339 results about "Vehicular communication systems" patented technology

Device, system and method, in a vehicle communication system, to transmit wirelessly a message comprising the position, heading and speed of a vehicle or other moving object, wherein the transmission is repeated at regular intervals in a temporarily fixed time slot within a predetermined basic time interval. In a key embodiment the message duration is equal to or less than a predetermined time slot duration. Embodiments use generally the same time slot in a contiguous sequence of basic time intervals. Algorithms are described to resolve wireless interference within a time slot. Embodiments divide the basic time interval in multiple durations, “class regions,” for different message classes. Embodiments use different wireless bandwidth allocation algorithms for the class regions.

A vehicle communication system facilitates hands-free interaction with a mobile device in a vehicle or elsewhere. Users interact with the system by speaking to it. The system processes text and processes commands. The system supports Bluetooth wireless technology for hands-free use. The system handles telephone calls, email, and SMS text messages. The user can customize the device via a user profile stored on an Internet web server.

A low power self-organizing network is made up of a plurality of wireless communication nodes communicating wirelessly with each other. The nodes each have a sensor providing a respective sensor data value indicative of a physical parameter in the environment of that node. The wireless network discontinues communication with any nodes in which the sensor data value is outside a range of network sensor data values. The network is preferably a group of vehicles moving together, especially a train in which each node is associated with a respective wheel of a railroad car. The nodes are low-power devices that communicate using wireless communications according to a Zigbee protocol. The nodes each have an additional sensor sensing a physical parameter the respective wheel thereof and determines from said electrical signal a degree of degradation of a bearing of the wheel, and transmits data of the degree of degradation to the main node. The main node communicates with another computer system using a higher power communication system and transmits thereto data indicative of degradation of said bearings.

A communication system architecture (SA) for a vehicle which may be integrated into the vehicle's multiplexed electronic component communication system, and a process for communicating with the vehicle to provide information for and about the vehicle's operational status and coordinating the vehicle's activities. The communication system will include a multi-functional antenna system for the vehicle that will have the capability to receive AM / FM radio and television signals, and transmit and receive citizens band (CB) radio signals, satellite and microwave and cellular phone communications. The antenna may be installed as original equipment or as a back-fit part in the after-market. In either case the multi-functional antenna will be integrated with the vehicle's multiplexed electronic component communication system. The process for communicating with the vehicle will involve a communication service for which the vehicle's driver will enroll for and service will continue so long as maintenance fees are paid. The service will be capable of providing various levels of information transfer and coordination. The levels may include vehicle information such as (1) the need for servicing and location of the nearest service center with the necessary parts in stock, (2) routing, and (3) load brokering and coordination. The modular design of the system architecture (SA) will allow it to be employed with the vehicle platform that does not possess a full multiplexed electronic component communications system. The resulting vehicle, using an after-market application package, will be able to participate in some of the services.

Device, system and method, in a vehicle communication system, of transmitting a risk value in a message, wherein the risk value identifies quantitatively a risk of vehicle collision. Embodiments determine risk value by combining sub-risk values wherein sub-risks comprise: (i) vehicle behavior; (ii) weather and road conditions; (iii) current traffic; and (iv) location history. Embodiments include driver warnings responsive to the risk value in a received message. Embodiments include a collision type in a message. Embodiments include unique features of: risk is applicable to receiving vehicles; risk is applicable to a geographical region; computation and storage of location histories; messages free of IP and MAC addresses; haptic devices used for driver warning.

Accident avoidance system for a host vehicle includes a global positioning system residing on the host vehicle for determining the host vehicle's location as the host vehicle travels based on signals received from one or more satellites, a map database having digital maps corresponding to an area including the location of the host vehicle as determined by the global positioning system, a vehicle-to-vehicle communication system residing on the host vehicle operative for receiving signals including location information acquired by global positioning systems residing on other vehicles directly from the other vehicles indicating the locations of the other vehicles, and a navigation system including a display residing on the host vehicle for displaying images to an occupant of the host vehicle showing the digital maps and indications of the locations of the host vehicle and the other vehicles on the digital maps. The navigation system also updates the images shown on the navigation system display to reflect changes in the locations of the host vehicle and the other vehicles.

