• US 20070197230A1
• Filed: 04/29/2005
• Published: 08/23/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 05/04/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: III Holdings 6, LLC
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Roggero, Marco, Reumerman, Hans-Jurgen, Van Wageningen, Andries, Ruffini, Marco
• Granted Patent: US 7,672,270 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0965 responding to signals from another vehicle, e.g. emergency vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/161 Decentralised systems, e.g. inter-vehicle communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0608 Antenna selection according to transmission parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0695 using beam selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0802 using antenna selection H04B7/0868 takes precedence; antenna beam directivity switching H01Q3/24
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/088 using beam selection
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/14 Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks
• 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

Abstract

In order to provide a communication system (100) as well as a vehicle comprising such a communication system (100) for communication between and among vehicles (10, 12, 14, 16, 18) and a method for communication between and among vehicles (10, 12, 14, 16, 18) moving in any different directions within the same area by means of at least one channel (90, 92) designed for transmitting at least one message (30, 32, 34, 36, 38), the channel (90, 92) comprising at least one code (80, 82, 84, 86) for communication of the vehicles (10, 12, 14, 16, 18) within at least one cluster (20, 22) in which at least one group of vehicles (10, 12, 14, 16, 18) are clustered, wherein interference is to be eliminated, it is proposed—that the vehicle (10, 12, 14, 16, 18) comprises at least one, preferably two or more directional antennas (40, 42, 44, 46) oriented in different directions in relation to the moving direction (M) of the vehicle (10, 12, 14, 16, 18), for example forward, backward and/or sideward, in order to enable the sending direction of the message (30, 32, 34, 36, 38) to be allocatable to at least one of any directions in relation to the moving direction (M) of the vehicle (10, 12, 14, 16, 18), for example forward, backward and/or sideward, and—that the channel (90, 92) is assigned to at least one direction area, for example north, east, south or west.

Claims

1. Communication system for communication between and among vehicles by means of at least one channel designed for transmitting at least one message, the channel comprising at least one code for communication of the vehicles within at least one cluster in which at least one group of vehicles are clustered,

characterized in

that the vehicle comprises at least one, preferably two or more directional antennas oriented in different directions in relation to the moving direction (M) of the vehicle, for example forward, backward and/or sideward, in order to enable the sending direction of the message to be allocatable to at least one of any directions in relation to the moving direction of the vehicle, for example forward, backward and/or sideward, and

that the channel is assigned to at least one direction area, for example north, east, south or west.

2. Communication system according to claim 1, characterized by

at least one direction determining unit for determining the moving direction of the vehicle ;

at least one selection unit for selecting the channel, wherein the selection of the channel is optionally dependent on the moving direction (M) of the vehicle; and

at least one transmitter unit for sending the message, in particular with identification means, with position, with speed, with time stamp and/or with direction of the vehicle, to other vehicles, wherein the transmitter unit can be part of the directional antenna.

3. Communication system according to claim 1, characterized in that the channel is assigned to at least one type of communication, for example

to awareness messages being sent by at least one broadcast channel,

to emergency warning messages being sent by at least one broadcast channel,

to messages within clusters being sent by at least one multicast channel, and

to messages between pairs of cars being sent by at least one peer-to-peer communication channel.

4. Communication system according to at least claim 1, characterized in that a message to be transmitted from at least one first vehicle to at least one second vehicle being out of the communication range of the first vehicle is carried and/or forwarded by at least one intermediate vehicle.

10. Use of at least one communication system according to claim 1 and/or of the method according to claim 5 for vehicle-to-vehicle communication, wherein vehicles interact cooperatively and distribute in particular warning messages, especially

in order to avoid collisions during lane change or merge manoeuvres and

for reporting of invisible obstacles, for example obscured or shadowed objects, when vehicles are moving in different directions within the same area.

11. Vehicle comprising a communication system for communication between and among vehicles according to claim 1.

5. A method of communication between and among vehicles by means of at least one channel transmitting at least one message, the channel comprising at least one code for communication of the vehicles within at least one cluster in which at least one group of vehicles are clustered,

characterized by

the sending direction of the message being allocated to at least one of any directions in relation to the moving direction of the vehicle for example forward, backward and/or sideward, and

the channel being assigned to at least one direction area, for example north, east, south or west.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in

that the moving direction of the vehicle is determined;

that the channel is selected, wherein the selection of the channel is optionally dependent on the moving direction of the vehicle; and

that the message in particular with identification means, with position, with speed, with time stamp and/or with direction of the vehicle is sent to other vehicles via the channel.

7. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that the sending direction of the message is indicated by at least one flag, in particular if it is sent forward, backward, on the left side or on the right side.

8. The method according to claim 5, characterized in

that the access within the channel is controlled by C[arrier]S[ense]M[ultiple]A [ccess]-C[ollision]A[voidance] and/or

that the channel is separated by the use of C[ode]D[ivision]M[ultiple]A[ccess] and/or

that the number of codes being used depends on the environment of the cluster, in particular on the road topology.

9. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that the message is transmitted from at least one first vehicle to at least one second vehicle being out of the communication range of the first vehicle by being carried and/or forwarded via at least one intermediate vehicle.