Correlating a route with a network operation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10330484-B2
Application number	US-201615192089-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 24, 2016
Priority date	Jun 24, 2016
Publication date	Jun 25, 2019
Grant date	Jun 25, 2019

Abstract

A method and system for correlating a route with an external Wi-Fi network connection is disclosed herein. The aspects disclosed herein include generating information about the correlation, and employing the correlation for network operations, such as, communicating a file (or files), allowing communication from a vehicle, and/or performing routine updates via a vehicle.

First claim

We claim:

1. A system, comprising:
a data store comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program of instructions for performing a process;
a processor that executes the program of instructions to perform the process, the process comprising:
recording external Wi-Fi network connectivity at a plurality of points along a route, in response to a vehicle travelling the route, wherein the route is demarcated into a plurality of regions;
storing the external Wi-Fi network connectivity for each of the plurality of points in which a recordation is made;
associating, based on the network connectivity measured, each of the plurality of regions with a data size limit;
receiving the route as an input;
determining whether to perform a data transfer based on the data size limit associated with the route being equal to or larger than data required to perform the data transfer; and
performing the data transfer based on the determination of whether to perform the data transfer.

2. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of points are established based on a predetermined metric.

3. The system according to claim 2 , wherein the metric is time-based.

4. The system according to claim 2 , wherein the metric is distance based.

5. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the network connectivity is defined as a latency measurement associated with a throughput speed associated with a connected network.

6. The system according to claim 5 , wherein the latency measurement is correlated with the speed or direction of the vehicle.

7. The system according to claim 1 , the process further comprising:
in response to being at one of the plurality of points, scanning for Wi-Fi beacon frames;
determining an external W-Fi network based on the scanned for beacon frames;
attempting a connection to the external Wi-Fi network;
in response to the connection being successful, pinging the network through a generated signal from the vehicle;
storing the Wi-Fi network connectivity based on the response; and
correlating a present location based on an in-vehicle global positioning satellite (GPS) measurement with the external Wi-Fi network connectivity.

8. The system according to claim 1 , the process further comprising an iterative operation of the correlation in response to a determination that the network is still connected.

9. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the data is associated with a vehicle-based system update, and the vehicle-based system update occurs in response to an occupant of the vehicle entering the route and after the determination.

10. A system, comprising:
a data store comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program of instructions for performing a process;
a processor that executes the program of instructions to perform the process, the process comprising:
recording external Wi-Fi network connectivity at a plurality of points along a route, in response to a vehicle travelling the route, wherein the route is demarcated into a plurality of regions;
storing the external Wi-Fi network connectivity for each of the plurality of points in which a recordation is made;
associating, based on the network connectivity measured, each of the plurality of regions with a data size limit;
receiving, at the vehicle, an external Wi-Fi network operation to communicate data of a predetermined size;
determining, in response to the vehicle travelling the route, whether the data is communicable based on the association of the plurality of regions and the data size limit, by establishing whether an amount of bandwidth associated with the route is equal to or greater than an amount required to download the data; and
communicating the data by the vehicle based on the determination of whether the data is communicable.

11. The system according to claim 10 , the process further comprising:
determining a region on the route to perform the communication of the data based on the association of the plurality of regions and the data size limit.

12. The system according to claim 11 , wherein the route comprises at least a first region and a second region, the first region being associated with a first minimum bandwidth, and the second region being associated with a second minimum bandwidth, wherein the first minimum bandwidth and the second minimum bandwidth differ from each other.

13. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the determination of the data being communicable is based on both bandwidth available, and whether a network associated with the route is on a white list.

14. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the determination further comprises estimating whether the data is communicable by also factoring in a speed of the vehicle and a direction the vehicle is traveling.

15. A system, comprising:
a Wi-Fi radio configured to connect to Wi-Fi networks;
a global positioning system receiver configured to provide a current location of a vehicle;
a data store comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program of instructions for performing a process;
a processor that executes the program of instructions to perform the process, the process comprising:
recording external Wi-Fi network connectivity at a plurality of points along a route using the Wi-Fi radio and the global positioning system receiver, in response to a vehicle travelling the route, wherein the route is demarcated into a plurality of regions;
storing the external Wi-Fi network connectivity for each of the plurality of points in which a recordation is made;
associating, based on the network connectivity measured, each of the plurality of regions with a data size limit;
receiving the route as an input;
determining whether to perform a data transfer based on the data size limit associated with the route being equal to or larger than data required to perform the data transfer; and
performing the data transfer based on the determination of whether to perform the data transfer.

16. The system of claim 15 , further comprising:
a cellular radio configured to connect to cell towers, wherein the process further comprises identifying the plurality of points by importing from an external data source over the cellular radio.

Assignees

• Zerod Richard David
• Staszel Eric
• Visteon Global Tech Inc

Inventors

• Zerod Richard David
• Staszel Eric

Classifications

• H04W88/08

  Access point devices · CPC title

• H04W40/026

  Route selection considering the moving speed of individual devices · CPC title

• H04L1/0018

  based on latency requirement · CPC title

• H04W84/12

  WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks] · CPC title

• H04W4/48

  for in-vehicle communication · CPC title