System and method for handling vehicles approaching an area

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a computer system (800) comprising processing circuitry (802) configured to: - monitor connectivity of at least one vehicle (100) in an area (103) and to a wireless communication network (105), wherein the at least one vehicle (100) operates in a first operating mode; - determine that the connectivity of the at least one vehicle (100) is below a first threshold; and to - when the connectivity is below the first threshold, determine a precautionary activity by changing a term for entering or operating the at least one vehicle (100) within the area (103).

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR HANDLING VEHICLES APPROACHING AN AREATECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The disclosure relates generally to a computer system, a vehicle, a computer- implemented method, a computer program product and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. In particular aspects, the disclosure relates to handling vehicles approaching an area. The disclosure can be applied to heavy-duty vehicles, such as trucks, buses, marine vessels and construction equipment, among other vehicle types. Although the disclosure may be described with respect to a particular vehicle, the disclosure is not restricted to any particular vehicle.BACKGROUND

[0002] Connectivity to a wireless communication network is a feature implemented in many vehicles. It is relevant for fully autonomous vehicles, for partly autonomous vehicles and for manually operated vehicles. Connectivity is relevant for a number of functions for a vehicle, for example uploading and downloading of data, navigation, safety, emergency etc.

[0003] The connectivity capacity may vary, and it may be limited in different areas for various reasons. One reason may be that it is a large number of vehicles connected to the same communication network, there may be obstacles between the vehicle and the antenna of the wireless communication network, the distance between the vehicle and the antenna of the wireless communication network may be long etc. Varying and / or limiting connectivity may impact productivity and uptime for vehicles.

[0004] When the bandwidth consumption in a communication network is high, there is a significant risk of getting increased latency in the network in the form of latency spikes. This may be due to the fact that congestion is generated in the communication network since a there is a higher demand of bandwidth than the communication network can manage. When the bandwidth is kept low, the latency is typically stable and low. This is important when it comes to mission critical communication such as E-stop, since it will generate an automatic stop if the communication is dropped for a certain period of time.

[0005] Hence, there is a strive to develop further improved technology relating to connectivity for vehicles.SUMMARY

[0006] According to a first aspect of the disclosure, a computer system comprising processing circuitry is provided. The computer system is configured to: monitor connectivity of at least one vehicle in an area and to a wireless communication network, wherein the at least one vehicle operates in a first operating mode; determine that the connectivity of the at least one vehicle is below a first threshold; and to- when the connectivity is below the first threshold, determine a precautionary activity by changing a term for entering or operating the at least one vehicle within the area .

[0007] The first aspect of the disclosure may seek to improve connectivity for the vehicle. A technical benefit may include that connectivity for the vehicle is improved. With the precautionary activity , the capacity of the wireless communication network will not be shared amongst even more vehicles. Thus, it is only the vehicle currently in the area that will have access to the wireless communication network, and their connectivity will not be degraded due to sharing the wireless communication network with more vehicles.

[0008] In some examples, including in at least one preferred example, optionally the computer system may be further configured to:- when the precautionary activity has been determined, determine to initiate rerouting of the approaching vehicles to another area.

[0009] A technical benefit may include that the approaching vehicle does not have to stop and wait to be allowed into the area but may instead travel to another area where it is allowed to enter.

[0010] In some examples, including in at least one preferred example, optionally the computer system may be further configured to:- when the connectivity is below the first threshold, determine to deactivate or limit vehicle communication that is not time critical or that is not critical for basic vehicle operation.

[0011] A technical benefit may include that time critical vehicle communication or vehicle communication that is critical for basic vehicle operation is prioritized. For example, a feature such as an E-stop heartbeat signal will not be deactivated since it is time critical and / or critical for basic vehicle operation. A feature such as a software update of theentertainment system of the vehicle may be deactivated since it is not time critical or critical for basic vehicle operation.

[0012] In some examples, including in at least one preferred example, optionally the computer system may be further configured to: detect that the connectivity of the at least one vehicle is below a second threshold; and to- when the connectivity is below the second threshold, determine to limit or block the at least one vehicle from entering a second operation mode, wherein the second operation mode has higher bandwidth requirements than the first operation mode.

[0013] A technical benefit may include that the vehicle will not enter the second operation mode and thereby removing or reducing the risk for some vehicle functions not getting sufficient connectivity. When in first operation mode, the vehicle functions of the first operating mode will have sufficient connectivity.

[0014] In some examples, including in at least one preferred example, optionally the second operation mode may be a tele operation mode.

[0015] Tele operation mode of the vehicle requires higher bandwidth than the first operation mode, e.g. autonomous operation mode. A connectivity below the second threshold will not be sufficient for the second operation mode. A technical benefit may include that it may be more advantageous for the vehicle to operate in the first operation mode since it then may have sufficient connectivity for its operation.

[0016] In some examples, including in at least one preferred example, optionally, the computer system may be further configured to: determine, that the connectivity will be below the first threshold at a future time instance; and to determine to reduce the speed of the at least one vehicle before the connectivity becomes below the first threshold.

[0017] A technical benefit may include that safety for the vehicle is improved. The computer system is pro-active and prepares for an upcoming reduced connectivity, and may reduce the vehicle speed in advance. By reducing the vehicle speed in advance, a risk for drastic braking in case of reduced connectivity at a location where it not suitable to brake is reduced or eliminated.

[0018] In some examples, including at least one preferred example, optionally, the monitored connectivity may be represented by one or both of: at least one radio quality parameter; and / or at least one connectivity performance parameter.

[0019] A technical benefit may include that connectivity for the vehicle is improved.

[0020] In some examples, including at least one preferred example, optionally, the first operating mode may be an at least partly autonomous operating mode or a manual operating mode.

[0021] At least partly autonomous operating mode or manual operating mode, i.e., the first operating mode, may have lower bandwidth requirements than the second operating mode, e.g., a tele operation mode. A technical benefit may include that operating features of the first operating mode may be functioning at least partly or even fully when the approaching vehicle is prevented from entering the area.

[0022] In some examples, including at least one preferred example, optionally, the precautionary activity may comprise to stop an approaching vehicle from entering the area.

[0023] A technical benefit may include that connectivity for the vehicle is improved. When the approaching vehicles are stopped from entering the area, the capacity of the wireless communication network will not be shared amongst even more vehicles. Thus, it is only the vehicle currently in the area that will have access to the wireless communication network, and their connectivity will not be degraded due to sharing the wireless communication network with more vehicles.

[0024] In some examples, including at least one preferred example, optionally, the processing circuitry may be further configured to determine the first threshold by:• performing N simulations of the vehicle’s bandwidth consumption, wherein the N simulations are performed for M number of predefined bandwidth thresholds, and wherein N and M are positive integers;• logging latency data for each simulation N;• determining a maximum latency amongst the logged latency data; and• if the maximum latency for simulation N is lower than a latency threshold, determining the first threshold to be the predefined bandwidth threshold used in simulation N.

[0025] A technical benefit may include that the bandwidth consumption is not static. Instead of setting a conservative value that would work in most cases, such as bad weather conditions, when vegetation is wet etc., the determining of the first threshold opens up for setting a dynamic threshold so that a higher bandwidth can be utilized when possible.

[0026] In some examples, including at least one preferred example, optionally, the processing circuitry may be further configured to dynamically set the first threshold based on available bandwidth or predicted bandwidth.

[0027] A technical benefit may include that the bandwidth consumption is not static. Instead of setting a conservative value that would work in most cases, such as bad weather conditions, when vegetation is wet etc., the determining of the first threshold opens up for setting a dynamic threshold so that a higher bandwidth can be utilized when possible.

