Systems and methods for integrating and exploiting the availability of multiple communication technologies in a network of moving things, for example including a network of autonomous vehicles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10433243-B2
Application number	US-201715854172-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 26, 2017
Priority date	Mar 1, 2017
Publication date	Oct 1, 2019
Grant date	Oct 1, 2019

Abstract

Systems and methods for integrating and exploiting the availability of multiple communication technologies in a network of moving things, for example including a network of autonomous vehicles. As a non-limiting example, various aspects of this disclosure provide for the flexible utilization of one or more communication pathways available to nodes in a vehicle network based, at least in part, on real-time context.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A Mobile Access Point (MAP) of a vehicle communication network, the MAP comprising:
a wireless local area network (WLAN) radio;
a vehicle communication network radio;
a cellular communication network radio; and
at least one module comprising a processor and memory, wherein the at least one module is operable to, at least:
utilize the WLAN radio to provide WLAN communications to one or more first client devices by, at least in part, operating to establish a direct WLAN communication link with each of the one or more first client devices;
utilize the cellular radio to provide cellular communications to one or more second client devices by, at least in part, operating to establish a direct cellular communication link with each of the one or more second client devices; and
utilize the vehicle communication network radio to communicate the provided WLAN communications and the provided cellular communications through the vehicle communication network.

2. The Mobile Access Point (MAP) of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle communication network radio comprises a DSRC radio, and the WLAN radio comprises a Wi-Fi radio.

3. The Mobile Access Point (MAP) of claim 1 , wherein the at least one module is operable to communicate the provided cellular communications through the vehicle communication network by, at least in part, operating to utilize a virtual private network (VPN) through the vehicle communication network between at least the cellular communication network radio and a cellular provider.

4. The Mobile Access Point (MAP) of claim 1 , wherein the at least one module is operable to communicate the provided cellular communications through the vehicle communication network by, at least in part, operating to utilize Layer 2 and/or Layer 3 encapsulation through the vehicle communication network between at least the MAP and a cellular provider.

5. The Mobile Access Point (MAP) of claim 1 , wherein the at least one module is operable to determine whether to communicate the provided WLAN communications through the vehicle communication network or through a cellular communication network.

6. The Mobile Access Point (MAP) of claim 1 , wherein the at least one module is operable to:
determine a geographical location of the MAP; and
determine to utilize the vehicle communication network radio to communicate the provided cellular communications based, at least in part, on the determined geographical location.

7. The Mobile Access Point (MAP) of claim 1 , wherein the at least one module is operable to only provide cellular communications to client devices traveling with and/or positioned within a vehicle associated with the MAP.

8. The Mobile Access Point (MAP) of claim 1 , wherein the at least one module is operable to utilize the WLAN radio to communicate the provided cellular communications, including data communicated over the direct cellular communication link with each of the one or more second client devices, via a wireless local area network.

9. A Mobile Access Point (MAP) of a vehicle communication network, the MAP comprising:
a wireless local area network (WLAN) radio;
a vehicle communication network radio;
at least one cellular communication network radio; and
at least one module comprising a processor and memory, wherein the at least one module is operable to, at least:
utilize the WLAN radio to provide WLAN communications to one or more first client devices;
utilize the vehicle communication network radio to communicate the provided WLAN communications through the vehicle communication network;
utilize the at least one cellular communication network radio to provide cellular communications to one or more second client devices by, at least in part, operating to establish a direct cellular communication link with each of the one or more second client devices; and
utilize the at least one cellular communication network radio to communicate the provided cellular communications with a base station of a cellular communication network.

10. The Mobile Access Point (MAP) of claim 9 , wherein the at least one cellular communication network radio comprises a first cellular communication network radio that operates to communicate directly with the one or more second client devices, and a second cellular communication network radio that operates to communicate directly with the base station of the cellular communication network.

11. The Mobile Access Point (MAP) of claim 10 , wherein the at least one module is operable to, while maintaining the provided cellular communications between the first cellular communication radio and the one or more second client devices, including the established direct cellular communication link with each of the one or more second client devices, handover communication of the provided cellular communications between the second cellular communication network radio and the base station to a second base station of the cellular communication network.

12. The Mobile Access Point (MAP) of claim 9 , wherein the at least one module is operable to only provide cellular communications to client devices traveling with and/or positioned within a vehicle associated with the MAP.

13. The Mobile Access Point (MAP) of claim 12 , wherein the at least one module is operable to receive a handover of a client device from a cellular communication network base station to the at least one cellular communication network radio of the MAP when the client device enters the vehicle.

14. The Mobile Access Point (MAP) of claim 12 , wherein the at least one module is operable to handover a client device from the at least one cellular communication network radio of the MAP to a cellular communication network base station when the client device exits the vehicle.

15. The Mobile Access Point (MAP) of claim 9 , wherein the at least one module is operable to determine whether to communicate the provided cellular communications through the cellular communication network or through one or more other communication networks, the one or more other communication networks comprising the vehicle communication network.

16. The Mobile Access Point (MAP) of claim 9 , wherein the at least one module is operable to:
determine a geographical location of the MAP; and
determine to utilize the at least one cellular communication network radio to communicate the provided cellular communications with the base station of the cellular communication network based, at least in part, on the determined geographical location.

17. The Mobile Access Point (MAP) of claim 9 , wherein the at least one module is operable to communicate the provided WLAN communications through the cellular communication network, by at least in part operating to utilize a VPN through the cellular communication network between the MAP and a network controller of the vehicle communication network.

18. The Mobile Access Point (MAP) of claim 9 , wherein the at least one module is operable to communicate the provided WLAN communications through the cellular communication network by, at least in part operating to utilize Layer 2 and/or Layer 3 tunneling through the cellular communication network between the MAP and a network controller of the vehicle communication network.

19. A Mobile Access Point (MAP) of a vehicle communication network, the MAP comprising:
a wireless local area network (WLAN) radio;
a vehicle communication network radio;
at least one cellular communication network radio; and
at least one module comprising a processor and memory, wherein the at least one modu

Assignees

• Veniam Inc

Inventors

• Lopes Diogo
• Condeixa Tiago
• Matos Ricardo

Classifications

• H04W4/40

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

• H04L67/12

  specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks · CPC title

• H04W88/10

  adapted for operation in multiple networks, e.g. multi-mode access points · CPC title

• H04W48/18 Primary

  Selecting a network or a communication service · CPC title

• H04W24/02

  Arrangements for optimising operational condition · CPC title