Vehicle collision monitoring method

1. A vehicle collision monitoring method comprising:

preparing a host vehicle message including information pertaining to a host vehicle including a host vehicle location and a host vehicle heading;

receiving a remote vehicle message including information pertaining to a remote vehicle including a remote vehicle location and a remote vehicle heading;

evaluating, using a controller, whether the host vehicle heading and the remote vehicle heading are converging paths including

segregating an area surrounding the host vehicle location into a plurality of sectors;

determining which of the sectors is a remote vehicle sector including the remote vehicle location, including determining a linear direction between the host vehicle and the remote vehicle at a moment in time, determining an angle between a predetermined direction and the linear direction at the moment in time, and determining the remote vehicle sector based on the angle; and

determining whether the host vehicle heading and the remote vehicle heading are converging paths based on the host vehicle location, the host vehicle heading, the remote vehicle location, the remote vehicle heading and a characteristic relating to the sector that includes the remote vehicle location.

2. The vehicle collision monitoring method according to claim 1 , wherein

the segregating includes segregating the area surrounding the host vehicle location into the plurality of sectors which are adjacently geographically distributed about the host vehicle location which is at the geographic center of the area where each of the sectors meet.

3. The vehicle collision monitoring method according to claim 2 , wherein

the segregating includes segregating the area surrounding the host vehicle location into the plurality of sectors which are separated by a north-south directional line and an east-west direction line that intersect at the host vehicle location.

4. The vehicle collision monitoring method according to claim 1 , wherein

the characteristic relating to the sector that includes the remote vehicle location is different from at least one other characteristic relating to at least one other of the sectors.

5. The vehicle collision monitoring method according to claim 1 , wherein

the determining of whether the host vehicle heading and the remote vehicle heading are converging paths includes comparing the host vehicle location, the host vehicle heading, the remote vehicle location, the remote vehicle heading and the characteristic to determine whether the host vehicle and the remote vehicle are travelling on converging paths.

6. The vehicle collision monitoring method according to claim 1 , further comprising

generating a warning while the host vehicle heading and the remote vehicle heading are determined to be converging paths.

7. The vehicle collision monitoring method according to claim 1 , further comprising

determining whether the host vehicle location and the remote vehicle location are within a predetermined distance from each other; and

generating a warning while the host vehicle heading and the remote vehicle heading are determined to be converging paths, and the host vehicle location and the remote vehicle location are determined to be within the predetermined distance from each other.

8. A vehicle collision monitoring method comprising:

preparing a host vehicle message including information pertaining to a host vehicle including a host vehicle location and a host vehicle heading;

receiving a remote vehicle message including information pertaining to a remote vehicle including a remote vehicle location and a remote vehicle heading;

evaluating, using a controller, whether the host vehicle heading and the remote vehicle heading are converging paths including

segregating an area surrounding the host vehicle location into a plurality of sectors;

determining which of the sectors is a remote vehicle sector including the remote vehicle location;

determining whether the host vehicle heading and the remote vehicle heading are converging paths based on the host vehicle location, the host vehicle heading, the remote vehicle location, the remote vehicle heading and a characteristic relating to the sector that includes the remote vehicle location, and being different from at least one other characteristic relating to at least one other of the sectors; and

determining a threat based on the remote vehicle sector and a comparison between a heading angle of the host vehicle in relation to a predetermined direction and a heading angle of the remote vehicle in relation to the predetermined direction.

9. A vehicle collision monitoring method comprising:

preparing a host vehicle message including information pertaining to a host vehicle including a host vehicle location and a host vehicle heading;

receiving a remote vehicle message including information pertaining to a remote vehicle including a remote vehicle location and a remote vehicle heading;

evaluating, using a controller, whether the host vehicle heading and the remote vehicle heading are converging paths including

segregating an area surrounding the host vehicle location into a plurality of sectors;

determining which of the sectors is a remote vehicle sector including the remote vehicle location; and

determining whether the host vehicle heading and the remote vehicle heading are converging paths based on the host vehicle location, the host vehicle heading, the remote vehicle location, the remote vehicle heading and a characteristic relating to the sector that includes the remote vehicle location, and including comparing the host vehicle location, the host vehicle heading, the remote vehicle location, the remote vehicle heading and the characteristic to determine whether the host vehicle and the remote vehicle are travelling on converging paths, and performing a plurality of separate mathematical comparisons of the host vehicle location, the host vehicle heading, the remote vehicle location, the remote vehicle heading and the characteristic to generate a plurality of results, and determining that the host vehicle heading and the remote vehicle heading are converging paths when any of the results has a particular characteristic.