[0028] In some examples, including at least one preferred example, optionally, the processing circuitry may be further configured to: monitor latency during the vehicle’ s bandwidth consumption; determine to reduce the first threshold when the monitored latency is above a latency threshold; and to determine to increase the first threshold when the monitored latency is constant or reduced.

[0029] A technical benefit may include that the bandwidth consumption is not static. Instead of setting a conservative value that would work in most cases, such as bad weather conditions, when vegetation is wet etc., the determining of the first threshold opens up for setting a dynamic threshold so that a higher bandwidth can be utilized when possible.

[0030] According to a second aspect of the disclosure, a vehicle comprising a computer system of the first aspect is provided.

[0031] Technical benefits of the second aspect of the disclosure are largely analogous to the technical benefits of the first aspect of the disclosure. It shall also be noted that all examples of the first aspect of the disclosure are applicable to and combinable with all examples of the second aspect of the disclosure, and vice versa.

[0032] In some examples, including at least one preferred example, optionally, the at least one vehicle may be an at least partly autonomous vehicle.

[0033] According to a third aspect of the disclosure, a computer-implemented method is provided. The method comprises:monitoring, by processing circuitry of a computer system, connectivity of at least one vehicle in an area and to a wireless communication network wherein the at least one vehicle operates in a first operating mode; determining, by the processing circuitry, that the connectivity of the at least one vehicle is below a first threshold; and- when the connectivity is below the first threshold, determining, by the processing circuitry, a precautionary activity by changing a term for entering or operating the at least one vehicle within the area.

[0034] In some examples, including at least one preferred example, optionally, the method may further comprise:- when the precautionary activity has been determined , determining, by the processing circuitry, to initiate rerouting of the approaching vehicle to another area.

[0035] In some examples, including at least one preferred example, optionally, the method may further comprise:- when the connectivity is below the first threshold, determining, by the processing circuitry, to deactivate or limit vehicle communication that is not time critical or that is not critical for basic vehicle operation.

[0036] In some examples, including at least one preferred example, optionally, the method may further comprise: detecting, by the processing circuitry, that the connectivity of the at least one vehicle is below a second threshold; and- when the connectivity is below the second threshold, determining, by the processing circuitry, to limit or block the at least one vehicle from entering a second operation mode, wherein the second operation mode has higher bandwidth requirements than the first operation mode.

[0037] In some examples, including at least one preferred example, optionally, the second operation mode may be a tele operation mode.

[0038] In some examples, including at least one preferred example, optionally, the method may further comprise: determining, by the processing circuitry, that the connectivity will be below the first threshold at a future time instance; anddetermining, by the processing circuitry, to reduce speed of the at least one vehicle before the connectivity becomes below the first threshold.

[0039] In some examples, including at least one preferred example, optionally, the monitored connectivity may be represented by one or both of: at least one radio quality parameter; and / or at least one connectivity performance parameter.

[0040] In some examples, including at least one preferred example, optionally, the first operating mode may be an at least partly autonomous operating mode or a manual operating mode.

[0041] In some examples, including at least one preferred example, optionally, the method may further comprise:• performing, by the processing circuitry, N simulations of the vehicle’s bandwidth consumption, wherein the N simulations are performed for M number of predefined bandwidth thresholds, and wherein N and M are positive integers;• logging, by the processing circuitry, latency data for each simulation N;• determining, by the processing circuitry, a maximum latency amongst the logged latency data; and• if the maximum latency for simulation N is lower than a latency threshold, determining, by the processing circuitry, the first threshold to be the predefined bandwidth threshold used in simulation N.

[0042] In some examples, including at least one preferred example, optionally, the method may further comprise: dynamically setting, by the processing circuitry, the first threshold based on available bandwidth or predicted bandwidth.

[0043] In some examples, including at least one preferred example, optionally, the method comprises: monitoring latency during the vehicle’s bandwidth consumption; determining to reduce the first threshold when the monitored latency is above a latency threshold; and determining to increase the first threshold when the monitored latency is constant or reduced.

[0044] Technical benefits of the third aspect of the disclosure are largely analogous to the technical benefits of the first aspect and the second aspect of the disclosure. It shall also be noted that all examples of the first aspect and the second aspect of the disclosure are applicable to and combinable with all examples of the third aspect of the disclosure, and vice versa.

[0045] According to a fourth aspect of the disclosure, a computer program product is provided. The computer program product comprises program code for performing, when executed by a processing circuitry, the method of the second aspect.

[0046] Technical benefits of the fourth aspect of the disclosure are largely analogous to the technical benefits of the first aspect, the second aspect and the third aspect of the disclosure. It shall also be noted that all examples of the first aspect, the second aspect and the third aspect of the disclosure are applicable to and combinable with all examples of the fourth aspect of the disclosure, and vice versa.

[0047] According to a fifth aspect of the disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium is provided. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprises instructions, which when executed by a processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to perform the method of the second aspect.

[0048] Technical benefits of the fifth aspect of the disclosure are largely analogous to the technical benefits of the first aspect, the second aspect, the third aspect and the fourth aspect of the disclosure. It shall also be noted that all examples of the first aspect, the second aspect, the third aspect and the fourth aspect of the disclosure are applicable to and combinable with all examples of the fifth aspect of the disclosure, and vice versa.

[0049] The disclosed aspects, examples (including any preferred examples), and / or accompanying claims may be suitably combined with each other as would be apparent to anyone of ordinary skill in the art. Additional features and advantages are disclosed in the following description, claims, and drawings, and in part will be readily apparent therefrom to those skilled in the art or recognized by practicing the disclosure as described herein.

[0050] There are also disclosed herein computer systems, control units, code modules, computer-implemented methods, computer readable media, and computer program products associated with the above discussed technical benefits.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0051] Examples are described in more detail below with reference to the appended drawings.

[0052] FIG. 1 is an exemplary drawing illustrating a vehicle according to an example.

[0053] FIG. 2 is an exemplary system diagram of a vehicle and approaching vehicles, according to an example.

[0054] FIG. 3 is an exemplary drawing illustrating vehicle connectivity, according to an example.

[0055] FIG. 4 is a flow chart of an exemplary method, according to an example.

[0056] FIG. 5 is an exemplary drawing illustrating vehicle connectivity, according to an example.

[0057] FIG. 6 is an exemplary drawing illustrating a vehicle approaching an area, according to an example.

[0058] FIG. 7a is a graph illustrating Round Trip Time (RTT), according to an example.

[0059] FIG. 7b is a graph illustrating throughput, according to an example.

[0060] FIG. 7c is a graph illustrating RTT, according to an example.

[0061] FIG. 7d is a graph illustrating throughput, according to an example.

[0062] FIG. 8a is a graph illustrating RTT, according to an example.

[0063] FIG. 8b is a graph illustrating RTT, according to an example.

[0064] FIG. 9 are graphs illustrating latency and bandwidth, according to an example.

[0065] FIG. 10 is another view of FIG. 4, according to an example.

[0066] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary computer system for implementing examples disclosed herein, according to an example.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0067] The detailed description set forth below provides information and examples of the disclosed technology with sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the disclosure.

[0068] FIG. 1 is an exemplary drawing illustrating a vehicle 100 according to an example. The vehicle 100 may be a heavy-duty vehicle such as truck, buss, marine vessel and construction equipment, among other vehicle types. Although the disclosure may be described with respect to a particular vehicle, the disclosure is not restricted to any particular vehicle.

