On-Board Unit Wireless Interface Selection for Vehicular Networks
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Solution Overview
Problem
In vehicular environments, achieving continuous and cost-optimized external network connectivity while ensuring secure communication between disparate in-vehicle network subsystems and controlling information flow is challenging due to the mobile nature of vehicles, multiple networking technologies, and the need for seamless mobility handoffs and access control.
Innovation Solution
The system employs an on-board unit (OBU) with multiple wireless interfaces and a central hub to select the most cost-efficient wireless interface based on policy-driven criteria, providing seamless mobility and secure access control through policy-based interface selection, traffic processing, and information flow control, enabling continuous connectivity and secure data exchange.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple wireless interfaces are used to ensure continuous connectivity in vehicular environments, then network availability and mobility handoff capability are improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a gateway device as an intermediary that manages multiple wireless interfaces (cellular, Wi-Fi, WiMAX) and handles network selection, authentication, and handoff operations. This mediator abstracts the complexity from the end devices while maintaining reliable multi-network connectivity, allowing the system to achieve high reliability without proportionally increasing device complexity at each endpoint.
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway device is designed with multi-functionality, serving as a central management point for multiple wireless networks, authentication server, and traffic router simultaneously. By consolidating these functions in a universal device, the system avoids duplicating complex functionality across multiple individual devices, thereby improving reliability through diverse network paths while controlling overall system complexity.
2Reliability
If policy-based access control is implemented to secure communication between in-vehicle subsystems, then security and access control are improved, but device complexity and processing overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway device serves as an intermediary that implements policy-based access control for communications between in-vehicle subsystems. It evaluates access policies, authenticates devices, and controls information flow between subsystems centrally, rather than requiring each subsystem to implement its own complex security logic. This approach improves security while minimizing the complexity burden on individual subsystems.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements policy evaluation mechanisms that continuously monitor communication requests against defined access policies. The gateway device receives feedback about network conditions, device identities, and communication patterns, dynamically applying or adjusting access control decisions based on policy rules. This feedback-driven approach ensures robust security without requiring overly complex predetermined control logic in each device.
Data Source
AI summary
A method in one embodiment includes intercepting a message in an on-board unit (OBU) of a vehicular network environment between a source and a receiver in the vehicular network environment, verifying the message is sent from the source, verifying the message is not altered, evaluating a set of source flow control policies associated with the source, and blocking the message if the set of source flow control policies indicate the message is not permitted. In specific embodiments, the message is not permitted if a level of access assigned to the source in the set of source flow control policies does not match a level of access tagged on the message. In further embodiments, the method includes evaluating a set of receiver flow control policies associated with the receiver, and blocking the message if the set of receiver flow control policies indicates the message is not permitted.