Self-driving autonomous vehicle as barrier

A method, computer system, and computer program product for using self-driving autonomous vehicles to form traffic barriers. The method may include receiving, by a processor, an identification of a location of an event. The method may identify a vehicle from an inventory of autonomous vehicles based on one or more criteria. The criteria may include a vehicle location criterion, a vehicle size criterion, a vehicle fuel criterion, or a vehicle availability criterion. The method may include transmitting to the vehicle an instruction to move to a first location. The method may include identifying a perimeter encompassing the location of the event. The method may include identifying a subset of vehicles in the first position and instructing the subset of vehicles to move to a second position. The method may include instructing the subset of vehicles in the second position to move back to the first position.

BACKGROUND

Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to a method, system and computer program for using self-driving autonomous vehicles to form traffic barriers.

There are many events which require the closing down of certain roads or intersections. These events may be planned in advance, such as a parade, or may occur dynamically, such as an accident. The closing down of the roads or intersections for the duration of the event may require barriers.

SUMMARY

An embodiment of the present invention may include a method, computer system, and computer program product for using self-driving autonomous vehicles to form traffic barriers. The method may include receiving, by a processor, an identification of a location of an event. The method may identify a vehicle from an inventory of autonomous vehicles based on one or more criteria. The criteria may include a vehicle location criterion, a vehicle size criterion, a vehicle fuel criterion, or a vehicle availability criterion. The method may include transmitting to the vehicle an instruction to move to a first location. The method may include identifying a perimeter encompassing the location of the event. The method may include identifying a subset of vehicles in the first position and instructing the subset of vehicles to move to a second position. The method may include instructing the subset of vehicles in the second position to move back to the first position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method, computer program, and computer system for using self-driving autonomous vehicles to form a traffic barrier. More particularly, the self-driving autonomous vehicles may be used to form traffic barriers around an event. The event may be preplanned. For example, the event may refer to a scheduled parade, demonstration, or construction. The event may also occur dynamically, for example an accident or a hazardous road condition. In both types of events, certain roads or road intersections may need to be closed off from traffic. The terms “road barrier” and “barrier” are used in this description for convenience. As the terms are used herein, it is not required that a road barrier or barrier be impenetrable. What is required is that a road barrier or barrier serve as a means to direct or divert traffic away from an event location, or to warn or alert traffic of an event.

Access to road barriers may be less of a problem when the event is preplanned and scheduled in advance. For example, the road barriers may be transported, in advance of the event occurrence, from their respective locations to the location of the event. However, even with preplanned events, running out of available barriers may be a problem. For example, if there are several events scheduled to occur simultaneously, where each event requires a certain number of barriers to be available, there may be a shortage of barriers. Further, access to road barriers may pose a concern during an unplanned event, such as an emergency situation caused by a vehicle accident. During an emergency situation, the barriers may need to be assembled as soon as possible. Access to road barriers at such a short notice may not be possible. Oftentimes, there may also be a limited number of barriers available. Further, even if the road barriers are available, they may be a distance away from the event. The travel time required to get the barriers from their respective locations to the event location may further add unnecessary delay. This lack of availability of barriers may delay the barrier assembly, causing traffic jams and other hazardous road conditions.

Embodiments of the present invention may allow for quick barrier assembly during any type of an event. For example, during a preplanned event such as a parade, the parade route may be known in advance allowing for road closures to occur before the event may start. An autonomous vehicle system may be used to select one or more self-driving autonomous vehicles and direct the selected self-driving autonomous vehicle to move to a location near the event occurrence. This may allow the autonomous vehicle system to use the self-driving autonomous vehicles as road barriers.

Embodiments of the present invention may also be useful in situations where the event is not preplanned but rather occurs dynamically, such as a vehicle accident or other emergency road conditions. Embodiments of the present invention may allow the autonomous vehicle system to access a database and select the self-driving autonomous vehicles that are located a short distance from the event occurrence. This may allow for the self-driving autonomous vehicles to quickly move to the locations determined by the autonomous vehicle system to form a barrier. In case of a vehicle accident in an intersection, a barrier may be formed to block access to the intersection. In case of a vehicle accident in a lane, a barrier may be formed to block access to the lane. In case of a vehicle parked on a road shoulder as a result of a breakdown, a barrier may be formed on the shoulder to alert traffic of the parked vehicle. The alert may include warning lights on an autonomous vehicle located on the road shoulder behind the broken-down vehicle. This may allow the event to be contained within that location and may prevent other potentially hazardous conditions from occurring. Embodiments of the present invention may also allow for effectively diverting traffic away from the event location, thus securing the event location.