[0069] The vehicle 100 comprises a vehicle control unit 101, i.e. the vehicle control unit 101 is located onboard the vehicle 100. The vehicle control unit 101 may be a processing circuitry 802 or it may be comprised in the processing circuitry 802, and the processing circuitry 802 may be comprised in a computer system 800. Reference numbers 800 and 802 are seen in FIG. 8, which will be described later.

[0070] The vehicle 100 may be a fully autonomously operated vehicle, a partly autonomously operated vehicle or a manually operated vehicle.

[0071] FIG. 2 is an exemplary drawing illustrating the vehicle 100 comprised in an area 103. The area 103 may be referred to as a site. The area 103 may be a confined area or an open are. The vehicle 100 is arranged to be located at the site. There may be one or more vehicles comprised in the area 103.

[0072] The area 103 is in coverage of a wireless communication network 105, illustrated with an antenna in FIG.2. Consequently, the vehicle 100 comprised in the area 103 has connectivity to the wireless communication network 105.

[0073] FIG. 2 illustrates two approaching vehicle 100b, 100c that are approaching the area 103. In FIG. 2, reference number 100a is used for the vehicle 100 currently comprised in the area 103, while reference numbers 100b and 100c are used for the approaching vehicles. The approaching vehicles 100b, 100c are approaching the area 103 when they are traveling along a route towards the area 103. The approaching vehicles 100b, 100c are approaching the area 103 when they are within a predetermined distance from the area 103. The predetermined distance may be known by the processing circuitry 802, and the processing circuitry 802 may monitor this distance in order to detect vehicles 100 that are approaching the area 103. The approaching vehicles 100b, 100c are arranged to communicate with the wireless communication network 105 if they enter the area 103. FIG. 2 illustrates an example with two approaching vehicles 100b, 100c there may be any n number of approaching vehicles 100b, 100c, where n is a positive integer.

[0074] FIG. 2 illustrates a site control system 108, where the term site may refer to the site or area 103 which the site control system 108 is arranged to control. The control may comprise control of vehicles 100 comprised in the area 103.

[0075] The site control system 108 may be comprised in the area 103, it may be located outside the area 103, or it may be partly comprised in the area 103 and partly located outside the area 103.

[0076] The site control system 108 may be completely located offboard the vehicle 100, it may be completely located onboard the vehicle 100, or it may be partly located offboard the vehicle 100 and partly located onboard the vehicle 100. When the site control system 108 is completely located onboard the vehicle 100, then the site control system 108 may be the vehicle control unit 101, or the site control system 108 may be comprised in the vehicle control unit 101. When the site control system 101 is partly located offboard the vehicle 100 and partly located onboard the vehicle 100, then the part that is located onboard the vehicle 100 may be the vehicle control unit 101 or comprised in the vehicle control unit 101. The part of the site control system 108 that is located offboard the vehicle 100 may be remotely located from the vehicle 100 at any distance from the vehicle 100 and arranged to wirelessly communicate with the vehicle 100 using any suitable communication technology. When remotely located from the vehicle 100, the site control system 108 or a part of the site control system 108 may be a cloud system, a cloud server, a local system or local server which is locally located at the site.

[0077] The site control system 108 is arranged to communicate with the vehicle 100 and consequently also the vehicle control unit 101 onboard the vehicle 100.

[0078] The site control system 108 is arranged to communicate with approaching vehicles which are approaching the area 103.

[0079] The site control system 108 may be a processing circuitry 802, it may be comprised in the processing circuitry 802, it may be a computer system 800, or it may be comprised in the computer system 800. The processing circuitry 802 may be comprised in a computer system 800.

[0080] FIG. 2 illustrates a memory 110 arranged to store data. The site control system 108 is arranged to send and receive data to / from the memory 110. The vehicle 100, and consequently the vehicle control unit 101, is arranged to send and receive data to / from the memory 110. The memory 110 may comprise one or more memory units. The memory 110 may be a database or comprise one or more databases. The memory 110 may be a cloud memory or a local memory which is locally located at the site. The site control system 108 and the memory 110 may be separate and standalone entities, or they may be co-located.

[0081] A vehicle 100 having a connectivity feature which enables connectivity to a wireless communication network may be in a situation where the connectivity is reduced or limited. For example, a vehicle may require wireless connectivity to communicate with thesite control system and to secure receiving and / or sending an E-stop heartbeat signal. In some cases there may be sections / areas along the vehicle’s 100 traveling path where the connectivity capacity for some reason is limited. It might be a large number of devices, e.g. vehicles, connected to the same network cell or the performance may be limited due to obstacles and / or long distance between the devices and the antenna etc.

[0082] FIG. 3 is an exemplary drawing illustrating vehicle connectivity according to an example. FIG. 3 illustrates two communication network cells, cell A 300a and cell B 300b. The connectivity in each cell 300a, 300b is highest close to the center of the cell, as illustrated with the black circle. The connectivity is reduced with increased distance from the center of the cell 300a, 300b, which is illustrated with reduced amount of color filling in the circles. In the example of FIG. 3, the vehicle 100 is illustrated to be located at the outer edge of cell B 300b, which has limited connectivity as illustrated with the white circle.

[0083] By controlling the vehicle 100 based on knowledge about connectivity bottlenecks it may be possible to avoid or limit the impact on productivity and uptime for the vehicle 100.

[0084] Adapting the vehicle’s 100 communication based on available bandwidth is known and currently used. But in some cases, this approach is not enough. Different ways of monitoring the connectivity performance, e.g. signal strength, bandwidth etc., in real time is typically also known. However, there is a strive to develop further improved technology relating to connectivity for vehicles 100.

[0085] In order to further improve technology relating to connectivity for vehicles 100, a computer system 800 comprising processing circuitry 802 is provided. The processing circuitry 802 is configured to: monitor connectivity of at least one vehicle 100 in an area 103 and to a wireless communication network 105, wherein the at least one vehicle 100 operates in a first operating mode; determine that the connectivity of the at least one vehicle 100 is below a first threshold; and to- when the connectivity is below the first threshold, determine a precautionary activity by changing a term for entering or operating the at least one vehicle 100 within the area 103

[0086] The term for entering or operating the at least one vehicle 100 within the area 103 may be based on connectivity to the wireless communication network 105. The default termmay be that a vehicle 100 is allowed to enter or operate within the area 103 when the connectivity is at or above the first threshold. The changed term for entering or operating the at least one vehicle 100 within the area 103 may be that the connectivity is below the threshold. The changed term is different from the default term. The monitored connectivity may be represented by one or both of at least one radio quality parameter; and / or at least one connectivity performance parameter.

[0087] The first operating mode may be an at least partly autonomous operating mode or a manual operating mode.

[0088] The precautionary activity may comprise to stop an approaching vehicle 100 from entering the area 103.

[0089] The processing circuitry 802 may be further configured to, when the precautionary activity has been determined, determine to initiate rerouting of the approaching vehicles 100 to another area.

[0090] The processing circuitry 802 may be further configured to, when the connectivity is below the first threshold, determine to deactivate or limit vehicle communication that is not time critical or that is not critical for basic vehicle operation.

[0091] The processing circuitry 802 may be further configured to detect that the connectivity of the at least one vehicle 100 is below a second threshold, and to, when the connectivity is below the second threshold, determine to limit or block the at least one vehicle 100 from entering a second operation mode. The second operation mode may have higher bandwidth requirements than the first operation mode. The second operation mode may be a tele operation mode.

[0092] The processing circuitry 802 may be further configured to determine, that the connectivity will be below the first threshold at a future time instance; and to determine to reduce speed of the at least one vehicle 100 before the connectivity becomes below the first threshold.