A vehicle communication system facilitates hands-free interaction with a mobile device in a vehicle or elsewhere. Users interact with the system by speaking to it. The system processes text and processes commands. The system supports Bluetooth wireless technology for hands-free use. The system handles telephone calls, email, and SMS text messages. The user can customize the device via a user profile stored on an Internet web server.

A method is provided for efficiently processing messages staged for authentication in a security layer of a protocol stack in a wireless vehicle-to-vehicle communication system. The vehicle-to-vehicle communication system includes a host vehicle receiver for receiving messages transmitted by one or more remote vehicles. The host receiver is configured to authenticate received messages in a security layer of a protocol stack. A wireless message broadcast by a remote vehicle is received. The wireless message contains characteristic data of the remote vehicle. The characteristic data is analyzed for determining whether the wireless message is in compliance with a predetermined parameter of the host vehicle. The wireless message is discarded prior to a transfer of the wireless message to the security layer in response to a determination that the wireless message is not in compliance with the predetermined parameter of the host vehicle. Otherwise, the wireless message is transferred to the security layer.

Device, system and method, in a vehicle communication system, of providing guidance, route and safety information to a driver. Embodiments use the observation and storage of signal light timing information to make recommendations. Embodiments include computation of future times of signal light changes. Embodiments use information relating to the number of vehicles, location of vehicles, and speed of vehicles in a plurality of lanes approaching a signal to recommend lane changes to a driver. Embodiments include receiving timing information wirelessly about signal timing. Embodiments include using historical information to compute a risk value for a location and then generating a recommendation to a driver responsive to that risk value. Embodiments include using speed of travel on route options to compute an expected travel time, and then generating a recommendation to a driver responsive to those computed travel times.

A vehicle communication system facilitates hands-free interaction with a mobile device in a vehicle or elsewhere. Users interact with the system by speaking to it. The system processes text and processes commands. The system supports Bluetooth wireless technology for hands-free use. The system handles telephone calls, email, and SMS text messages. The user can customize the device via a user profile stored on an Internet web server.

Device, system and method, in a vehicle communication system, of generating a location by the use of combining the rough locations of a “consensus set” of vehicles within wireless communication range to produce more accurate locations of the vehicles in the consensus set. Unique features of some embodiments include the continual re-computation and re-adjustment of both the vehicles in the consensus set and the more accurate locations. Embodiments use sensors on a first vehicle, such as cameras, sonar, radar and LIDAR to determine the relative location of the second vehicle to the first vehicle. Embodiments use this relative location in the computation of the more accurate locations. Algorithms are described for the computation, communication, convergence and updating of the more accurate locations. Algorithms are described for generation and update of the consensus set.

A method of optimizing a vehicle-to-vehicle communication system is described. One embodiment uses a set of desired and defined metrics of success, combined with pre-recorded operating histories, combined with a series of simulations to optimize certain specific parameters in the vehicle-to-vehicle communication protocol.

A vehicle communication system facilitates hands-free interaction with a mobile device in a vehicle or elsewhere. Users interact with the system by speaking to it. The system processes text and processes commands. The system supports Bluetooth wireless technology for hands-free use. The system handles telephone calls, email, and SMS text messages. The user can customize the device via a user profile stored on an Internet web server.

A method is provided for generating on-demand cryptographic keys in a vehicle-to-vehicle communication system. At least one unique identifier is obtained relating to a user of the vehicle. The host vehicle generates cryptographic keys for encrypting, decrypting, and authenticating secured messages between the host vehicle and at least one remote vehicle in the vehicle-to-vehicle communication system. The cryptographic keys are generated as a function of the at least one unique identifier. A respective cryptographic key used to decrypt or encrypt messages communicated between the host vehicle and the at least one remote entity is temporarily stored in a memory device of the host vehicle. The host vehicle utilizes the respective cryptographic key to decrypt or encrypt a secure message transmitted between the host vehicle and the remote vehicle. The respective cryptographic key temporarily stored in the memory device of the host vehicle is deleted after the vehicle-to-vehicle communications of the host vehicle is disabled.