Accordingly, at least some of the embodiments described herein provide a technical solution to the problems described above with respect to providing barriers during an event. As mentioned, problems may include a short supply of physical barriers and a need to rapidly put a physical barrier in place. The user of autonomous vehicles may expand the supply of physical barriers. However, there are also technical problems of knowing the identity of a pool of autonomous vehicles available for possible use in a barrier, knowing which autonomous vehicles in the pool are available a particular time, and knowing which autonomous vehicles are close to the event so that a physical barrier may be rapidly put in place. The computer system for using self-driving autonomous vehicles to form a traffic barrier solves these technical problems by automatically identifying which autonomous vehicles are available a particular time and are close to the event where they are needed. Further, the computer system automatically directs autonomous vehicles to the event location. Specifically, some embodiments described herein provide a method of using a self-driving autonomous vehicle to form a traffic barrier.

FIG. 1illustrates a system100for using self-driving autonomous vehicles to form a traffic barrier, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In an example embodiment, the system may include a plurality of autonomous vehicles102a,102b,102c,102n, a communication device104, an autonomous vehicle system106, all connected via one or more networks108. Autonomous vehicles102a,102b,102c,102nmay be self-driving vehicles and may each include a computer110a,110b,110c,110n, respectively. The communication device104may include a communication device computer. The autonomous vehicle system106may include a database114. The autonomous vehicles102, the communication device104, and the autonomous vehicle system106may have computers with communication capabilities.

Owners of the self-driving autonomous vehicles102may register with the autonomous vehicle system106and give the autonomous vehicle system106access to use the self-driving autonomous vehicles102as barriers. The owners may be individuals who own singular self-driving autonomous vehicles102. The owners may also refer to owners of a fleet of self-driving autonomous vehicles102, such as owners of UBER®, LYFT®, or any other fleet of self-driving autonomous vehicles102. The owners of a fleet of self-driving autonomous vehicles102may register its entire fleet for use by the autonomous vehicle system106. Alternatively, the owners may specify which self-driving autonomous vehicle102to register with the autonomous vehicle system106. The registration with the autonomous vehicle system106may take place when the owner is registering the self-driving autonomous vehicle102with the state-level government agency that administers vehicle registration. Alternatively, the owner may register the self-driving autonomous vehicle102at a later time, even after the self-driving autonomous vehicle102has been registered with the state-level government agency. An owner may exclude a vehicle from use as a barrier by not registering the vehicle.

During the registration process, the autonomous vehicle system106, in its database114, may collect and store information based on different criteria. The criteria may pertain to the physical characteristic of each autonomous vehicle102. The database114may store information pertaining to the body style or body color or graphics. For example, during a snow storm, when there is a need to close down a certain road, the autonomous vehicle system106may pick an autonomous vehicle102with a bold body color, such as red or black, as opposed to an autonomous vehicle102with a pastel body color, such as white or beige. A red or black autonomous vehicle102may be more clearly visible during a snow storm and a white autonomous vehicle102may be more likely to blend in with the snow. In addition, an autonomous vehicle102may have certain graphics painted on its body. For example, the autonomous vehicle102may have the words EMERGENCY VEHICLE painted on its body. During an emergency situation, the autonomous vehicle system106may choose this autonomous vehicle102to form a barrier to alert people that a potential emergency may have occurred.