[0093] The processing circuitry 802 may be further configured to determine the first threshold by:• performing N simulations of the vehicle’s 100 bandwidth consumption, wherein the N simulations are performed for M number of predefined bandwidth thresholds, and wherein N and M are positive integers;• logging latency data for each simulation N;• determining a maximum latency amongst the logged latency data; and• if the maximum latency for simulation N is lower than a latency threshold, determining the first threshold to be the predefined bandwidth threshold used in simulation N.

[0094] The processing circuitry 802 may be further configured to dynamically set the first threshold based on available bandwidth or predicted bandwidth.

[0095] The processing circuitry 802 may be further configured to: monitor latency during the vehicle’s bandwidth consumption; determine to reduce the first threshold when the monitored latency is above a latency threshold; and to determine to increase the first threshold when the monitored latency is constant or reduced.

[0096] The vehicle 100 comprises the computer system 800 described herein, and the vehicle 100 may be an at least partly autonomous vehicle.

[0097] FIG. 4 is a flow chart of an exemplary method according to an example. The method is a computer-implemented method. The method is performed by a processing circuitry 802 of a computer system 800. The processing circuitry 802 may be comprised in or may be the site control system 108, or the vehicle control unit 101, or partly in the site control system 108 and partly in the vehicle control unit 101. The method comprises at least one of the following steps, which steps may be performed in any suitable order than described below:

[0098] Step 400: The processing circuitry 802 monitors connectivity of at least one vehicle 100 in the area 103 and to a wireless communication network 105. The at least one vehicle 100 operates in a first operating mode.

[0099] Monitoring the connectivity may comprise collecting and monitoring connectivity parameters in the area 103, e.g., by obtaining connectivity parameters from the vehicle 100, from the wireless communication network 105 or from any other suitable entity.

[0100] The connectivity parameters may be connectivity quality parameters. This may be performed by continuously requesting parameters like Received Signal Strength Indication (RS SI), Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ) etc. from the vehicle 100. This may be done using SNMP or other standard protocols for communication between the processing circuit 802 which performs the monitoring and the router. This may provide an indication of the connectivity quality.

[0101] Step 401: The processing circuitry 802 may determine a first threshold. The first threshold may be determined by:• performing N simulations of the vehicle’s 100 bandwidth consumption, wherein the N simulations are performed for at least one predefined bandwidth threshold, and wherein N is a positive integer;• logging latency data for each simulation N;• determining a maximum latency amongst the logged latency data; and• if the maximum latency for simulation N is lower than a latency threshold, determining the first threshold to be the predefined bandwidth threshold used in simulation N.

[0102] The processing circuitry 802 may dynamically set the first threshold based on available bandwidth or predicted bandwidth.

[0103] Step 402: The processing circuitry 802 determines that the connectivity of the at least one vehicle 100 is below a first threshold. This may be performed by comparing the connectivity parameters to the first threshold, and the result of the comparison indicates whether or not the connectivity is below the first threshold. The first threshold may be an indication of low connectivity, limited connectivity, lost connectivity, degraded connectivity, limited bandwidth, high latency etc. If the connectivity is at or above the first threshold, then the connectivity has a sufficient quality, e.g. the quality is good or excellent, the latency is low or below a latency threshold etc., and there may not be necessary to take the precautionary action, e.g. to stop approaching vehicles 100 from entering the area 103.

[0104] The following Error! Reference source not found, and Error! Reference source not found, are example of what is good or bad when it comes to RSRP and RSRQ. The left columns represent RSRP and RSRQ, respectively, and the right column represents signal strength. The first threshold may for example be as in either of the bottom two rows in Error! Reference source not found, and the bottom row in Error! Reference source not found..Table 1Table 2

[0105] The connectivity data may then be combined with position data from the vehicle 100 and results in signal quality per coordinate. The vehicle 100 may comprise a position sensor arranged to obtain the current position of the vehicle 100 and provide position data indicating the current position to the processing circuitry 802.

[0106] The connectivity data may then be combined with position data from the vehicle 100 and results in signal quality per coordinate. The vehicle 100 may comprise a position sensor arranged to obtain the current position of the vehicle 100 and provide position data indicating the current position to the processing circuitry 802.

[0107] As alternative to signal quality, the processing circuitry 802 may use performance parameters such as latency, measured in milliseconds (ms) or throughput, measured in Megabit per second (Mbit / s).

[0108] Step 403: When the connectivity is below the first threshold, the processing circuitry 802 determines a precautionary activity by changing a term for entering or operating the at least one vehicle 100 within the area 103. The precautionary activity may comprise to stop an approaching vehicle 100b, 100a from entering the area 103. The term for entering or operating the at least one vehicle 100 within the area 103 may be changed from being allowed to enter the area 103 to being prevented or stopped from entering or operating the area 103. The term for entering or operating the at least one vehicle 100 within the area 103 may be based on connectivity to the wireless communication network 105. The default term may be that a vehicle 100 is allowed to enter or operate within the area 103 when the connectivity is at or above the first threshold. The changed term for entering or operating the at least one vehicle 100 within the area 103 may be that the connectivity is below the threshold. The changed term is different from the default term. Thus, the processing circuitry 802 reacts on a lost or degraded connectivity by determining the precautionary activity, e.g.preventing approaching vehicles 100b, 100c to enter the area 103. The processing circuitry 802 may send information to the approaching vehicles 100b, 100c to indicate that the term for entering or operating within the area 103 has been changed, e.g. that they are not allowed to enter the area 103.

[0109] Step 404: The processing circuitry 802 may monitor latency during the vehicle’s bandwidth consumption.

[0110] Step 405: The processing circuitry 802 may determine to reduce the first threshold when the monitored latency is above a latency threshold.

[0111] Step 406: The processing circuitry 802 may determine to increase the first threshold when the monitored latency is constant or reduced.

[0112] FIG. 5 is an exemplary drawing illustrating vehicle connectivity. FIG. 5 illustrates n+1 number of vehicles 100, where n is a positive integer. Vehicle n 100 may be the vehicle 100a which is currently located in the area 103 and vehicle n+1 may be an approaching vehicle 100b, 100c. Each vehicle 100 may comprises position sensor 501 arranged to obtain the current position of the vehicle 100. As previously described, each vehicle 100 comprises a control unit 101. Each vehicle 100 may comprise a transmitter 502 and a receiver 502 arranged to transmit and receive data, e.g. position data and / or connectivity data, to and from the site control system 108, respectively.

[0113] The site control system 108 may comprise a connectivity monitor 505 and a mission controller 508. The site control system 108 may be the processing circuitry 802, the connectivity monitor 505 may be the processing circuitry 802, or the connectivity monitor 505 may be comprised in the processing circuitry 802. The connectivity monitor 505 may be arranged to monitor the connectivity in the area 103 based on position data and / or connectivity data from vehicle n 100a, e.g. transmitted by the transmitter 502. The connectivity monitor 505 may be arranged to provide data to vehicle n 100a, e.g. received by the receiver 503 of the vehicle n 100a. The site control system 108 may comprise a mission controller 508 arranged to determine a precautionary activity by changing a term for entering or operating the at least one vehicle 100 within the area 103 when the connectivity is below the first threshold, for example to stop the approaching vehicle 100b, 100c when the connectivity is below the first threshold. The first threshold may be determined as described earlier herein. The mission controller 508 may send information indicating the precautionary activity, e.g. to stop to the approaching vehicle n+1 100b, 100c, which may be received bythe receiver 503 of the approaching vehicle n+1 100b, 100c. The mission controller 508 may be the processing circuitry 802 or it may be comprised in the processing circuitry 802.

