Method and system for operating a vehicular data network based on a layer-2 periodic frame broadcast, in particular a routing protocol

The method of claim 16, wherein said method is used for routing data packets in said wireless digital data network,

• said method comprising the current network node further carrying out the following steps:
• selecting from the neighbouring network nodes an uplink network node that has an uplink connection to an upstream network;
• establishing an uplink wireless connection to said uplink network node;
• setting a default IP gateway entry in an IP Routing Table (IPRT) to an IP address of the uplink network node;
• making available the entries of the IPRT for routing by the current network node;
• said method also comprising the current network node further carrying out the following steps:
• for each received NSI frame from a neighbouring network node, if the node identifier of the uplink network node in said NSI frame is the node identifier of the current network node,
• then adding or updating an entry in the IPRT for said neighbouring network node with the IP of the neighbouring network node being the corresponding IP gateway, and
• for the linked node list comprised in the routing data of said NSI frame, adding or updating entries in the IPRT for each of the linked node list nodes with the IP of the neighbouring network node being the corresponding IP gateway;
• marking as expired or deleting any previously entered IPRT entry after a predetermined period of time has passed after the last receiving or updating of said any previously entered IPRT entry.

A method for operating a network node of a wireless digital data network based on broadcast layer-2 periodic frames, for routing data packets in said wireless digital data network, wherein said network comprises a plurality of network nodes, wherein each network node is either a mobile node equipped with an on-board unit (OBU) node, or is a static node equipped with a road-side unit (RSU) node, said method comprising a current network node of the plurality of network nodes carrying out the following steps:

• periodically broadcasting a layer-2 Network Status Information (NSI) frame which comprises a node identifier of the current network node and a type of node of the current network node;
• receiving broadcasted NSI frames from neighbouring network nodes of the plurality of network nodes reachable by the current network node through wireless communication;
• for each received NSI frame:
• storing the received NSI frame in an entry in a NSI table (NSIT) if the received NSI frame was the first received NSI frame from a neighbouring network node, or,
• otherwise, if the received NSI frame was not the first received NSI frame from the neighbouring network node, updating a previously stored NSIT entry with the received NSI frame;
• and
• marking as expired or deleting any previously entered NSIT entry after a predetermined period of time has passed after receiving or updating said any previously entered NSIT entry,
• wherein said NSI frame further comprises routing data which comprises a node identifier and the IP address of the uplink network node for a node broadcasting said NSI frame, and comprises a list of the identifiers and IP addresses of the network nodes that are connected to the uplink network through the node broadcasting said NSI frame, herewith mentioned as linked node list,
• wherein the step of periodic broadcasting of said NSI frame is initiated by the current network node when one or more of the following occurs at the current network node:
• new geographic location data is available for the current network node,
• new motion data is available for the current network node,
• a Provider Service Request start (PSR start),
• a PSR start with an Active Connection Provider Service (ACPS),
• an User Service Request start (USR start}, or
• an USR start with Active Connection User Service (ACUS), and
• wherein the ACPS or the ACUS comprises an Active Connection Provider Service Identifier (ACPSID).

A method for operating a network node of a wireless digital data network based on broadcast layer-2 periodic frames, for routing data packets in said wireless digital data network, wherein said network comprises a plurality of network nodes, wherein each network node is either a mobile node equipped with an on-board unit (OBU) node, or is a static node equipped with a road-side unit (RSU) node, said method comprising a current network node of the plurality of network nodes carrying out the following steps:

• periodically broadcasting a layer-2 Network Status Information (NSI) frame which comprises a node identifier of the current network node and a type of node of the current network node;
• receiving broadcasted NSI frames from neighbouring network nodes of the plurality of network nodes reachable by the current network node through wireless communication;
• for each received NSI frame:
• storing the received NSI frame in an entry in a NSI table (NSIT) if the received NSI frame was the first received NSI frame from a neighbouring network node, or,
• otherwise, if the received NSI frame was not the first received NSI frame from the neighbouring network node, updating a previously stored NSIT entry with the received NSI frame;
• and
• marking as expired or deleting any previously entered NSIT entry after a predetermined period of time has passed after receiving or updating said any previously entered NSIT entry,
• wherein said NSI frame further comprises routing data which comprises a node identifier and the IP address of the uplink network node for a node broadcasting said NSI frame, and comprises a list of the identifiers and IP addresses of the network nodes that are connected to the uplink network through the node broadcasting said NSI frame, herewith mentioned as linked node list,
• wherein the step of periodic broadcasting of said NSI frame is initiated by the current network node when one or more of the following occurs at the current network node:
• new geographic location data is available for the current network node,
• new motion data is available for the current network node,
• a Provider Service Request start (PSR start),
• a PSR start with an Active Connection Provider Service (ACPS),
• an User Service Request start (USR start}, or
• an USR start with Active Connection User Service (ACUS), and
• wherein the Provider Service Context (PSC) of the ACPS or the ACUS comprises the node identifier and the type of node of the current network node;
• the node identifier of the uplink network node of the current network node;
• and the node identifier of the upstream end-point node.