The database114may store information pertaining to the vehicle size, for example the body length or the body width of the autonomous vehicle102. The body length may be used to determine how many autonomous vehicles102may be needed to form a barrier at a given event location. Depending on the length of the barrier needed, some situations may require that only one autonomous vehicle102may be needed. For example, a barrier may need to be formed to barricade a road that is 18 feet wide. The autonomous vehicle system106may look through the database114to find an autonomous vehicle102that is, for example, about 16 feet in length and may instruct that autonomous vehicle102to move to a first location to close off that road. However, if the road that needs to be closed off is 40 feet wide, the autonomous vehicle system106may choose an autonomous vehicle102that is longer, such as a bus with the body length of 35 feet. In such a situation, only one autonomous vehicle102may be used. However, if such a long autonomous vehicle102is not available, the autonomous vehicle system106may use two or more autonomous vehicles102of shorter body length to close off the road.

The database114may also store information pertaining to the availability of the autonomous vehicles102. For example, certain autonomous vehicles102may not be available to be used as barriers during an event occurrence because they may have been already pre-booked. In those circumstances, the autonomous vehicle system106may choose other autonomous vehicles102that fit the barrier requirements and are available.

AlthoughFIG. 1shows four autonomous vehicles, autonomous vehicle102a, autonomous vehicle102b, autonomous vehicle102c, and autonomous vehicle102n, principles of an embodiment of the present invention are not restricted to four autonomous vehicles102and may be used with any number of autonomous vehicles102. For example, an embodiment of the present invention may include only one autonomous vehicle102, such as autonomous vehicle102a. Another embodiment of the present invention may include multiple of autonomous vehicles102, such as autonomous vehicle102a, autonomous vehicle102b, autonomous vehicle102c, autonomous vehicle102d, and autonomous vehicle102e.

Further, an embodiment of the present invention is not limited to one communication device104, as illustrated inFIG. 1, and may be used with any number of communication devices104.

In the example embodiment, the network108is the Internet, representing a worldwide collection of networks and gateways to support communications between devices connected to the Internet. The network108may include, for example, wired, wireless, or fiber optic connections. In alternative embodiments, the network108may be implemented as an intranet, a local area network (LAN), or a wide area network (WAN). In general, the network108can be any combination of connections and protocols that will support communications between the autonomous vehicles102, the communication device104, and the autonomous vehicle system106.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the communication devices104may be a mobile terminal, such as a smartphone, but is not limited to such. Other examples may include a user's laptop computer, tablet, desktop computer, or a peripheral device such as a smartwatch or other wearable device, or any programmable electronic device supporting the functionality required by one or more embodiments of the invention. The communication device computers112and the autonomous vehicle system106may be instances of the computer1010shown inFIG. 5. The communication device104may be used to communicate with the autonomous vehicle system106to request the use of the autonomous vehicle102.

Referring toFIG. 2, a method200for using the self-driving autonomous vehicles102to form barriers is depicted, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to operation210, the autonomous vehicle system106receives information about an event. The information may be received from a user who may wish to deploy self-driving autonomous vehicles102to form barriers at an event location. Some examples of users who may wish to utilize autonomous vehicles102as barriers may include, but are not limited to, first responders such as police officers, firefighters, emergency medical professionals, or event planners why may be tasked with organizing planned events such as parades or demonstrations. The information may include details about the type of the event, such as an accident, a hazardous road condition, a parade, a demonstration, or any other event which may require the use of barriers. For example, if the information details a parade, the information may also provide details about the parade route length. Likewise, if the information specifies that the event is a hazardous road condition, additional details may include the length of the road that the hazardous condition extends.

Once the information about an event is received, the autonomous vehicle system106, at operation212, identifies the location of the event. For example, if the event is an accident, the autonomous vehicle system106may identify the stretch of the road or the intersection of the event occurrence.

Referring to operation214, a security perimeter around the event is identified. The security perimeter may be a boundary that is set around the event. The security perimeter may be set a distance away from the event occurrence. For example, when the event is a vehicle accident at an intersection, the perimeter may be set around that intersection, within a distance of 15 feet from the accident.

In an example embodiment of the invention, the autonomous vehicle system106may identify the security perimeter. In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the security perimeter may be identified by the user. Alternatively, the autonomous vehicle system106may suggest the security perimeter which may be approved or altered by the user.

Referring to operation216, the autonomous vehicle system106identifies the inventory of the self-driving autonomous vehicles102. The autonomous vehicle system106may determine the number of self-driving autonomous vehicles102that are available for deployment to the event location.