[0114] The processing circuitry 802, e.g. the mission controller 508, may be configured to determine the first threshold. The first threshold may be determined by:• performing N simulations of the vehicle’s 100 bandwidth consumption, wherein the N simulations are performed for M number of predefined bandwidth threshold, and wherein N and M are positive integers;• logging latency data for each simulation N;• determining a maximum latency amongst the logged latency data; and• if the maximum latency for simulation N is lower than a latency threshold, determining the first threshold to be the predefined bandwidth threshold used in simulation N.

[0115] The processing circuitry 802, e.g. the mission controller 508, may be configured to dynamically set the first threshold based on available bandwidth or predicted bandwidth.

[0116] The processing circuitry 802, e.g. the mission controller 508, may be configured to: monitor latency during the vehicle’ s bandwidth consumption; determine to reduce the first threshold when the monitored latency is above a latency threshold; and to determine to increase the first threshold when the monitored latency is constant or reduced.

[0117] In case it is detected that the connectivity for the vehicle 100 in the area 103 is below the first threshold, e.g. completely lost or below a critical limit, the processing circuitry 802, e.g. the mission controller 508, determines to react automatically and trigger the precautionary activity, e.g. to stop other approaching vehicles 100b, 100c to enter the area 103. This may be enabled by the monitoring of the connectivity quality, such as RSSI, for all vehicles 100 in the area 103. If connectivity to a vehicle 100a is lost, the processing circuitry 802 determines the precautionary activity by changing a term for entering or operating the at least one vehicle 100 within the area 103, e.g. to stop approaching vehicles 100b, 100c from entering the area 103, for example the connectivity monitor 505 alerts the mission controller 508 that sends a precautionary activity command, e.g. a stop command, to all vehicles 100b,100c approaching the area 103 with bad connectivity performance. Alternatively or in addition, the approaching vehicles 100b, 100c may be advised to take another route.

[0118] As an example, vehicle A, B and C are driving along a route, as illustrated in FIG. 6. When the processing circuitry 802, e.g. the connectivity monitor 505, detects that the connectivity to A is lost, it may initiate a precautionary activity for vehicle B and C, e.g. to stop vehicle B and C to drive into the problem area 103.

[0119] A technical benefit may be that the risk of having vehicles 100 standing dead in the area 103, e.g., an autonomous operating zone, that needs manual interaction is reduced or eliminated.

[0120] If the connectivity is below the first threshold, e.g. limited, and the area 103 may handle a maximum number of vehicles 100, then the processing circuitry 802 may determine that the connectivity performance, e.g. throughout, is dropping below the first threshold. This may be performed for example by the connectivity monitor 505 determining the drop below the first threshold and then alerting the mission controller 508.

[0121] This first threshold may be set in such way that one or more vehicles 100 still can be operational in the area 103. For example, if a vehicle 100 requires N Mbit / s to be operational, then the first threshold may be set to N+m, 2N+m, 3N+m etc., where the parameter m is a safety margin parameter and N is a positive integer.

[0122] The processing circuit 802 determines to limit the number of vehicles 100 in the area 103 by determining a precautionary activity by changing a term for entering or operating the at least one vehicle 100 within the area 103. The precautionary activity may comprise to stop approaching vehicles 100b, 100c from driving into the problem area 103, when the connectivity performance is reaching its maximum.

[0123] For a vehicle 100 operating in autonomous mode, the need of bandwidth is typically less than when operating in tele-operation mode. Tele-operation mode mote may comprise that the vehicle 100 is controlled by a human operator via a video link. This means that there might be areas 100 where autonomous operation is OK, but if a vehicle 100 is teleoperated in that area 103, the number of other vehicles 100 or other bandwidth consumers may need to be limited.

[0124] This may be implemented by having second threshold, e.g. a tele-operation threshold T, e.g. in the connectivity monitor 505, and if the connectivity performance is less than the second threshold, the tele-op mode may be blocked, e.g. via the Human MachineInterface (HMI) of the site control system 108. Meaning that the site operator may be unable to start tele-operation of the vehicle 100. Alternatively, the tele-operation may be started with strict bandwidth limitations and thereby limited performance, such as a low number of video streams or limited operation speed.

[0125] The second threshold may be a static value that may be determined based on camera resolution, number of cameras, frames per second and level of compression. For example, 5 Mbit / s may be necessary to show a decent video for the remote operator, where a decent video may be a video having a quality parameter above a quality threshold.

[0126] If the area 103 is known to have limited connectivity, and normal default communication needs cannot be fulfilled, the processing circuity 802, e.g. the site control system 108, may automatically deactivate functionality and / or communication that is not time critical or critical for basic operation. This may be compared to limp mode enabling low speed driving is case a fault in the vehicle 100 has been detected. Such examples are logging, video feed etc.

[0127] This may be implemented by the processing circuitry 802 determining to turn off or limit non critical features such as logging or broadcast of video feed when connectivity is determined to be below the second threshold. For example, the connectivity monitor 505 may feed the site mission controller 508 with an alert that the connectivity performance is dropping below a critical threshold and the mission controller 508 may then trigger turning off or limiting non critical features such as logging or broadcast of video feed.

[0128] When the processing circuitry 802, e.g. the connectivity monitor 505, detects that there is free capacity in the wireless communication network 105, this may trigger the processing circuitry 1802, e.g. the site control system 108, to start bandwidth consuming services such as uploading log data to the vehicle 100. This may be implemented by the processing circuitry 802 detecting that the available throughput is significantly higher than the normal connectivity need, by utilizing knowledge that there is a limited number of vehicles 100 in the area 103 or by detecting that a high performance network is available, e.g. a mmWave network with massive bandwidth capacity that is only available at specific locations such as charging station or parking lot.

[0129] When the processing circuitry 802 knows that there is a glitch in communication that is very temporary, such as increased latency when changing from one cell to another, the processing circuitry 802, e.g. the site control system 108, may be pro-active and prepare thevehicle 100 for this upcoming glitch and for example reduce the vehicle speed in advance. This may eliminate the risk of drastic braking in case of glitch in connectivity at a spot where it is not suitable to brake.

[0130] This may be implemented by the processing circuitry 802 logging connectivity performance correlated with the vehicle position to build a map of the area 103. By analyzing the performance map, e.g. by scanning the data for positions with performance lower than the first threshold, the processing circuitry 802 may determine in advance that there may be a predicted risk of limited network performance and would thereby be able to send a command to approaching vehicles 100b, 100c to lower their machine speed.

[0131] This may be beneficial when it comes to the vehicle’s E-stop functionality over a wireless communication network. In such case, an E-stop may be triggered when the heartbeat signal between the site control system 108 and the vehicles 100 is lost. If this is done at a high vehicle speed, this may result in vehicles damage, dropped material etc. and thereby a significant effect on the uptime and performance of the transport system.

[0132] As mentioned earlier, bandwidth consumption and latency are parameters that may influence the connectivity for the vehicle 100 in the area 103. FIG. 7a is a graph illustrating the Round Trip Time (RTT) in ms and FIG. 7b is a graph illustrating the throughput in Mbit / s for FIG. 7a. FIG. 7c is a graph illustrating the RTT in ms and FIG. 7c is a graph illustrating the throughput in Mbit / s for FIG. 7b. As seen in FIG. 7a, 7b, 7c and 7d, latency spikes occur when the wireless communication network is heavily loaded. From this, it is shown that it may be necessary to determine a suitable bandwidth threshold. The bandwidth threshold may be the same as the first threshold described herein, and the terms bandwidth threshold and first threshold may be used interchangeably herein.

