Mobile Machine Networking with Multi-Domain Data Routing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Challenges in establishing and maintaining electronic communications between mobile machines in outdoor environments with obstacles and adverse conditions, such as trees, hills, dust, rain, and snow, which hinder effective coordination and data sharing for agricultural and construction tasks.
Innovation Solution
A system with onboard communications and control systems using a persistent, transient, and announcement domain for data routing and decentralized data storage, ensuring redundancy through dual communication methods (machine-to-machine and external networks) and synchronized data pools across machines and offboard computing systems.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If machines operate in large outdoor fields with obstacles and adverse conditions, then the working information sharing capability is improved, but the communication reliability deteriorates due to obstacles such as trees, hills, buildings, dust, rain and snow exceeding communication range
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an offboard computing system as an intermediary that receives working information from mobile machines via persistent domain communication and redistributes it to other machines. This mediator architecture allows machines to share information indirectly when direct communication is blocked by obstacles, thereby maintaining communication reliability while enabling working information sharing across large outdoor fields.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds a new communication dimension by implementing multiple communication domains (persistent domain, transient domain, announcement domain) rather than relying on a single direct machine-to-machine communication channel. This multi-dimensional communication approach provides alternative paths for information transmission, overcoming the limitation of single-path communication in obstacle-filled environments.
2Speed
If direct machine-to-machine communication is used, then the communication speed is improved, but the system reliability deteriorates when communication disruptions occur in challenging environments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements different communication domains with different quality characteristics: persistent domain for reliable but slower communication, transient domain for faster but less reliable communication, and announcement domain for service discovery. The routing service selects the appropriate domain based on data type and communication requirements, providing locally optimized communication paths that balance speed and reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent prepares for communication disruptions by establishing multiple communication paths and domains in advance. The persistent domain maintains long-term communication channels, while the offboard computing system pre-establishes information distribution mechanisms, cushioning against the impact of communication disruptions before they occur.
3Loss of information
If decentralized data storage is implemented across mobile machines, then the data availability is improved, but the data synchronization complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The offboard computing system acts as a mediator that collects working information from all mobile machines through persistent domain communication, maintains a centralized data pool, and distributes updated information to all machines. This intermediary approach ensures data availability across the system while the mediator handles the complex task of data synchronization, reducing the burden on individual machines.
Solution Approach 2:
The persistent domain serves multiple functions: it provides reliable communication channels for data transmission, maintains data consistency across machines, and enables both direct machine-to-machine and indirect machine-to-offboard communication. This multi-functional design reduces overall system complexity by consolidating multiple functions into a single communication infrastructure.
Data Source
AI summary
A plurality of mobile machines each includes an onboard communications and control system configured to communicate with each of the other machines using a persistent domain for communicating persistent data, using a transient domain for communicating transient data, and using an announcement domain for communicating announcement data. Each of the onboard communications and control systems includes a routing service to route data via one of the persistent communications domain, the transient communications domain and the announcement communications domain depending on the nature of the data. The routing service only routes data via the persistent communications domain and the transient communications domain to other machines that are part of the same work group.