Referring to operation218, the autonomous vehicle system106identifies a subset of autonomous vehicles102as candidate vehicles based on criteria. The autonomous vehicle system106may determine which autonomous vehicles102to identify by looking at different criteria. The criteria may be used to rank the identified subset of autonomous vehicles102. The autonomous vehicle system106may rank the autonomous vehicles102based on the number of criteria the autonomous vehicles102satisfy. For example, the autonomous vehicle system106may assign a ranking score of 100 to the autonomous vehicles102that meet the desired criteria and a score of 0 to the autonomous vehicles102that do not meet any of the criteria. The higher the ranking score, the more criteria a given autonomous vehicle102may meet. Alternatively, the identifying of vehicles may include applying one of more filters to identify candidate vehicles from a pool of registered vehicles. The candidate vehicles may be a subset of the pool of registered vehicles. Filtering may be based on any suitable criteria, for example, may exclude vehicles in use or scheduled to be in use during the duration of the event. In some embodiments, a filter may be based on a vehicle size, fuel, or location criteria. In some embodiments in which one or more filters are employed, filtering first provides a list of candidate vehicles from the pool of registered vehicles and the candidate vehicles are then ranked according to one or more criteria. As one simplified example, filtering based on a vehicle availability criterion (vehicles in use or scheduled to be in use) may produce a list of candidate vehicles which are then ranked based on a vehicle location criterion (travel time or distance to the event).

The criteria may include information pertaining to the number of autonomous vehicles102needed to form the barrier at the event. The criteria may include the size of the autonomous vehicle102, the signs, color, or external features of the autonomous vehicle102body, type of vehicle lighting, the distance between the autonomous vehicle102and the event location, the charge level or fuel status of the autonomous vehicle102, advanced booking of the autonomous vehicle102, or occupancy of the autonomous vehicle102. For example, the autonomous vehicle system106may identify a particular autonomous vehicle102that it may want to utilize as a barrier. However, the autonomous vehicle system106identifies that that particular autonomous vehicle102is scheduled to pick up a passenger close to the time that the autonomous vehicle102would be needed to form the barrier. As a result, the autonomous vehicle system106may rank the identified autonomous vehicle102with a low score due to lack of availability. As a result, the autonomous vehicle system106may choose another autonomous vehicle102with a higher ranking score to be used during the event. As another example, a vehicle of a particular color or type of lighting may be given a higher score relative to other vehicles lacking these features on the basis that the color or lighting may provide a better visual alert to traffic.

The criteria listed herein are intended for illustrative purposes. Embodiments of the present invention may not be limited to the criteria listed herein. Additional criteria may be used to determine the appropriate candidate vehicles to be selected as candidate vehicles.

Referring to operation220, the autonomous vehicle system106instructs the candidate autonomous vehicles102to move to a first location and park in a specific orientation. Each candidate autonomous vehicle102may be given instructions from the autonomous vehicle system106to move to a designated first location for that particular autonomous vehicle102. For example, the autonomous vehicle system106determines that two candidate autonomous vehicles102, autonomous vehicle102aand autonomous vehicle102bmay be needed to form a barrier across King Street, between Avenues X and Y. The autonomous vehicle system106may communicate with each of the two candidate vehicles and provide autonomous vehicle102ainstructions to move to a first location associated with autonomous vehicle102aand park in a designated orientation. The autonomous vehicle system106may communicate with autonomous vehicle102band provide it instructions to move to a first location associated with autonomous vehicle102band park in the designated orientation. As a result, each of the autonomous vehicles102may move to their respective designated locations, and park in the orientations specific to them thus forming a barrier across King Street. The orientation of the autonomous vehicle102may be parallel to the flow of traffic, perpendicular to the flow of traffic, or any other orientation that may allow for the autonomous vehicle102to form a barrier.

Referring to operation222, once the event concludes, the autonomous vehicle system106instructs the autonomous vehicles102that were used to form a barrier to disperse. Referring to operation224, the autonomous vehicles102disperse from their respective first locations. The autonomous vehicles102may be instructed to move back to their respective original parking locations. Alternatively, the autonomous vehicles102may be instructed to move to locations of other event occurrences or to a location specified by the owner or the autonomous vehicle system106.

