| Patent application number | Description | Published |
|---|
| 20080275618 | Slow or stopped vehicle ahead advisor with digital map integration - A driver assistance or collision avoidance system is adapted for use with trailing and preceding host vehicles, and in a preferred embodiment includes a preceding vehicle speed sensor for determining the current speed of the preceding vehicle at a point; a vehicle-to-vehicle communication sub-system; a normal speed determining sub-system operable to determine the normally expected speed of the preceding vehicle at the point, and including an exterior remote vehicle sensor or digital map-indicia database; and a controller configured to compare the current and normally expected speeds, and the discrepancy there-between to a threshold, and cause an alert to be generated only when the discrepancy exceeds the threshold or an otherwise stalled condition is determined. | 11-06-2008 |
| 20100245124 | E85 GAS STATION LOCATOR APPLICATIONS USING V2X PEER-TO-PEER SOCIAL NETWORKING - A system and method for wirelessly exchanging information concerning the location of E85 gas stations between E85 vehicles. The method includes transmitting messages from an E85 gas station that identifies the location of the E85 gas station, the time of the transmission and the price of the E85 gas, and receiving the messages by E85 vehicles that pass within a certain distance of the E85 gas station. The method also includes identifying that two E85 vehicles pass close to each other, where the vehicles periodically broadcast an E85 beacon identifying them as E85 vehicles. When two E85 vehicles are identified, the vehicles exchange information concerning a list of the E85 gas stations that they have stored from messages received from E85 gas stations and/or other E85 vehicles. The two vehicles update their lists to include those E85 gas stations that one vehicle may have that the other does not. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100248618 | USING V2X IN-NETWORK SESSION MAINTENANCE PROTOCOLS TO ENABLE INSTANT CHATTING APPLICATIONS - A system and method for allowing vehicle occupants to wirelessly chat with each other over a DSRC channel. A vehicle occupant may initiate a chatting session by wirelessly transmitting a request to speak with an occupant of another vehicle in its vicinity on a certain topic in a multi-hop manner. If the request is accepted by the occupant of another vehicle to enter into a chatting session on that topic, a wireless communications link is established between the two vehicles, where messages may be transmitted through other intermediate vehicles. The chatting session is maintained by monitoring the signal strength of the links between the vehicles in the chain of vehicles and new links are re-established if any of the existing links fail. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100250106 | USING V2X-BASED IN-NETWORK MESSAGE GENERATION, AGGREGATION, DISTRIBUTION AND PROCESSING PROTOCOLS TO ENABLE ROAD HAZARD CONDITION WARNING APPLICATIONS - A method for providing messages indicating potential hazardous road conditions using a wireless communications network. Vehicles using the network include sensors that are able to detect various potentially hazardous road conditions, such as rain, fog, icy road conditions, traffic congestion, etc. A plurality of vehicles that detect a specific road condition provide a confidence value that the condition exists. The confidence value is then aggregated by the vehicles with the confidence value of the detected condition from the other vehicles to provide an aggregated result that identifies the probability that the detected road condition is occurring. The aggregated result is then transmitted to other vehicles approaching the road condition, possibly in a multi-hop manner. Alternately, the confidence value from all of the vehicles that detect the condition can be transmitted to approaching vehicles who will provide the aggregated result identifying the potential that the condition exists. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100250346 | USING V2X IN-NETWORK MESSAGE DISTRIBUTION AND PROCESSING PROTOCOLS TO ENABLE GEO-SERVICE ADVERTISEMENT APPLICATIONS - A system and method for providing geo-service advertising messages using a wireless vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2X) communications network. Messages are transmitted from a business that identify the type of business, the name of the business and the location of the business, which are received by vehicles traveling within a certain distance of the business. The messages can be rebroadcast by the vehicles receiving the messages from the business to other vehicles either in a multi-hop information routing manner or in a delay-tolerant network information dissemination fashion so that the messages are sent to a wider area, but within a predetermined geographic area and with a predetermined time. If a particular user of the system wishes to learn about a particular business or type of business, he can activate the system so that the messages being sent between the vehicles and from the businesses can be displayed to the user for his use. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20110090093 | Vehicle to Entity Communication - A vehicle to pedestrian communication system includes a vehicle-based device having a transmitter and receiver for communicating global positioning of the vehicle. The transmitter broadcasts a global position of the vehicle as part of a vehicle periodic beacon message. A pedestrian-based device is carried by a pedestrian. The pedestrian-based device has a transmitter and receiver for communicating a global position of the pedestrian as part of a pedestrian periodic beacon message. A positional awareness of the vehicle in relation to the pedestrian is assessed by at least one of the vehicle-based device or the pedestrian-based device based on the positioning of the vehicle in relation to the pedestrian. An alert is provided to at least one of the vehicle or the pedestrian indicating a presence of the vehicle or pedestrian based on the respective global positions of the pedestrian and the vehicle. | 04-21-2011 |
| 20110109475 | Travel Lane Advisor - A traffic flow advisory system includes a locating device for identifying a position of a driven vehicle. A communication device exchanges vehicle position data, speed data, and heading data with remote vehicles. A processor constructs a traffic flow rate in a plurality of road lanes based on the position data and speed data. A human machine interface indicates to a driver of the driven vehicle the traffic flow rate of each of the road lanes. | 05-12-2011 |
| 20110136429 | VEHICULAR WIRELESS PAYMENT AUTHORIZATION METHOD - A method and system for making payments from a vehicle using onboard wireless communication systems. A Near Field Communication (NFC) reader is placed a vehicle, such that a customer can pass an NFC-enabled phone or credit card near the reader to provide a source of funding for a purchase. A Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) radio onboard the vehicle communicates with a seller of products or services, such as a fast food restaurant, a parking garage, or a toll booth. The seller communicates to the vehicle the amount of a pending payment, the customer approves the payment within the vehicle, and the vehicle sends the authorization to the seller. The entire transaction is handled wirelessly, without the customer having to leave the vehicle or roll down a window. Pre-approval accounts can also be established for certain types of payments, thus making those payment transactions automatic. | 06-09-2011 |
