DISTRIBUTED COMMUNICATION OF INDEPENDENT AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES TO PROVIDE REDUNDANCY AND PERFORMANCE

• US 20160021178A1
• Filed: 07/18/2014
• Published: 01/21/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/18/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Raj Abhyanker
• Original Assignee: Legalforce, Inc
• Inventors: Liu, Dongxia, Abhyanker, Raj, Lei, Hairong
• Granted Patent: US 9,451,020 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/06 Management of faults, events, alarms or notifications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0811 by checking connectivity
• 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 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 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/08 User group management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/44 for communication between vehicles and infrastructures, e.g. vehicle-to-cloud [V2C] or vehicle-to-home [V2H]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 Direct-mode setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

A method and system of distributed communication of independent autonomous vehicles to provide redundancy and performance are disclosed. In one embodiment, a set of autonomous vehicles operates in a geographically proximate area through which peer-to-peer communication sessions are established between nearby ones of the set of autonomous vehicles through an ad-hoc network based on a present geo-spatial location of each one of the set of autonomous vehicles in communication proximity to preferred adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles. A central server directly coupled to each of the set of autonomous vehicles establishes centralized communication paths with each of the set of autonomous vehicles through a wide area network. The centralized server processes a communication from adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles when an error condition is detected in an operational mode of a non-functional vehicle that has lost communication with the central server.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

an ad-hoc network;

a set of autonomous vehicles operating in a geographically proximate area through which peer-to-peer communication sessions are established between nearby ones of the set of autonomous vehicles through the ad-hoc network based on a present geo-spatial location of each one of the set of autonomous vehicles in communication proximity to preferred adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles;

a wide area network; and

a central server directly coupled to each of the set of autonomous vehicles to establish centralized communication paths with each of the set of autonomous vehicles through the wide area network,

wherein the centralized server to process a communication from adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles when an error condition is detected in an operational mode of a non-functional vehicle that has lost communication with the central server due to at least one of a network failure, a hardware failure, a mechanical failure, and an electrical failure.

2. The system of claim 1:

wherein a communication preference between each of the adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles in the ad hoc network is based on a closest physical proximity of active ones of the set of autonomous vehicles.

3. The system of claim 1:

wherein the communication sessions established between the adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles are established in a manner that provides at least one of a geo-spatial data, a status data, and a telemetry data to adjacent vehicles in the ad-hoc network through a redundant array of independent disk based algorithm based on at least one of an XOR method of recreating data stored on each of the adjacent vehicles operating in a present geo-spatial area defining each of the adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles.

4. The system of claim 1:

wherein adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles periodically refresh local indexes of available adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles in a manner such that the adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles minimize local storage requirements associated with ones of the set of autonomous vehicles that are no longer adjacent based on a changed location of adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles through state based logic that determines which adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles have presently moved into an adjacently established ad-hoc network comprising a different set of adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles.

5. The system of claim 4:

wherein each of the ad-hoc networks maintain a unique identifier in a network identification table that is published to the central server and associated adjacent ad-hoc networks, and

wherein each of the ad-hoc networks maintain a geo-fenced region through which each ad-hoc network operates and shares geo-fence data with adjacent ad-hoc networks to minimize network geo-spatial overlap between adjacent ad-hoc networks.

6. The system of claim 5:

wherein each of the unique identifiers of the ad-hoc networks to automatically persist at a geo-defined area such that each of the ad-hoc networks are associated unique identifiers associated with a geo-defined region in which autonomous vehicles enter and depart.

7. The system of claim 6:

wherein a particular autonomous vehicle to determine if there exists a threshold number of other autonomous vehicles in a particular ad-hoc network when determining whether the particular autonomous vehicle should leave an existing ad-hoc network of the particular autonomous vehicle in a favor of an adjacent ad-hoc network to the existing ad-hoc network, and

wherein the particular autonomous vehicle to automatically announce itself as a first node in the adjacent ad-hoc network when it is a first vehicle currently in the adjacent ad-hoc network and a communication link between the existing ad-hoc network is broken because of distance from a node in the existing ad-hoc network.

8. The system of claim 7:

wherein each of autonomous vehicles in the existing ad-hoc network to serve as signal extenders by repeating a signal communication in the existing ad-hoc network to facilitate communication strength between autonomous vehicles in the existing ad-hoc network, and

wherein each of the autonomous vehicles in the existing ad-hoc network to prefer communications through the existing ad-hoc network instead of communications to the central server when communicating commands related to at least one of a transient operational condition of each of the autonomous vehicles, operational instructions that are unlikely to be required beyond a current trip session of each of the autonomous vehicles, and based on a privacy preference of owners of each of the autonomous vehicles.