Referring toFIG. 3, a method300for moving self-driving autonomous vehicles102from their barrier location to allow for the passing of authorized vehicles is depicted, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to operation310, an authorized vehicle sends a request to the autonomous vehicle system106to create a gap in the barrier. The authorized vehicle may be an emergency vehicle such as a police vehicle, an ambulance, a fire truck, or any other vehicle that may be authorized to be present at the event location.

At operation310, the authorized vehicle may provide the autonomous vehicle system106information pertaining to the distance of the authorized vehicle from the event location, the size of the authorized vehicle, the estimated time of arrival of the authorized vehicle, or the direction from which the authorized vehicle may be traveling from. Based on the information provided by the authorized vehicle, the autonomous vehicle system106may determine which autonomous vehicle102may need to be moved to a second location, to create an opening in the barrier. In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the authorized vehicle may directly communicate with the autonomous vehicle102and provide it instructions to move to the second location.

Referring to operation312, the autonomous vehicle system106instructs the autonomous vehicle102to move to the second location.

Referring to operation314, the autonomous vehicle102moves from its first location to its second location. Once the autonomous vehicle102moves from its first location, the barrier location, to the second location, an opening in the barrier is created. The second location may be a designated location within the vicinity of the barrier that does not interfere with any activities associated with the event. The second location may be designated by the autonomous vehicle system106. In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the second location may be designated by the authorized vehicle or the autonomous vehicle102itself.

The autonomous vehicle system106may instruct one autonomous vehicle102or a plurality of autonomous vehicles102to move to their respective second locations. For example, if the barrier is formed using two autonomous vehicles102, both of which are buses, then the autonomous vehicle system106may instruct one of the autonomous vehicles102to move to a second location to allow for an authorized vehicle such as a police car to pass through. The opening created by the moving of the one autonomous vehicle102bus may be big enough for the police car to pass through. If however, the barrier is created by two autonomous vehicles102that are compact cars, the autonomous vehicle system106may authorize both of the autonomous vehicles102to move to their respective second locations to allow for an authorize vehicle, such as a police car, to pass through.

Referring to operation316, the authorized vehicle passes through the created opening in the barrier.

Referring to operation318, once the authorized vehicle passes through the barrier opening, it may communicate with the autonomous vehicle system106and instruct it that the barrier opening is no longer needed. The autonomous vehicle system106may then, at operation320, instruct the autonomous vehicle102to move back to its first position thereby closing the barrier opening.

Methods200and300may be more apparent in the schematic block diagrams depicted inFIGS. 4a-d. InFIGS. 4a-d, the autonomous vehicles102are illustrated as “cars.” Referring toFIG. 4a, a schematic block diagram illustrating an example road intersection is depicted, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The autonomous vehicles102are parked along the sides of the road.

Referring toFIG. 4b, a schematic block diagram illustrating an example perimeter encompassing the location of an event (shown as a star) is depicted, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. As described herein with reference toFIG. 2, once an event occurs, the autonomous vehicle system106may designate a security perimeter (shown as a dashed line) that encompasses the location of the event. As shown inFIG. 4b, the security perimeter may be set at a distance away from the event occurrence.

Referring toFIG. 4c, a schematic block diagram illustrating an example barrier formed by the autonomous vehicles102is depicted, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. As illustrated inFIG. 4a, there are 12 autonomous vehicles102that are in the vicinity of the intersection where the event occurred. As described herein with reference toFIG. 2, the autonomous vehicle system106may identify, from the inventory of autonomous vehicles102, a subset of the set of autonomous vehicles102as candidate vehicles that may be used to form the barrier. Each candidate vehicle may be instructed by the autonomous vehicle system106to move to a first location specific to that vehicle102. As is illustrated inFIG. 4c, the candidate vehicles each move from their respective original positions to a first position specific to them to form four barriers along the security perimeter. The four barriers formed each comprise two vehicles. The dashed lines illustrate the original position of the autonomous vehicles102whereas the solid lines illustrate the autonomous vehicles'102first location specific to them.