[0133] The bandwidth threshold, i.e. the first threshold, may wither be used during commissioning of the computer system 800, but also for monitoring the network performance during operation to enable adaption to a better bandwidth threshold.

[0134] The computer system 800 may simulate traffic at specific bandwidth thresholds, e.g. 5 / 10 / 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 / . . . Mbit / s, and the simulation data may be evaluated.

[0135] The computer system 800 may run a test sequency where different bandwidth thresholds are iterated and the network latency is logged simultaneously. If there is no significant drop in latency between two or more different iteration, it can be concluded thatthe bandwidth is no longer affecting the latency and the congestion is no longer present. The alternative may be that the latency is dropped below an acceptable threshold.

[0136] FIG. 8a is a graph illustrating RTT in ms for 30 Mbit / s throughput and FIG. 8b is a graph illustrating RTT in ms for 20 Mbit / s throughput. As seen in FIG. 8a and FIG. 8b, the latency drops significantly when the bandwidth is limited to 20 Mbit / s instead of 30 Mbit / s. Assuming an acceptable limit of 120 ms, then the conclusion may be that 20 Mbit / s is a suitable bandwidth limitation. And if another test at for example 10 Mbit / s is performed and this shows no major drop compared to 20Mbit / s, the conclusion is still that 20 Mbit / s is a suitable limit.

[0137] This may be summarized as follows: a) Simulate bandwidth usage at predefined thresholds and log latency for each test N. b) Detect maximum latency for logged set of samples. c) If maximum latency for iteration N < required latency, set bandwidth threshold to bandwidth used in test N.

[0138] Latency may be monitored continuously during runtime. If a latency spike above a predefined limit is detected, then the bandwidth / link utilization can be limited to minimize the risk of latency spikes. This may be performed by increasing the bandwidth threshold value until an increase is detected in latency. This may be executed in real time. When a spike in latency is detected, i.e. it is over the upper latency threshold value illustrated with the dotted horizontal line in FIG. 9, the bandwidth threshold may be immediately dropped. If there is no increase in latency detected, the threshold may instead be increased. FIG. 9 illustrates two graphs where the top graph illustrates latency in ms and the bottom graph illustrates bandwidth in Mbit / s.

[0139] FIG. 10 is a flow chart of a method and is another view of FIG. 4 according to an example. The method is a computer-implemented method. The method is performed by a processing circuitry 802 of a computer system 800. The processing circuitry 802 may be comprised in or may be the site control system 108, or the vehicle control unit 101, or partly in the site control system 108 and partly in the vehicle control unit 101. The method comprises at least one of the following steps, which steps may be performed in any suitable order than described below:

[0140] Step 700: This step corresponds to step 400 in fig. 4. The processing circuitry 802 of the computer system 800 monitors connectivity of at least one vehicle 100 in an area 103and to a wireless communication network 105. The at least one vehicle 100 operates in a first operating mode. The monitored connectivity may be represented by one or both of: at least one radio quality parameter; and / or at least one connectivity performance parameter.

[0141] The first operating mode may be an at least partly autonomous operating mode or a manual operating mode.

[0142] Step 701: This step corresponds to step 401 in fig. 4. The processing circuitry 802 may determine the first threshold by:• performing N simulations of the vehicle’s 100 bandwidth consumption, wherein the N simulations are performed for M number of predefined bandwidth thresholds, and wherein N and M are positive integers;• logging latency data for each simulation N;• determining a maximum latency amongst the logged latency data; and• if the maximum latency for simulation N is lower than a latency threshold, determining the first threshold to be the predefined bandwidth threshold used in simulation N.

[0143] The processing circuitry 802 may dynamically set the first threshold based on available bandwidth or predicted bandwidth. The dynamically setting of the first threshold may be done instead of the bulled list above, or it may be done as a part of the bulleted list above.

[0144] The processing circuitry 802 may dynamically set the first threshold based on available bandwidth or predicted bandwidth. The dynamically setting of the first threshold may be done instead of the bulled list above, or it may be done as a part of the bulleted list above.

[0145] Step 702: This step corresponds to step 402 in FIG. 4. The processing circuitry 802 determines, that the connectivity of the at least one vehicle 100 is below a first threshold.

[0146] Step 703: This step corresponds to step 403 in FIG. 4. When the connectivity is below the first threshold, the processing circuitry 802 determines, a precautionary activity by changing a term for entering or operating the at least one vehicle 100 within the area 103. The precautionary activity may comprise stopping an approaching vehicle 100 from entering the area 103.

[0147] Step 704: When the precautionary activity has been determined, the processing circuitry 802 may determine to initiate rerouting of the approaching vehicle 100b, 100c to another area.

[0148] Step 705: When the connectivity is below the first threshold, the processing circuitry 802 may determine to deactivate or limit vehicle communication that is not time critical or that is not critical for basic vehicle operation.

[0149] Step 706: The processing circuitry 802 may detect that the connectivity of the at least one vehicle 100 is below a second threshold.

[0150] Step 707: When the connectivity is below the second threshold, the processing circuitry 802 may determine to limit or block the at least one vehicle 100 from entering a second operation mode. The second operation mode has higher bandwidth requirements than the first operation mode. The second operation mode may be a tele operation mode.

[0151] Step 708: The processing circuitry 802 may determine that the connectivity will be below the first threshold at a future time instance.

[0152] Step 709: The processing circuitry 802 may determine to reduce speed of the at least one vehicle 100 before the connectivity becomes below the first threshold.

[0153] Step 710: This step corresponds to step 404 in FIG. 4. The processing circuitry 802 may monitor latency during the vehicle’s bandwidth consumption.

[0154] Step 711: This step corresponds to step 405 in FIG. 4. The processing circuitry 802 may determine to reduce the first threshold when the monitored latency is above a latency threshold.

[0155] Step 712: This step corresponds to step 406 in FIG. 4. The processing circuitry 802 may determine to increase the first threshold when the monitored latency is constant or reduced.

[0156] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a computer system 800 for implementing examples disclosed herein. The computer system 800 is adapted to execute instructions from a computer-readable medium to perform these and / or any of the functions or processing described herein. The computer system 800 may be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines in a LAN, an intranet, an extranet, or the Internet. While only a single device is illustrated, the computer system 800 may include any collection of devices that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. Accordingly, any reference in the disclosure and / or claimsto a computer system, computing system, computer device, computing device, control system, control unit, electronic control unit (ECU), processor device, processing circuitry, etc., includes reference to one or more such devices to individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. For example, control system may include a single control unit or a plurality of control units connected or otherwise communicatively coupled to each other, such that any performed function may be distributed between the control units as desired. Further, such devices may communicate with each other or other devices by various system architectures, such as directly or via a Controller Area Network (CAN) bus, etc.

[0157] The computer system 800 may comprise at least one computing device or electronic device capable of including firmware, hardware, and / or executing software instructions to implement the functionality described herein. The computer system 800 may include processing circuitry 802 (e.g., processing circuitry including one or more processor devices or control units), a memory 804, and a system bus 806. The computer system 800 may include at least one computing device having the processing circuitry 802. The system bus 806 provides an interface for system components including, but not limited to, the memory 804 and the processing circuitry 802. The processing circuitry 802 may include any number of hardware components for conducting data or signal processing or for executing computer code stored in memory 804. The processing circuitry 802 may, for example, include a general-purpose processor, an application specific processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), a circuit containing processing components, a group of distributed processing components, a group of distributed computers configured for processing, or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. The processing circuitry 802 may further include computer executable code that controls operation of the programmable device.

