Propagation of alerts regarding traffic events

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2019088126-A1
Application number	US-201616087181-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 21, 2016
Priority date	Mar 21, 2016
Publication date	Mar 21, 2019
Grant date	—

Abstract

In response to detecting a traffic event such as a motorcycle lane splitting or an accident, a vehicle broadcasts a notification over a V2V communication channel. Traffic events may be detected using sensor systems of the vehicle or in response to messages reporting the event. Notifications may be received from the vehicle over a cellular communication channel. Roadside infrastructure, such as DSRC or cellular communication installations receive the notification and may rebroadcast it to adjacent vehicles. A DSRC installation may broadcast the message by way of a cellular communication installation and vice versa. The vehicle may provide a cellular notification by way of a driver's mobile device connected to a controller of the vehicle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method comprising performing by a vehicle controller:
detecting a lane-splitting vehicle; in response to detecting the lane-splitting vehicle, transmitting a first message including a lane-splitting flag (LS flag); detecting a second message including the LS flag; and in response to the LS flag, processing the second message ahead of one or more previously received messages not including the LS flag.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein processing the second message by the vehicle controller further includes refraining from invoking lane changes by a vehicle housing the vehicle controller in response to the second message.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein processing the second message by the vehicle controller further includes invoking movement of a vehicle housing the vehicle controller away from an inter-lane region in response to the second message.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting the first message comprises transmitting a first vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) packet directly to another vehicle over a V2V transmission protocol.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the V2V transmission protocol is Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) protocol.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein transmitting the first V2V packet includes transmitting the first V2V packet to a roadside DSRC station.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
evaluating, by the vehicle controller, whether there are any V2V connections to the vehicle controller; determining, by the vehicle controller, that there are no V2V connections to the vehicle controller; in response to determining that there are no V2V connections to the vehicle controller, invoking transmission of the first message using a cellular communication protocol.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein invoking transmission of the first message using the cellular communication protocol comprises invoking communication with a fixed cellular communication tower.

9 . The method of claim 7 , wherein transmitting the first message using the cellular communication protocol comprises instructing a mobile phone located in a vehicle housing the vehicle controller to transmit a third message.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting the lane-splitting vehicle by the vehicle controller comprises at least one of:
receiving a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) message from the lane-splitting vehicle over a V2V protocol; receiving a message from the lane-splitting vehicle over a cellular network protocol; and detecting the lane-splitting vehicle according to an acoustic signature of the lane-splitting vehicle in an output of one or more microphones coupled to the vehicle controller.

11 . A system comprising:
a vehicle; a vehicle controller housed in the vehicle, the vehicle controller programmed to detect a lane-splitting vehicle; in response to detecting the lane-splitting vehicle, transmit a first message including a lane-splitting flag (LS flag); detect a second message including the LS flag; and in response to the LS flag, process the second message ahead of any previously received messages not including the LS flag.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the vehicle controller is further programmed to process the second message by refraining from invoking lane changes by the vehicle in response to the second message.

13 . The system of claim 11 , wherein processing the second message by the vehicle controller further includes invoking movement of a vehicle housing the vehicle controller away from an inter-lane region in response to the second message.

14 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the vehicle controller is further programmed to transmit the first message by transmitting a first vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) packet directly to another vehicle over a V2V transmission protocol.

15 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the V2V transmission protocol is Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) protocol.

16 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the vehicle controller is further programmed to transmit the first V2V packet includes transmitting the first V2V packet to a roadside DSRC station.

17 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the vehicle controller is further programmed to:
evaluate whether there are any V2V connections to the vehicle controller; if there are no V2V connections to the vehicle controller, invoking transmission of the first message using a cellular communication protocol; if there is at least one V2V connection to the vehicle controller, invoking transmission of the first message over the V2V connection using a V2V transmission protocol.

18 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the vehicle controller is further programmed to invoke transmission of the first message using the cellular communication protocol by invoking communication with a fixed cellular communication tower.

19 . The system of claim 18 , wherein the vehicle controller is further programmed to transmit the first message using the cellular communication protocol by instructing a mobile phone located in the vehicle to transmit a third message.

20 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the vehicle controller is further programmed to detect the lane-splitting vehicle by at least one of:
receiving a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) message from the lane-splitting vehicle over a V2V protocol; receiving a message from the lane-splitting vehicle over a cellular network protocol; and detecting the lane-splitting vehicle according to an acoustic signature of the lane-splitting vehicle in an output of one or more microphones coupled to the vehicle controller.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Banvait Harpreetsingh
• Jain Jinesh J
• Ray Surjya Sarathi

Classifications

• G08G1/096741

  where the source of the transmitted information selects which information to transmit to each vehicle · CPC title

• G08G1/162

  event-triggered · CPC title

• H04W4/46

  for vehicle-to-vehicle communication [V2V] · CPC title

• G08G1/096725

  where the received information generates an automatic action on the vehicle control · CPC title

• G08G1/167

  Driving aids for lane monitoring, lane changing, e.g. blind spot detection · CPC title