Referring toFIG. 4d, a schematic block diagram illustrating an example creating an opening in a barrier created by the autonomous vehicles102is depicted, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. During an event that is an emergency, such as a road accident, certain authorized vehicles may need to reach the event location. As described in more detail with reference toFIG. 3, once a barrier forms, certain autonomous vehicles102may be instructed to move to their respective second locations, thus creating an opening in a barrier, and allowing for authorized vehicles to pass through.FIG. 4dillustrates two autonomous vehicles102moving from their respective first locations (shown in dashed lines) to their designated second locations (shown in solid lines) to allow for the authorized emergency vehicle to pass through.

In embodiments of the present invention, described above, the methods200and300may be executed using the autonomous vehicle system106. Further, embodiments of the present invention illustrate the utilization of unoccupied autonomous vehicles102as barriers. In emergency situations, when access to unoccupied autonomous vehicles102is unavailable, the autonomous vehicle system106may utilize autonomous vehicles102that may be passenger occupied. In such a situation, the autonomous vehicle system106may ask the occupants of the identified autonomous vehicles102permission to use the vehicles102. The occupants may accept or decline the request. When the occupants decline the request, the autonomous vehicle system106may contact other occupied autonomous vehicles102for permission. When the occupants of the autonomous vehicles102accept the request, the autonomous vehicle system106may prioritize which occupied autonomous vehicles102to use first. For example, the autonomous vehicle system106may designate autonomous vehicles102that may have adult passengers only and omit autonomous vehicles102that have children onboard.

Referring toFIG. 5, a system1000includes a computer system or computer1010shown in the form of a generic computing device. The methods200and300, for example, may be embodied in a program(s)1060(FIG. 5) embodied on a computer readable storage device, for example, generally referred to as memory1030and more specifically, computer readable storage medium1050as shown inFIG. 5. For example, memory1030can include storage media1034such as RAM (Random Access Memory) or ROM (Read Only Memory), and cache memory1038. The program1060is executable by the processing unit or processor1020of the computer system1010(to execute program steps, code, or program code). Additional data storage may also be embodied as a database1110which can include data1114. The computer system1010and the program1060shown inFIG. 5are generic representations of a computer and program that may be local to a user, or provided as a remote service (for example, as a cloud based service), and may be provided in further examples, using a website accessible using the communications network1200(e.g., interacting with a network, the Internet, or cloud services). It is understood that the computer system1010also generically represents herein a computer device or a computer included in a device, such as a laptop or desktop computer, etc., or one or more servers, alone or as part of a datacenter. The computer system can include a network adapter/interface1026, and an input/output (I/O) interface(s)1022. The I/O interface1022allows for input and output of data with an external device1074that may be connected to the computer system. The network adapter/interface1026may provide communications between the computer system a network generically shown as the communications network1200.

The computer1010may be described in the general context of computer system-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by a computer system. Generally, program modules may include routines, programs, objects, components, logic, data structures, and so on that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The method steps and system components and techniques may be embodied in modules of the program1060for performing the tasks of each of the steps of the method and system. The modules are generically represented inFIG. 5as program modules1064. The program1060and program modules1064can execute specific steps, routines, sub-routines, instructions or code, of the program.

The method of the present disclosure can be run locally on a device such as a mobile device, or can be run a service, for instance, on the server1100which may be remote and can be accessed using the communications network1200. The program or executable instructions may also be offered as a service by a provider. The computer1010may be practiced in a distributed cloud computing environment where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network1200. In a distributed cloud computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote computer system storage media including memory storage devices.

More specifically, as shown inFIG. 5, the system1000includes the computer system1010shown in the form of a general-purpose computing device with illustrative periphery devices. The components of the computer system1010may include, but are not limited to, one or more processors or processing units1020, a system memory1030, and a bus1014that couples various system components including system memory1030to processor1020.

