Methods for communicating between elements in a hierarchical floating car data network

1. An infrastructure mode packet transmitting method for a participating vehicle in a hierarchical floating car data network, comprising the steps of:

(a) determining if a beacon timer has expired;

(b) if the beacon timer has expired, creating a beacon service table packet or vehicle service table packet;

(c) determining whether a memory threshold is exceeded;

(d) if the memory threshold is exceeded, creating a packet burst;

(e) sending the packet and/or the packet burst to a radio;

(f) queuing the packet and/or the packet burst sent in (e);

(g) transmitting the packet and/or the packet burst; and

(h) transitioning to a receive mode.

2. An infrastructure mode packet receiving method for an egress point in a hierarchical floating car data network, comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving a packet, wherein the packet comprises a beacon service table, a vehicle service table packet, or a packet burst;

(b) sending the packet to an application;

(c) determining whether a memory threshold is exceeded;

(d) if the memory threshold is exceeded, rejecting the packet and transitioning to a transmit mode; and

(e) if the memory threshold is not exceeded, accepting the packet and transitioning to a receive mode.

3. An infrastructure mode packet receiving method for a participating vehicle in a hierarchical floating car data network, comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving a packet, wherein the packet comprises a beacon service table, a vehicle service table packet, a packet burst, or a negative acknowledgement packet;

(b) sending the packet to an application;

(c) processing the sent packet;

(d) determining whether the packet should be retransmitted;

(e) if the packet should be retransmitted, transitioning to a transmit mode; and

(f) if the packet should not be retransmitted, transitioning to a receive mode.

4. The invention infrastructure mode packet receiving method of claim 3 , further comprising the steps of:

(g) determining whether a communication link used for the receiving in (a) is lost;

(h) if the communication link is lost, determining if the negative acknowledgement packet was received in (a);

(i) if the negative acknowledgement packet was received, transitioning to the receive mode; and

(j) if the negative acknowledgement packet was not received, flagging previously transmitted packets and transitioning to the receive mode.

5. An infrastructure mode packet transmitting method for an egress point in a hierarchical floating car data network, comprising the steps of:

(a) determining whether an enhanced beacon timer has expired;

(b) if the enhanced beacon timer has expired, creating an enhanced beacon packet;

(c) if a received packet burst is rejected, creating a negative acknowledgement packet;

(d) sending the enhanced beacon packet and/or the negative acknowledgement packet to a radio;

(e) queuing the sent packet;

(f) transmitting the queued packet; and

(g) transitioning to a receive mode.

6. An ad-hoc mode packet transmitting method for a participating vehicle in a hierarchical floating car data network, comprising the steps of:

(a) if a beacon timer is expired, creating a beacon service table packet or a vehicle service table packet;

(b) if a memory threshold is exceeded, creating a packet burst;

(c) if a positive acknowledgement is required, creating a positive acknowledgement packet;

(d) sending the beacon service table packet, the vehicle service table packet, the packet burst, and/or the positive acknowledgement packet to a radio;

(e) queuing the packet;

(f) transmitting the packet; and

(g) transitioning to a receive mode.

7. An ad-hoc mode packet receiving method for a participating vehicle in a hierarchical floating car data network, comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving a packet wherein the packet comprises a beacon service table, a vehicle service table packet, or a packet burst;

(b) sending the packet to an application;

(c) processing the packet sent

(d) determining whether the packet should be rejected or accepted, or whether the packet is a positive acknowledgment packet;

(e) if the packet is rejected, transitioning to a receive mode;

(f) if the packet is accepted, setting a timer and transitioning to the receive mode;

(g) if the packet is a positive acknowledgement packet, resetting the timer and transitioning to the receive mode; and

(h) if the timer expires before the packet is received in (a), creating a positive acknowledgement signal and transitioning to a transmit mode.