Network management module for a vehicle communication network

1. A network management module comprises:

a network interface module operable for providing data packet communication with a vehicle communication network;

memory operable to store a processing requirement database that includes vehicle operation processing requirement information; and

a processing module operably coupled to the network interface module, wherein the processing module executes a set of instructions stored in the memory to manage a global vehicle network communication protocol that includes:

instituting a content-based network packet processing protocol;

managing the vehicle communication network to support the content-based network packet processing protocol, wherein the content-based network packet processing protocol includes:

determining content type of a packet;

when the content type of the packet corresponds to vehicle operation content:

determining a processing requirement of the packet based on the vehicle operation processing requirement information; and

prioritizing execution of the processing requirement.

2. The network management module of claim 1 , the managing the vehicle communication network comprises one or more of:

managing resources of a network fabric of the vehicle communication network;

managing devices coupled to the network fabric; and

managing configuration of the network fabric.

3. The network management module of claim 1 , wherein the memory is further operable to store:

a network fabric configuration database that includes one or more of:

predetermined network topologies;

resource allocation information;

load balancing information; and

traffic information;

the processing requirement database further includes one or more of:

mission critical processing requirement information;

infotainment processing requirement information; and

security information;

a content-based network packet processing database that includes one or more of:

packet forwarding information;

packet routing information;

packet filtering information; and

packet prioritization information; and

a resource database that includes one or more of:

link status information; and

link performance information.

4. The network management module of claim 1 , wherein the content type further comprises one of:

mission critical content;

network data content;

and

infotainment content.

5. The network management module of claim 1 further comprises:

determining the content type to be mission critical content;

determining the processing requirement of the packet including:

determining mission critical task of the packet;

determining priority of the packet based on the mission critical task; and

determining one or more destinations of the packet.

6. The network management module of claim 1 further comprises:

determining the content type to be network data content;

determining the processing requirement of the packet including:

determining a network task of the packet;

determining whether the network task includes memory access;

when the network task includes the memory access:

facilitating memory access; and

facilitating a memory access response.

7. The network management module of claim 1 further comprises:

determining the content type to be network data content;

determining the processing requirement of the packet including:

determining a network task of the packet; and

determining that the network task includes a network configuration adjustment.

8. The network management module of claim 1 further comprises:

determining content type of the packet to be a mission critical input;

determining the processing requirement of the packet including:

determining whether a mission critical output will be generated in response to the mission critical input;

when the mission critical output will be generated, pre-queuing the mission critical output.

9. The network management module of claim 1 , wherein the global vehicle network communication protocol comprises at least one of:

information regarding a network fabric formatting of the packets;

information regarding packet transmission prioritization schemes;

information regarding network management processing; and

information regarding vehicle network operation parameters.

10. A network management module comprises:

a network interface module operable for providing data packet communication with a vehicle communication network;

memory; and

a processing module operably coupled to the network interface module, wherein the processing module executes a set of instructions stored in the memory to:

manage packet routing within the vehicle communication network based on a content-based priority scheme and a configuration of the network fabric, wherein the content-based priority scheme comprises a priority ordering for vehicle operation content packets;

select the configuration of the network fabric from one of a plurality of predetermined configurations of the network fabric based on vehicle communication network information; and

manage the vehicle communication network information.

11. The network management module of claim 10 , wherein the content-based priority scheme further comprises:

a priority ordering for mission critical content packets, network data content packets, and infotainment content packets.

12. The network management module of claim 11 , wherein the content-based priority scheme further comprises:

a first sub-content type priority ordering for the mission critical content packets;

a second sub-content type priority ordering for the network data content packets;

a third sub-content type priority ordering for the vehicle operation content packets; and

a fourth sub-content type priority ordering for the infotainment content packets.

13. The network management module of claim 10 , wherein the vehicle communication network information comprises one or more of:

network resources;

vehicle devices;

routing options within the network fabric between a packet source and a packet destination;

network fabric configuration information;

processing requirement information; and

content-based network packet processing information.

14. The network management module of claim 13 , wherein the memory is operable to store:

a network fabric configuration database operable to store the network fabric information that includes one or more of:

predetermined network topologies;

resource allocation information;

load balancing information; and

traffic information;

a processing requirement database operable to store the processing requirement information that includes one or more of:

mission critical processing requirement information;

vehicle operation processing requirement information;

infotainment processing requirement information; and

security information;

a content-based network packet processing database operable to store the content-based network processing information that includes one or more of:

packet forwarding information;

packet routing information;

packet filtering information; and

packet prioritization information; and

a resource database operable to store information regarding the network resources and information regarding the vehicle devices, wherein the information regarding the network resources includes one or more of: identity, link status information, and link performance information and wherein the information regarding the vehicle devices includes identity and use mode.

15. The network management module of claim 10 , wherein the processing module is further operable to:

perform a spanning tree function to produce the plurality of predetermined configurations.

16. A network management module comprises:

a network interface module operable for providing data packet communication with a vehicle communication network;

memory; and

a processing module operably coupled to the network interface module, wherein the processing module executes a set of instructions stored in the memory to:

manage packet routing within the vehicle communication network based on a content-based priority scheme and a configuration of the network fabric wherein the content-based priority scheme includes:

a first sub-content type priority ordering for mission critical content packets;

a second sub-content type priority ordering for network data content packets;

a third sub-content type priority ordering for vehicle operation content packets;

and

a fourth sub-content type priority ordering for infotainment content packets;

select the configuration of the network fabric from one of a plurality of predetermined configurations of the network fabric based on vehicle communication network information; and

manage the vehicle communication network information.

17. The network management module of claim 16 , wherein the vehicle communication network information comprises one or more of:

network resources;

vehicle devices;

routing options within the network fabric between a packet source and a packet destination;

network fabric configuration information;

processing requirement information; and

content-based network packet processing information.

18. The network management module of claim 17 , wherein the memory is operable to store:

a network fabric configuration database operable to store the network fabric information that includes one or more of:

predetermined network topologies;

resource allocation information;

load balancing information; and

traffic information;

a processing requirement database operable to store the processing requirement information that includes one or more of:

mission critical processing requirement information;

vehicle operation processing requirement information;

infotainment processing requirement information; and

security information;

a content-based network packet processing database operable to store the content-based network processing information that includes one or more of:

packet forwarding information;

packet routing information;

packet filtering information; and

packet prioritization information; and

a resource database operable to store information regarding the network resources and information regarding the vehicle devices, wherein the information regarding the network resources includes one or more of: identity, link status information, and link performance information and wherein the information regarding the vehicle devices includes identity and use mode.

19. The network management module of claim 16 , wherein the processing module is further operable to:

perform a spanning tree function to produce the plurality of predetermined configurations.