The computer1010can include a variety of computer readable media. Such media may be any available media that is accessible by the computer1010(e.g., computer system, or server), and can include both volatile and non-volatile media, as well as, removable and non-removable media. Computer memory1030can include additional computer readable media1034in the form of volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM), and/or cache memory1038. The computer1010may further include other removable/non-removable, volatile/non-volatile computer storage media, in one example, portable computer readable storage media1072. In one embodiment, the computer readable storage medium1050can be provided for reading from and writing to a non-removable, non-volatile magnetic media. The computer readable storage medium1050can be embodied, for example, as a hard drive. Additional memory and data storage can be provided, for example, as the storage system1110(e.g., a database) for storing data1114and communicating with the processing unit1020. The database can be stored on or be part of a server1100. Although not shown, a magnetic disk drive for reading from and writing to a removable, non-volatile magnetic disk (e.g., a “floppy disk”), and an optical disk drive for reading from or writing to a removable, non-volatile optical disk such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or other optical media can be provided. In such instances, each can be connected to bus1014by one or more data media interfaces. As will be further depicted and described below, memory1030may include at least one program product which can include one or more program modules that are configured to carry out the functions of embodiments of the present invention.

The methods200and300(FIGS. 2 and 3), for example, may be embodied in one or more computer programs, generically referred to as a program1060and can be stored in memory1030in the computer readable storage medium1050. The program1060can include program modules1064. The program modules1064can generally carry out functions and/or methodologies of embodiments of the invention as described herein. The one or more programs1060are stored in memory1030and are executable by the processing unit1020. By way of example, the memory1030may store an operating system1052, one or more application programs1054, other program modules, and program data on the computer readable storage medium1050. It is understood that the program1060, and the operating system1052and the application program(s)1054stored on the computer readable storage medium1050are similarly executable by the processing unit1020.

The computer1010may also communicate with one or more external devices1074such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a display1080, etc.; one or more devices that enable a user to interact with the computer1010; and/or any devices (e.g., network card, modem, etc.) that enables the computer1010to communicate with one or more other computing devices. Such communication can occur via the Input/Output (I/O) interfaces1022. Still yet, the computer1010can communicate with one or more networks1200such as a local area network (LAN), a general wide area network (WAN), and/or a public network (e.g., the Internet) via network adapter/interface1026. As depicted, network adapter1026communicates with the other components of the computer1010via bus1014. It should be understood that although not shown, other hardware and/or software components could be used in conjunction with the computer1010. Examples, include, but are not limited to: microcode, device drivers1024, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays, RAID systems, tape drives, and data archival storage systems, etc.

It is understood that a computer or a program running on the computer1010may communicate with a server, embodied as the server1100, via one or more communications networks, embodied as the communications network1200. The communications network1200may include transmission media and network links which include, for example, wireless, wired, or optical fiber, and routers, firewalls, switches, and gateway computers. The communications network may include connections, such as wire, wireless communication links, or fiber optic cables. A communications network may represent a worldwide collection of networks and gateways, such as the Internet, that use various protocols to communicate with one another, such as Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), Transport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP), Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), etc. A network may also include a number of different types of networks, such as, for example, an intranet, a local area network (LAN), or a wide area network (WAN).

In one example, a computer can use a network which may access a website on the Web (World Wide Web) using the Internet. In one embodiment, a computer1010, including a mobile device, can use a communications system or network1200which can include the Internet, or a public switched telephone network (PSTN) for example, a cellular network. The PSTN may include telephone lines, fiber optic cables, microwave transmission links, cellular networks, and communications satellites. The Internet may facilitate numerous searching and texting techniques, for example, using a cell phone or laptop computer to send queries to search engines via text messages (SMS), Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) (related to SMS), email, or a web browser. The search engine can retrieve search results, that is, links to websites, documents, or other downloadable data that correspond to the query, and similarly, provide the search results to the user via the device as, for example, a web page of search results.

While steps of the disclosed method and components of the disclosed system and environments have been sequentially or serially identified suing numbers and letters, such numbering or lettering is not an indication that such steps must be performed in the order recited, and is merely provided to facilitate clear referencing of the method's steps. Furthermore, steps of the method may be performed in parallel to perform their described functionality.

Characteristics are as follows:

Service Models are as follows:

Deployment Models are as follows:

Workloads layer90provides examples of functionality for which the cloud computing environment may be utilized. Examples of workloads and functions which may be provided from this layer include: mapping and navigation91; software development and lifecycle management92; virtual classroom education delivery93; data analytics processing94; transaction processing95; and instructing to move to a destination96.