Cellular network for efficient and reliable remote operation of a vehicle fleet

1 . A method, comprising:

remotely operating, by a teleoperation server, a vehicle fleet on a road network via wireless connections provided by a cellular network;

receiving, by a network node of the cellular network, a route request from the teleoperation server, wherein the route request comprises a starting position of a vehicle of the vehicle fleet, a target location to be reached by the vehicle, a teleoperation route connecting the target location to the starting position, and a travel time of the vehicle;

determining, by the network node, a teleoperation route allowing for safe remote operation of the vehicle from the starting position to the target location; and

based on the cellular network not allowing for safe remote operation of the vehicle along the teleoperation route in the route request during the travel time, transmitting, by the network node, a route suggestion to the teleoperation server, wherein the transmitted route suggestion comprises the determined teleoperation route and a plurality of intermediate teleoperation routes in between the teleoperation route in the route request and the determined teleoperation route, wherein the plurality of intermediate teleoperation routes are determined by the network node based on applying random variations generated by a Monte Carlo algorithm to the teleoperation route in the route request or the determined teleoperation route.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the network node receives a route decision from the teleoperation server, the route decision comprising a suggested teleoperation route, stores the suggested teleoperation route, and causes the cellular network to reserve corresponding spectral resources of radio cells passed through by the suggested teleoperation route.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the network node stores the teleoperation route in the route request, causes the cellular network to reserve corresponding spectral resources of radio cells passed through by the teleoperation route in the route request, and transmits a route confirmation to the teleoperation server based on the cellular network allowing for safe remote operation of the vehicle along the teleoperation route in the route request during the travel time.

4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein determining the teleoperation route comprises:

assigning weights to sections of roads of the road network; and

applying a weighted shortest path algorithm to the road network, wherein the weighted shortest path algorithm evaluates respective costs of routes connecting the target location to the starting position by summing up weights assigned to sections of roads of the route.

5 . The method according to claim 4 , wherein the weights are assigned dependent on attributes of nodes and/or edges of a mathematical graph representing the road network, wherein the attributes specify the road network and the cellular network.

6 . The method according to claim 5 , wherein the attributes specifying the cellular network comprise:

a radio coverage along a road section,

a maximum bit rate along a road section,

a minimum guaranteed bitrate along a road section, and/or

a guaranteed maximum latency along a road section.

7 . The method according to claim 5 , wherein the attributes specifying the road network comprise:

a location of a node,

a type of a node,

a length of a road,

a category of a road,

a maximum velocity along a road section,

a current traffic situation along a road section,

an air quality along a road section,

a number of lanes of a road section, and/or

a direction of a road.

8 . The method according to claim 5 , wherein the attributes specifying the cellular network are predicted by an artificial neural network and/or via a time series of historic data.

9 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the network node determines a key figure for each determined teleoperation route and assigns the determined key figure to the determined teleoperation route, and wherein the transmitted route suggestion comprises the assigned key figure.

10 . The method according to claim 9 , wherein the network node determines a difference of a travel time along the determined teleoperation route from the travel time, a difference of a route length of the determined teleoperation route from a route length of the teleoperation route in the route request, and/or a probability of undisturbed travel along the determined teleoperation route as the key figure.

11 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein a teleoperation application executed by the teleoperation server and each vehicle of the vehicle fleet is caused by the cellular network to automatically adapt a data rate to a current bit rate of the wireless connections.

12 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the teleoperation server is configured as an edge server.

13 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the teleoperation route in the route request is determined by the teleoperation server and/or by minimizing a length of the route.

14 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the route request comprises respective starting positions, target locations, routes, and travel times of a plurality of vehicles.

15 . A network node of a cellular network, comprising:

a communication interface configured to receive a route request from a teleoperation server remotely operating a vehicle fleet on a road network via wireless connections provided by the cellular network, wherein the route request comprises a starting position of a vehicle of the vehicle fleet, a target location to be reached by the vehicle, a teleoperation route connecting the target location to the starting position, and a travel time of the vehicle; and

a processor configured to determine a teleoperation route allowing for safe remote operation of the vehicle from the starting position to the target location;

wherein the communication interface is further configured to, based on the cellular network not allowing for safe remote operation of the vehicle along the teleoperation route in the route request during the travel time, transmit a route suggestion to the teleoperation server, wherein the transmitted route suggestion comprises the determined teleoperation route and a plurality of intermediate teleoperation routes in between the teleoperation route in the route request and the determined teleoperation route, wherein the plurality of intermediate teleoperation routes are determined by the network node based on applying random variations generated by a Monte Carlo algorithm to the teleoperation route in the route request or the determined teleoperation route.

16 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium having processor-executable instructions stored thereon, wherein the processor-executable instructions, when executed, facilitate performance of the following:

receiving, by a network node of a cellular network, a route request from a teleoperation server remotely operating a vehicle fleet on a road network via wireless connections provided by the cellular network, wherein the route request comprises a starting position of a vehicle of the vehicle fleet, a target location to be reached by the vehicle, a teleoperation route connecting the target location to the starting position, and a travel time of the vehicle; and

determining, by the network node, a teleoperation route allowing for safe remote operation of the vehicle from the starting position to the target location; and

based on the cellular network not allowing for safe remote operation of the vehicle along the teleoperation route in the route request during the travel time, transmitting, by the network node, a route suggestion to the teleoperation server, wherein the transmitted route suggestion comprises the determined teleoperation route and a plurality of intermediate teleoperation routes in between the teleoperation route in the route request and the determined teleoperation route, wherein the plurality of intermediate teleoperation routes are determined by the network node based on applying random variations generated by a Monte Carlo algorithm to the teleoperation route in the route request or the determined teleoperation route.