Cellular offloading system for vehicles approaching access points
View Patent ↗Systems and methods for compiling lists of prospective access points for offloading cellular data traffic for a vehicle, and for selecting an access point to establish a non-cellular wireless Internet connection. Vehicular data mobile access involves properties and characteristics different from those of portable user data devices, and thus exhibit different criteria for cellular data offloading. Embodiments of the invention provide vehicle metrics to be used in conjunction with data requirement metrics in compiling the access lists and making the optimum selections based on the vehicle's predicted route. A predictive look-ahead is also provided, for use when predictive routing information is not available or is unreliable.
1. A method for compiling at least one predictive offload access point list for at least one vehicle, the at least one list containing at least one prospective access point for establishing a non-cellular wireless Internet connection for the at least one vehicle, the method comprising processor implemented steps of:
selecting the at least one prospective access point according to a backhaul quality, the at least one prospective access point has an available bitrate sufficient to support a bitrate required by a data connection to be offloaded, and the at least one prospective access point has a current loading less than a predetermined threshold;
receiving at least one vehicle metric specifying at least one vehicle-related state of the at least one vehicle operative for extraction current and predicted look-ahead status for the at least one vehicle;
responsive to the current, planned and predicted look-ahead status of the at least one vehicle, filtering at least one prospective access point to balance load of the at least one prospective access point and to obtain the at least one predictive offload access point list; and
responsive to the at least one predictive offload access point list, extracting schedule strategies for data loading.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving a suggested access point policy, and wherein filtering the at least one access point is further according to the suggested access point policy.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one predictive offload access point list contains a plurality of access points, and further comprising selecting from the at least one predictive offload access point list a single access point for establishing the non-cellular wireless Internet connection.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one predictive offload access point list contains a plurality of access points corresponding to successive locations of a predictive route of the at least one vehicle.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the at least one predictive offload access point list contains a plurality of access points corresponding to a predictive look-ahead for a plurality of possible routes which diverge from a current route of the at least one vehicle as alternative route choices.
6. A system for compiling at least one predictive offload access point list for at least one vehicle, the at least one list containing at least one prospective access point for establishing a non-cellular wireless Internet connection for the at least one vehicle, the system comprising:
a processing device for:
selecting the at least one prospective access point according to a backhaul quality, the at least one prospective access point has an available bitrate sufficient to support a bitrate required by a data connection to be offloaded, and the at least one prospective access point has a current loading less than a predetermined threshold;
receiving at least one vehicle metric specifying at least one vehicle-related state of the at least one vehicle, operative for extraction current and predicted look-ahead status for the at least one vehicle;
responsive to the current, planned and predicted look-ahead status of the at least one vehicle, filtering the at least one access point to balance load of the at least one prospective access point and to obtain the at least one predictive offload access point list; and
responsive to the at least one predictive offload access point list, extracting schedule strategies for data loading.
7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the processing device is further for receiving a suggested access point policy, and wherein filtering the at least one access point is further according to the suggested access point policy.
8. The system of claim 6 , wherein the at least one predictive offload access point list contains a plurality of access points, and wherein the processing device is further for selecting from the at least one predictive offload access point list a single access point for establishing the non-cellular wireless Internet connection.
9. The system of claim 6 , wherein the at least one predictive offload access point list contains a plurality of access points corresponding to successive locations of a predictive route of the at least one vehicle.
10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the at least one predictive offload access point list contains a plurality of access points corresponding to a predictive look-ahead for a plurality of possible routes which diverge from a current route of the at least one vehicle as alternative route choices.