Patent Publication Number: US-2007111672-A1

Title: Vehicle-to-vehicle communication

Description:
BACKGROUND  
      With an ever advancing world of technology, communication tools are available which allow us to communicate with each other over short and long distances. For example, we can communicate with others from remote locations, such as by landline telephone, cellular telephone, or email. Specific personal knowledge about the receiver, such as the receiver&#39;s telephone number or email address, is typically necessary in order to initiate a communication with them. Push-to-talk communications devices, such as traditional walkie-talkies, or newer variations that are integrated within cellular telephones, allow individuals to push a button and transmit a voice communication to someone on the receiving end with a similar device. In such cases, the particular phone number or phone identifier of the individual you want to communicate with must be known, or some agreed-upon frequency on which you will transmit messages must be known. Both of these scenarios typically require you to have some communication with the other individual ahead of time in order to obtain the telephone number or frequency number that will be used for the communication.  
      There are some situations where you may be driving a vehicle and would like to communicate with someone driving another vehicle near you. That individual may be someone you know, or they may be a total stranger. While that individual may be within visual range, you cannot typically communicate with them unless you know their cellular telephone number or some similar identifier to use for contacting them.  
     SUMMARY  
      Described herein are various technologies and techniques that will allow for passengers in one vehicle to communicate with the passengers of another vehicle. As one non-limiting example, vehicles can have a computer, transceiver, and one or more antennae that enable vehicle-to-vehicle communications. Users in one vehicle can use the computer in their vehicle to select a close proximity vehicle to communicate with. For example, the computer can have one or more buttons to allow the user to select the particular direction, such as front or back, that represents the close proximity vehicle with which the user wants to communicate. The communication can be a voice communication, or a text message. For a text message, the user inputs the message using an input device.  
      The communication is then transmitted using a transceiver and an antenna of the first vehicle to an antenna and transceiver of the second vehicle. For example, each vehicle can have antennae on the front and back, to allow for communications with a vehicle in front and a vehicle in back. Other antennae variations are also possible. Communications can be transmitted without permission of the receiver, or the receiver can selectively determine which communications to accept.  
      This Summary was provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.  
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a diagrammatic view of parts of a vehicle communication system.  
       FIG. 2  is a diagrammatic view of a computer system of one implementation of the system of  FIG. 1 .  
       FIG. 3  is a high-level process flow diagram for one implementation of the system of  FIGS. 1 and 2 .  
       FIG. 4  is a process flow diagram for one implementation of the system of  FIGS. 1 and 2  illustrating the stages involved in sending and receiving a communication from one vehicle to another.  
       FIG. 5  is a process flow diagram for one implementation of the system of  FIGS. 1 and 2  illustrating the stages involved in selecting the type of communication to send to the other vehicle.  
       FIG. 6  is a simulated screen for one implementation of the system of  FIGS. 1 and 2  that illustrates selecting a particular vehicle to communicate with.  
       FIG. 7  is a simulated screen for one implementation of the system of  FIGS. 1 and 2  that illustrates receiving an incoming audio communication.  
       FIG. 8  is a simulated screen for one implementation of the system of  FIGS. 1 and 2  that illustrates some options for ignoring the communication.  
       FIG. 9  is a simulated screen for one implementation of the system of  FIGS. 1 and 2  that illustrates entering a text message.  
       FIG. 10  is a simulated screen for one implementation of the system of  FIGS. 1 and 2  that illustrates receiving a text message.  
       FIG. 11  is a simulated screen for one implementation of the system of  FIGS. 1 and 2  that illustrates reviewing a received text message.  
       FIG. 12  is a simulated screen for one implementation of the system of  FIGS. 1 and 2  that illustrates sending a canned text message.  
       FIG. 13  is a simulated screen for one implementation of the system of  FIGS. 1 and 2  that illustrates various setup parameters that can be modified.  
       FIG. 14  is a simulated screen for one implementation of the system of  FIGS. 1 and 2  that illustrates another variation for selecting a particular vehicle to communicate with.  
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
      For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope is thereby intended. Any alterations and further modifications in the described embodiments, and any further applications of the principles as described herein are contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art.  
