AUTONOMOUS-MODE TRAFFIC LANE SELECTION BASED ON TRAFFIC LANE CONGESTION LEVELS

1 . A method in an autonomous vehicle control unit for traffic lane selection from a roadway having a plurality of traffic lanes in a common direction of travel, the method comprising:

identifying a present traffic lane in relation to each of the plurality of traffic lanes;

determining a traffic congestion level for the each of the plurality of traffic lanes;

comparing the traffic congestion level for the each of the plurality of traffic lanes to determine a lowest-congested traffic lane of the plurality of traffic lanes;

when the lowest-congested traffic lane is other than the present traffic lane:

generating a traffic lane change command including identifier data for an adjacent traffic lane having a lower traffic congestion level; and

transmitting the traffic lane change command to effect a traffic lane change from the present traffic lane to the adjacent traffic lane.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining the traffic congestion level for the each of the plurality of traffic lanes comprising:

sensing a vehicle positioned ahead along the common direction of travel; and

determining a distance to the vehicle to produce the traffic congestion level.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining the traffic congestion level for the each of the plurality of traffic lanes comprising:

sensing a vehicle positioned ahead along the common direction of travel; and

detecting a closing of a longitudinal distance to the vehicle; and

determining a rate of the closing of the longitudinal distance to the vehicle to produce the traffic congestion level.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the transmitting the traffic lane change command further comprising:

transmitting the traffic lane change command to a powertrain control unit; and

broadcasting the traffic lane change command.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the broadcasting the traffic lane change command comprising:

a vehicle-to-vehicle communication; and

a vehicle-to-infrastructure communication.

6 . A method in a vehicle control unit for traffic lane selection of a roadway for an autonomous vehicle operation, the method comprising:

determining a traffic congestion condition for the roadway;

when the traffic congestion condition exceeds a threshold, determining whether the roadway includes a plurality of traffic lanes for travel in a uniform travel direction; and

when the roadway includes the plurality of traffic lanes:

identifying a present traffic lane in relation to each of the plurality of traffic lanes;

determining a traffic congestion level for the each of the plurality of traffic lanes;

comparing the traffic congestion level for the each of the plurality of traffic lanes to determine whether the present traffic lane is a lowest-congested traffic lane of the plurality of traffic lanes; and

when the lowest-congested traffic lane is other than the present traffic lane, traversing the roadway to the lowest-congested traffic lane by:

generating a traffic lane change command identifying an adjacent traffic lane; and

transmitting the traffic lane change command to effect a lane change from the present traffic lane to the adjacent traffic lane.

7 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

when the lowest-congested traffic lane is other than the adjacent traffic lane, again traversing the roadway to the lowest-congested traffic lane by:

generating another traffic lane change command including identifier data for a next adjacent traffic lane; and

transmitting the another traffic lane change command to effect a traffic lane change from the present traffic lane to the next adjacent traffic lane.

8 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the determining the traffic congestion condition for the roadway comprising:

retrieving location data;

requesting, based on the location data, map layer data including roadway information;

receiving, in response, the map layer data indicating a present traffic speed for the roadway relative to a free-flowing traffic speed; and

processing the map layer data to produce the traffic congestion condition for the roadway.

9 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the threshold indicates less than a free-flowing traffic speed for the roadway.

10 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the traffic congestion condition for the roadway being based on sensing vehicle-to-vehicle communication levels.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the sensing the vehicle-to-vehicle communication levels including sensing a volume of vehicle-to-vehicle communication collisions.

12 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the determining the traffic congestion condition for the roadway comprising:

receiving a vehicle-to-infrastructure communication message;

retrieving message data from the vehicle-to-infrastructure communication message;

determining a congestion value for the message data; and

assigning the congestion value to the traffic congestion condition.

13 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the determining whether the roadway includes the plurality of traffic lanes in the uniform travel direction comprising:

retrieving location data;

requesting, based on the location data, map layer data including roadway information data; and

receiving, in response, the map layer data.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the map layer data comprises a Route Network Description File indicating an amount of the traffic lanes for the roadway.

15 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the determining whether the roadway includes the plurality of traffic lanes in the uniform travel direction comprising:

receiving vehicle sensor data;

determining roadway features based on the vehicle sensor data;

inferring from the roadway features to infer more than one traffic lane; and

generating an initial estimate of traffic lane geometry.

16 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the transmitting the traffic lane change command to effect the lane change from the present traffic lane to the adjacent traffic lane further comprising:

transmitting the traffic lane command to a powertrain control unit; and

broadcasting the traffic lane command.

17 . A vehicle control unit for traffic lane selection comprising:

a wireless communication interface to service communication with a vehicle network and user equipment of a vehicle user;

a processor coupled to the wireless communication interface, the processor for controlling operations of the vehicle control unit; and

a memory coupled to the processor, the memory for storing data and program instructions used by the processor, the processor configured to execute instructions stored in the memory to:

identify a present traffic lane in relation to each of the plurality of traffic lanes;

determine a traffic congestion level for the each of the plurality of traffic lanes;

compare the traffic congestion level for the each of the plurality of traffic lanes to determine a lowest-congested traffic lane of the plurality of traffic lanes; and

when the lowest-congested traffic lane is other than the present traffic lane:

generate a traffic lane change command including identifier data for an adjacent traffic lane having a lower traffic congestion level; and

transmit the traffic lane change command to effect a traffic lane change from the present traffic lane to the adjacent traffic lane.

18 . The vehicle control unit of claim 17 , wherein the processor being further configured to execute further instructions stored in the memory to determine the traffic congestion level for the each of the plurality of traffic lanes by:

sensing a vehicle positioned ahead along the common direction of travel; and

determining a distance to the vehicle to produce the traffic congestion level.

19 . The vehicle control unit of claim 17 , wherein the processor being further configured to execute further instructions stored in the memory to determine the traffic congestion level for the each of the plurality of traffic lanes by:

sensing a vehicle positioned ahead along the common direction of travel; and

detecting a closing of a longitudinal distance to the vehicle; and

determining a rate of the closing of the longitudinal distance to the vehicle to produce the traffic congestion level.

20 . The vehicle control unit of claim 17 , wherein the processor being further configured to execute further instructions stored in the memory to transmit the traffic lane change command by:

transmitting the traffic lane command to a powertrain control unit; and

broadcasting the traffic lane command.