9. The system of claim 8:

wherein each of the owners of each of the autonomous vehicles optionally elect to opt-out of networked communications in any of the ad-hoc network and the centralized network.

10. The system of claim 1:

wherein adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles automatically transmit emergency commands to the non-functional vehicle when the error condition is detected to permit the non-functional vehicle to enter a safe-mode and navigate to a safe parking location determined based on at least one of a visual mapping, a telemetric mapping, and a sensory fusion algorithm determining where exists the safe parking location, and

wherein each of the set of autonomous vehicles is any one of a multi-rotor aircraft, a neighborhood rover, an autonomous boat, an autonomous submarine, and an autonomous passenger vehicle,

11. A system, comprising:

an ad-hoc network;

a set of autonomous vehicles operating in a geographically proximate area through which peer-to-peer communication sessions are established between nearby ones of the set of autonomous vehicles through the ad-hoc network based on a present geo-spatial location of each one of the set of autonomous vehicles in communication proximity to preferred adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles;

a wide area network; and

a central server communicatively coupled with each of the set of autonomous vehicles to establish centralized communication paths with each of the set of autonomous vehicles through the wide area network,

wherein the centralized server to process a communication from adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles when an error condition is detected in an operational mode of a non-functional vehicle that has lost communication with the central server, and

wherein a communication preference between each of the adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles is based on a closest physical proximity of active ones of the set of autonomous vehicles.

12. The system of claim 11:

wherein the lost communication is due to at least one of a network failure, a hardware failure, a mechanical failure, and an electrical failure.

13. The system of claim 11:

wherein the communication sessions established between the adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles are established in a manner that provides at least one of a geo-spatial data, a status data, and a telemetry data to adjacent vehicles in the ad-hoc network through a redundant array of independent disk based algorithm based on at least one of an XOR method of recreating data stored on each of the adjacent vehicles operating in a present geo-spatial area defining each of the adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles.

14. The system of claim 11:

wherein adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles periodically refresh local indexes of available adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles in a manner such that the adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles minimize local storage requirements associated with ones of the set of autonomous vehicles that are no longer adjacent based on a changed location of adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles through state based logic that determines which adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles have presently moved into an adjacently established ad-hoc network comprising a different set of adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles.

15. The system of claim 11:

wherein each of the ad-hoc networks maintain a unique identifier in a network identification table that is published to the central server and associated adjacent ad-hoc networks, wherein each of the ad-hoc networks maintain a geo-fenced region through which each ad-hoc network operates and shares geo-fence data with adjacent ad-hoc networks to minimize network geo-spatial overlap between adjacent ad-hoc network.

16. The system of claim 15:

wherein each of the unique identifiers of the ad-hoc networks to automatically persist at a geo-defined area such that each of the ad-hoc networks are associated unique identifiers associated with a geo-defined region in which autonomous vehicles enter and depart.

17. The system of claim 16:

wherein a particular autonomous vehicle to determine if there exists a threshold number of other autonomous vehicles in a particular ad-hoc network when determining whether the particular autonomous vehicle should leave an existing ad-hoc network of the particular autonomous vehicle in a favor of an adjacent ad-hoc network to the existing ad-hoc network, and

wherein the particular autonomous vehicle to automatically announce itself as a first node in the adjacent ad-hoc network when it is a first vehicle currently in the adjacent ad-hoc network and a communication link between the existing ad-hoc network is broken because of distance from a node in the existing ad-hoc network.

18. The system of claim 17:

wherein each of autonomous vehicles in the existing ad-hoc network to serve as signal extenders by repeating a signal communication in the existing ad-hoc network to facilitate communication strength between autonomous vehicles in the existing ad-hoc network, and

wherein each of the autonomous vehicles in the existing ad-hoc network to prefer communications through the existing ad-hoc network instead of communications to the central server when communicating commands related to at least one of a transient operational condition of each of the autonomous vehicles, operational instructions that are unlikely to be required beyond a current trip session of each of the autonomous vehicles, and based on a privacy preference of owners of each of the autonomous vehicles.

19. The system of claim 18:

wherein each of the owners of each of the autonomous vehicles optionally elect to opt-out of networked communications in any of the ad-hoc network and the centralized network.

20. The system of claim 11:

wherein adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles automatically transmit emergency commands to the non-functional vehicle when the error condition is detected to permit the non-functional vehicle to enter a safe-mode and navigate to a safe parking location determined based on at least one of a visual mapping, a telemetric mapping, and a sensory fusion algorithm determining where exists the safe parking location, and

wherein each of the set of autonomous vehicles is any one of a multi-rotor aircraft, a neighborhood rover, an autonomous boat, an autonomous submarine, and an autonomous passenger vehicle.