[0158] The system bus 806 may be any of several types of bus structures that may further interconnect to a memory bus (with or without a memory controller), a peripheral bus, and / or a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. The memory 804 may be one or more devices for storing data and / or computer code for completing or facilitating methods described herein. The memory 804 may include database components, object codecomponents, script components, or other types of information structure for supporting the various activities herein. Any distributed or local memory device may be utilized with the systems and methods of this description. The memory 804 may be communicably connected to the processing circuitry 802 (e.g., via a circuit or any other wired, wireless, or network connection) and may include computer code for executing one or more processes described herein. The memory 804 may include non-volatile memory 808 (e.g., read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), etc.), and volatile memory 810 (e.g., randomaccess memory (RAM)), or any other medium which can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of machine-executable instructions or data structures and which can be accessed by a computer or other machine with processing circuitry 802. A basic input / output system (BIOS) 812 may be stored in the non-volatile memory 808 and can include the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within the computer system 800.

[0159] The computer system 800 may further include or be coupled to a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium such as the storage device 814, which may comprise, for example, an internal or external hard disk drive (HDD) (e.g., enhanced integrated drive electronics (EIDE) or serial advanced technology attachment (SATA)), HDD (e.g., EIDE or SATA) for storage, flash memory, or the like. The storage device 814 and other drives associated with computer-readable media and computer-usable media may provide nonvolatile storage of data, data structures, computer-executable instructions, and the like.

[0160] Computer-code which is hard or soft coded may be provided in the form of one or more modules. The module(s) can be implemented as software and / or hard-coded in circuitry to implement the functionality described herein in whole or in part. The modules may be stored in the storage device 814 and / or in the volatile memory 810, which may include an operating system 816 and / or one or more program modules 818. All or a portion of the examples disclosed herein may be implemented as a computer program 820 stored on a transitory or non-transitory computer-usable or computer-readable storage medium (e.g., single medium or multiple media), such as the storage device 814, which includes complex programming instructions (e.g., complex computer-readable program code) to cause the processing circuitry 802 to carry out actions described herein. Thus, the computer-readable program code of the computer program 820 can comprise software instructions forimplementing the functionality of the examples described herein when executed by the processing circuitry 802. In some examples, the storage device 814 may be a computer program product (e.g., readable storage medium) storing the computer program 820 thereon, where at least a portion of a computer program 820 may be loadable (e.g., into a processor) for implementing the functionality of the examples described herein when executed by the processing circuitry 802. The processing circuitry 802 may serve as a controller or control system for the computer system 800 that is to implement the functionality described herein.

[0161] The computer system 800 may include an input device interface 822 configured to receive input and selections to be communicated to the computer system 800 when executing instructions, such as from a keyboard, mouse, touch-sensitive surface, etc. Such input devices may be connected to the processing circuitry 802 through the input device interface 822 coupled to the system bus 806 but can be connected through other interfaces, such as a parallel port, an Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 1394 serial port, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port, an IR interface, and the like. The computer system 800 may include an output device interface 824 configured to forward output, such as to a display, a video display unit (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a cathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer system 800 may include a communications interface 826 suitable for communicating with a network as appropriate or desired.

[0162] Example 1 : A computer system 800 comprising processing circuitry 802 configured to:• monitor connectivity of at least one vehicle 100 in an area 103 and to a wireless communication network 105, wherein the at least one vehicle 100 operates in a first operating mode;• determine that the connectivity of the at least one vehicle 100 is below a first threshold; and to• when the connectivity is below the first threshold, determine a precautionary activity by• changing a term for entering or operating the at least one vehicle 100 within the area 103

[0163] Example 2: The computer system 800 of example 1, wherein the processing circuitry 802 is further configured to: when the precautionary activity has been determined, determine to initiate rerouting of the approaching vehicles 100 to another area.

[0164] Example 3: The computer system 800 of any of examples 1-2, wherein the processing circuitry 802 is further configured to when the connectivity is below the first threshold, determine to deactivate or limit vehicle communication that is not time critical or that is not critical for basic vehicle operation.

[0165] Example 4: The computer system 800 of any of examples 1-3, wherein the processing circuitry 802 is further configured to:• detect that the connectivity of the at least one vehicle 100 is below a second threshold; and to• when the connectivity is below the second threshold, determine to limit or block the at least• one vehicle 100 from entering a second operation mode, wherein the second operation mode• has higher bandwidth requirements than the first operation mode.

[0166] Example 5: The computer system 800 of example 4, wherein the second operation mode is a tele operation mode.

[0167] Example 6: The computer system 800 of any of examples 1-5, wherein the processing circuitry 802 is further configured to: determine, that the connectivity will be below the first threshold at a future time instance; and to determine to reduce speed of the at least one vehicle 100 before the connectivity becomes below the first threshold.

[0168] Example 7: The computer system 800 of any of examples 1-6, wherein the monitored connectivity is represented by one or both of: at least one radio quality parameter; and / or at least one connectivity performance parameter.

[0169] Example 8: The computer system 800 of any of examples 1-7, wherein the first operating mode is an at least partly autonomous operating mode or a manual operating mode.

[0170] Example 9: The computer system 800 of any of examples 1-8, wherein the precautionary activity comprises to stop an approaching vehicle 100 from entering the area 103

[0171] Example 10: The computer system 800 of any of examples 1-9, wherein the processing circuitry 802 is further configured to determine the first threshold by:• performing N simulations of the vehicle’s 100 bandwidth consumption, wherein the N simulations are performed for M number of predefined bandwidth thresholds, and wherein N and M are positive integers;• logging latency data for each simulation N;• determining a maximum latency amongst the logged latency data; and• if the maximum latency for simulation N is lower than a latency threshold, determining the first threshold to be the predefined bandwidth threshold used in simulation N.

[0172] Example 11: The computer system 800 of any of examples 1-1, wherein the processing circuitry 802 is further configured to dynamically set the first threshold based on available bandwidth or predicted bandwidth.

[0173] Example 12: The computer system 800 of any of examples 1-11, wherein the processing circuitry 802 is further configured to:• monitor latency during the vehicle’s bandwidth consumption;• determine to reduce the first threshold when the monitored latency is above a latency threshold; and to• determine to increase the first threshold when the monitored latency is constant or reduced.

[0174] Examplel3: A vehicle 100 comprising a computer system of any of examples 1- 12.

[0175] Example 14: The vehicle 100 of example 13, wherein the at least one vehicle 100 is an at least partly autonomous vehicle.

[0176] Example 15: A computer-implemented method, comprising:• monitoring 400, 700, by processing circuitry 802 of a computer system 800, connectivity of at least one vehicle 100 in an area 103 and to a wireless communication network 105, wherein the at least one vehicle 100 operates in a first operating mode;• determining 402, 701, by the processing circuitry 802, that the connectivity of the at least one vehicle 100 is below a first threshold; and• when the connectivity is below the first threshold, determining 403, 702, by the processing circuitry 802, a precautionary activity by changing a term for entering or operating the at least one vehicle 100 within the area 103.

[0177] Example 16: The method of example 15, further comprising: when the precautionary activity has been determined, determining 703, by the processing circuitry 802, to initiate rerouting of the approaching vehicle 100 to another area.

[0178] Example 17: The method of any of examples 15-16, further comprising: when the connectivity is below the first threshold, determining 704, by the processing circuitry 802, to deactivate or limit vehicle communication that is not time critical or that is not critical for basic vehicle operation.

