Patent ID: 8050188

Claim:
A method for suppressing redundant packet message transmissions in a vehicle having a multi-hop message delivery system, the vehicle having a receiver for receiving message packets from any one of a plurality of vehicles within a broadcast range of the vehicle, a transmitter for re-broadcasting the message packets to the plurality of nearby vehicles, the vehicle including a buffer for holding the received message packets prior to re-broadcasting the message packets, the method comprising the steps of: calculating a first estimation value as a function of a signal strength of the vehicle receiver for a respective received message packet; calculating a second estimation value as a function of the buffer; determining a re-broadcast estimation threshold value as a function of the first estimation value and the second estimation value; providing at least one triggering function for generating an at least one triggering indicator; and re-broadcasting the respective message packet in response to the re-broadcast estimation threshold value satisfying the at least one triggering indicator.