Adaptive and dynamic Wi-Fi® scanning policies in a network of moving things including, for example, autonomous vehicles

1. A system configured for supporting use of adaptive and dynamic Wi-Fi® scanning policies in a vehicle communication network, the system comprising:

a vehicle-based network node deployed in a vehicle and comprising:

at least one communication circuit configured to communicate signals for transmission and reception of data;

at least one storage circuit configured to store instructions and data; and

at least one processing circuit configured to, based on at least in part, instructions and/or data stored in the at least one storage circuit:

obtain during operations within an area of the vehicle communication network, context-related data associated with the vehicle, wherein the context-related data comprise one or both of internal information associated with the vehicle and external information associated with an environment and/or one or more neighboring vehicles; and

manage Wi-Fi® scanning based on the context-related data, wherein the managing comprises:

determining based on the context-related data, when to scan for Wi-Fi® access points;

when scanning:

 selecting at least one Wi-Fi® scan policy based on the context-related data; and

 configuring Wi-Fi® scanning based on the at least one Wi-Fi® scan policy; and

obtaining information relating to different Wi-Fi® based connections established during the scanning, the information comprising reporting statistics, performance metrics and events of the different connections.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one storage circuit is configured to maintain a scan policy database; and wherein the at least one processing circuit is configured to select the Wi-Fi® scan policy from the scan policy database.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the at least one processing circuit is configured to populate and/or update the scan policy database, based on at least in part scan policy related data received from a cloud-based network node in the vehicle communication network.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processing circuit is configured to obtain performance related information associated with each of one or more different Wi-Fi® access points detected within the area of the vehicle communication network.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processing circuit is configured to:

aggregate Wi-Fi® related information, relating to Wi-Fi® connectivity during operations within the area of the vehicle communication network; and

provide at least a portion of the Wi-Fi® related information to a cloud-based network node in the vehicle communication network.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processing circuit is configured to:

establish connection to a plurality of different Wi-Fi® access points; and

apply to connection to each of the plurality of different Wi-Fi® access points, a corresponding Wi-Fi® scan policy.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processing circuit is configured to, when configuring Wi-Fi® scanning based on the Wi-Fi® scan policy, perform at least one of:

selecting one or more frequencies for use in Wi-Fi® scan;

selecting one or more channels for performing Wi-Fi® scan; and

selecting a channel for use in starting Wi-Fi® scan.

8. A system configured for supporting use of adaptive and dynamic Wi-Fi® scanning policies in a vehicle communication network, the system comprising:

a cloud-based network node comprising:

at least one communication circuit configured to communicate signals for transmission and reception of data;

at least one storage circuit configured to store instructions and data; and

at least one processing circuit configured to, based on at least in part, instructions and/or data stored in the at least one storage circuit:

receive from one or more network nodes in the vehicle communication network, the one or more network nodes comprising at least one mobile access point (MAP) deployed on-board a vehicle, Wi-Fi® connectivity-related data relating to one or more Wi-Fi® access points providing coverage within an area of the vehicle communication network, collected or obtained during operations in the area;

process the Wi-Fi® connectivity-related data; and

generate or update, based on processing of the Wi-Fi® connectivity-related data, at least one Wi-Fi® scanning decision model, wherein the at least one Wi-Fi® scanning decision model is configured for optimizing Wi-Fi® scanning operations in mobile access points (MAPs) deployed on-board vehicles associated with the vehicle communication network;

generate, based on the Wi-Fi® connectivity-related data, performance metrics for each of the one or more Wi-Fi® access points;

generate or update the at least one Wi-Fi® scanning decision model based on the performance metrics; and

generate a list of scanning Wi-Fi® access point candidates, comprising each Wi-Fi® access point determined to meet predefined scanning candidate criteria.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the at least one processing circuit is configured to aggregate Wi-Fi® connectivity-related data received from different ones of the one or more network nodes.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the at least one processing circuit is configured to incorporate into the Wi-Fi® connectivity-related data, information obtained from one or more sources other than the one or more network nodes.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the at least one processing circuit is configured to provide the at least one Wi-Fi® scanning decision model or information based on the at least one Wi-Fi® scanning decision model to at least one vehicle-based network node.

12. A method for supporting use of adaptive and dynamic Wi-Fi® scanning policies in a vehicle communication network, the method comprising:

obtaining by a vehicle-based network node deployed within a vehicle, during operations within an area of the vehicle communication network, context-related data associated with the vehicle, wherein the context-related data comprise one or both of internal information associated with the vehicle and external information associated with an environment and/or one or more neighboring vehicles;

managing Wi-Fi® scanning in the vehicle-based network node, based on the context-related data, wherein the managing comprises:

determining based on the context-related data, when to scan for Wi-Fi® access points; and

when scanning:

selecting at least one Wi-Fi® scan policy based on the context-related data; and

configuring Wi-Fi® scanning based on the at least one Wi-Fi® scan policy;

receiving by a cloud-based network node, from one or more network nodes in the vehicle communication network that comprise the vehicle-based network node, Wi-Fi® connectivity-related data relating to one or more Wi-Fi® access points providing coverage within the area of the vehicle communication network, collected or obtained during operations in the area;

processing the Wi-Fi® connectivity-related data; and

generating or updating, based on processing of the Wi-Fi® connectivity-related data, at least one Wi-Fi® scanning decision model, wherein the at least one Wi-Fi® scanning decision model is configured for optimizing Wi-Fi® scanning operations in at least the vehicle-based network node;

generating based on the Wi-Fi® connectivity-related data, performance metrics for each of the one or more Wi-Fi® access points;

generating or updating the at least one Wi-Fi® scanning decision model based on the performance metrics; and

generating a list of scanning Wi-Fi® access point candidates, comprising each Wi-Fi® access point determined to meet predefined scanning candidate criteria.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

maintaining in the vehicle-based network node a scan policy database; and

selecting the Wi-Fi® scan policy from the scan policy database.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising populating and/or updating the scan policy database, based on at least in part scan policy related data received from a cloud-based network node in the vehicle communication network.

15. The method of claim 12 , further comprising obtaining performance related information associated with each of one or more different Wi-Fi® access points detected within the area of the vehicle communication network.

16. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

aggregating Wi-Fi® related information, relating to Wi-Fi® connectivity based activities during operations within the area of the vehicle communication network; and

providing at least a portion of the Wi-Fi® related information to a cloud-based network node in the vehicle communication network.

17. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

establishing connection to a plurality of different Wi-Fi® access points; and

applying to connection to each of the plurality of different Wi-Fi® access points, a corresponding Wi-Fi® scan policy.

18. The method of claim 12 , further comprising, when configuring Wi-Fi® scanning based on the Wi-Fi® scan policy, performing one or more of:

selecting one or more frequencies for use in Wi-Fi® scan;

selecting one or more channels for performing Wi-Fi® scan; and

selecting a channel for use in starting Wi-Fi® scan.

19. The method of claim 12 , further comprising aggregating Wi-Fi® connectivity-related data received from different ones of the one or more network nodes.

20. The method of claim 12 , further comprising incorporating information obtained from one or more sources other than the one or more network nodes.

21. The method of claim 12 , further comprising providing the at least one Wi-Fi® scanning decision model or information based on the at least one Wi-Fi® scanning decision model to at least one vehicle-based network node.