Method and system for vehicle location tracking using V2X communication

1. A method at a network element within a Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Communications Domain, the method comprising:

receiving a tracking request at the network element from a law enforcement monitoring facility for a target vehicle, the tracking request including identifying information for the target vehicle;

creating a target vehicle list based on the tracking request;

distributing the target vehicle list to at least one V2X endpoint, wherein the distributing is limited to a geographic region, and wherein the at least one V2X endpoint comprises exclusively authorized vehicles and roadside units within the geographic region;

receiving at least one sighting report from the at least one V2X endpoint; and

forwarding the at least one sighting report to a second network element, the forwarding comprising periodically aggregating a plurality of sighting reports.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the creating the target vehicle list comprises updating an existing target vehicle list with the information from the tracking request.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the creating the tracked vehicle list comprises:

forwarding the information to one or more of a Linkage Authority, Registration Authority or Pseudonym Certificate Authority;

receiving information for the target vehicle; and

building or appending the target vehicle list with the received information for the target vehicle.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sighting report includes one or more of: vehicle identification; vehicle location; license plate information for the target vehicle; images of the target vehicle; make of the target vehicle; model of the target vehicle; color of the target vehicle; V2X messages from the target vehicle; or sensor readings for the target vehicle.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises sharing target vehicle list entries with other tracking network elements within the V2X communications domain.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second network element is a law enforcement monitoring facility.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the target vehicle list is encrypted, and wherein the authorized vehicles or roadside units have decryption keys.

8. A network element within a Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Communications Domain, the network element comprising:

a processor; and

a communications subsystem,

wherein the network element is configured to:

receive a tracking request at the network element from a law enforcement monitoring facility for a target vehicle, the tracking request including identifying information for the target vehicle;

create a target vehicle list based on the tracking request;

distribute the target vehicle list to at least one V2X endpoint, wherein the distributing is limited to a geographic region, and wherein the at least one V2X endpoint comprises exclusively authorized vehicles and roadside units within the geographic region;

receive at least one sighting report from the at least one V2X endpoint; and

forward the at least one sighting report to a second network element, the forwarding comprising periodically aggregating a plurality of sighting reports.

9. The network element of claim 8 , wherein the creating the target vehicle list comprises updating an existing target vehicle list with the information from the tracking request.

10. The network element of claim 8 , wherein the network element is configured to create the tracked vehicle list by:

forwarding the information to one or more of a Linkage Authority, Registration Authority or Pseudonym Certificate Authority;

receiving information for the target vehicle; and

building or appending the target vehicle list with the received information for the target vehicle.

11. The network element of claim 8 , wherein the sighting report includes one or more of: vehicle identification; vehicle location; license plate information for the target vehicle; images of the target vehicle; make of the target vehicle; model of the target vehicle; color of the target vehicle; V2X messages from the target vehicle; or sensor readings for the target vehicle.

12. The network element of claim 8 , wherein the network element is further configured to share target vehicle list entries with other tracking network elements within the V2X communications domain.

13. The network element of claim 8 , wherein the second network element is a law enforcement monitoring facility.

14. The network element of claim 8 , wherein the target vehicle list is encrypted, and wherein the authorized vehicles or roadside units have decryption keys.

15. A non-transitory computer readable medium for storing instruction code, which, when executed by a processor of a network element within a Vehicle to Everything (V2X) Communications Domain cause the network element to:

receive a tracking request at the network element from a law enforcement monitoring facility for a target vehicle, the tracking request including identifying information for the target vehicle;

create a target vehicle list based on the tracking request;

distribute the target vehicle list to at least one V2X endpoint, wherein the distributing is limited to a geographic region, and wherein the at least one V2X endpoint comprises exclusively authorized vehicles and roadside units within the geographic region;

receive at least one sighting report from the at least one V2X endpoint; and

forward the at least one sighting report to a second network element, the forwarding comprising periodically aggregating a plurality of sighting reports.