Mobile Mesh Network Routing for Fleet Connectivity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Contemporary transportation systems face challenges in maintaining network connectivity and navigation for fleet vehicles in areas with limited line of sight or network coverage, such as tunnels and densely forested areas, which degrades the operability of dynamic transportation management systems, and integrating cellular data services can be expensive.
Innovation Solution
A mobile mesh network provisioning system that dynamically determines data routes based on mobile node participation variability, allowing fleet vehicles to maintain communication through a network of mobile nodes, even in obstructed areas, by configuring wireless communications modules and logic devices to transmit and receive data efficiently.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If cellular data services are integrated into each fleet vehicle to maintain network connectivity, then communication reliability is improved, but hardware installation cost and recurring service fees increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple fleet vehicles into a single mesh network system where vehicles share communication resources. Instead of each vehicle having independent cellular services, the system merges their communication capabilities into a collective network that achieves reliability through redundancy and collaboration among vehicles.
Solution Approach 2:
The mesh network infrastructure serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides communication relay, enables data routing, and offers navigation assistance. This multi-functional approach eliminates the need for separate dedicated systems, reducing overall hardware and service costs while maintaining reliability.
2Reliability
If stationary mesh networks are deployed to provide network coverage in obstructed areas, then communication reliability is improved, but installation and maintenance cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system transitions from a static stationary mesh network to a dynamic mobile mesh network where vehicles themselves become the network nodes. This dynamic approach allows the network to adapt to vehicle movements and deployments, eliminating the need for fixed infrastructure installation and maintenance while maintaining coverage in obstructed areas.
Solution Approach 2:
The mobile mesh network is self-configuring and self-maintaining through automated protocols. Vehicles automatically join the network, establish connections, and route data without requiring manual installation or maintenance intervention, significantly reducing deployment and operational costs compared to stationary infrastructure.
3Ease of manufacture
If a mobile mesh network is implemented using fleet vehicles as mobile nodes, then network deployment cost is reduced, but data transmission reliability may deteriorate due to mobile node variability
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where the logic device continuously monitors network conditions, mobile node availability, and data transmission status. Based on this feedback, it dynamically adjusts routing decisions to select optimal paths through the mesh network, compensating for the variability of mobile nodes and maintaining transmission reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The logic device changes routing parameters dynamically based on current network conditions. When mobile nodes become unavailable or network conditions deteriorate, the system adjusts route selection, transmission power, and data forwarding behavior to maintain reliable communication despite the mobile and variable nature of the network nodes.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques are disclosed for systems and methods to provision a mobile mesh network. A mobile mesh network provisioning system includes a wireless communications module configured to be physically coupled to a fleet vehicle and to form at least a part of a mobile mesh network including a plurality of mobile nodes corresponding to a respective plurality of fleet vehicles, and a logic device configured to communicate with the wireless communications module. The logic device is configured to determine a data route through at least a portion of the mobile mesh network based, at least in part, on a target data destination and a mobile node participation variability associated with the mobile mesh network, and to transmit fleet data associated with the fleet vehicle along the determined data route.