      The system may be described in the general context as a communication system that allows communication between vehicles. In one implementation, the system is operational with numerous general purpose or special purpose vehicles or transportation systems. Examples of well known vehicles, transportation systems, environments, and/or configurations that may be suitable for use with the system include, but are not limited to, personal automobiles, trucks, motorcycles, scooters, busses, trains, planes and any other transportation environments that include any of the above systems or modes, and the like.  
      As shown in  FIG. 1 , in one implementation, each vehicle ( 50 ,  52 , and  54 , respectively) of communication system  40  has both a front antenna ( 56 A,  56 B, and  56 C, respectively) and a rear antenna ( 58 A,  58 B, and  58 C, respectively) attached to it that are used to receive and transmit radio frequency signals. One non-limiting example of a type of antenna that can be used with communication system  40  includes a high gain antenna with a small physical size and strong directivity lobe, such as one made by SkyCross. Such directive antennae provide clear and strong directivity for messages, such as to the front and rear of the vehicle. Another non-limiting example of a type of antenna that can be used includes a beam forming adaptive antenna, which is available from several manufacturers. Numerous other types of antenna could also be used to enable receiving and transmitting radio frequency signals between vehicles, such as antennae without strong directivity. The coverage angle of each antenna can vary according to the type of coverage desired. As one non-limiting example, the lobe of the antennae can be about 20-35 degrees in order to provide strong directivity towards the front and rear of the particular vehicle.  
      Front antenna  56 A of vehicle  50  is able to communicate with rear antenna  58 B of vehicle  52  over radio frequency pathway  60 A. Similarly, front antenna  56 B of vehicle  52  is able to communicate with rear antenna  58 C of vehicle  54  over radio frequency pathway  60 B. While three vehicles ( 50 ,  52 , and  54 ) are shown for the illustration purposes, more or fewer can be used with communication system  40 . Furthermore, while each of vehicles  50 ,  52 , and  54  are shown to have a front antenna ( 56 A,  56 B, and  56 C, respectively) and a rear antenna ( 58 A,  58 B, and  58 C, respectively), it will be appreciated that numerous other variations are also possible that include more or fewer antennae. For the sake of simplicity, front antenna  56 A,  56 B, and  56 C will be referred to collectively as front antennae  56 . Furthermore, rear antenna  58 A,  58 B, and  58 C will be referred to collectively as rear antennae  58 .  
      With reference to  FIG. 2 , an exemplary computer system to use for implementing one or more parts of communication system  40  includes a computing device, such as computing device  100 . In one implementation, computing device  100  is used in one or more of vehicles  50 ,  52 , and/or  54  for providing a user interface for communication system  40 . Computing device  100  can be coupled within the respective vehicle ( 50 ,  52 , or  54 ), such as part of the vehicle&#39;s on-board computer system. Alternatively or additionally, computing device  100  can be portable and removable from the respective vehicle ( 50 ,  52 , or  54 ). Alternatively or additionally, computing device  100  is coupled to some of vehicles ( 50 ,  52 , and  54 ) and removable in others.  
      In its most basic configuration, computing device  100  typically includes at least one processing unit  102  and memory  104 . Depending on the exact configuration and type of computing device, memory  104  may be volatile (such as RAM), non-volatile (such as ROM, flash memory, etc.) or some combination of the two. This most basic configuration is illustrated in  FIG. 2  by dashed line  106 . Additionally, device  100  may also have additional features/functionality. For example, device  100  may also include additional storage (removable and/or non-removable) including, but not limited to, magnetic or optical disks or tape. Such additional storage is illustrated in  FIG. 2  by removable storage  108  and non-removable storage  110 . Computer storage media includes volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Memory  104 , removable storage  108  and non-removable storage  110  are all examples of computer storage media. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can accessed by device  100 . Any such computer storage media may be part of device  100 .  