A low power self-organizing network is made up of a plurality of wireless communication nodes communicating wirelessly with each other. The nodes each have a sensor providing a respective sensor data value indicative of a physical parameter in the environment of that node. The wireless network discontinues communication with any nodes in which the sensor data value is outside a range of network sensor data values. The network is preferably a group of vehicles moving together, especially a train in which each node is associated with a respective wheel of a railroad car. The nodes are low-power devices that communicate using wireless communications according to a Zigbee protocol. The nodes each have an additional sensor sensing a physical parameter the respective wheel thereof and determines from said electrical signal a degree of degradation of a bearing of the wheel, and transmits data of the degree of degradation to the main node. The main node communicates with another computer system using a higher power communication system and transmits thereto data indicative of degradation of said bearings.

A vehicle expression operation control system and vehicle communication system for performing an expression operation to generate an easily understood expression and a vehicle for performing an expression operation. Condition and other information about a vehicle is detected by an operation information collecting section (12) and detected data collection section (14), and supplied to a reaction formulating section (26). Based on current status information of the vehicle held in a state recognizing section (24), the reaction formulating section (26) formulates a reaction and controls performance of an expression operation corresponding to the formulated reaction. Further, based on the reaction formulated, an operation control section (28) controls operation of respective devices equipped to the vehicle, including lights, antennae, and the like, so that the vehicle performs such expression operation.

A roadside-to-vehicle communication system for providing a mobile station with application service by utilizing roadside-to-vehicle communication implemented between the mobile station that travels on a road and a base station system installed along the road provides non-network-type communication protocols that can implement diverse application services, even when the mobile station is moving. The roadside-to-vehicle communication system includes transfer service processing entities for implementing data transfer among applications and transaction management entities have undelivered data resenders, data send / receive for each message, and a message segmenter / assembler that provides unidirectional data transmission and request-response transaction services.

The present invention provides a method of operating a telematics enabled mobile vehicle communication system. The method includes receiving vehicle diagnostic information at a relational database and analyzing the received vehicle diagnostic information. The method further includes identifying data correlations of interest identifying common elements associated with one or more specific situations based on the analyzed vehicle diagnostic information and identifying at least one client related to the data correlations. The method may further include distributing the vehicle diagnostic information associated with the identified data correlations and the identified clients. The step of identifying data correlations of interest based on the analyzed vehicle diagnostic information may include receiving diagnostic criteria, applying the diagnostic criteria to the analyzed vehicle diagnostic information, and determining whether one or more diagnostic information groups of the analyzed vehicle diagnostic information correlate to the diagnostic criteria.

A radio linked vehicle communication system for text messaging, traffic light control, resource management and traffic monitoring, designed to establish the location of emergency vehicles and related privately owned vehicles within their vicinity and have this information relayed to a third party using conventional electronic devices. Specifically to notify the privately owned vehicle or vehicles in close proximity of an emergency vehicle of their presence, so as to avoid possible accidents and to relay this information to a third party to be recorded and verified. Additional benefits of the system would be the ability of having interrogators, either mobile, aircraft of in a fixed location that could identify and personalize specific vehicles for investigation purposes and to provide a mobile repeater system.

A vehicle communication system is provide with a host vehicle two way communication device, an omni-directional antenna, a bi-directional antenna, a vehicle positioning component, a vehicle map component and at least one of a vehicle broadcast power modulating component and a bidirectional antenna aiming component. The vehicle map component includes road data with roads being classified by at least one of a road segment attribute. The vehicle broadcast power modulating component selectively varies broadcast power of the omni-directional antenna and broadcast power of the bi-directional antenna based on a road segment attribute of a road on which the host vehicle is traveling on as determined by the vehicle positioning component. The bi-directional antenna aiming component aims the bi-directional antenna based on at least one of traffic information received by the communication device and the road segment attribute of the road on which the host vehicle is traveling on.

