Communication system and method for nodes associated with a vehicle
View Patent ↗Devices and nodes associated with a vehicle may communicate using a higher-level, common messaging protocol over an ad-hoc network to publish and subscribe to services, even though different nodes may utilize different types of links and channels. The network includes a rules node that is fixedly connected to the vehicle and that stores a set of rules. Given a possible publisher, subscriber, and/or a service, a node action is allowed or denied based on the set of rules. The rules may be generated or updated based on priorities, security levels, and/or characteristics of publishers, subscribers, their respective users, and/or services; a current dynamic condition; and/or user input. The rules node and at least one other node may be transported by the vehicle, and both transported nodes and nodes external to the vehicle may use the common messaging protocol to join the ad-hoc network, discover other nodes, authenticate, and publish/consume services.
1. A system for publishing services and subscribing to services, comprising:
a rules node fixedly connected to a vehicle, the rules node including an interface to a network and a rules node memory storing a set of rules defining relationships between one or more publisher nodes and one or more subscriber nodes; and
computer-executable instructions stored on a tangible, non-transitory computer-readable storage medium and executable by a processor to:
receive at least one of an identification of a publisher node or an identification of a subscriber node;
determine, based on at least one rule included in the set of rules and the at least one of the identification of the publisher node or the identification of the subscriber node, whether an action to be taken by at least one of the publisher node or the subscriber node is allowed;
receive an indication that a provided service or a published service is a failed service;
determine, based on the at least one rule or at least one other rule included in the set of rules, a backup service for the failed service; and
cause an indication of the backup service to be transmitted,
wherein:
at least one of the publisher node or the subscriber node is being transported by the vehicle,
the rules node is a sole, active rules provider node of a set of nodes associated with the vehicle,
the rules node, the publisher node and the subscriber node are communicatively coupled via the network, and
the computer-readable storage medium on which the computer-executable instructions are stored is included in one of the publisher node, the subscriber node, or the rules node.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computer-readable storage medium on which the computer-executable instructions are stored is the rules node memory, and wherein the computer-executable instructions are executable by a processor of the rules node further to cause an indication of an allowance or a denial of the action to be taken to be transmitted to at least one of the publisher node or the subscriber node.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the action to be taken by the at least one of the publisher node or the subscriber node includes at least one of:
an authentication of the publisher node or the subscriber node,
a publication of the provided service by the publisher node, or
a subscription to the published service by the subscriber node.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the provided service or the published service is one of:
i) a public branch exchange voice service;
ii) a time service;
iii) a global positioning system service;
iv) a configuration service;
v) a domain name service;
vi) a wireless access point service;
vii) a storage service;
viii) a dynamic fault management and reporting service;
ix) a bearer data service;
x) a software key service;
xi) a digital rights management service;
xii) a health monitoring and reporting service; or
xiii) a flight information service.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein at least one rule included in the set of rules is based on at least one of:
a security level;
a type of data bearer channel;
a priority;
a dynamic condition;
a characteristic of the at least one of the publisher node or the subscriber node; or
an identity of a user of the at least one of the publisher node or the subscriber node.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the publisher node is configured to communicate using a first type of data bearer channel;
the publisher node is configured to communicate using a second type of data bearer channel; and
the publisher node and the subscriber node are both configured to communicate with each other at a level higher than the first data bearer channel and the second bearer channel using a common messaging protocol.
7. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a rules definition engine included in a computing device that is not being transported by the vehicle, and wherein at least one rule included in the set of rules of the rules node is updated based on the rules definition engine.