Systems and methods for managing the routing and replication of data in the download direction in a network of moving things

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10057742-B2
Application number	US-201715478181-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 3, 2017
Priority date	May 18, 2016
Publication date	Aug 21, 2018
Grant date	Aug 21, 2018

Abstract

Communication network architectures, systems and methods for supporting a network of mobile nodes. As a non-limiting example, various aspects of this disclosure provide communication network architectures, systems, and methods for supporting a dynamically configurable communication network comprising a complex array of both static and moving communication nodes (e.g., the Internet of moving things). More specifically, systems and methods for managing the routing and replication of data in the download direction in a network of moving things.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of routing and disseminating data by nodes of a wireless network comprising a plurality of nodes, each of the plurality of nodes comprising at least one radio frequency interface for communicating wirelessly with other nodes of the network, the method comprising:
receiving, by a first node of the plurality of nodes from a second node of the plurality of nodes or from a Cloud-based system communicatively coupled to the network, information identifying each of one or more bundles of data available at the second node or at the Cloud-based system for wireless dissemination to the plurality of nodes, wherein each bundle of data comprises one or more packets of data and corresponding bundle context information comprising bundle size and bundle age information;
generating, by the first node from wireless signals received from one or more other nodes of the plurality of nodes that are within wireless communication range of the first node, wireless network context information representative of wireless communication of the one or more other nodes, wherein the wireless network context information comprises a respective measure of quality of wireless communication, a respective geographic location, and respective velocity information for the one or more other nodes;
determining, by the first node, a number of bundles of data present in storage of the second node or the Cloud-based system that are needed by the first node;
if at least one bundle of data is available in the storage of the second node or the Cloud-based system that is needed by the first node, choosing to perform an action selected from at least two available actions, based upon a likelihood of availability of wireless connectivity between the first node and the one or more other nodes that enables receipt of the at least one bundle of data from the second node or the Cloud-based system, wherein the likelihood of occurrence is determined, using the bundle context information, the wireless network context information, and a set of data dissemination rules for the first node, and wherein the at least two available actions comprise:
transmitting to the second node or to the Cloud-based system, a specific request for delivery of the at least one bundle of data to the first node, and
waiting to receive the at least one bundle of data as part of a periodic transmission of the at least one bundle of data available at the second node or at the Cloud-based system to the plurality of nodes.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein bundle context information comprises a total number of copies of each specific bundle of the one or more bundles of data currently residing within the plurality of nodes of the network.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein wireless network context information comprises one or both of: a number of the one or more other nodes, and a measure of quality of wireless communication of the first node and the one or more other nodes.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the choosing takes into account a set of data dissemination rules for the first node for a direction of communication of bundles of data received by the first node from the Cloud-based system, and wherein the set of data dissemination rules is selected from two or more sets of data dissemination rules comprising a first set of data dissemination rules for a downstream direction of transfer of bundles of data through the network and a second set of data dissemination rules for an upstream direction of transfer of bundles of data through the network.

5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the upstream direction is towards the Cloud-based system and the downstream direction is away from the Cloud-based system.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first node is configured for operation at a fixed geographic location.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the second node is configured for operation in a vehicle movable about a service area of the network.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the second node is a mobile access point configured to wirelessly communicate via the network, data of end-user devices accessing the network via the mobile access point.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein transmitting the at least one bundle of data from the first node to the second node comprises determining that a number of available wireless communication links at the first node is two or more, based on the wireless network context information indicative of quality of communication of the first node with the one or more other nodes.

10. The method according to claim 9 , wherein transmitting the at least one bundle of data from the first node to the second node via two or more wireless communication links comprises replicating each bundle of data of the at least one bundle of data to enable transmission of a copy of the at least one bundle of data by the first node via a respective wireless communication link.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having a plurality of code sections, each code section storing a plurality of instructions executable by one or more processors to cause the one or more processors to perform a method of routing and disseminating data by nodes of a wireless network comprising a plurality of nodes, the steps of the method comprising:
receiving, by a first node of the plurality of nodes from a second node of the plurality of nodes or from a Cloud-based system communicatively coupled to the network, information identifying each of one or more bundles of data available at the second node or at the Cloud-based system for wireless dissemination to the plurality of nodes, wherein each bundle of data comprises one or more packets of data and corresponding bundle context information comprising bundle size and bundle age information;
generating, by the first node from wireless signals received from one or more other nodes of the plurality of nodes that are within wireless communication range of the first node, wireless network context information representative of wireless communication of the one or more other nodes, wherein the wireless network context information comprises a respective measure of quality of wireless communication, a respective geographic location, and respective velocity information for the one or more other nodes;
determining, by the first node, a number of bundles of data present in storage of the second node or the Cloud-based system that are needed by the first node;
if at least one bundle of data is available in the storage of the second node or the Cloud-based system that is needed by the first node, choosing to perform an action selected from at least two available actions, based upon a likelihood of availability of wireless connectivity between the first node and the one or more other nodes that enables receipt of the at least one bundle of data from the second node to the Cloud-based system, wherein the likelihood of occurrence is determined, using the bundle context information, the wireless network context information, and a set of data dissemination rules for the first node, and wherein the at least two available actions comprising:
transmitting to the second node or to the Cloud-based system, a specific request for delivery of the at least one bundle of data to the first node, and
waiting to receive the at least one bundle of data as part of a periodic transmission of the at least one bundle of data available at the second node or at the Cloud-based system to the plurality of nodes.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 11 , wherein bundle context information comprises a total number of copi

Assignees

• Veniam Inc

Inventors

• Condeixa Tiago Silvestre
• Magalhães De Matos Ricardo Jorge

Classifications

• H04W4/38

  for collecting sensor information · CPC title

• H04L67/10 Primary

  in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network (software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46) · CPC title

• H04W4/70 Primary

  Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC] · CPC title

• H04W4/06

  Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services · CPC title

• H04W4/40

  for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P] · CPC title