Patent ID: 11858517
Assignee: BOARD OF REGENTS, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SYSTEM
Field: Digital communication (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC B  G  H | IPC B  G  H

Claim 15:
16. A system comprising:
a server;
a plurality of vehicles, wherein each vehicle transmits messages to and receives messages from the server via a communication network, and wherein each vehicle comprises at least an electronic computing device for receiving and sending messages;
a plurality of sensors associated with each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles, wherein at least some of the plurality of sensors are located on or within each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles, and wherein the plurality of sensors is in communication with the electronic computing device associated with each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles;
the server and the plurality of vehicles configured to perform a method comprising:
determining, at a selected vehicle of the plurality of vehicles, a location and a direct attribute of the selected vehicle based on at least one sensor of the plurality of sensors associated with the selected vehicle;
transmitting the direct attribute and the location of the selected vehicle to the server via the communication network;
receiving, at the server, a driver preference for the selected vehicle of the plurality of vehicles;
assigning, at the server, the selected vehicle of the plurality of vehicles to a selected group of a plurality of groups and to a selected sub-group of the selected group based on the direct attribute, the location, and the driver preference of the selected vehicle of the plurality of vehicles;
assigning, at the server, a set of effective attributes for each vehicle of the plurality of vehicles,
wherein the set of effective attributes comprises the location, the direct attribute, and the driver preference associated with the selected vehicle of the plurality of vehicles, and further comprises additional attributes based on the selected group and on the selected sub-group, and
wherein values of selected additional attributes from the selected sub-group are inherited from values of selected additional attributes from the selected group only if the values of the selected additional attributes from the selected group have been updated more recently than the values of the selected additional attributes from the selected sub-group;

determining, at the server, a policy for the selected sub-group of the selected group;
receiving, at the server, a selected message to the selected sub-group of the selected group;
evaluating, at the server, whether the selected message is in compliance with the determined policy based on the set of effective attributes for the selected vehicle; and
if the selected message is in compliance with the policy and with the driver preference, wirelessly transmitting the selected message to the selected vehicle; and
if the selected message is not in compliance with the policy or not in compliance with the driver preference, not transmitting the selected message;

evaluating, at the vehicle, whether the selected message is in compliance with the determined policy based on the set of effective attributes for the selected vehicle; and
if the selected message is in compliance with the policy, transmitting the selected message to the user; and
if the selected message is not in compliance with the policy, not transmitting the selected message to the user.