      In one implementation, device  100  includes digital radio transceiver  113  that allows device  100  to transmit communications by radio frequency to one or more of front antennae  56  and/or rear antennae  58 . As one non-limiting example, transceiver  113  can be a 2.4 GHz ISM band chipset designed for WiFi (IEEE 802.11 usage). Furthermore, in one implementation, the transmission power of transceiver  113  is limited so that communications can be received only within limited coverage areas. In one implementation, this provides a strong locality for the communication so only vehicles within close proximity are detected, and can increase the spectral efficiency of communication system  40 . Alternatively or additionally, a capability can be included in device  100  to allow a user to adjust the transmission power of transceiver  1113 , so as to control the basic coverage area of the communication capability, such as to vehicles instead of or in addition to front and rear vehicles. Other frequency areas, modulations, and transceiver technologies could be used instead of or in addition to those described in the illustrative examples.  
      In one implementation, the packet header of each communication is encoded with special bit-stream or multicast addresses to make it clear that the message is sent by the communication system  40 . In such a scenario, the transceivers  113  in the vehicles are scanning continuously on the specified sub-channels and then filter in those messages that were sent by communication system  40 . Other variations for detecting communications are also possible.  
      In one implementation, communication system  40  and computing device  100  are operable to build encrypted connections in such a way that participants can agree on secret keys, and then transmit audio and/or text messages using encryption based on the secret keys.  
      Alternatively or additionally to transceiver  113 , device  100  may contain other communications connection(s)  112  that allow the device to communicate with other devices. Communications connection(s)  112  is an example of communication media. Communication media typically embodies computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and includes any information delivery media. The term “modulated data signal” means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media includes wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media. The term computer readable media as used herein includes both storage media and communication media.  
      Device  100  may also have input device(s)  114  such as keyboard, mouse, pen, voice input device, touch input device, etc. Output device(s)  116  such as a display, speakers, printer, etc. may also be included. These devices are well known in the art and need not be discussed at length here. Alternatively or additionally, speakers can be part of the vehicle audio system.  
      Turning now to  FIGS. 3-5  with continued reference to  FIGS. 1-2 , the stages for implementing one or more implementations of communication system  40  are described in further detail.  FIG. 3  is a high level process flow diagram for communication system  40 . In one form, the process of  FIG. 3  is at least partially implemented in the operating logic of computing device  100 . The process begins at start point  200  with the sender selecting an option to open a communication line with a close proximity vehicle (stage  202 ), such as one in the front or the rear. The receiving vehicle gets notification of an attempt to contact (stage  204 ). The receiving vehicle responds to the communication as desired (stage  206 ). The process then ends at end point  208 . These stages will be described in further detail in the flow diagrams of  FIGS. 4 and 5  and the simulated screens in  FIG. 6-14 .  
       FIG. 4  illustrates the stages involved in sending and receiving a communication from one vehicle to another. In one form, the process of  FIG. 4  is at least partially implemented in the operating logic of computing device  100 . The process begins at start point  210  with the sender selecting an option to open a communication line with a close proximity vehicle (stage  212 ). The receiving vehicle is notified of an incoming communication based on the set-up criteria (stage  214 ). The receiving vehicle can then take one or more actions (decision point  216 ), such as no response (stage  218 ), respond to contact (stage  220 ), or reject contact (stage  222 ). If the user in the receiving vehicle wishes to provide no response (stage  218 ), then no action is taken by the receiving user (stage  224 ). Two-way communication does not commence between the two vehicles in such a scenario.  
      If the user in the receiving vehicle wishes to respond to the communication (stage  220 ), then he/she opens a line of communication by selecting an option to accept communication from the particular vehicle (stage  226 ). If an automatically connect option is set for the vehicle (see  FIG. 13 ), then the communication can be automatically connected without action by the receiving user (stage  226 ). The receiving user then hears and/or views the communication (stage  228 ) and can respond to the communication as desired (stage  230 ). If the receiving user wishes to reject the communication, then he/she selects an ignore option to mute any sound and break the attempted contact (stage  232 ). The process then ends at end point  234 .  