A vehicle communication system provides several ways of choosing destinations for the navigation system outside the vehicle. The user can choose a destination using the mobile device in one of several ways such as by typing an address, or choosing an address or phone number from a contact list, so that the navigation system can obtain the destination information from the mobile device. Destination information can also be sent to the mobile device via email, so that the navigation system can pull the destination information from the email. In another feature, traffic updates are provided to the navigation system.

To perform communication speedily and reliably at an increased frequency of communication occurrence when providing multiple antenna units which are set to the same frequency, each of antenna units having a gantry in a tollgate is set such that adjacent antenna units having the same frequency alternately perform communications. Each communication period is set to have a down link period in which an interrogation signal is transmitted and an up link period in which an unmodulated carrier wave is transmitted while a response signal is received. Upon receiving a signal, an on-vehicle device generates a response signal by using a control circuit and transmits the signal by reflection, and fixes a communication party for further communications. The communication cycles of adjacent antenna units are shifted from each other, thereby avoiding interference. The down link periods and the up link periods coincide between the antenna units whose communication areas are apart from each other, thereby avoiding interference.

A vehicle communication system facilitates hands-free interaction with a mobile device in a vehicle or elsewhere. The invention also provides remote access to information such as existing news sources (i.e. existing RSS feeds) and supported websites. This also includes subscription to value-added services including: weather, custom alerts (i.e. stock price triggers), traffic conditions, personalized news, e-books (not limited to audio books, but any e-book), personalized audio feeds, and personalized image or video feeds for passengers. The system obtains, translates, and provides personalized news content in audible form within a vehicle without explicit user requests. An individual may set their preferences by selecting from a set of common sources of information, or by specifying custom search criteria. When new information is available and relevant to the individual's preferences, it is read out loud to the individual when appropriate. Appropriate instances can be specified by the individual using a combination of in-vehicle presence detection, time-of-day, and importance of the information relative to other personal events including email, phone calls, meetings and text messages.

A method is directed to providing a custom message set within a vehicle message service system. The method includes receiving at least one vehicle message service request, determining at least one set of vehicle parameters based on the at least one received vehicle message service request, requesting at least one vehicle message for each of the at least one set of vehicle parameters from a database, and generating the custom message set responsive to the vehicle messages. The method may further include transmitting the generated custom message set to a vehicle client. The step of generating the custom message set responsive to the received vehicle parameters may include receiving a vehicle message for each of the at least one set of vehicle parameters from the database and producing an object including the vehicle messages.

The present invention relates to a vehicle communication system comprising a plurality of microphones adapted to detect speech signals of different vehicle passengers, a mixer combining the audio signal components of the different microphones to a resulting speech output signal, a weighting unit determining the weighting of the audio signal components for the resulting speech output signal, where the weighting unit determines the weighting of the signal components based upon non-acoustical information about the presence of a vehicle passenger.

A vehicle has a dashboard, a windshield, a driver area with a steering wheel. A transceiver transmits and receives digital data for both text messages and voice messages. A voice activated wireless electronic device with a keyboard and a screen is built into the dashboard. A voice assembly includes a speaker and a microphone. A text assembly includes a display mounted in the dashboard. A joystick is adapted to allow a driver to manipulate data on both the screen of the electronic device and the display. A central processing unit operatively couples the transceiver, electronic device, speaker, microphone, and joystick.

A method is directed to providing a custom message set within a vehicle message service system. The method includes receiving at least one vehicle message service request, determining at least one set of vehicle parameters based on the at least one received vehicle message service request, requesting at least one vehicle message for each of the at least one set of vehicle parameters from a database, and generating the custom message set responsive to the vehicle messages. The method may further include transmitting the generated custom message set to a vehicle client. The step of generating the custom message set responsive to the received vehicle parameters may include receiving a vehicle message for each of the at least one set of vehicle parameters from the database and producing an object including the vehicle messages.