10. The vehicle collision monitoring method according to claim 9 , wherein

the performing of the plurality of separate mathematical comparisons performs the separate mathematical comparisons simultaneously to simultaneously generate the plurality of results.

11. A vehicle collision monitoring method comprising:

preparing a host vehicle message including information pertaining to a host vehicle including a host vehicle location and a host vehicle heading;

receiving a remote vehicle message including information pertaining to a remote vehicle including a remote vehicle location and a remote vehicle heading;

evaluating, using a controller, whether the host vehicle heading and the remote vehicle heading are converging paths including

segregating an area surrounding the host vehicle location into a plurality of sectors;

determining which of the sectors is a remote vehicle sector including the remote vehicle location; and

determining whether the host vehicle heading and the remote vehicle heading are converging paths based on the host vehicle location, the host vehicle heading, the remote vehicle location, the remote vehicle heading and a characteristic relating to the sector that includes the remote vehicle location, and determining a point of convergence based on the host vehicle location, the host vehicle heading, the remote vehicle location, the remote vehicle heading and the characteristic.

12. A vehicle collision monitoring method comprising:

preparing a host vehicle message including information pertaining to a host vehicle including a host vehicle location and a host vehicle heading;

receiving a remote vehicle message including information pertaining to a remote vehicle including a remote vehicle location and a remote vehicle heading;

evaluating, using a controller, whether the host vehicle heading and the remote vehicle heading are converging paths including

segregating an area surrounding the host vehicle location into a plurality of sectors;

determining which of the sectors is a remote vehicle sector including the remote vehicle location; and

determining whether the host vehicle heading and the remote vehicle heading are converging paths based on the host vehicle location, the host vehicle heading, the remote vehicle location, the remote vehicle heading and a characteristic relating to the sector that includes the remote vehicle location, and identifying a current convergence scenario from a plurality of possible convergence scenarios based on the host vehicle location, the host vehicle heading, the remote vehicle location, the remote vehicle heading and the characteristic.

13. The vehicle collision monitoring method according to claim 12 , further comprising

generating a warning while the current convergence scenario indicates the host vehicle heading and the remote vehicle heading are converging paths.

14. A vehicle collision monitoring method comprising:

preparing a host vehicle message including information pertaining to a host vehicle including a host vehicle location, a host vehicle heading, and a host vehicle elevation;

receiving a remote vehicle message including information pertaining to a remote vehicle including a remote vehicle location, a remote vehicle heading and a remote vehicle elevation;

evaluating, using a controller, whether the host vehicle heading and the remote vehicle heading are converging paths including

segregating an area surrounding the host vehicle location into a plurality of sectors;

determining which of the sectors is a remote vehicle sector including the remote vehicle location; and

determining whether the host vehicle heading and the remote vehicle heading are converging paths based on the host vehicle location, the host vehicle heading, the remote vehicle location, the remote vehicle heading and a characteristic relating to the sector that includes the remote vehicle location;

determining whether the host vehicle location and the remote vehicle location are within a predetermined distance from each other including determining whether the host vehicle elevation and the remote vehicle elevation are within a predetermined elevation difference; and

generating a warning while the host vehicle heading and the remote vehicle heading are determined to be converging paths, the host vehicle location and the remote vehicle location are determined to be within the predetermined distance from each other, and the host vehicle elevation and the remote vehicle elevation are within the predetermined elevation difference.

15. A vehicle collision monitoring system comprising:

a communication component configured to receive a remote vehicle message including information pertaining to a remote vehicle including a remote vehicle location and a remote vehicle heading; and

a controller configured to prepare a host vehicle message including information pertaining to a host vehicle including a host vehicle location and a host vehicle heading, and to perform an evaluation operation to evaluate whether the host vehicle heading and the remote vehicle heading are converging paths by segregating an area surrounding the host vehicle location into a plurality of sectors, determining which of the sectors is a remote vehicle sector including the remote vehicle location, and determining whether the host vehicle heading and the remote vehicle heading are converging paths based on the host vehicle location, the host vehicle heading, the remote vehicle location, the remote vehicle heading and a characteristic relating to the sector that includes the remote vehicle location, and performing a plurality of separate mathematical comparisons of the host vehicle location, the host vehicle heading, the remote vehicle location, the remote vehicle heading and the characteristic to generate a plurality of results, and determining that the host vehicle and the remote vehicle are travelling on converging paths when any of the results has a particular characteristic.

16. The vehicle collision monitoring system according to claim 15 , wherein

the host vehicle information further includes a host vehicle elevation and the remote vehicle information further includes a remote vehicle elevation; and

the controller is further configured to refrain from performing the converging path calculation while a difference between the host vehicle elevation and the remote vehicle elevation meets a condition.