21. A method, comprising:

establishing peer-to-peer communication sessions between nearby ones of a set of autonomous vehicles operating in a geographically proximate area, through an ad-hoc network, based on a present geo-spatial location of each one of the set of autonomous vehicles in communication proximity to preferred adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles;

establishing, using a central server directly coupled to each of the set of autonomous vehicles, centralized communication paths with each of the set of autonomous vehicles through a wide area network,

processing a communication from adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles using the centralized server when an error condition is detected in an operational mode of a non-functional vehicle that has lost communication with the central server due to at least one of a network failure, a hardware failure, a mechanical failure, and an electrical failure.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

basing a communication preference between each of the adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles on a closest physical proximity of active ones of the set of autonomous vehicles.

23. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

establishing the communication sessions established between the adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles in a manner that provides at least one of a geo-spatial data, a status data, and a telemetry data to adjacent vehicles in the ad-hoc network through a redundant array of independent disk based algorithm based on at least one of an XOR method of recreating data stored on each of the adjacent vehicles operating in a present geo-spatial area defining each of the adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles.

24. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

enabling adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles to periodically refresh local indexes of available adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles in a manner such that the adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles minimize local storage requirements associated with ones of the set of autonomous vehicles that are no longer adjacent based on a changed location of adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles through state based logic that determines which adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles have presently moved into an adjacently established ad-hoc network comprising a different set of adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising:

permitting each of the ad-hoc networks to maintain a unique identifier in a network identification table that is published to the central server and associated adjacent ad-hoc networks, wherein each of the ad-hoc networks maintain a geo-fenced region through which each ad-hoc network operates and shares geo-fence data with adjacent ad-hoc networks to minimize network geo-spatial overlap between adjacent ad-hoc network.

26. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

enabling the unique identifiers of the ad-hoc networks to automatically persist at a geo-defined area such that each of the ad-hoc networks are associated unique identifiers associated with a geo-defined region in which autonomous vehicles enter and depart; and

enabling adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles to automatically transmit emergency commands to the non-functional vehicle when the error condition is detected to permit the non-functional vehicle to enter a safe-mode and navigate to a safe parking location determined based on at least one of a visual mapping, a telemetric mapping, and a sensory fusion algorithm determining where exists the safe parking location,

wherein each of the set of autonomous vehicles is any one of a multi-rotor aircraft, a neighborhood rover, an autonomous boat, an autonomous submarine, and an autonomous passenger vehicle.

27. The method of claim 26:

wherein a particular autonomous vehicle to determine if there exists a threshold number of other autonomous vehicles in a particular ad-hoc network when determining whether the particular autonomous vehicle should leave an existing ad-hoc network of the particular autonomous vehicle in a favor of an adjacent ad-hoc network to the existing ad-hoc network, and

wherein the particular autonomous vehicle to automatically announce itself as a first node in the adjacent ad-hoc network when it is a first vehicle currently in the adjacent ad-hoc network and a communication link between the existing ad-hoc network is broken because of distance from a node in the existing ad-hoc network.

28. The system of claim 27:

wherein each of autonomous vehicles in the existing ad-hoc network to serve as signal extenders by repeating a signal communication in the existing ad-hoc network to facilitate communication strength between autonomous vehicles in the existing ad-hoc network, and

wherein each of the autonomous vehicles in the existing ad-hoc network to prefer communications through the existing ad-hoc network instead of communications to the central server when communicating commands related to at least one of a transient operational condition of each of the autonomous vehicles, operational instructions that are unlikely to be required beyond a current trip session of each of the autonomous vehicles, and based on a privacy preference of owners of each of the autonomous vehicles.

29. The system of claim 28:

wherein each of the owners of each of the autonomous vehicles optionally elect to opt-out of networked communications in any of the ad-hoc network and the centralized network.

30. The system of claim 21:

wherein adjacent ones of the set of autonomous vehicles automatically transmit emergency commands to the non-functional vehicle when the error condition is detected to permit the non-functional vehicle to enter a safe-mode and navigate to a safe parking location determined based on at least one of a visual mapping, a telemetric mapping, and a sensory fusion algorithm determining where exists the safe parking location, and

wherein each of the set of autonomous vehicles is any one of a multi-rotor aircraft, a neighborhood rover, an autonomous boat, an autonomous submarine, and an autonomous passenger vehicle.