Vehicle Reservation Memory Management via Server Mediator
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for sharing vehicles face challenges when vehicles are parked in areas without network coverage, as they cannot receive new access authorizations, leading to limitations in reservation and access due to memory constraints in the vehicle's memory.
Innovation Solution
A method that manages vehicle reservations by selecting and replacing older reservations with new ones when the memory is full, allowing for asynchronous memory updates via a mobile terminal, enabling access authorizations to be communicated even in areas without coverage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If access authorizations are stored directly in the vehicle's memory, then the vehicle can grant access independently, but the memory capacity is limited and cannot accommodate unlimited reservations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a server as an intermediary between the reservation system and the vehicle. The server stores reservation data and manages authorization, while the vehicle's memory only needs to store minimal access credentials. This mediator approach allows unlimited reservations to be managed without expanding the vehicle's physical memory capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a local representation (copy) of the vehicle's memory on the server. This virtual copy allows the server to manage reservations as if they were stored in the vehicle, enabling unlimited reservations while the actual vehicle memory remains constrained. The synchronization mechanism keeps the copy updated with the real memory state.
2Reliability
If the vehicle memory is updated synchronously with each reservation, then data consistency is maintained, but the system responsiveness and reservation speed are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements periodic synchronization instead of continuous synchronous updates. The server's local representation of the vehicle memory is updated at specific intervals or triggered by specific events (such as when the vehicle is next contacted). This periodic approach maintains data consistency while significantly improving reservation processing speed and system responsiveness.
3Reliability
If the vehicle is parked in an area without network coverage, then the vehicle remains accessible to current users, but new reservations cannot be transmitted to the vehicle
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary actions by maintaining a local representation of the vehicle's memory on the server before the vehicle enters no-coverage areas. Reservations are accepted and stored in the server's local representation in advance. When the vehicle is next contacted (either by the server or by a user's mobile terminal), the reserved authorizations are transmitted to the vehicle, enabling access even after the vehicle has been parked in areas without network coverage.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for managing authorization to access a shared vehicle, the vehicle having a memory dimensioned to simultaneously store a maximum number of reservations. The method includes obtaining a first reservation of a vehicle, searching, in a local representation of the memory of the vehicle, for an available location for storing the first reservation, and when there is no available location for storing the first reservation, selecting, from the reservations stored in the local representation of the vehicle's memory, a second reservation such that the start date of the second reservation is after the start date of the first reservation, storing the characteristics of the second reservation in a waiting list, replacing, in the local representation of the memory of the vehicle, the selected reservation with the first reservation, and transmitting, to the vehicle, a command to delete the second reservation, and a command to add the first reservation.