       FIG. 5  illustrates the stages involved in selecting the type of communication to send to the other vehicle. In one form, the process of  FIG. 5  is at least partially implemented in the operating logic of computing device  100 . The process begins at start point  240  with the user determining the type of message to send (stage  242 ). If the user wishes to communicate with the other vehicle by voice/sound (decision point  244 ), then the user selects the option representing the vehicle to contact (stage  250 ). A communication line is opened to the selected vehicle (stage  252 ). The user speaks and/or produces the sound to transmit (stage  254 ). If the user wishes to send a text message (decision point  246 ), then using input device  114 , the user creates a text message (stage  256 ). The user selects a vehicle to contact (stage  258 ) and the text message is sent (stage  260 ). If the user wishes to send a canned text message (decision point  248 ), then the user selects the canned text option and then selects a desired canned comment from a list (stage  262 ). The user selects a vehicle to contact (stage  264 ), and the canned text message is sent (stage  266 ). The process then ends at end point  268 .  
      Turning now to  FIGS. 6-14 , simulated screens are shown to illustrate the stages described in  FIGS. 3-5  in further detail. These screens can be displayed to users in a particular vehicle on output device(s)  116 . Furthermore, These screens can receive input from users in a particular vehicle from input device(s)  114 . Screen  300  of  FIG. 6  is a simulated screen for one implementation of the system of  FIGS. 1 and 2  that illustrates a main screen for selecting a particular vehicle to communicate with. Screen  300  includes a representation of the user&#39;s vehicle  302 , a front vehicle option  304 , and a rear vehicle option  306 . Screen  300  also includes ignore option  310 , text message option  315 , canned message  320 , and set-up option  325 , which are discussed in further detail in later sections.  
      Some hypothetical scenarios will now be described to illustrate how two vehicles can communicate using communication system  40 . Starting with screen  300  on  FIG. 6 , and with continued reference to  FIGS. 1-5 , the user in the first vehicle selects rear vehicle option  306  to initiate an audio communication with the vehicle behind (stage  212  of  FIG. 4  and stage  250  of  FIG. 5 ). Rear vehicle option  306  is shown highlighted to indicate it is being selected. Turning now to  FIG. 7 , screen  350  is shown which illustrates the user interface shown on output device  116  of the second user&#39;s vehicle (i.e. the one in the rear of the first vehicle). Since this is an incoming audio message, message indicator  352  indicates that it is an incoming call (stage  214 ). Graphical representation of the second user&#39;s vehicle  354  is shown for perspective, and the front vehicle option  356  is flashing to notify the user of the incoming communication. Depending on the set-up options that the user has specified, one or more sounds can alternatively or additionally be emitted to audibly indicate there is an incoming communication. If the user wishes to respond to the communication by voice (stage  220 ), then he/she selects front vehicle option  356  (stage  226 ) and the two-way communication line is opened (stage  228 ) so that the user can respond to the communication (stage  230 ). In such a scenario, the voice communication is transmitted between the vehicles using the respective transceiver  113  and the respective antennae  56  or  58  of each vehicle.  
      If the user wishes to ignore the voice communication (stage  222 ) and break the connection, he/she can select ignore option  358  (stage  232 ). In one implementation, a screen as shown in  FIG. 8  is then displayed to ask the user to select either an ignore once option  382  to specify whether to ignore this vehicle just this one time or an always ignore option  384  to specify whether to always ignore the vehicle and add it to the blocked list  384 .  
      A hypothetical example will now be described to illustrate how to send and receive text communications using communication system  40  and computing device  100 . Returning to  FIG. 7 , suppose that the user selected text message option  315  (stage  246 ). Turning now to  FIG. 9 , a text message entry screen  400  is then displayed to allow the user to enter the desired text message (stage  256 ). Text message entry screen  400  includes text input area  402  and touch-screen keyboard  404 . Keyboard  404  is a non-limiting example of input device(s)  114  that can be used to input the desired text into text area  402 . Other input device(s)  114  could also be used instead of or in addition to on-screen keyboard  404 .  
      The user can select the save as canned text option  406  to save the entered message as canned text for easy re-use later. The user can select the send as broadcast option  414  to send the specified text message to all surrounding vehicles within a certain range. An example of when a broadcast message might be used includes an emergency scenario where the user wants someone to call emergency response (e.g. 911) on their behalf. The user can select cancel option  408  to cancel out of the text message entry screen and be returned to the main screen  300  of  FIG. 6 .  
