Providing wireless services to a connected vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10044817-B2
Application number	US-201414332950-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 16, 2014
Priority date	Jul 16, 2014
Publication date	Aug 7, 2018
Grant date	Aug 7, 2018

Abstract

The disclosure includes a system and method for provisioning wireless application services in sparsely connected wireless environments. The system includes a processor and a memory storing instructions that, when executed, cause the system to: estimate journey requirements; generate a current connectivity map based on driving-related data; generate a current connectivity map based on driving-related data; estimate services for a current journey; and generate a prioritized list of services and at least one expiration time for one of the services.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
estimating journey requirements for a vehicle;
generating a current connectivity map based on driving-related data;
generating a real-time connectivity estimation;
estimating services for a current journey of the vehicle based on the current connectivity map, the real-time connectivity estimation, and an estimated route for the current journey, wherein the services include a time-sensitive deal and a map application update;
generating a prioritized list of services for the current journey of the vehicle based on one or more service deadlines of one or more of the services, wherein a service deadline of the time-sensitive deal is based on an expiration of the time-sensitive deal; and
updating one or more map applications installed in the vehicle with the map application update based on the current connectivity map indicating that the vehicle is about to enter a geographic area having limited connectivity to a mobile data network.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising updating the prioritized list of services for the current journey based on at least one of actual services requested, real-time measurement of available bandwidth, and crowd-sourced cloud data.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising determining whether the current journey has ended and, responsive to the current journey continuing, continuing to generate the connectivity map based on driving-related data until the current journey ends.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising caching pre-fetched content and retrieved content that are associated with the services, wherein the pre-fetched content and the retrieved content include a geographic map and corresponding driving directions associated with the current journey.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the journey requirements are based on user preferences that include a user-provided ranking of priorities for each of the services.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the driving-related data includes a connectivity forecast for the current journey and a historical connectivity index.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle is an autonomous vehicle that is a robot.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle includes generating circuitry and estimating circuitry that are elements of a computing device in the vehicle.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the services include a traffic update,
the prioritized list of services is further based on an urgency of one or more of the services, and
the urgency of the traffic update is based on a location of an accident.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein one or more of the services occurs at a store or a restaurant along the estimated route and the time-sensitive deal occurs at the store or the restaurant.

11. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-usable medium including a computer-readable program, wherein the computer-readable program when executed by a processor on a computer causes the computer to:
estimate journey requirements for a vehicle;
generate a current connectivity map based on driving-related data;
generate a real-time connectivity estimation based on sensor data recorded by one or more sensors of the vehicle, wherein the one or more sensors measure one or more of a current location of the vehicle, an acceleration of the vehicle, and a velocity of the vehicle;
estimate services for a current journey of the vehicle based on the current connectivity map, the real-time connectivity estimation, and an estimated route for the current journey, wherein the services include a time-sensitive deal and a map application update;
generate a prioritized list of services for the current journey of the vehicle based on one or more service deadlines of one or more of the services, wherein a service deadline of the time-sensitive deal is based on an expiration of the time-sensitive deal; and
update one or more map applications installed in the vehicle with the map application update based on the current connectivity map indicating that the vehicle is about to enter a geographic area having limited connectivity to a mobile data network.

12. The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the computer-readable program is further configured to cause the computer to update the prioritized list of services for the current journey based on at least one of actual services requested, real-time measurement of available bandwidth, and crowd-sourced cloud data.

13. The computer program product of claim 12 , wherein the computer-readable program is further configured to cause the computer to determine whether the current journey has ended and, responsive to the current journey continuing, continuing to generate the connectivity map based on driving-related data until the current journey ends.

14. The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the computer-readable program is further configured to cause the computer to cache pre-fetched content and retrieved content that are associated with the services, wherein the pre-fetched content and the retrieved content include a geographic map and corresponding driving directions associated with the current journey.

15. The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the journey requirements are based on user preferences that include a user-provided ranking of priorities for each of the services.

16. A system comprising:
a processor of a vehicle; and
a memory of the vehicle storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the system to:
monitor user behavior during historical journeys to determine habits of a user;
generate a ranked list of user preferences based on the habits of the user;
estimate journey requirements for the vehicle;
generate a current connectivity map based on driving-related data;
generate a real-time connectivity estimation;
estimate services for a current journey of the vehicle based on the current connectivity map, the real-time connectivity estimation, and an estimated route for the current journey, wherein the services include a time-sensitive deal and a map application update;
generate a prioritized list of services for the journey of the vehicle based on the ranked list of the user preferences for which one or more of the services for the current journey should have a higher priority and based on one or more service deadlines of one or more of the services, wherein a service deadline of the time-sensitive deal is based on an expiration of the time-sensitive deal; and
update one or more map applications installed in the vehicle with the map application update based on the current connectivity map indicating that the vehicle is about to enter a geographic area having limited connectivity to a mobile data network.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the memory is further configured to store instructions that cause the system to update the prioritized list of services for the current journey based on at least one of actual services requested, real-time measurement of available bandwidth, and crowd-sourced cloud data.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the memory is further configured to store instructions that cause the system to determine whether the current journey has ended and, responsive to the current journey continuing, continuing to generate the connectivity map based on driving-related data until the current journey ends.

19. The system of claim 16 , wherein the memory is further configured to store instructions that cause the system to cache pre-fetched co

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Vuyyuru Rama
• Agosta John Mark
• Parundekar Rahul
• Hiroki Daisuke

Classifications

• H04W4/022 Primary

  with dynamic range variability · CPC title

• H04W4/50

  Service provisioning or reconfiguring · CPC title

• H04W4/029

  Location-based management or tracking services · CPC title

• H04L67/18 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04L67/52 Primary

  specially adapted for the location of the user terminal · CPC title