Systems and methods for improving coverage and throughput of mobile access points in a network of moving things, for example including a network of autonomous vehicles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11129031-B2
Application number	US-201615352378-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 15, 2016
Priority date	Nov 30, 2015
Publication date	Sep 21, 2021
Grant date	Sep 21, 2021

Abstract

Systems and methods for enhancing node operation in a network of moving things. As non-limiting examples, various aspects of this disclosure provide systems and methods for adapting mobile access point coverage, for example adapting a mobile access point of a vehicle (e.g., an autonomous vehicle, a manually locally controlled vehicle, a remotely controlled vehicle, etc.).

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle communication network mobile access point (MAP) comprising:
an antenna assembly that comprises:
a directional antenna;
an antenna support structure that comprises at least one part configured for mechanically decoupling the directional antenna from a vehicle comprising the mobile access point (MAP) such that the directional antenna is unaffected by movement of the vehicle;

an antenna actuator operable to control at least the orientation of the directional antenna; and
at least one module comprising a processor and memory, the at least one module operable to, at least:
determine a plurality of antenna orientations for the directional antenna as the MAP moves along a route, based on an antenna aiming model, wherein the antenna aiming model is developed based on historical antenna information obtained and stored during previous movement of the MAP along the route; and
control the antenna actuator to orient the directional antenna in the determined plurality of antenna orientations as the MAP moves.

2. The mobile access point (MAP) of claim 1 , wherein the at least one module is operable to utilize the directional antenna to establish a communication link with another access point of the vehicle communication network.

3. The mobile access point (MAP) of claim 1 , wherein the at least one module is operable to determine a first location of the MAP, and determine a first antenna orientation of the determined plurality of antenna orientations based, at least in part, on the determined first location.

4. The mobile access point (MAP) of claim 3 , wherein the at least one module is operable to determine the first antenna orientation based at least in part on historical antenna orientation information associated with the first location and determined prior to arrival of the MAP at the first location.

5. The mobile access point (MAP) of claim 4 , wherein the at least one module is operable to tune the first antenna orientation based, at least in part, on wireless signal characteristics.

6. The mobile access point (MAP) of claim 1 , wherein the at least one module is operable to:
select an access point;
determine a location of the selected access point; and
determine the determined plurality of antenna orientations based at least in part on the determined location of the selected access point.

7. A vehicle communication network mobile access point (MAP) deployed in a vehicle, comprising:
an antenna assembly that comprises:
a first part configured to maintain a fixed orientation during movement of the vehicle;
a second part coupled to the first part, wherein the second part is configured to:
move independently of the first part; and
maintain a same orientation as the vehicle during movement of the vehicle; and

a directional antenna coupled only to the first part; and

at least one module operable to, at least:
conduct a plurality of concurrent communications with a plurality of nodes of the vehicle communication network;
determine, based at least in part on analysis of the plurality of nodes, a physical antenna orientation for the directional antenna to utilize for the concurrent communications with the plurality of nodes; and
orient the directional antenna in the determined physical antenna orientation.

8. The mobile access point (MAP) of claim 7 , comprising an antenna actuator operable to control at least the orientation of the directional antenna, wherein the at least one module is operable to control the antenna actuator to orient the directional antenna in the determined physical antenna orientation.

9. The mobile access point (MAP) of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of nodes comprises a fixed access point of the vehicle communication network and a mobile access point of the vehicle communication network.

10. The mobile access point (MAP) of claim 9 , wherein the at least one module is operable to prioritize the fixed access point over the mobile access point, and determine the determined physical antenna orientation based at least in part on the prioritization.

11. The mobile access point (MAP) of claim 7 , wherein the at least one module is operable to select a primary node of the plurality of nodes, and determine the determined physical antenna orientation based at least in part on the selected primary node.

12. The mobile access point (MAP) of claim 11 , wherein the at least one module is operable to select the primary node by, at least in part, operating to select a node of the plurality of nodes that can provide a highest bandwidth link to infrastructure of the vehicle communication network.

13. The mobile access point (MAP) of claim 11 , wherein the at least one module is operable to select the primary node by, at least in part, operating to select a node of the plurality of nodes that needs the most communication bandwidth.

14. The mobile access point (MAP) of claim 11 , wherein the at least one module is operable to select the primary node by, at least in part, operating to select a node of the plurality of nodes associated with a highest respective communication priority.

15. The mobile access point (MAP) of claim 11 , wherein the at least one module is operable to determine the determined physical antenna orientation by, at least in part, selecting a physical antenna orientation that maximizes communication performance with the selected primary node.

16. The mobile access point (MAP) of claim 7 , wherein the at least one module is operable to determine the determined physical antenna orientation by, at least in part, selecting a physical antenna orientation that maximizes an average communication link quality with the plurality of nodes.

17. The mobile access point (MAP) of claim 7 , wherein the at least one module is operable to determine the determined physical antenna orientation by, at least in part, selecting a physical antenna orientation that minimizes transmit power utilized for the concurrent communications.

18. The mobile access point (MAP) of claim 7 , wherein the at least one module is operable to communicate information of the determined physical antenna orientation to another node.

19. A vehicle communication network mobile access point (MAP) comprising:
an antenna assembly that comprises:
a directional antenna; and
an antenna support structure that comprises at least one part configured for mechanically decoupling the directional antenna from a vehicle comprising the mobile access point (MAP) such that the directional antenna is unaffected by movement of the vehicle; and

at least one module operable to, at least:
during a first time period, as the MAP moves along a route:
determine a plurality of antenna orientations, each at a respective location along a route of the MAP, for the directional antenna as the MAP moves along the route of the MAP;
orient the directional antenna in the determined plurality of antenna orientations as the MAP moves along the route of the MAP; and
generate control information relating to the determined plurality of antenna orientations and the respective locations; and

during a second time period after the first time period, as the MAP moves along the route control orientation of the directional antenna based on the control information.

20. The mobile access point (MAP) of claim 19 , wherein the at least one module is operable to provide wireless local area network (WLAN) services to a local area around the MAP as the MAP moves.

21. The mobile access point (MAP) of claim 19 , whe

Assignees

• Veniam Inc

Inventors

• Neves Filipe
• Carreira Diogo
• Cardote Andre

Classifications

• H01Q1/32

  Adaptation for use in or on road or rail vehicles · CPC title

• H01Q21/00

  Antenna arrays or systems (arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern of the waves radiated from an antenna or antenna system H01Q3/00) · CPC title

• H01Q1/52

  Means for reducing coupling between antennas; Means for reducing coupling between an antenna and another structure (absorbing means H01Q17/00) · 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

• H04W16/28 Primary

  using beam steering · CPC title