      After entering the desired text message into text area  402  (stage  256 ), the user can select one of options  410  or  412  to specify which vehicle should receive the text message (stage  258 ). In this scenario, suppose the user in the first vehicle wishes to send the text message to the vehicle in the rear. The user selects the rear vehicle option  410 , which is shown highlighted to illustrate it is being selected. The text message is then sent to the selected vehicle (stage  260 ).  
      Turning now to  FIG. 10 , simulated screen  500  illustrates the screen as displayed on the rear vehicle to illustrate that there is an incoming text message. Again, a graphic representation of the user&#39;s own vehicle is shown  504 , plus a visual indicator to illustrate there is an incoming text message  502 . The front vehicle option is also flashing  506  to indicate that the vehicle in front is the one sending the text message (stage  214 ). If the user has the automatically accept communications option enabled, the text message is displayed automatically, as shown on  FIG. 11 . If the automatically accept communications option is not enabled, the user can select the front vehicle option  506  to accept the text message (stage  226 ). The text message is displayed (stage  228 ), as shown screen  600  of  FIG. 11 , along with an indicator  604  to illustrate which vehicle the text message came from. Screen  600  includes a reply option  606  to allow the user in the second vehicle to transmit a text message response back to the first vehicle (stage  230 ). Close option  608  closes the screen and returns the user to the main screen of  FIG. 6 .  
      Returning to  FIG. 6 , if the user wishes to send a canned text message, he/she selects canned message option  320 . A screen as shown in  FIG. 12  is then displayed. Canned message screen  700  allows the user to select a message from a list of pre-defined messages. These messages can be supplied by the system and/or specified by the user. The user can select one of option buttons  702 A,  702 B,  702 C,  702 D,  702 E,  702 F, or  702 G (collectively options  702 ) in order to choose a particular one of canned messages  704 A,  704 B,  704 C,  704 D,  704 E,  704 F, or  704 G, respectively (collectively canned messages  704 ). After selecting one of options  702 , the user can then select front vehicle option  712  or rear vehicle option  714  to specify which vehicle with respect to the user&#39;s current vehicle  700  to send the canned message to. The message is then transmitted to the selected vehicle using the respective transceiver  113  and the respective antennae  56  or  58  of each vehicle. The user can select cancel option  718  to return to the main screen of  FIG. 6 . The user can select edit canned messages option  720  to edit the list of canned messages that are available.  
      Returning to  FIG. 6 , if the user selects set-up option  325 , then a screen as shown in  FIG. 13  is then displayed. Set-up screen  800  allows the user to customize one or more of the options that control how computing device  100  will operate with communication system  40 . For example, the user can select one of sound options  808  to specify what type of sound notification, if any, to receive when there is an incoming communication. The user can select automatic option  804  to specify whether or not to accept incoming communications automatically. The user edits the list of vehicles that are automatically accepted using one of edit options  812 . These vehicles can be automatically connected even if the automatic option  804  is set to no. The user can also edit the list of vehicles that are automatically blocked using one of edit options  816 . These blocked vehicles were added when the user selected the always ignore option  384  on  FIG. 8 .  
      Turning now to  FIG. 14 , a simulated screen  900  is shown that illustrates a variation of main screen  300 . Screen  900  provides the ability to communicate with four vehicles around the current vehicle  902 . For example, screen  900  includes front vehicle option  904 , rear vehicle option  906 , left vehicle option  908 , and right vehicle option  910 . While example screens illustrated communicating with front and rear vehicles, and left and right vehicles, other variations and directions are also possible. Furthermore, numerous other ways for selecting a vehicle to communicate with could also be used instead of or in addition to the selection options described in these hypothetical examples.  
      Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims. All equivalents, changes, and modifications that come within the spirit of the implementations as described herein and/or by the following claims are desired to be protected.  
      For example, a person of ordinary skill in the computer software art will recognize that the client and/or server arrangements, user interface screen content and/or data layouts as described in the examples discussed herein could be organized differently on one or more computers to include fewer or additional options or features than as portrayed in the examples.