Vehicle to infrastructure autonomous data backhaul
A data transfer method for autonomous vehicles includes autonomously positioning a vehicle to achieve an alignment condition in which a vehicle-mounted directional antenna coupled to a vehicle radio is aligned with a curbside antenna coupled to a curbside radio. A peer-tip-peer radio link is established between the vehicle radio and the curbside radio, and data is transferred from the vehicle radio to the curbside radio using the peer-to-peer radio link. The peer-to-peer radio link may be a millimeter-wave radio link. Data is transferred at high speed, for example at least tens of gigabits per second or even hundreds of gigabits per second. The vehicle may be an electric vehicle, and electric charging of the vehicle may be performed while transferring the data. In one embodiment, the vehicle is configured to proceed to a recharging location when a given low state of charge is reached. Transferring data may be performed at a rate such that during recharging from the low state of charge to a target state of charge, all data to be transferred from the vehicle is transferred, or at least a terabyte of data is transferred.
1. A data transfer method for vehicles, comprising:
positioning a vehicle to achieve a condition in which a vehicle-mounted antenna coupled to a vehicle radio is brought into proximity with another antenna coupled to another radio within a docking station;
establishing a short-range peer-to-peer radio link between the vehicle radio and the other radio across a distance of a few meters or less; and
transferring data from the vehicle radio to the other radio using the peer-to-peer radio link;
wherein the vehicle is an autonomous vehicle, and the vehicle-mounted antenna is a vehicle-mounted directional antenna, comprising autonomously positioning a vehicle to achieve an alignment condition in which the vehicle-mounted directional antenna is aligned with a fixed-location antenna coupled to the docking station.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the peer-to-peer radio link is a millimeter-wave radio link.
3. The method of claim 1 , comprising transferring the data at a speed of at least one gigabit per second.
4. The method of claim 1 , comprising transferring the data at a speed of at least ten gigabits per second.
5. The method of claim 1 , comprising transferring at least 0.1 terabytes of data.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle is an electric vehicle, comprising performing electric charging of the vehicle while transferring the data.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the vehicle is configured to proceed to a recharging location when a given low state of charge is reached.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein transferring data occurs at a rate such that during recharging from the low state of charge to a target state of charge, all data to be transferred from the vehicle is transferred.
9. The method of claim 7 , wherein transferring data occurs at a rate such that during recharging from the low state of charge to a target state of charge, at least a terabyte of data is transferred.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle radio and the other radio are CMOS-based.
11. The method of claim 1 , comprising achieving the alignment condition by:
situating the vehicle radio and the other radio at an identical height above grade;
situating the vehicle radio at a mid-line of the vehicle; and
situating the other radio at a mid-line of a parking space; and
parking the vehicle such that the mid-line of the vehicle and the mid-line of the parking space are aligned.
12. The method of claim 1 , comprising achieving the alignment condition by electromechanically pointing at least one of the vehicle antenna and the other antenna.
13. The method of claim 1 , comprising achieving the alignment condition using beam steeling of the vehicle antenna.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the vehicle radio and the other radio are provided with a Bluetooth radio, comprising:
establishing a Bluetooth link; and
using the Bluetooth link to perform authentication and pairing.
15. A data transfer method for vehicles, comprising:
achieving a condition in which a vehicle-mounted antenna coupled to a vehicle radio is brought into proximity with another antenna coupled to another radio within a docking station;
establishing a short-range peer-to-peer radio link between the vehicle radio and the other radio across a distance of a few meters or less; and
transferring data from the vehicle radio to the other radio using the peer-to-peer radio link;
wherein the vehicle is an autonomous vehicle, and the vehicle-mounted antenna is a vehicle-mounted directional antenna, comprising autonomously positioning a mobile docking station to achieve an alignment condition in which the vehicle-mounted directional antenna is aligned with an antenna coupled to the docking station.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the peer-to-peer radio link is a millimeter-wave radio link.
17. The method of claim 15 , comprising transferring the data at a speed of at least one gigabit per second.
18. The method of claim 15 , comprising transferring the data at a speed of at least ten gigabits per second.
19. The method of claim 15 , comprising transferring at least 0.1 terabytes of data.
20. The method of claim 15 , wherein the vehicle is an electric vehicle, comprising performing electric charging of the vehicle while transferring the data.
21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the vehicle is configured to proceed to a recharging location when a given low state of charge is reached.
22. The method of claim 21 , wherein transferring data occurs at a rate such that during recharging from the low state of charge to a target state of charge, all data to be transferred from the vehicle is transferred.
23. The method of claim 21 , wherein transferring data occurs at a rate such that during recharging from the low state of charge to a target state of charge, at least a terabyte of data is transferred.
24. The method of claim 15 , wherein the vehicle radio and the other radio are CMOS-based.
25. The method of claim 15 , comprising achieving the alignment condition by electromechanically pointing at least one of the vehicle antenna and the other antenna.
26. The method of claim 15 , comprising achieving the alignment condition using beam steering of the vehicle antenna.
27. The method of claim 15 , wherein each of the vehicle radio and the other radio are provided with a Bluetooth radio, comprising:
establishing a Bluetooth link; and
using the Bluetooth link to perform authentication and pairing.