Method of targeting a message to a communication device selected from among a set of communication devices
View Patent ↗A method for sending messages from a particular device to one or more other devices communicants ( 300 ) uses the relative geographic location of the targeted devices as addressing criteria. The particular device forms or joins a network of potential communicants, and exchanges information to determine their relative geographic location with respect to that of the particular device ( 310, 320 ). The relative geographic location is preferably defined by a directional component and a range component. The communication device then selects for communication those devices that meet specific criteria, such as a specific direction and range, and transmits a message to the selected devices ( 330, 332, 334, 336 ).
1. A method of sending a message from a communication device to another communication device selected from a plurality of communication devices, the method comprising the steps of:
forming a network with the plurality of communication devices;
obtaining information on relative geographic locations, with respect to the communication device, for the plurality of communication devices;
selecting for communication at least one device from the plurality of communication devices based at least in part on the obtained relative geographic location information including automatically choosing by the communication device the at least one device based on direction of the location of the at least one device relative to the communication device; and
transmitting a message to the at least one device.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the relative geographic location information comprises relative directional information.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein automatically choosing the at least one device based on direction relative to the communication device includes automatically selecting only devices of the plurality of communication devices that are located in a specific direction relative to the communication device.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the specific direction is one of in front of or behind the communication device.
5. In a particular vehicle having a particular direction of travel, a method of operating a vehicle messaging system, comprising the steps of:
joining a communication network comprising a plurality of vehicles having a direction of travel consistent with the particular direction of travel;
obtaining information on relative location for the plurality of vehicles;
selecting a subset of the plurality of vehicles that have a relative location, with respect to the particular vehicle, that satisfies a predetermined criteria, where the subset can include multiple vehicles; and
transmitting a message from the particular vehicle directly to the subset of the plurality of vehicles.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the predetermined criteria comprises a predetermined range and a predetermined direction.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the predetermined direction is one of in front of or behind with respect to the particular direction of travel.
8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the step of transmitting comprises the step of encoding relative location information as an address component for selectively limiting recipients of the message.
9. In a particular vehicle having a particular direction of travel, a method of operating a vehicle messaging system, comprising the steps of:
forming a communication network comprising a plurality of vehicles having a direction of travel consistent with the particular direction of travel;
generating relative location information for the plurality of vehicles;
automatically selecting by the vehicle messaging system of the particular vehicle a subset of the plurality of vehicles characterized as located toward a specific direction and within a specific range of the particular vehicle, with respect to the particular direction of travel, based at least in part on the obtained relative location information, where the subset can include multiple vehicles; and
transmitting vehicular status information from the particular vehicle directly to the selected subset of the plurality of vehicles.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the step of automatically selecting comprises the step of selecting only those vehicles characterized as being behind the particular vehicle.
11. A method of sending a message from a communication device to another communication device selected from a plurality of communication devices, the method comprising the steps of:
forming an ad-hoc, self organizing, peer-to-peer network with the plurality of communication devices;
obtaining information on relative geographic locations, with respect to the communication device, for the plurality of communication devices;
selecting for communication at least one peer device from the plurality of communication devices based at least in part on the obtained relative geographic location information; and transmitting a message directly to the at least one peer device.