Wireless network enhancements via inductance loops as antennas

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10433136-B2
Application number	US-201715635381-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 28, 2017
Priority date	Jun 28, 2017
Publication date	Oct 1, 2019
Grant date	Oct 1, 2019

Abstract

Concepts and technologies disclosed herein are directed to wireless network enhancements via inductance loops as antennas. According to one aspect disclosed herein, a roadside system can measure inductance of an inductance loop associated with a road. The roadside system can determine whether the inductance of the inductance loop is greater than a baseline. If the inductance of the inductance loop is greater than the baseline, the roadside system can determine that a vehicle is positioned over the inductance loop and can utilize the inductance loop to activate a roadside area network. The roadside system can connect a user device to the roadside system via the roadside area network. The roadside system can include a connection to a network via a backhaul to enable communication between the user device and the network.

First claim

We claim:

1. A roadside system comprising:
a processor; and
memory having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
measuring, via a meter, inductance of an inductance loop associated with a road,
determining whether the inductance of the inductance loop is greater than a baseline,
in response to determining that the inductance of the inductance loop is greater than the baseline, determining that a vehicle is positioned over the inductance loop, and utilizing the inductance loop to activate a roadside area network,
connecting to a user device via the roadside area network,
enabling communication between the user device and a network via a backhaul,
determining whether the inductance of the inductance loop has returned to the baseline, and
in response to determining that the inductance of the inductance loop has returned to the baseline, deactivating the roadside area network.

2. The roadside system of claim 1 , wherein the network comprises a wireless wide area network.

3. The roadside system of claim 2 , wherein the roadside area network comprises a small cell of the wireless wide area network.

4. The roadside system of claim 1 , wherein the roadside area network utilizes a short-range wireless communications technology.

5. The roadside system of claim 1 , wherein the roadside area network comprises a WI-FI access point.

6. A computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor of a roadside system, cause the roadside system to perform operations comprising:
measuring via a meter, inductance of an inductance loop associated with a road;
determining whether the inductance of the inductance loop is greater than a baseline;
in response to determining that the inductance of the inductance loop is greater than the baseline, determining that a vehicle is positioned over the inductance loop, and utilizing the inductance loop to activate a roadside area network;
connecting a user device to the roadside system via the roadside area network;
enabling communication between the user device and a network via a backhaul;
determining whether the inductance of the inductance loop has returned to the baseline; and
in response to determining that the inductance of the inductance loop has returned to the baseline, deactivating the roadside area network.

7. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 6 , wherein the network comprises a wireless wide area network.

8. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 7 , wherein the roadside area network comprises a small cell of the wireless wide area network.

9. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 6 , wherein the roadside area network utilizes a short-range wireless communications technology.

10. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 6 , wherein the roadside area network comprises a WI-FI access point.

11. A method comprising:
measuring, via a meter of a roadside system comprising a processor, inductance of an inductance loop associated with a road;
determining, by the roadside system, whether the inductance of the inductance loop is greater than a baseline;
in response to determining that the inductance of the inductance loop is greater than the baseline, determining, by the roadside system, that a vehicle is positioned over the inductance loop, and utilizing the inductance loop to activate a roadside area network;
connecting, by the roadside system, a user device to the roadside system via the roadside area network;
enabling, by the roadside system, communication between the user device and a network via a backhaul; and
in response to determining that the inductance of the inductance loop has returned to the baseline, deactivating the roadside area network.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the network comprises a wireless wide area network.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the roadside area network comprises a small cell of the wireless wide area network;
the roadside area network utilizes a short-range wireless communications technology; or the roadside area network comprises a WI-FI access point.

Assignees

• At & T Ip I Lp
• At & T Mobility Ii Llc

Inventors

• Kreiner Barrett
• Schaub Ryan
• Shively Robert

Classifications

• H04W4/80 Primary

  Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication · CPC title

• H04W24/02

  Arrangements for optimising operational condition · CPC title

• H04W84/12

  WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks] · CPC title

• H04W4/44

  for communication between vehicles and infrastructures, e.g. vehicle-to-cloud [V2C] or vehicle-to-home [V2H] · CPC title

• H04B5/0081

  Electricity · mapped topic