[0179] Example 18: The method of any of examples 15-17, further comprising:• detecting 705, by the processing circuitry 802, that the connectivity of the at least one vehicle 100 is below a second threshold; and• when the connectivity is below the second threshold, determining 706, by the processing circuitry 802, to limit or block the at least one vehicle 100 from entering a second operation mode, wherein the second operation mode has higher bandwidth requirements than the first operation mode.

[0180] Example 19: The method of example 18, wherein the second operation mode is a tele operation mode.

[0181] Example 20: The method of any of examples 15-19, further comprising:• determining 707, by the processing circuitry 802, that the connectivity will be below the first threshold at a future time instance; and• determining 708, by the processing circuitry 802, to reduce speed of the at least one vehicle 100 before the connectivity becomes below the first threshold.

[0182] Example 21 : The method of any of examples 15-20, wherein the monitored connectivity is represented by one or both of: at least one radio quality parameter; and / or at least one connectivity performance parameter.

[0183] Example 22: The method of any of examples 15-21 wherein the first operating mode is an at least partly autonomous operating mode or a manual operating mode.

[0184] Example 23: The method of any of examples 15-22, wherein the precautionary activity comprises to stop an approaching vehicle 100 from entering the area 103.

[0185] Example 24: The method of any of examples 15-23, further comprising:• determining 401, by the processing circuitry 802, the first threshold by: o performing, by the processing circuitry 802, N simulations of the vehicle’s bandwidth consumption, wherein the N simulations are performed for Mnumber of predefined bandwidth thresholds, and wherein N and M are positive integers; o logging, by the processing circuitry 802, latency data for each simulation N; o determining, by the processing circuitry 802, a maximum latency amongst the logged latency data; and o if the maximum latency for simulation N is lower than a latency threshold, determining, by the processing circuitry 802, the first threshold to be the predefined bandwidth threshold used in simulation N.

[0186] Example 25: The method of any of examples 15-24, further comprising: dynamically setting 401, by the processing circuitry 802, the first threshold based on available bandwidth or predicted bandwidth.

[0187] Example 26: The method of any of examples 15-25: further comprising:• monitoring 404 latency during the vehicle’s bandwidth consumption;• determining 405 to reduce the first threshold when the monitored latency is above a latency threshold; and• determining 406 to increase the first threshold when the monitored latency is constant or reduced.

[0188] Example 27: A computer program product comprising program code for performing, when executed by a processing circuitry 802, the method of any of examples 15- 25.

[0189] Example 28: A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions, which when executed by a processing circuitry 802, cause the processing circuitry 802 to perform the method of any of examples 15-25.

[0190] The operational actions described in any of the exemplary aspects herein are described to provide examples and discussion. The actions may be performed by hardware components, may be embodied in machine-executable instructions to cause a processor to perform the actions, or may be performed by a combination of hardware and software. Although a specific order of method actions may be shown or described, the order of the actions may differ. In addition, two or more actions may be performed concurrently or with partial concurrence.

[0191] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular aspects only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms"a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes," and / or "including" when used herein specify the presence of stated features, integers, actions, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, actions, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0192] It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc., may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0193] Relative terms such as "below" or "above" or "upper" or "lower" or "horizontal" or "vertical" may be used herein to describe a relationship of one element to another element as illustrated in the Figures. It will be understood that these terms and those discussed above are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in addition to the orientation depicted in the Figures. It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected" or "coupled" to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element, or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being "directly connected" or "directly coupled" to another element, there are no intervening elements present.

[0194] Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. It will be further understood that terms used herein should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with their meaning in the context of this specification and the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

[0195] It is to be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the aspects described above and illustrated in the drawings; rather, the skilled person will recognize that many changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the present disclosure and appended claims. In the drawings and specification, there have been disclosed aspects forpurposes of illustration only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the disclosure being set forth in the following claims.

Claims

ClaimsWhat is claimed is:

1. A computer system (800) comprising processing circuitry (802) configured to: monitor connectivity of at least one vehicle (100) in an area (103) and to a wireless communication network (105), wherein the at least one vehicle (100) operates in a first operating mode; determine that the connectivity of the at least one vehicle (100) is below a first threshold; and to when the connectivity is below the first threshold, determine a precautionary activity by changing a term for entering or operating the at least one vehicle (100) within the area (103).

2. The computer system (800) of claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry (802) is further configured to: when the precautionary activity has been determined, determine to initiate rerouting of the approaching vehicles (100) to another area.

3. The computer system (800) of any of claims 1-2, wherein the processing circuitry (802) is further configured to: when the connectivity is below the first threshold, determine to deactivate or limit vehicle communication that is not time critical or that is not critical for basic vehicle operation.

4. The computer system (800) of any of claims 1-3, wherein the processing circuitry (802) further configured to: detect that the connectivity of the at least one vehicle (100) is below a second threshold; and to when the connectivity is below the second threshold, determine to limit or block the at least one vehicle (100) from entering a second operation mode, wherein the second operation mode has higher bandwidth requirements than the first operation mode.

5. The computer system (800) of any of claims 1-4, wherein the processing circuitry(802) is further configured to: determine, that the connectivity will be below the first threshold at a future time instance; and to determine to reduce speed of the at least one vehicle (100) before the connectivity becomes below the first threshold.

6. The computer system (800) of any of claims 1-5, wherein the monitored connectivity is represented by one or both of:- at least one radio quality parameter; and / or- at least one connectivity performance parameter.

7. The computer system (800) of any of claims 1-6, wherein the precautionary activity comprises to stop an approaching vehicle (100) from entering the area (103).

8. The computer system (800) of any of claims 1-7, wherein the wherein the processing circuitry (802) is further configured to determine the first threshold by:• performing N simulations of the vehicle’s (100) bandwidth consumption, wherein the N simulations are performed for M number of predefined bandwidth thresholds, and wherein N and M are positive integers;• logging latency data for each simulation N;• determining a maximum latency amongst the logged latency data; and if the maximum latency for simulation N is lower than a latency threshold, determining the first threshold to be the predefined bandwidth threshold used in simulation N.

9. The computer system (800) of any of claims 1-8, wherein the wherein the processing circuitry (802) is further configured to dynamically set the first threshold based on available bandwidth or predicted bandwidth.

10. The computer system (800) of any of claims 1-9, wherein the processing circuitry (802) is further configured to:monitor latency during the vehicle’s bandwidth consumption; determine to reduce the first threshold when the monitored latency is above a latency threshold; and to determine to increase the first threshold when the monitored latency is constant or reduced.

11. A vehicle (100) comprising a computer system (800) of any of claims 1-10.

12. A computer-implemented method, comprising: monitoring (400, 700), by processing circuitry (802) of a computer system (800), connectivity of at least one vehicle (100) in an area (103) and to a wireless communication network (105) wherein the at least one vehicle (100) operates in a first operating mode; determining (402, 701), by the processing circuitry (802), that the connectivity of the at least one vehicle (100) is below a first threshold; and when the connectivity is below the first threshold, determining (403, 702), by the processing circuitry (802), a precautionary activity by changing a term for entering or operating the at least one vehicle (100) within the area (103.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising: when the precautionary activity has been determined, determining (703), by the processing circuitry (802), to initiate rerouting of the approaching vehicle (100) to another area.

14. A computer program product comprising program code for performing, when executed by a processing circuitry (802), the method of any of claims 12-13.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions, which when executed by a processing circuitry (802), cause the processing circuitry (802) to perform the method of any of claims 12-13.

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